Amidst the energy crisis that Lebanon is facing, the municipality of Qaraoun has succeeded in overcoming major impediments to the provision of renewable energy to its residents. The renewable energy project ‘PV SOLAR SYSTEM- OUR FUTURE HOPE’ has addressed local needs for renewable energy, technical and vocational education and training, as well as community awarness raising. The project has adopted an inclusive approach that ensured gender-sensitivity throughout its components.
Category: Solid waste management and recycling
Municipal Energy Efficiency Projects Workshop in MENA
The international community of practice for sustainable urban development, Connective Cities in the MENA region, organized a virtual projects workshop under the topic “Municipal Energy Efficiency Projects in the MENA Region” on the 14 and 15 September 2021. The workshop was preceded by a day on financial advisory services for municipal energy efficiency projects in the MENA region.
The workshop has been a follow-up to the dialogue event held virtually in May 2021. This project workshop aimed at facilitating exchange of know-how and experience through peer learning among urban practitioners in MENA and Germany, supporting the project owners to define a roadmap and appropriate measures to progress with the development of the project ideas into bankable project proposals (technical advisory), as well as supporting consensus building among different stakeholders engaged in the planning and implementation of the project ideas, and determining future support needed to implement project ideas, which includes support from the Connective Cities network and German municipalities.
Nine Municipalities from Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia presented their project ideas and had a chance to further develop them in the fields of: improving energy efficiency in municipal buildings, energy efficiency via reduction of fuel consumption in waste management and energy efficient street lighting.
Call for Participants – Covid-19 and municipal waste management
Connective Cities and its partners invite municipal practitioners to a two-day Covid-19 Response Dialogue on Covid-19 and municipal waste management to be held virtually on 9 and 11 November 2021.
The event brings together municipal experts from Germany with international urban practitioners to discuss municipal waste management during and after the pandemic.
Two main aspects of waste management and Covid-19 will be covered during the event:
- The importance of a more circular economy, including a more sustainable approach to (re-)use of resources, recycling and the creation of jobs and
- the adaptation of operation practices due to the pandemic and its experiences.
Both aspects can be better dealt with if gender-sensitive strategies are considered. Therefore, the exchange will give special attention to the gender perspective.
More information: Call for participants [pdf, 3 Seiten, 339 kb]
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Thiago Garcia
thiago.garcia@engagement-global.de
Phone +49 (0)228-20717-2633
Alice Balbo
Alice.Balbo@staedtetag.de
Phone: 49 (0)221-3771-573
Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project for Ghana
Ghana’s Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources came up with a Rural Sanitation Model and Strategies (RSMS) to support rural communities with basic sanitation using the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) concept in efforts to eliminate open defecation. This approach has also been applied in the cities also with an emphasis on the low income urban communities. The project, Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA) Sanitation and Water Project was launched to increase access to improved and affordable (from an average bill of $600 to about $50) sanitation and water supply facilities in the GAMA.
Connective Cities’ network in Sub-Saharan Africa – our achievements in the 3rd phase
Review of the dialogue events, issues addressed during the learning processes, project ideas supported and good practices shared, as well as insights in the current activities of the established working groups of Connective Cities’ network in Sub-Saharan Africa.
More: https://youtu.be/Js4YZ5vxUMI
More videos on our YouTube channel
New working groups in the MENA network: Municipal recovery from the pandemic
Following the intensive knowledge-exchange program on municipal response to the pandemic that was conducted in 2020 to support the Connective Cities network in MENA, several working groups are being established to sustain the results of the peer learning activities. The working groups consist of municipal representatives and partners from the business sector, civil society, and academia. From a thematic standpoint, the topics under focus are:
- Waste management and circular economy
- Digitalisation for resilient cities
- Biodiversity and environmental protection (kick-off event: August 9, 2021)
- Crisis management in Palestinian municipalities
- Social entrepreneurship and local economic development (kick-off event: August 12,2021)
Several meetings and preparatory activities have been conducted to formulate the road map of each working group. The core working group on ‘biodiversity and environmental protection’ has developed and submitted a concept note to the EU Call for Proposals on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Protection in Lebanon. In order to be eligible for this call, an effective consortium was established under the umbrella of Connective Cities network. The consortium members included Saint Joseph University (represented by Dr. Jocelyne Gerard and Dr. Zaarour), Green Line environmental NGO (represented by Dr. Ali Darwish), and Menjez municipality (represented by its Mayor Dr. Georges Yousef). Other potential local authorities’ beneficiaries include Beit Meri, Jezzine, Al Buhayra Union of municipalities, which will join at a later stage of the project.
