The awareness programs conducted in the year 2003 included 5 school programmes, 5 programmes in local governments and 30 programmes in Women's Bureaus. The programmes conducted in Women's Bureaus were mainly used to take the message of use of efficient cooking stoves to the housewives.

Mass Media Programmes
During the year, live programmes on radio and the TV were broadcasted to promote energy conservation and environmental protection. A series of live programmes called "Vishwa Dharani" was conducted weekly in the "Pavana Radio Service" of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in collaboration with the Central Environmental Authority. Engineers from the ECF discussed different topics related to energy conservation through these programmes.

Among the radio programmes, the live “Subharathi” programme was also an attraction. The series was based on a request for an energy audit from Ragama Hospital and featured discussions concerning the audit. Another series of TV programmes was conducted through the live “3 to 5” programme of the National Rupavahini. Promotion of dendro power and industrial energy conservation were a primary focus during these programmes. A series of press releases on different aspects of energy conservation was also made through the “Sunday Lankadeepa.”

Industrial Programmes
Due to various inefficiencies in the industrial processes, there is a remarkable potential for energy saving in most of the manufacturing and commercial establishments. Therefore it is very important to educate industrialists on energy conservation. Two programmes for the industrial sector were held in Kandy and Matara. The Kandy programme was organised in association with the Industrial Development Authority of the Central Province and the other programme was in parallel with the Yuga Dekma exhibition held in Matara. About 200 participants from different industries attended the programme in Kandy and most of them showed an interest in carrying out energy audits in their organizations. Audit programmes for these are being organised with the direct involvement of the Kandy Regional Office.

Professional Training
The ECF has identified ‘professional training’ as an important tool to introduce energy conservation technologies among engineering and technical grades. Similar to the programmes organised during previous years, the ECF conducted training courses on various technical aspects related to energy conservation, in conjunction with professional organizations.

Boiler Operators Training
A well maintained steam operation system leads to a considerable energy saving in the range of 10% to 15% compared to systems which are not maintained properly in accordance with a planned maintenance programme due to lack of awareness. In real terms, workers and technicians in the industry are raw workers and boiler operators in the industry are raw hands with minimum training received to become legally qualified to run boilers and lack the training in basic principles of energy saving.

The ECF has been collaborating with the Sri Lanka Energy Managers' Association in conducting organized scientific industrial training courses on steam generation for boiler operators and technicians. The significance of this training programme in the national context is that it will result in considerable fuel saving thereby saving foreign exchange.

A Boiler Operators Training programme was conducted in the year 2003.

Training Course on Energy Efficient Lighting
A training course in Ventilation and Air-conditioning was held in the year 2002. Due to its success, a successive program on Energy Efficient Lighting was held in the year 2003. The programme was conducted by the Sri Lanka Energy Managers Association (SLEMA) and it was technically and financially part supported by the ECF. Efficient luminary systems, efficient use of day light for room lighting and design of efficient lighting systems were discussed and disseminated in detail in this training programme. The programme helped to introduce building design systems where a greater portion of natural light is used to illuminate the interior of large commercial and industrial buildings, thus providing opportunities to minimize the requirement of artificial lighting. The programme was well-attended by mid-career professionals working in the fields of building engineering and architecture.

Training Course on Wind System Design
Although wind energy has been developed as a proven technology and wind power generation is being carried out on a significant scale in some of the counties, Sri Lanka has not yet been able to tap this resource at a considerable level. Therefore, capacity building in the field of wind energy is very important under the development of technologies in renewable energy.

ITDG organised a wind training programme which included wind technology, wind blade design and power generation. The course also included the measurement of wind regime and recording the wind availability for power generation. This Training Course was technically and financially part supported by the ECF.

Student Programmes and Teachers' Workshops on Teacher Training Guidebook
The ECF, together with the National Institute of Education, successfully completed an attempt to develop school curriculum with the inaugural launching of an ECF compiled Teachers' Guide Book on Energy Conservation and Management. The launching programme was held with a grand ceremonial function on 1st July 2003 at Royal College, Colombo. This book will not only help the teachers to work towards achieving good energy conservation practices in schools but will also carry important information for the general public to conserve energy.

Subsequent to the launching programme of Teachers Guide Book, distribution programmes coupled with teacher training was conducted in many parts of the island. In the year 2003, such programmes were held in Uva Province, North Central Province, Sabaragamuwa Province, Western Province and Matara District, eventually totalling 30 programmes across the island.