annex 2 on sustainable local development: best practice

8/13/2019 Annex 2 on Sustainable Local Development: Best Practice

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2 PROGRAMMING SUSTAINABLE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT: A HANDBOOK FOR EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA ANNEX 2

1. Entry Points for Sustainable Local Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2. Best Practice Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3. Communicating Our Work: Blog Contest For Sustainable Local Development . . . . . . . . . . . 53

List of Case Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Case Study 1: Wider Europe: Aid for trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 2: Biomass Energy For Employment and Energy Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Case Study 3: Upper Drina Regional Development Programme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Case Study 4: PET-Recycling and Roma Inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 5: ART Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 6: Vocational Education Against Poverty – Income Generation

and Employment Through Skills Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Case Study 7: Energy and Biomass Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 8: Energy Efficiency In Public And Private Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 9: Sustainable Mountain Pasture Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Case Study 10: Community Gardens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 11: Climate Risk management at the Local Level Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Case Study 12: Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Case Study 13: Every Drop Matters – The Gacka River Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 14: COAST Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 15: Environment and Sustainable Development Programme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Case Study 16: Poverty and Environment Initiative (PEI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 17: Green/Sustainable Public Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Case Study 18: The Guessing Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Case Study 19: Sustaining Livelihoods Affected By the Aral Sea Disaster (UNJP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Case Study 20: Integrated Support System of social Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Case Study 21: Introducing community-based social services – Social Services for new Employment. . . . 27

TABLE OF CONTENTS



3ANNEX 2 PROGRAMMING SUSTAINABLE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT: A HANDBOOK FOR EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Case Study 22: Energy Access through Community –owned Solar Installations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Case Study 23: Multi Stakeholder Partnherships in Urban Service Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Case Study 24: Srebrenica Regional Recovery Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Case Study 25: Scaling Up HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support For most at Risk

Populations in Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Case Study 26: Peacebuilding and inclusive local development – roma healthcare mediators . . . . . . . . . . . 31Case Study 27: Tuberculosis Prevention in Karakalpakstan: A sustainable Model of Volunteerism for

D e v e l o p m e n t ( U N V ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2Case Study 28: Raising Competitiveness of the region through Innovative Approaches to Regional

Planning And Social Services (UNJP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Case Study 29: Sustainable cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Case Study 30: Local Development Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Case Study 31: Crimea Integration and Development Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Case Study 32: Integration of Social-media into Placemaking Practices – Foursquare for Development . . 37Case Study 33: Inclusive Employment and Social Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Case Study 34: Social Innovation Camp Armenia (Mardamej) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Case Study 35: Local Agenda 21 in Belarus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Case Study 36: Securing access to water through insitutional development and infrastructure (UNJP). . . 41Case Study 37: Capacity building and regulation of water and electricity sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Case Study 38: mitigating Corruption in Water Governance through Participatory Public Finance . . . . . . . 42Case Study 39: Reinforcement of Local Democracy (LOD III). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Case Study 40: Resilient Local Planning for Sustainable Local Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Case Study 41: Strengthening local and regional Governance in Kvemo Kartli Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Case Study 42: Inter Municipal Cooperation Programme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Case Study 43: Joint Integrated Local Development Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Case Study 45: Enhance Gender Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Case Study 46: Communities Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Case Study 47: Transparent Town. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Case Study 48: Public Administration and Local Governance – Decentralization and Partnership . . . . . . . . 50




1. ENTRY POINTS FOR LO

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOP




1. ENTRY POINTS FOR LOCAL SUSTAINA

Energy & Environment Poverty Reduction& Job Creation

Good Governance /Local Governance

Social Sector &Civil Society

• Energy efficiency& local energymanagement1

• Local and off-gridrenewable energyproduction2

• Community-basednatural resourcemanagement

• Waste management3

• Water managementsystems

• Disaster risk reductionand climate changeadaptation

• Biodiversity• Green public

procurement &infrastructureinvestment

• SME development• Social protection• Micronance• Vocational education• Sustainable tourism

• Business enablingenvironment

• Sustainableconstruction

• Transport & personalmobility

• Social enterprises• Public-private

partnerships

• Resilient local andregional planning

• Citizen participation• Decentralization• Transparency &

accountability• Integration of

minorities• Crisis prevention and

post-conict recovery• Government nances• Social inclusion• Knowledge brokerage4

• Capacity development• Indicators for

sustainability• Interactive IT spatial

platforms• Inter-municipal

cooperation

• Gender equality• Empowerment of

local vulnerablecommunities

• Legal advisory services• Social entrepreneurship• Social services• Education• Culture• Sustainable

consumption• Preventive health• Social cohesion• Migration and

returnees• Social marketing and

awareness raisingRural Development

• Irrigation systems• Other rural

infrastructure• Sustainable agriculture

extension services

Innovations

1) For public buildings, private houses, transportation, community energy saving programmes, etc.2) Micro, small, and medium-scale hydro, ground heat, geothermal, photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, combined heat-power3) Waste reduction/ separation, recycling, waste water management, etc.4) Linking academia, policy makers and CSOs for sustainable local development




2. BEST PRACTICE EXAM




ECONOMICCASE STUDY 1: WIDER EUROPE: AID FOR TRADE

Project Title:Wider Europe: Aid for TradeCountry: Central Asia, South Caucasus, Western CISCosts: EUR 1.6 Mill. (Phase I), EUR 4.62 Mill. (Phase II)

Duration: 2009 - 2014Stakeholder:Local authorities, Farmers Associations, Entrepreneurs

Entry Points:• SME Development• Employment

• Environment• Capacity Development• IT-services

Project Description: The Aid for Trade regional programme supports the development of privatesector, trade and competitiveness mostly at the local level in 9 countries of the region. The capacitydevelopment aims to foster trade, including promotion of Fairtrade products, integrating commerciallyviable greener production methodologies, etc.

The success of the programme has largely been shaped by involving stakeholders in the designprocess and using a holistic approach in engaging farmers and the private sector in its activities. Theproject started with conducting participatory situation assessments on the ground. The project hasrecruited experts who took lead in examining the local context, targeting three client groups in theassessment: private sector, CSO (business/farmers/thematic associations) and local government struc-tures. Most importantly, the assessments have been forward looking in their scope, aiming identifyingbusiness and trade opportunities. Traditionally, the assessments were validated through a stakeholdermeeting to discuss the ndings and reach a joined understanding on the priorities of the intervention.During such meetings, stakeholders were offered a possibility to decide on the topic of their trainingsfor the next stage. The participants have asked and received trainings on standards, business skills, andnegotiation skills. More importantly, the involvement of stakeholders has become a regular practiceand a working model in the project. Local people have been consulted to hear their impressions onthe project activities, to understand their concerns and include the solutions to their problems in theproject as much as possible.