We are looking forward to include new members to these working groups. If you would like to be an active member of these working groups, please contact us at: muna.shalan@giz.de
Kruševac’s Vision – “A city accessible to all”
The Vision of Kruševac’s SUMP is that the urban environment and traffic should contribute to the city’s development. The aim is to make traffic accessible to all, regardless of age, gender, income, physical or mental ability. The target from the Agenda 2030 is „80:20“, namely that citizens will walk, cycle or use public transport to cover 80% of the trips they need to make.
Waste Management in Vushtrri, Kosovo
The strategy and implementation of waste management in the city of Vushtrri before and during the pandemic
The city of Vushtrri in north-eastern Kosovo, with around 70.000 inhabitants and an area of 345km2, has significantly improved its waste management, waste separation and recycling in the last three years. While about three years ago, only 40 percent of the territory had access to waste disposal, today it is 100 percent. In addition, illegal waste dumpsite has been reduced thanks to the government from 100 to 11.
How could this outstanding achievement be made? In Kosovo, the municipalities are responsible for waste disposal according to the law. Vushtrri cooperates with the company “RWC Uniteti” for this purpose and has provided each house with a waste bin free of charge. Moreover, citizens in remote parts of Vushtrri also pay the same prices for the service as within the city, although the logistics costs are higher. In this way, the city succeeds in protecting vulnerable groups. Another vital component of Vuhsstri’s success is education. Environmental protection and waste management are addressed in all schools, for example, in so-called “Green Clubs” where pupils carry out projects on recycling.
The Covid-19 pandemic posed many challenges to the implementation of waste management in the city of Vushtrri. One challenge was the loss of revenue last year. Shops and businesses that had to close for several months due to the pandemic and families living in difficult socio-economic conditions could not always afford the cost of the waste management service. In addition, the already unstable price for the sale of recycled waste has been erratic and falling.
How did the city respond to this challenging situation? Vushtrri waived the cost of waste management for all families living in difficult socio-economic conditions from March to December 2020. In addition, an online payment system was introduced. Furthermore, the new waste management action plan 2021-2025 will take into account the lessons learned from the pandemic.
Further Information:
Current Situation of the Waste Management System in Vushtrri (pdf, 980 kb)
Recording of the event (Presentation on Vushtrri starts min. 40): Managing solid waste during the pandemic (Only for those registered on the Connective Cities Platform) https://community.connective-cities.net/node/468
Contact:
Xhafer Tahiri
Mayor
Vushtrri municipality
Republic of Kosovo
xhafer.sh.tahiri@rks-gov.net
City Practitioners Handbook: Circular Food Systems
This handbook provides local governments with concrete tools their peers are using to facilitate the transition to circular food systems, from stakeholder engagement to designing effective policies. It draws on experiences from the ICLEI network and its Circular Development pathway, learnings from the ICLEI-RUAF CITYFOOD Network and best practices from the Milan Pact Awards. This publication features experiences from 50 local governments and was designed by ICLEI experts in collaboration with champion cities for the benefit of city practitioners.
Municipal Response to COVID-19 for Sustainable Urban Development in Southeast Europe and Caucasus
The COVID-19 pandemic tested the robustness and resourcefulness of mostly all municipal services, from transportation and waste management to recreation and communication, pushing cities to reinvent new ways to serve their citizens. Besides, pandemic-centered protocols set new behavioral patterns – many of which were quite stressful for urban economies. Others, on the contrary, made both city leaders and citizens rethink the status-quo regarding sustainability and resilience. They created the opportunity for a green and circular economy to determine the mood of the recovery. Thus, a deep and better understanding of a city’s systems and operation is required in order to move towards sustainable development and greater resilience. If cities manage to learn from the COVID-19 crisis and proactively apply long-term prevention and risk reduction approaches, they will meet future emergencies better prepared or avoid some of them.
The following report summarizes the study on municipal response to COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted in September 2020, more than half a year after the global emergency was announced. It covers cities of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine.