This  wednesday the solar festival was held in the primary school Antun Mihanović in Slavonski Brod attended by about a hundred of people. At this festival 19 solar innovations made by the students were exhibited, as well as the exhibits of the newly equipped solar laboratory in this school and the solar system that was installed to the school roof. All that is the part of the project titled „Smart schools“ implemented by the Centre for Development and Support as the project leader, in partnership with Brod Ecological Association, Green Action from Zagreb, Brod-Posavina County and Tuzla Canton. Through the project activities the students demonstrated that it is possible to generate significant energy savings only with minor behavioural and habit changes. They demonstrated enormous creativity in designing and making different solar innovations, and how the young people were able to provide good-quality solutions.

Solar festival was held at this location because the primary school Antun Mihanović won at the school competition in energy saving titled „Change the habits – equip the school“. Even 105 schools (24 from Brod – Posavina County and 81 form Tuzla Canton) with over 40.000 students and teachers participated at the competition in electrical and thermal energy saving and water consumption saving, and the most successful school in Croatia was the primary school Antun Mihanović. All schools together, without any investments, only by changing the behaviour of users, saved in average 7% of energy.

That way the students and school teachers showed how simply and without any interventions to save the money and decrease the energy consumption, thus reducing the hazardous environmental impact and climate changes. The school winner was awarded with the solar laboratory and about 15 students with support of the mentors prof. Dinko Nadih, prof. Željka Kačar and the mentors from the Green Action and the Centre for Development and Support participated in equipping the laboratory in February this year. The students made 3 exhibits utilizing the sun as the source of energy.

The second part of the award to the school was a photovoltaic solar system and Brod-Posavina County was responsible to install it within the project. As it is not enough only to save the energy, but to make transition towards the renewable energy sources, the innovations of the participants in the camp of young innovators organised in June last year in Slavonski Brod by Brod Ecological Association, Green Action and Centre for Development and Support were also exhibited.

On that occasion, 19 students of primary and high schools led by five mentors, were making for seven days different innovations utilizing renewable energy sources as fuel. Bernard Ivičić from the Green Action, Ismet Salihović from the Centre for Development and Support from Tuzla, director of the primary school „Antun Mihanović“ Snježana Vinarić and the deputy prime minister of Brod-Posavina County Damir Mirković addressed the participants at the solar festival.

Equipping solar laboratory, young innovators’ camp and schools competition in energy saving were implemented within the 3,2 million worth crossborder project titled „Innovative minds for smart schools“ or abbreviated SMART SCHOOLS. The project is funded within INTERREG IPA CBC Crossborder Cooperation Programme Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Monte Negro 2014-2020. The project is co-funded by the Government of Tuzla Canton and implemented by the Centre for Development and Support (CRP) from Tuzla, the Government of Tuzla Canton, the Government of Brod-Posavina County, the association Green Action from Zagreb and Brod Ecological Association – BED from Slavonski Brod.

The  booklet about young innovators is available HERE.

The leaflet about solar laboratory and photovoltaic system for electricity production is available HERE.