Jerash in Jordan: Incremental steps towards success
A shared journey: eight years with Connective Cities
The Roman ruins of Jerash are considered one of the best preserved | Photo: Mugur, Adobe Stock
Known as "Pompeii of the Middle East", Jerash in Jordan is a tourist destination due to its well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins. It is a rapidly urbanizing city that is experiencing population growth, accompanied by challenges such as housing shortages, traffic congestion, environmental degradation, and the integration of refugee population. As the city struggles with these complex issues, the municipality has been pursuing innovative and sustainable solutions that prioritize the well-being of its residents while fostering environmental stewardship and economic prosperity. Represented by the local development unit, the municipality has actively participated in many of Connective Cities regional and global activities, enabling it to take away ideas for local projects in the areas of gender-sensitive local economic development, waste management and plastic recycling, paving the way towards becoming a zero-waste municipality. In 2021, the municipality established a sorting station with financial and technical support from the GIZ to construct a waste sorting facility. The municipal waste management team has successfully managed the segregated waste operation during the past years. The operation is sustainable and the revenue from selling the segregated products is covering the operational costs.
The recycling plant in Jersah | Photo: Connective Cities
The use of street furniture made from recycled plastic and other art campaigns using recycled materials have helped to raise awareness of plastic recycling among the local population and increase the recycling rate.
To further develop the sorting facility, Jerash participated in Connective Cities learning process ”municipal energy efficiency projects” and developed a proposal aimed at the expansion of the existing facility in order to increase the number of customers and services via electrical waste collection trucks thus minimizing diesel consumption which consumes over 30% of the municipality budget. The anticipated achievements of the proposed project include annual savings in cost of diesel, excellent return on investment, and reduction in GHG emissions. In a significant recent advancement, Jerash received support from the USAID to develop a recycling plan that aims to enhance recycling activities with separation at the source. Furthermore, intensive coordination between Connective Cities, Cities Climate Finance Gap fund, the European Investment Bank, and the Cities and villages Bank in Jordan has led to selecting Jerash municipality for receiving a concessional loan and technical assistance in the form of a feasibility study.
Raising awareness: street furniture made from recycled plastic | Photo: City of Jerash
A shade canopy made of colorful plastic bottles was set up in public gardens for a month. | Photo: City of Jerash
Ms. Wafa Hawamdeh, head of the local development unit in Jerash municipality, describes the integrated approach of the work accomplished with Connective Cities: “We had to address challenges related to energy and fuel consumption as well as plastic recycling. So far, the municipal sorting facility only produces raw material that we sell to a private sector investor, which makes up an income to the municipality. To advance in this field, Connective Cities supported us through partnerships and peer learning with municipalities including Hebron and some Lebanese municipalities. In addition, we received technical advisory to develop a project proposal for plastic recycling which we call ‘Jerash Plastic.’ …. ‘Since establishing the GIS unit at the municipality, we have faced several challenges related to lack of capacities and funding. Connective Cities has supported us to customize a prototype for a rigid geodatabase. We are employing the GIS and spatial data in several areas including municipal waste management. We have benefited greatly from the capacity strengthening related to utilising the developed database and the application- I myself in addition to other staff from the GIS unit have developed our specialist skills. This collaboration has marked a great advancement in developing the capacities of the GIS unit’.
A memento is presented to the Mayor and staff of Jerash Municipality for being elected to the Connective Cities Regional Steering Committee. | Photo: Connective Cities
In 2022, Connective Cities' network members in the MENA region elected Jerash as a representative in the network's steering committee to lead on the topic of social entrepreneurship and circularity.
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