The clients who participated in trainings were also eligible to submit their business ideas for costcontribution by the Aid for Trade project. The proposals were assessed by a committee, usually com-posed of UNDP, members of the civil society, experts and local government structures. Of course notall participants to the trainings were able to access nancing but only those with a viable businessidea and those who have demonstrated the necessary business skills and drive. This was made tosafeguard that the project supports viable and sustainable business ideas and does not create articialbusinesses.

At the current stage of project implementation, it has been learned that, involving local stakeholders iskey to :

• Access vital local knowledge;• Ensure the appropriation of project activities by involved clients (i.e. demand driven activities);• Ensure the sustainability of the activities.

2. BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES




Lessons Learned: The success of the project is mainly due to the careful integration of local knowledgeinvolving stakeholders in the elaboration process. Furthermore, the different activities are stronglyinter-linked and provide incentives to the rest. For example, micronance beneciaries receive thenecessary trainings to ensure the best possible outcomes of the projects and their investments.No size ts all policy. The project adapts its activities to the local context in each of its interventioncountries.

Most businesses and farmers associations will need support along the whole of the business process:this includes business management, processing, exporting, etc.

Links: Project overview:http://europeandcis.undp.org/news/show/A659BADA-F203-1EE9-BFCED3F34E94AAF9

Project Evaluation: http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=5769

Contact: Joern Rieken, [email protected],Danièle Gelz, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 2: BIOMASS ENERGY FOR EMPLOYMENT AND ENERGY SECURITY

Project Title:Biomass Energy for Employment and Energy SecurityCountry: Bosnia & HerzegovinaCosts: USD 2,588,950.-Duration: 2009 - 2013Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Schools, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Local Energy

Management• Renewable Energy• Climate Change

Mitigation

• SME Development• Poverty Reduction• Job Creation• Capacity Development

Project Description: The project aims at reducing CO2 emissions by introducing sustainable biomassuse in public premises and the development of a local biomass market. The project has supportedthe local biomass market through expanding connections between local producers and consumers. To ensure the sustainable demand for biomass, the special biomass boilers (heaters) are planned tobe installed in 10 local schools. Besides potentials for expanded employment opportunities in thebiomass production sector, the school students and local teachers have received practical education inenvironmentally friendly practices and technologies. With a view of sustainability and exit strategy, thelocal authorities and the school management have also received capacity development support onenergy and environmental topics as well as on biomass issues in general.

Among the results: repair of radiators in 6 schools and energy consumption reduced by 20%.Furthermore, carbon emissions are estimated to be reduced by 80,000 t CO2eq over 15 years (equiva-lent to CO2 certicates of EUR 624,000.- approx.) if further biomass boilers are installed in about 500schools and other public buildings e.g. hospitals, municipal premises, etc.

Lessons Learned: Where there is weak or even absent baseline data, project designs should containsubstantial efforts to collect such data that will contribute towards condent estimates of the benetsof RE or EE investments. Without such data, it will be very difficult to convince stakeholders (public or

private) to invest in any EE or RE interventions.




Tendering for services that are not readily available in a particular location requires careful design.Failure to do so may result in procurement delays that may cause critical delays in the overall deliveryschedule of the project.

Links: Project Document: http://www.undp.ba/upload/projects/Biomass%20Project%20Document%20ENG.pdf, GEF Evaluation Report:http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=4752

Contact: Amila Selmanagic Bajrovic, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 3: UPPER DRINA REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Project Title:Socio-economic recovery of multiethnic communities throughaccess to employment and public services - Upper Drina regionaldevelopment programme

Country: Bosnia & HerzegovinaCosts: USD 7 Mill.Duration: 2007 - 2009Stakeholder:Local Authorities, Civil Society Organizations, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Community Engagement• Service Delivery

• SME Development• Poverty Reduction• Job Creation• Capacity Development• Preventive Health

Project Description: The Programme intended to enhance the economic and social opportunitiesin the region, as well as strengthen local capacities to ensure sustainability and irreversibility of theprogress. To this aim, the project supported introduction of good governance practices, investments inpublic services and infrastructure and economic development initiatives. In essence, it promoted thesocio-economic recovery of multiethnic communities by providing greater access to employment andhigh-quality and needs-based public service through strengthening local government structures.

To improve delivery of public services in multiethnic communities, the community has becomeengaged (417 citizens) with the local authorities in indentifying the priorities and in strategic planning,as well as in budgeting for implementation of the key projects. Further, 97 public officials obtainedvarious trainings (project-cycle management, IT, strategic, budgetary and nancial planning). Drasticimprovement of the governance practices has allowed municipalities to improve their credit ratingsand obtain additional funding for implementation of the priority projects (for example 5 water supplynetworks, reaching almost 40,000 people, were constructed).

Community engagement and empowerment was further supported by strengthening local CSOs inadvocacy and effective service delivery, as well as in resource mobilization (at the end 8 CSOs, out of12, actually succeeded in raising external funds). Additionally, 3,766 citizens were trained on nancialissues, 6,000 were sensitized on HIV/AIDS and 1,690 on tuberculosis and general health matters. The project has worked actively with local authorities and businesses to improve employment op-portunities. A ‘Regional Business Cluster Mapping assessment’ identied possible partners and areaswhere businesses needed support. Business start-up grants for returnees and other vulnerable groupssupported 698 sheep farmers. To reward sound scal management performance and compliance withthe regulatory environment of SMEs, 18 companies received a tax refund, provided by UNDP through alocal NGOS, acting as fund custodian.

Lessons Learned: Establishment of social trust among all stakeholders through extensive dialogueimproved quality and substance of community involvement. Visibility through media, newsletters,focus groups to inform and involve citizens are necessary. Focus should not only be on how partner-

ships are developed between stakeholders and the programme, but also on how stakeholders canthemselves develop partnership opportunities.

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provides support and consultancy to regional authorities (regional councils) for conducting regionaldevelopment Strategic Planning processes in 2 regions. Furthermore, the programme supports theLocal Economic Development Agencies (LEDAs) through technical assistance, aiming at the reorgani-zation of their structure in order to accelerate the process of transformation of the agencies from LocalDevelopment Agencies into Regional Integrated Development Agencies. LEDAs staff is trained on thepreparation of business plans, support to small business and project management, with a constantattention to those economic activities that can benet women, youth and underprivileged, and withthe aim of moving from a pure business-oriented approach to a more human development-centeredone. In order to foster economic development, ILSLEDA consultants carried out surveys on agrofoodvaluechains in both regions, providing guidelines for regional administrations, LEDAs and local produc-ers on how to increase the economic value of 14 typical assets in each region. Aiming at supportingsmall local businesses, 2 County Partnership Councils (CPC), composed of representatives from theregional and local authority of government, business sector and the civil society, were created andrecognized by regional councils.

