AUA Students Secure Top Two Positions in EU4Energy Regional Competition

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YEREVAN, Armenia — Two AUA undergraduate students minoring in environmental studies, David Baghdasaryan (BAEC ‘25) and Kristina Ghahramanyan (BSDS ‘24) , won first and second places, respectively, in the concluding competition of the Autumn Digital EU4Energy Week for Eastern Partnership (EaP) Universities. They were competing with 70 students from 10 universities across five Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, namely, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. 

The EU-funded program took place online, October 3-7. The event served as a platform, where students interested in the energy sector had the opportunity to discuss a variety of topics as broad as clean energy transition in Europe with experts from the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Energy Community Secretariat (EnCS), and EU4Climate.

In a series of five sessions, students learned about the fundamentals of energy policy, EU regulation to support the clean energy transition in Europe, long-term energy planning, and the role of statistics in measuring the successes and failures of public policy. They also explored paths to consumer empowerment and learned more about energy poverty and vulnerability resulting from a combination of low income, high energy prices, and low energy efficiency, especially with regard to building efficiency.

The 1st place winner, David Baghdasaryan, will attend CEER training in Brussels, while the 2nd place winner, Kristina Ghahramanyan, will attend the Renewable Energy Investment Conference in Tbilisi on October 26-28, 2022. All expenses will be covered by the organizers.

The experience was short yet very meaningful for the participating students. Kristina says, “Learning about our cooperation with the EU4Climate and comparing it with other countries has given me a lot to think about. There are definitely things that our country needs to work on, but there are also areas where we are surprisingly doing quite well already.” David expresses a similar sentiment, “The event gave the participants a European-wide perspective on energy transition. This is a perspective we often do not have [in Armenia]. It’s inspiring to see that we are doing okay on some fronts though there are other areas where we need to catch up quickly.” 

More than 10 students from AUA participated in the event. AUA students’ participation was supported by the AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, which has been on the forefront for sustainable energy outreach and education at AUA by also offering a Minor in Environmental Studies, in which both winners are enrolled. 

The workshop and the competition were organized within the framework of the ‘EU4Energy Phase II – Promoting Clean Energy Transition in the Eastern Partnership countries’ initiative, which aims to contribute to the development of sound energy legislation and regulation, support the region’s transition to clean energy, and liberalize its energy markets.

The AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, a research center of the American University of Armenia (AUA), promotes the protection and restoration of the natural environment through research, education, and community outreach. The AUA Acopian Center’s focus areas include sustainable natural resource management, biodiversity protection and conservation, greening the built environment, sustainable energy, as well as information technology and the environment. Visit http://ace.aua.am.