On November 18, Vitebsk /Sergey Kochetov - BELTA/. Educational institutions of the Vitebsk region are implementing almost 70 innovative projects aimed at developing new educational systems and technologies, including 20 national ones. Lyubov Vilenchik, a methodologist at the Department of Innovative Development of Educational Institutions of the Vitebsk Regional Institute for the Development of Education, informed a BELTA correspondent about this. Innovative work in the educational sphere covers the system of preschool, general secondary, and special education, where over 160 experimental, innovative, and creative platforms for cultivating new educational practices have been created and are operating. For instance, the region is implementing the long-term projects "Ethnoschool" and "Ethnogarden," which involve creating a model of an educational institution that provides conditions for fostering individuals with a high level of national self-awareness. The ethnoschool model is being introduced into the practice of schools in Polotsk, Gluboksky, Liozno, Braslav, and Chashniki districts, as well as Novopolotsk Secondary School No. 5 and Kindergarten No. 72 in Vitebsk. One of the important directions in the thematic focus of innovative projects is environmental education and the problem of human ecology, including the ecology of education. A number of institutions have decided to address such issues through the implementation of a system for organizing the activities of resource centers for comprehensive educational support for sustainable development (School No. 12 in Novopolotsk, School No. 16 in Orsha, and Gymnasium No. 4 in Vitebsk), as well as the pedagogical system "School of Ecological Culture" (Novka Secondary School of Vitebsk District, Chepukovo Secondary School of Miory District, Aleksinichi School of Senno District). Five preschool institutions have chosen models for the environmental education of young children and for fostering a culture of energy and resource conservation through cognitive and practical activities.