Links: Project Overview Phase I:http://www.undp.org.al/index.php?page=projects/project&id=106

Project Overview Phase II:http://www.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/operations/projects/environment_and_energy/art-gold-2-albania-programme-/

Contact: Luigi Caero, [email protected] Estevan Ikonomi, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 6: VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AGAINST POVERTY– INCOME GENERATION AND EMPLOYMENT THROUGH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Project Title:Vocational Education against poverty – Income Generation andEmployment through Skills Development

Country: GeorgiaCosts: USD 2,485,500.-Duration: 2011 - 2015Stakeholder:Ministry of Education, Local Authorities, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Poverty Reduction• Vocational Education &

Training• Job Creation• Policy & Regulatory

Environment

Project Description: This project aims at reducing poverty and increasing employment throughsupporting a vocational education and training system that responds to the labor-market needs. Theproject worked at policy, institutional and individual levels, through:

– Improving national vocational education policy together with the Ministry of Education; Supportingthe Ministry in providing national standards of the vocational education system, curriculum, teachingand textbooks.

– Enhancing institutional development and sustainability of the Vocational Colleges through betterpositioning them. Diversifying their services and connecting the Colleges with the modern researchand professional development opportunities.

– Increasing public awareness through informative materials and encouraging public private and socialdialogue.

In addition to being very successful at the local level with the employment rate of graduated stand-ing at around 70%, the programme has fuelled the major policy reform in the vocational education

http://ebookbrowse.com/mdg1b-bosnia-and-herzegovina-upper-drina-regional-development-programme-pdf-d317101719

http://www.undp.org/content/albania/en/home/operations/projects/environment_and_energy/art-gold-2-albania-programme-/




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system in Georgia that integrates institutional development of the Vocational Colleges, creation ofnew curriculum, enhancing teachers and textbook standards, etc. The improvement of the vocationaleducation system is now part of all major strategic documents and directions developed by Georgiangovernment.

Links: Project Overview: http://undp.org.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=40&pr_id=168

Contact: George Nanobashvili, [email protected] Revaz Sakvarelidze, [email protected]




ENVIRONMENT

CASE STUDY 7: ENERGY AND BIOMASS PROJECTProject Title:Energy and Biomass ProjectCountry: MoldovaCosts: EUR 14.56 MillDuration: 2011 – 2014Stakeholder:National Government, Governmental Agencies, Local Authorities,

NGOs, Private Sector, Academia, Media

Entry Points:• Renewable Energy• Climate Change

Mitigation• Capacity Development• Community-based

Natural ResourceManagement

• Market Development• Job-creation• Local Governance

Project Description: The project aims to contribute to a sustainable energy production throughbiomass production from agricultural waste, and therefore to establish municipal biomass heatingsystems. This will stimulate the national biomass market at regional and local level, decrease CO2-emissions and raise awareness for renewable energy technologies.

The project has been promoted in the entire Republic of Moldova: 32 districts and the Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauz Yeri. 118 villages have been selected to connect their public institutions toalternative biomass heating systems. Modern biomass heating systems are being installed in 138public buildings, such as schools, kindergartens, community centres. More than 75,000 people, includ-ing 22,061 children, benet from securely supplied energy and more heat comfort. The new biomassheating systems led to the creation of more than 250 new jobs, as well as to the launch of tens of new

businesses producing biomass fuel in the form of pellets and briquettes. In less than two years of activ-ity of the project, the number of briquettes and pellets producers has increased more than 10 times,reaching 67 in 2013. A competitive leasing mechanism supporting local entrepreneurs in procuringequipment for biomass processing (baling, briquetting and pelletizing) was established and the rst 15applicants obtained the equipment under preferential terms. A subsidy mechanism for procurementof biomass household boilers was established. By the end of 2014 at least 600 local households willpurchase modern biomass boilers, 30% of the costs being reimbursed from EU funds. 4,447 representa-tives of municipalities, the biomass industry and teachers were trained on community and resourcemobilization, community project implementation, biomass heating systems and project sustainability.17,747 school children learned about types of renewable energies and principles of energy efficiency.Educational materials were distributed to 330 schools and children were engaged in educationaland entertainment activities focused on renewables and energy efficiency in a bio-energy summercamp. As a result of integrated communication activities, more than 150,000 people were reachedby direct communication (public events, thematic discussions, awareness raising meetings, projectpresentations, community mobilization actions, lessons in schools, interpersonal communication etc.)and around 2 million by outreach communication actions (video/audio spots, TV/Radio shows, pressarticles, newsletters, posters, brochures, leaets, billboards, visibility materials).

Lessons Learned: The Moldova Energy and Biomass Project successfully demonstrates a communitydevelopment approach yielding triple wins by integrating supply and demand side measures tostimulate renewable energy markets which generate local employment and income based on lo-cally available resources. The approach needs to be continued with an even larger emphasis on newtechnologies and further explanations on biomass as fuel source, its potential for Moldova in termsof energy security, job creation, environment, green economic development etc. Continued effortsare required in view of increasing the capacities of media in the eld of renewable energy in terms of




producing more complex and analytical mass-media materials, undertaking mass media campaignswith the participation of several media institutions on subjects related to alternative energy etc.

Links: Project Overview: www.biomasa.aee.md

Contact: Alexandru Ursul, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 8: ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS

Project Title:Energy Efficiency in Public and Private BuildingsCountry: Bulgaria, CroatiaCosts: Bulgaria: USD 7,248,100.-Duration: Bulgaria: 2006 – 2010, Croatia: 2005 - 2013Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Housing Association,

Private Sector

Entry Points:• Energy Efficiency• Climate Change

Mitigation• Infrastructure• Capacity Development• Local Governance

Project Description: The objective of the project is to improve the energy efficiency of private andpublic buildings in Bulgaria through renovation, strengthening the institutional framework and capac-ity building of the targeted end user groups. 172 officers of 60 municipalities were trained, energyefficiency designs for 6 pilot buildings were developed, a guide on municipal energy planning withgood practices was published and an energy efficiency portal went online. As a result, reduction ofemissions of 144,741 t CO2eq is expected until 2020.

In Croatia, the main goal of the Energy Management Systems-Project is to create local expert capacitiesand implement processes of continuous and systematic energy management, to introduce strategicenergy planning and sustainable energy and other resource management at the local and regionallevel. More than 1120 energy audits on more than 1340 public buildings led to more than 140 invest-ment-projects and all 147 participating cities have signed the “Energy Charter”. As a crucial tool forenergy data gathering and analysis, the Energy Management Information System has been developed. The system is an internet application and is accessible free of charge to any public institution that joinsthe activities of systematic energy management. In total, about 5000 people were educated on energymanagement and efficient energy use.

