Clean Energy for Rural Schools in 20 African Villages thanks to the Sustain Campaign

Small solar panel kits donated by Italian students to produce electricity in twenty schools in rural Mauritania and Burkina Faso in Africa. This is a  result of a project of international cooperation, SUSTAIN (Sustainable Future Students African Italian Network). SUSTAIN is the centre of ENEA's project  'Educate for the Future'  the goal of  which is to inform and raise students' awareness regarding energy, the environment and sustainable economic development.

With the support of IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), SUSTAIN aims to encourage Italian and African students to work together, exchange educational experience and  to promote renewable energy sources in rural Africa. 'Educate for the Future' has been included in the latest national plan of action regarding social responsibility in business, promoted by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Labour.

A network of Taranto schools coordinated by the Righi Institute for SUSTAIN have set up a centre for training photovoltaic technicians in Burkina Faso. Italian students and teachers have donated and installed a prototype of a photovoltaic system in the Fada n'Gourma technical institute and have written an instruction manual for installation by technicians to distribute to other local schools and institutes.

ENEA was amongst the participants of the 'School Week for International Cooperation for Development'  at the conference “International Cooperation in Schools: Learning to Share Limited Resources of our Planet to build Together a Sustainable Future”. The workshop was held on the 16^th of May at ITIS Galilei, Rome and was open to all students from the capital.

'Educate for the Future', in collaboration with MIUR (Ministry of Education, University and Research), proposes the creation of a national network of schools (from primary to tertiary level) to raise awareness of issues regarding  energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable mobility. In a world where the population is increasing rapidly,  there is a need to share limited resources, developed nations are being required to limit consumption, adopt wiser life-styles  and invest in research, the spread of new technology and energy sources, ENEA wishes to guarantee its participation in the education of students towards the building of a sustainable future.