Ukrainian and Norwegian training program “Cleaner Production and Energy Efficiency” (CPEE) being implemented in Ukraine jointly by the Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals TEKNA and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the support of The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been operating in Kherson region since 2007, and in the Dnipropetrovsk region since 2009.

Training workshops for the sixth Kherson and fourth Dnipropetrovsk engineer groups were carried out since March till June, 2013. It is interesting to note that this time representatives of the two Mykolayiv companies – Limited Liability Company “Nikolayev Alumina Refinery” and private furniture enterprise “TK-Renessans” were taught the CP methodology within the Kherson training cycle. In Dnipropetrovsk, beside local companies such as LLC “Dnipro Pipe Plant”, LLC “Lasunka”, LLC “Industrial Systems. Service”, LLC “Germetik Universal”; PJSC “Diesel Locomotive Plant” from Poltava participated in the training.

Within the CPEE sessions, participants got acquainted with the methodology of the Norwegian model of Cleaner Production, honed their skills in problem formulating, seeking for domestic investment sources for its solving, in presenting the developed ideas and calculating the financial impact of their implementation. However, the main goal of the course once formulated by a Norwegian engineer Mr. Leiv Bjerke, who is the Head Lecturer of the course, is as follows: participants have to adopt the CP-principles for their production, to follow the “Pollution Prevention Pays!” principle in everyday work. We do hope that by the moment of final reports presentation, our participants managed to reduce their environmental charges due to efficient use of raw materials and energy.

According to engineers, who have just completed their training, CPEE methodology enabled them to look at their enterprises and the surrounding world with “new eyes”, to find internal possibilities for improvement sometimes even without external funding. National CPEE advisors: Alexander Eremin in Kherson, Alexander Baharev and Sergey Ptitsyn in Dnepropetrovsk, were supporting the participants at all training stages.

On June, 26 the Dnipropetrovsk Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted presentation of the final reports developed by both, Kherson and Dnepropetrovsk, groups. Examination commission including Mr. Leiv Bjerke, the Head Lecturer of the course; Ms. Nina Alehnovich, First Vice-president of the Dnipropetrovsk CCI and three national CPEE advisors – listened to the presentations and agreed on awarding all with professional certificates of international standard. The certificates were issued in order to confirm environmental awareness of the CPEE graduates, their competence to optimize costs and to enjoy savings.

On the initiative of the DCCI, supportive certificates were also issued for the students of Dnipropetrovsk Mounting College, who had taken an active part in the fourth Dnipropetrovsk CPEE training.

We hope that knowledge, skills, and above all, frugal approach towards production processes, inculcated  by the founders of the Norwegian model of Cleaner Production, will help our graduates in their daily work, contributing simultaneously to improving the quality of the world where we live!