Lessons Learned: The project cannot be conducted by the homeowners only and/or through marketforces. The implementation is successful only with the active involvement of and nancial support bythe state. Also, it is better to implement housing renovation in the context of municipal plans/urbandevelopment programmes.

Links: Project Overview Bulgaria: http://www.undp.bg/projects.php?id=77

Project Evaluation Bulgaria:GEF Project Evaluation Bulgaria:http://web.undp.org/gef/evaluation.shtmlProject Overview Croatia:http://www.undp.org/content/croatia/en/home/operations/projects/envi-ronment_and_energy/RemovingBarriers.html

Contact: Bulgaria: Zdravko Genchev, [email protected] Croatia: Goran Čačić, [email protected]

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CASE STUDY 9: SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN PASTURE MANAGEMENT

Project Title:Sustainable Mountain Pasture ManagementCountry: KyrgyzstanCosts: USD 1,975,566.-Duration: 2008 - 2012Stakeholder:Local Authorities, Pasture Users Association, CBOs

Entry Points:• Climate Change

Mitigation• Poverty Reduction• Capacity Development• Local Governance• Community

Empowerment• Infrastructure

Project Description: The project aimed at introducing sustainable pasture management practices inKyrgyzstan that would at the same time prevent land degradation and support livelihoods. A cost-effective and replicable pasture management system, which reduces the negative effects of livestockgrazing on land and which improves rural livelihoods, has been installed and a local Pasture UsersAssociation assigns pasture areas to its members, who are charged for the use of pasture and grazingland. With the revenues local restoration projects and projects to improve pasture infrastructure arerealized (veterinary service, bridges, sheepyards, solar stations etc.).

Lessons Learned: Awareness raising and capacity building very time intensive; using extendedfamilies as basic social units proved cost effective; individual pasture committees should be linked tolarger Pasture User Associations.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.undp.kg/en/component/resource/article/1-projects/893-demonstrating-sustainable-mountain-pasture-management-in-the-suusamyr-valley

Project Evaluation: http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=5129

Contact: Daniar Ibragimov, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 10: COMMUNITY GARDENS

Project Title:Community GardensCountry: MongoliaCosts: USD 10,467.-, in kind co-nancing: USD 5’200.-Duration: 2005 - 2006Stakeholder:Local Authorities, Pasture Users Association, CBOs

Entry Points:• Environment• Biodiversity• Capacity development• Local Governance

Project Description: This project intended to demonstrate that planting fruits in community gardenseven in a soil eroded and pasture degraded land is a win-win option. The main activities of the projectincluded: fencing, land cultivation, tree plantation, creation of a wind protection belt and the establish-ment of a tree nursery to raise seedlings. The project involved the local authorities and raised aware-ness about land degradation and the environment. As a result, the local Governor and other authoritiesare very supportive of sustainable projects and added environmental sustainability as an element inthe planning process of the village. In total, 40 hectares of land have been cultivated benetting to 230families.

Lessons Learned: The main challenge the community faced during the implementation of communitygardens was to raise awareness among the neighbors of the importance of combating land degrada-tion as some herders were complaining of decreasing pastureland and blocking passage of livestockto wider pasture areas. To overcome this challenge, the community cooperated with a local TV stationand newspaper to raise awareness at the community level of the importance of these sustainable








projects and the benets for the community in terms of environment and livelihoods.

Links: Project Overview: http://sgp.undp.org/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=189

Contact: [email protected]

CASE STUDY 11: CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL PROJECT

Project Title: Getting prepared to the consequences of climate change – Climate RiskManagement at the Local Level Pilot Project

Country: ArmeniaCosts: USD 107,690.-Duration: 2011 - 2012


Adaptation• Capacity Development• Community-based


• Local Governance

• Citizen Participation






































Project Title:Getting prepared to the consequences of climate change – ClimateRisk Management at the Local Level Pilot Project

Country: ArmeniaCosts: USD 107,690.-Duration: 2011 - 2012Stakeholder:National government, Local authorities, Regional Disaster Risk

Reduction authorities






Project Description: The climate risk management pilot under the Local Level Risk Management(LLRM) project component was a part of the national “Strengthening of National Disaster RiskReduction Capacities-3rd phase” project, supported by the regional “Capacity Building for ClimateRisk Management” project. The objective of the pilot was to reduce the vulnerabilities and strengthencapacities of communities and public administrations (at the village and district/rayon level), which aremost directly affected by disaster and climate risks.

Following to capacity assessment as well as the assessment of disaster and climate risk vulnerability,adaptation projects and climate risk management interventions have been designed and imple-

mented. For instance, a gabion for river bank protection was constructed in Tasik community to protectthe 35 ha agricultural area from oods and mudow or anti-hail nets were set in Aigehovi communityto protect vine yards.

Very importantly, the project ensured engagement of communities in the disaster related problemsand issues through a number of creative means, such as a photo story contest conducted in 4 regions,which revealed the prevailing hazards through the eye of the community members.

Lessons Learned: Besides lack of clear bureaucratic structures and poor cooperation betweenthe relevant state structures, reluctance to any initiative which does not provide immediate socialeffect has been observed in the communities populated mainly by refugees. These communitiesrequire more thinking/preparedness and sensitiveness before getting engaged. Local communitiesdemonstrated high interest and willingness to accept the new technologies in making their voicesheard by the decision makers (e.g. through “Vox Populi”, a photo storytelling contest). Piloting anti-hailnets has created a huge interest also among wider audience such as the farmers, bankers and loanorganizations.

Links: Photo Story:http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/crisispreventionandre-covery/projects_initiatives/from_disaster_relieftoriskreduction.html

Contact: Anna Kaplina, [email protected]

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/crisispreventionandrecovery/projects_initiatives/from_disaster_relieftoriskreduction.html







CASE STUDY 12: CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE LAND USE MANAGEM

Project Title:Conservation of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land UseManagement

Country: KosovoCosts: USD 4.04 Mill.Duration: 2011 - 2013Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Private Sector,

Privatization Agency of Kosovo, Civil Society Organizations

Entry Points:• Biodiversity• Renewable Energy• Citizen Participation• Business Development• Gender• Capacity

Project Description: The purpose of this project is to provide support to develop sustainable devel-opment plans/policies, so that they respond to the need of stakeholders and promote employmentand environmental protection at the same time. This in the context of a rural region with high poverty,most socially excluded population (according to the Kosovo Human development report) which is alsorecognized by its highly pristine nature, area suggested for protection under the category of nationalpark.

Activities focus on the conservation of biodiversity by establishment of a national park, the re-estab-lishment and development of improved local businesses based on sustainable land use – and promo-tion of endogenous local products, environmentally sound energy services and improved capacitiesand empowerment of local authorities, communities and women.

Among the targets are the development of a municipal development plan, an environmental plan, theextension of a local national park, short- and long-term biodiversity studies to inform and allow pro-duction of the management plan for the national park, to promote local specic endogenous productsbased on value chain analysis, to prepare local products in a way that they meet quality control andcertication standards in order to meet market and export requirements. Promote and strengtheningof women-driven businesses so they become formal businesses.

Furthermore, local renewable energy resources will be analyzed in order to produce a municipalenergy strategy according to new legal obligations under Kosovo legislation which will address issuesof energy efficiency in public and private buildings and renewable energy as well as environmentalimpacts of the energy potentials of SHHPP infrastructure in a national park area.

Capacity development of the local municipality will need to be improved to address the implementa-tion of this new development framework, especially in relation to the needs to secure safe drinkingwater and waste water and waste public services; enforcement of protection of environment in termsof decreased pollution in all its forms, energy unit to promote energy efficiency, tourism promotionand urban regulatory planning.

Lessons Learned: In rural remote areas in Kosovo most women are not educated, they drop schoolafter elementary education, creating a gap in integrating social and economic development. Breakingthis trend and advocating for mandatory high school education is a relevant dimension. Educationof both women and men in technical areas that relate to the existing potentialities - agriculture andnature based tourism - is also a key factor for improved development standards.

The business sector/business associations should be organized together with the municipality andlocal action groups, to ensure sustainability of the tourism and the strategic identied economic sec-tors. Such as Herbs, none wood forest products, bees, milk and meat.

Links: Project Overview : http://www.kosovo.undp.org/en/Inclusive-Growth/Conservation-of-Biodiversity-and-Sustainable-Land-Use-Management-in-DragashDraga-154-1005

Contact: Maria Zuniga Barrientos, [email protected]




CASE STUDY 13: EVERY DROP MATTERS – THE GACKA RIVER PROJECT

Project Title:Every Drop Matters – The Gacka River ProjectCountry: CroatiaCosts: No data availableDuration: 2007 - 2010Stakeholder:Local Authorities, NGOs, Tourist Board, School

Entry Points:• Water Management• Environment• Sustainable Tourism• Job Creation• Capacity Building

Project Description: This regional partnership project on water issues aimed to provide the frame-work and a joint action plan for water-related programming with a particular focus on increasedaccess to safe drinking water, facilitating the use of environmentally sound industrial technologies andawareness raising activities. The main project components were the protection of the river and thedevelopment of sustainable tourism. In collaboration with local stakeholders, the project targeted theexisting and potential entrepreneurs in the area of rural/adventure tourism, in order to enhance theircapacities for offering higher-end products and services, in line with tenets of sustainable tourism andthe requirements of its market.

Through installing local tourist offers (biking trails, y-shing guide, tness park), additional touristswere attracted by the region which increased tourism revenues of the region in a sustainable way,while spreading the idea of sustainable tourism at the same time. Environmental key achievementswere the investment in project documentation for waste water infrastructure, a visitor-centre aboutindigenous species of sh and a guide to good water management. Altogether, about 15 new jobswere created in the project region.

Lessons Learned: The project proved to have a larger impact with smaller funds when embeddingactivities in already on-going local initiatives. Uniqueness of the project is not in especially innovativeindividual activities, but their implementation in phases and blending them according to the assessedsituation. Developing needed services on already existing structures (often local NGOs) no matter howweak they are at the beginning of the project, instead of starting from the scratch provided sustainabil-ity of the project. Some of involved NGOs are now offering services and take actions they were unableto do before.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.everydropmatters.com/,http://www.undp.hr/show.jsp?page=104012

Contact: Ivana Laginja, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 14: COAST PROJECTProject title: COAST ProjectCountry: CroatiaCosts: USD 1,597,557.-Duration: 2007 - 2013Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Biodiversity• Agriculture• Sustainable Tourism• Banking Sector• Local Planning• Capacity Development

Project Description: The objective of the COAST project is to effectively transform the currentpractices of tourism, agriculture and shery in order to include elements of biodiversity and landscapeconservation.In the agricultural sector, the project supports environmentally friendly agricultural practices (includ-ing traditional and organic agriculture, cultivation of indigenous varieties and breeds) and aims at




combining agriculture with other sectors, such as tourism. Re-use and production on abandonedagricultural lands, as well as the branding and marketing of biodiversity-friendly agricultural productsare further measures for a sustainable agriculture sector development.

The COAST project also encourages sustainable shing practices by researching the current state andavailability of shing resources. Based on this data, guidelines improving the regulation of shery andthe promotion of participatory monitoring and management are supported.

Within the tourism sector, newly developed guidelines for environmentally and socially responsibledevelopment of tourism encourage respect for the environment, biodiversity and the landscape. Theproject strengthens the integration of tourism with other traditional activities within the agricultureand shery sectors and encourages rural and eco tourist development.

A major player in the COAST project is the banking sector, which is encouraged to be responsible forthe project funds. In addition, it ensures technical assistance for the strengthening in their ability toevaluate the ecological and social impacts of the projects that may get funded in the future.

Provided by County developing agencies, newly established green business support programmesprovide technical assistance and the necessary instruments (guarantee funds and small grants) tosupport those projects that contribute to the sustainable development of Dalmatia.

Besides those activities, employment and education for new experts in County development agenciesand public institutions is offered. Furthermore, one of the key project objectives is the integrationof landscape and bio-diversity into the local and regional planning schemes and the formation of aregulatory, operational and implemental system in the sectors of spatial planning and environmentalprotection.

Links: Project overview: http://www.undp.hr/show.jsp?page=57734

Contact: Sandra Vlašić, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 15: ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Project Title:Environment and Sustainable Development ProgrammeCountry: TurkeyCosts: No data availableDuration: 2007 - 2010Stakeholder:National government, Local authorities, Government agencies,

NGOs, Private Sector and Universities

Entry Points:• Climate Change• Carbon Trading• Biodiversity• Energy Efficiency• Water• Sustainable Agriculture• Local Governance

Project Description: UNDP works to enhance national capacities and promote mainstreamingenvironment, climate change and energy efficiency into sectoral policies, climate change adaptationand mitigation and carbon trading, and expanding access to environmental and energy servicesfor the poor, vulnerable groups and others requiring special attention. UNDP in cooperation with itsstakeholders aims capacity-building at all levels in sustainable land and water management, agricul-tural efficiency, biodiversity protection, climate resilience and energy efficiency systems and services,with special attention to social dimensions, facilitating market transformation through clean technolo-gies and creation of green jobs, strengthening economic competitiveness with a territorial approach

and improving capacities for disaster preparedness and early warning. UNDP also plays a major role in Turkey’s membership negotiations with the European Union and its commitment to the Copenhagencriteria and the implementation of the acquis communautaire.




priority targets: some policies may be more appropriate than others, depending on local, regional andnational circumstances. Additionally, during the design of the policy special attention should be givento the following:i. It should be set for a long period of time, be simple and free of ambiguity,ii. All relevant parties should be involved in the design phase,iii. It should be regularly evaluated and revised or adopted if necessary.

Establishment of partnership should be set out very carefully for the sake of successful project imple-mentation. Agreements among all project partners should be set out prior to project initiation and allroles and responsibilities should be as detailed and as clear as possible in relation to the institutionalarrangements.

Ownership is the critical issue regarding the implementation process of the project. The pilot/demoimplementations are essential to show the limits of what can be achieved. Moreover, it is vital todocument and visualize the results of the projects for advocacy and lobbying process and to widerdisseminate.

Links: Project overview: http://www.undp.org.tr/Gozlem2.aspx?WebSayfaNo=112

Contact: Katalin Zaim, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 16: POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE (PEI)

Project Title:Poverty and Environment Initiative (UNJP)Country: Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, ArmeniaCosts: USD 2,770,000.-;Duration: Phase I: 2008 – 2012 (second phase starting from 2013)Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Government Agencies,

NGOs

Entry Points:• Climate Change• Poverty Reduction• Capacity Development• Local Governance• Local Planning

Project Description: The Poverty and Environment Initiative is the global, joint UNDP and UNEPprogramme supporting country-led efforts to identify and integrate links between socio-economicdevelopment, poverty reduction and environment into national and local development planning andbudgeting.

PEI has been particularly successful to institutionalize its results and upscale their application. Forexample in Tajikistan, the programme started with helping 14 districts to integrate the environmentalsustainability considerations into the district development plans focused on economic development.

The programme has offered a methodology for doing so, the list of indicators to look at and capac-ity development support to the planning process participants (major topics of trainings were localeconomic development, local development planning, management and improvement of data baseat the local level and mainstreaming environment in local development planning and local economicdevelopment). The district authorities were very enthusiastic to participate, partly due to the oppor-tunity to receive new knowledge and skills as well as additional funds and to improve the district leveldata base but also because the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade’s involvement turnedthe project in a national approach, not brought by international donors.

As a result, all 14 districts have produced the development plans in a participatory manner accountingfor all important economic, social and environmental factors.

Following the successful results in these 14 districts, the Tajikistan government has adopted thepiloted methodology as the national standard. The PE indicators have been included in the revised




official state statistics database. Furthermore, the regional authorities have made a request to pursuethe regional development planning as per the new methodology. Finally, the PEI has been invited tocontribute to the process of designing the country’s mid-term development strategy 2013-2015.

This has been a successful example of a vertical scale up of the project results. The major success factorin this situation was the alignment with the national priorities. The Tajikistan government has beendetermined to embark the district development planning in a right manner, and the project supporthas come just in right time to have contributed to this.

Lessons Learned: The programme has the highest chances for success and up-scale potential, if it isaligned with the ongoing processes at national and local level; This warrants the national ownershipand genuine participation.

Poverty – environment mainstreaming is effective only if lead / owned by the ministry / agencyresponsible for the development planning (e.g. economy, nance, sector). Providing evidence of PElinks in economic terms, for example in terms of GDP, employment, export revenue, helps to inuence

key high-level decision makers.PE mainstreaming needs to be exible and tailored for the specic planning and policy makingprocess. Sub-national development plans can be good entry point to demonstrate the value ofmainstreaming PE concerns into national planning processes.

Implementing a few pilot projects helps to present PE links on the ground, thus motivate local andnational planners to introduce PE mainstreaming into planning and budgeting on a systematic basis.

Major challenges in the implementation process was the insufficient understanding of the importanceof a planning process at the local level, weak capacity of the local government staff, weak mechanismsto ensure participation of the private sector and the civil society in decision making and the need forconstant consultancy and support in all target districts in planning, introduction of M&E systems andproposal writing.

Links: Programme Overview: http://www.unpei.org/

Project Evaluation Tajikistan:http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=5768PEI in Tajikistan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH94UGZiDyM

Contact: Henrieta Martonakova, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 17: GREEN/SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

Project Title: Green and Sustainable Public ProcurementStakeholder: National Governments, Local Authorities, NGOs, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Xxxxxx???

Project Description: Although there is no universal denition of sustainable public procurement,there is a clear distinction between Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) and Green PP (GPP).GPP is the selection of products and services that minimize environmental impacts (considering theenvironmental costs of securing raw materials, manufacturing, transport, storing, handling, use ofchemicals etc.). SPP not only aims minimizing environmental damage, but aims to bring benets tosociety and the economy at the same time.






Activities to foster GPP and SPP include voluntary instruments such as Energy Audits, labeling andeco-certication schemes, awards and other incentives and ISO certications create awareness andcompetitive advantages for companies.

Examples for activities in order to foster GPP include:

TheBulgarian Ministry of the Environment and Water chose to only order 100% recycled brepaper. The successful implementation at no additional cost, was taken up by several other publicauthorities.

Miskolc in Hungaria decided to purchase greener alternatives for e.g. winter defrosting (Calciummagnesium acetate instead of socium chloride), or mosquito control.

Malmö ’s goal is to serve 100% organic food in all of its public catering services by 2020. A pilot projectin a local school managed to serve 97% of the food served coming from organic sources, transportedby vehicles meeting the city’s transport sustainability criteria. Impact on the budget was minimized by

shifting meals served from meat products to local seasonal vegetables.8 Dutch municipalities joined forces in renewing their cleaning services contracts with regard onenvironmental matters (maximum level of chemicals, reduction of generated waste etc.) for municipalbuildings.

TheEuropean Parliament and Council adopted a Clean Vehicles Directive that mandates the pro-curement of fuel-efficient and less-polluting road transport vehicles by public authorities and serviceproviders in the European Union.

Vienna has developed ecological procurement criteria for 23 categories of goods and services, whoseapplication resulted in cost savings of about EUR 17million annually, or about 3% of the city’s totalprocurement amount, and CO2 emission reductions of about 30,000 tons per year.

Several UNDP country offices have already implemented strategies for green public procurement inorder to raise awareness among staff members and establish examples for others.

UN Montenegro: In a joint cooperation between the Government o Montenegro, the Government ofAustria, the Municipality of Podgorica and the UN, the UN Shared Eco Premises will provide an efficient,ecologic and modern joint roof for the UN family in Montenegro. The building, which will be com-pleted in 2012, is constructed to passive house standard, using photovoltaic power generation and thenearby river as cooling and heating resource. UNDP Montenegro also purchased 2 hybrid vehicles tosave fossil fuels.

UNDP Armenia: Since 2011, 10 kWt rooftop solar panels are producing the energy for the UN build-ing in Armenia. 3.1 % of the energy consumed by the entire UN House and 8.4 % of UNDP are coveredby the solar panels.

UNDP Montenegro: UNDP Montenegro’s ‘Green Office’-team developed a Greening the Officestrategy and action plan and implemented use of more-efficient lights, reduction of the consumptionof paper, water, electricity and heating, isolation of the office windows with silicone strips, recycling oftoner cartridges and tree planting activities through reinvestment of money saved by those activities. The team is also working on an in-house software for monitoring energy consumption.UNDP Bratislava Regional Office: Completing a six-year period to reduce the office’s environmentalimpact, BRC’s rooftop solar panels produce the energy needed for the office, windows have beenreplaced, lights switched to more energy-efficient technology, bins for waste separation installed anddouble-side printing was set to default in order to reduce the amount of paper used. Additionally,




frequent ‘green months’, where each week of the month is devoted to one type of green activity, raiseawareness among staff on the environment and sustainability.

Links: Public Procurement as a tool for promoting more sustainable consumption and productionpatterns: http://esa.un.org/marrakechprocess/pdf/InnovationBriefs_no5.pdf;Procurement Capacity Development Guidelines: http://www.unpcdc.org/home/procurement-guide.aspx;UNDP Environmental Procurement Practice Guide:http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/docu-ments/procurement/documents/UNDP-SP-Practice-Guide-v2.pdf EU Handbook on Green Public Procurement: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/gpp/buying_green_handbook_en.pdf

CASE STUDY 18: THE GUESSING MODEL

Project Title:The Guessing ModelCountry: AustriaDuration: 1990 - ongoingStakeholder:Local Authorities, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Renewable Energies• Climate Change• Unemployment• Public-private

partnerships

Project Description: The so-called “Guessing Model” aims to combine all available renewable energyresources in a region to a de-centralised and local energy, heat and fuel production for a whole town(about 3800 citizens).

Formerly one of the poorest municipalities in Austria, Guessing has been affected by signicant migra-tion of young people to larger cities and a high unemployment rate as well as rising rates for fossilfuels. Hence, the municipal government decided to develop a plan to produce enough energy fromlocally available renewable resources to meet 100% of energy demand and to create jobs at the sametime.

An assessment of locally available renewable energy resources showed a huge potential for woodfuels, leading to the construction of a biomass heating plant (back then the largest biomass heatingplant in Europe) and the composition of a biodiesel production plan. Additionally, appropriate woodlogistics were organized, wood drying equipment installed and a biomass power plan was implement-ed. With an innovative technology, 98% of the heat demand of family houses, schools etc. and 150% ofthe electricity demand is now locally produced from biomass and the so produced synthetic naturalgas is supplied to the already existing gas distribution system. These investments have been funded by

the EU, the national feed-in-tariffs and the regional government (Land Burgenland).At the beginning, only wood from the local forests was used in the Biomass District Heating Plant, lateron it was supplemented with industrial waste from a local parquet ooring plant.

Over time, the municipality created about 1500 additional jobs and invested in infrastructure, as therevenues of the energy production remain in the region.

As only 40% of the annually growing wood is used for biomass production, forest stand is not endan-gered. Nevertheless, additional sources for biomass (e.g. straw, agricultural waste etc.) are and will beincluded in biomass production. Annually, about 1024.64 t of CO2 equivalents are saved.

Lessons Learned: Businesses and factories like the parquet ooring plant relocated to Guessingintentionally as the production of ooring plants requires a lot of heat and energy prices have been

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/UNDP-SP-Practice-Guide-v2.pdf







negotiated directly with the municipality (no tariff structure from gas monopolists). Additionally, theproduction plant supplies saw dust to the biomass plant. This demonstrates how the production/busi-ness sector can collaborate strategically with the energy sector.

Links: http://www.eee-info.net/cms/EN/

Contact: Reinhard Koch, [email protected]




SOCIAL

CASE STUDY 19: SUSTAINING LIVELIHOODS AFFECTED BY THE ARAL SEA DISASTER (UNJProject Title: Sustaining Livelihoods Affected by the Aral Sea Disaster (UNJP)Country: UzbekistanCosts: USD 3,840,450.-Duration: 2012 – 2015Stakeholder: National Government, Local Authorities, UNDP, UNESCO, WHO, UNFPA,

UNV

Entry Points:• Infrastructure• Health• Agriculture• Community-

empowerment• Poverty Reduction• Job Creation• Local governance• Capacity Development

Project Description: This program aims to improve the welfare of the most vulnerable populationgroups by supporting local communities in improvement of basic infrastructure, the implementationof community development plans, the provision of income generation opportunities for farms, womenand the youth and the improvement of healthcare.

Improved agricultural practices, pasture management techniques, new crops and tree varieties willprovide additional income for farms, while women and youth will be engaged in developing localhandicrafts and tourism. 100 farmers will be supported in bringing degraded land back into productiveuse. Improved capacities of healthcare facilities and 1500 community based voluntary health workerswill raise awareness on infectious diseases and reproductive health issues.

Lessons Learned: Although the becoming social assistants were a bit skeptical at the beginning,their attitude and motivation changed signicantly in the course of the trainings, resulting in pride assoon as they started their work. Local NGOs needed intensive training and support in knowledge andcapacity to be positive and motivated vis-à-vis the project.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.undp.uz/en/projects/project.php?id=179

Contact: Dildora Tadjibaeva, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 20: INTEGRATED SUPPORT SYSTEM OF SOCIAL ECONOMY

Project Title: Integrated support system of social economyCountry: PolandCosts: USD 16 500 000 (UNDP’s part 1 860 000 USD)Duration: 2009 - 2013Stakeholders: National Government, Local Authorities, Institute of Public

Affairs, Malopolska School of Public Administration CracowUniversity of Economics, Foundation for Social and EconomicIniatitives, Centre for Development of Human Resources, TheCooperation Fund Foundation, BARKA Foundation ad NationalAuditing Union of Workers’ Co-operatives

Entry Points:• Social Services• Community-


Project Description: Social economy is a business activity that combines social and economic aims. Through this project, UNDP promoted social economy good practices, helped social enterprisesestablish contacts at regional and international level, built management capacities of social enter-prises, and promoted a food cooperative movement. In addition to training 430 participants in local




partnerships, the project facilitated internships for 56 representatives of local government, local NGOSand other local institutions to improve their leadership skills. The project also established links betweensocial enterprises and traditional business – building the network of “Social Economy Angels – businessrepresentatives who support social enterprises with their knowledge, work and expertise.

