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The new “Don’t stop – power up: light, heat, internet” course is available on Zrozumilo! Educational Online Platform.
The country is still at war, thus, Ukrainians face new challenges. One of these is a partial or, unfortunately, complete shutdown of electricity, water, and gas supply following regular enemy shelling.
The issue of coping with such challenges becomes more acute in the cold season, therefore, it is important to have alternative sources of power. However, improper use of devices, system overload, and lack of awareness of key safety rules may result in fires, emergencies, and even victims.
That is why East Europe Foundation in cooperation with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine supported by the EGAP Program, which promotes the active digital transformation of our country, developed the “Don’t stop – power up: light, heat, internet” course.
It is intended to help Ukrainians go through the difficult autumn-winter period, familiarize them with key safety rules when using alternative power sources, and also minimize household emergencies. Including the issue of uninterrupted access to online services even during blackouts.
“The course was developed within the EGAP Program, which has been dealing with the digitalization of Ukraine for almost 10 years. Obviously, there can be no e-services or e-democracy available without the “basics” – electricity, water, and communication. Therefore, EGAP, funded by Switzerland, is trying to help Ukrainians go through these challenges and lose no digitalization progress”, said Victor Liakh, President of East Europe Foundation.
During the eight-lecture course, its presenters – Oleh Fagot Mykhailiuta and Oleksandr Fozzi Sydorenko, musicians of the TNMK band, Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, press officer of the State Emergency Service, Sviatoslav Pavliuk, energy efficiency expert, – explained:
According to the State Emergency Service, during the full-scale invasion, their units eliminated the consequences of enemy shelling more than 29 thousand times. Given electricity shortage, the rescuers managed to connect 2,460 critical facilities to autonomous power sources.
Since the beginning of 2024, there have been almost 9 thousand fire outbreaks due to emergency operation modes of electrical networks and appliances, of which 286 were caused by malfunctions of energy storage devices, and 82 – by generators. In these incidents, 9 people died, including one child, and 72 were injured (including three children).
“The air defense forces, the State Emergency Service, and the Ukrainian power engineers are making every effort to restore the power supply as soon as possible. That said, one of our key tasks is not only to respond to emergencies but also to prevent them. We wish every Ukrainian is aware of how to ensure safety for themselves and their loved ones during blackouts. Being aware of and following basic safety rules save lives. Thus, the “Don’t stop – power up: light, heat, internet” course is yet another source ensuring citizens’ access to useful and important knowledge”, added Ruslan Bukhanets, Acting Director of the Department of Emergency Prevention of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
In turn, Serhiy Reva, Director of the Mine Action Office of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, emphasized that employees of the energy industry and SES keep up close cooperation and interaction. Pyrotechnic units are the first to examine dangerous sites. They have already demined over 8,000 km of power lines, which were then repaired by energy industry workers. These lines are already operational. Our previous mine safety project “Watch Your Step! Watch Where You Are Going!” implemented in cooperation with East Europe Foundation, had a huge outreach and was a success with people, therefore, lives were saved!”
Fagot and Fozzi, TNMK, believe that their participation in the course is socially useful as informing the public is always timely. It is not the first time that Oleh Fagot Mykhailiuta has participated in educational projects of the Foundation and the State Emergency Service. The previous year, he was a presenter in the “Watch Your Steps! Watch Where You Are Going!” course on mine safety, which set an all-Ukrainian record.
Oleksandr Fozzi Sydorenko, who participated in the course development, not only benefited society but also found answers to some acute questions.
“I am a humanities-minded person who needs to get ready for winter. I’m thinking about how to ensure the internet connection at my mother’s in Kharkiv. Thus, this course really proved useful for me. I am sure that its students will also find a lot of useful and new information in it”, notes Oleksandr.
The course is free. Its successful completion allows you to get a certificate with 0.2 ECTS credits or six academic hours, and is deemed a self-study.
Registration for the “Don’t stop – power up: light, heat, internet” course is available at: https://courses.zrozumilo.in.ua/courses/course-v1:eef+EEF-056+October2024/about
Video of the course presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/vf3klwGvUsU
The online course was developed by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine supported by East Europe Foundation within the EGAP Program financed by Switzerland.