Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On October 5, Mr. Philippe Merlin, Ambassador of France to Mongolia, French Embassy staff and Mr. Pierre-Yves Lucas, Cooperation Team Leader of the Delegation of the European Union to Mongolia, visited the field and houses where ancient earth building techniques were revived. Supported by the European Union’s Switch Off Air Pollution project, PADEM and its partner local organization HLO Mongolia (Healthy Life Organization), brought back earth building techniques by training 30 participants from local NGOs in the introduction workshop.

Construction with earth materials is one of the oldest traditional technologies, widely employed in the past thousands of years by world civilizations. Compressed earth bricks and rammed earth, for example, have been used in ancient times as construction material in Mongolia’s Buddhist monasteries, as well as in Mongol artistic heritage. As a result of their inherent sustainability, these earth construction techniques are experiencing a revival thanks to the project in Ulaanbaatar.

Introduction workshop participants were enthusiastic about learning ancient earth building techniques and expressed the need for promoting these on a larger scale, educating young generations to think about sustainable housing and its long-term benefits for communities and the environment. Several trainees also expressed their willingness to apply acquired skills in compressed earth brick production for income generation. The European Union and French Embassy delegation met with the workshop trainees and discussed about their interest to continue the production.

On the visit, Mr. Philippe Merlin, Ambassador of France to Mongolia stated “The French Embassy is pleased to see the beneficial impacts of the work of Geres, a French NGO whose project “Switch Off Air Pollution”, co-financed by the French Development Agency. Geres is cooperating with another French NGO, PADEM, on improving insulation through ancient earth building techniques, thereby, participating in the fight against climate change in Mongolia in accordance with the Paris Agreements.”

Commenting on the visit, Mr. Pierre-Yves Lucas, Cooperation Team Leader of the Delegation of the European Union to Mongolia, stated that “The European Union is happy to see the revived earth building techniques giving opportunities to the public to generate income to improve their livelihoods”.  

About Switch Off Air Pollution:

Mainly co-financed by the European Union’s under the Switch Asia programme, with additional support from Abbe Pierre Foundation, Czech Development Agency and the French Development Agency; the Switch Off Air Pollution project is being implemented by the Energy Efficiency Expert INGO, Geres Mongolia in collaboration with Building Energy Efficiency Center of the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Mongolian National Construction Association and People in Need INGO during the 2018-2021 period.

Project website - www.dulaalga.mn, and mobile application - Dulaalga on iOS and Android

About Geres Mongolia:

Geres is a French NGO with expertise in energy and development, with over 40 years of experience in Europe, Africa, and Asia improving living conditions for the most vulnerable people and fighting the impacts of climate change. www.geres.eu

Source: Geres Mongolia