Food cooperatives are a unique food distribution system that typically offers natural foods. They areusually consumers’ cooperatives where the decisions regarding the production and/or distribution ofthe food are chosen by its members. The Social Economy project supported the integration of severalfood cooperatives and raised their status with Polish control authorities. A new law will introducea status of food cooperatives and their members as well as regulate tax and phytosanitary issues.Consultations with the Polish National Programme for Social Economy Development gave food co-operatives the chance to voice what kinds of support they needed, such as right to use or rent publicpremises to store foods and organize cooperative rounds. Currently there are 9 food co-ops working inbig cities that bring products from local farmers and support diversity of agriculture. They are part of asustainable local food distribution system that supports local jobs. Favorable prices are provided for theconsumer due to the efforts of volunteers and use of cash payments. Finally, food cooperatives support

education activity on collaboration, democracy, healthy dies, gardening, and cooking.Lessons Learned: Small cooperatives (60-100 members) are easier to coordinate and their work ismore efficient, so it is recommended to create more small groups than one big cooperative. UNDP wasinstrumental in connecting them with decision-makers so they could have impact at the system levelthrough new laws and programs. With a very small investment (12.000 USD) UNDP was able to make abig impact in the area of food cooperatives.

Links: http://undp.org.pl/eng/What-we-do/Social-economy2

Contact: [email protected],

CASE STUDY 21: INTRODUCING COMMUNITY-BASED SOCIAL SERVICES– SOCIAL SERVICES FOR NEW EMPLOYMENT

Project Title: Introducing community-based social services – Social Services for NewEmployment

Country: BulgariaCosts: USD 6,964,685.-Duration: 2002 - 2008Stakeholder: National Government, Local Authorities, NGOs

Entry Points:• Social Services• Community-


Project Description: Targeting the lack of community-based social services, this project aimed tosupport the development of a new social service system for vulnerable groups (single elderly, peopleand children with disabilities), who need assistance in their daily life, by training and creating jobs forregistered unemployed at the age of 50+. Specialized training was provided to selected NGOs to play amore active role in the social services sector – the unemployed were trained to provide social services,and after completion of training, were hired by the NGOs to work as Social Assistants at the communitylevel. The NGOs acted as intermediaries between the Social Assistants and the beneciaries, and alsocontributed with the administrative framework. As a result of this pilot, the national Government devel-oped the secondary legislation for the newly adopted Social Assistance Act, designed a new system ofcommunity-based social services that would meet national minimum standards, as well as instructions

for the operational organization of the Social Assistant and Household Assistance services. The projectalso participated in developing criteria for vocational training for Social Assistants, included into the




state educational system. As a result of the project, the Social Assistant has become a registered voca-tion in Bulgaria.

In total, 7,346 people from vulnerable groups gained access to community-based social services,provided by 3,304 Social Assistants.

Lessons Learned: Social Assistants were a bit skeptical at the beginning, but their attitude andmotivation changed signicantly in the course of the trainings, resulting in pride as soon as theystarted their work. Local NGOs needed intensive training and support in knowledge and capacity to bepositive and motivated vis-à-vis the project.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.undp.bg/projects.php?id=944

Contact: Emiliana Zhivkova, emiliana.zhivkova.undp.org,Maria Zlatareva, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 22: ENERGY ACCESS THROUGH COMMUNITY –OWNED SOLAR INSTALLATIO

Project Title:Energy Access through Community-Owned Solar Installations(Implemented by a local NGO)

Country: IndiaCosts: USD 52,900.-Duration: 2009 - ongoingStakeholder:Local NGO, Village Energy Committee, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Local Energy

Management• Community-

empowerment• Climate change

mitigation• Poverty Reduction• Job Creation• Local governance• Capacity Development

Project Description: The project leverages solar technology and participatory processes to buildpower plants for electrifying villages.

The rst step was to create the Village Energy Committee (VEC), including members from all sectors ofthe village community. VEC holds the ownership of the plant and is responsible for operation. It alsonominates a village operator who undertakes the maintenance. Consumers pay a monthly servicecharge as well as a usage based fee to the VEC, which uses those revenues for operation, maintenanceof the power plant and the mini-grid, batteries etc. Streets lights are paid by the entire village. A solarcompany funded the project and provided technical expertise.

In addition to providing access to electricity, improving life conditions and reducing poverty, theproject has helped community empowerment and solidarity.

Lessons Learned: Village mobilization and ownership of the plant, capacity building, and trainingare the integral parts of the programme. Presence of electricity also brought a positive change inthe lifestyle of women, as they are no able to spend more time for indulging into income generatingactivities. An innovative “Snakes and ladders”-game with a energy efficiency component in it has beenintroduced to disseminate information and educate especially children on the importance of renew-able energies.

Links: Project Overview:http://www.grida.no/les/activities/greeneconomy/case-studies-da-india.pdf

Contact: Sunanda Jain, [email protected]

http://www.grida.no/files/activities/greeneconomy/case-studies-da-india.pdf

http://www.grida.no/files/activities/greeneconomy/case-studies-da-india.pdf




CASE STUDY 23: MULTI STAKEHOLDER PARTNHERSHIPS IN URBAN SERVICE DELIVERY

Project Title:Multi stakeholder partnerships in urban service deliveryCountry: NepalCosts: Local vegetable market, Siddharthanagar – USD 168,500.-

Community compost and recycling plant in Ramnagar, Butwal- USD 11,840.-Butwal solar street light – USD 40,718.-Community bio-gas plant in housing project in Birgunj – USD41,740.-

Duration: 2002 - ongoingStakeholder:Local authorities, Public service provider agencies, Private sector,

Civil society

Entry Points:• Community

Empowerment• Public-Private Partnership• Waste Management• Access to Energy• Innovative models for

local energy production• Local Governance• Capacity Development• Capacity Development

Project Description: The objective of this project is to increase the access of the urban poor to basicservices and to contribute to the creation of a healthy environment and the improvement of livingconditions in urban and peri-urban areas. Multi-stakeholder platforms (such as local PPP Committees)

have been established to bring representatives from the public sector (municipality, public serviceprovider agencies), private sector (mostly from district or city Chambers of Commerce and Industry),and from civil society (neighborhood organizations, consumer groups) together and resolve commonproblems. Currently, 69 sub-projects are ongoing, including the following:

- Local vegetable market: a private sector company invested in building up a market, which it willhand over to the Municipality after 15 years (2 -3,000 daily visitors).

- Construction and operation of community compost and recycling plant for sustainable wastemanagement in Ramnagar, Butwal (Construction of the compost plant was done by the communityitself)

- Butwal Solar Street Light Project - 48 street lights in the central business district/market place- Community Bio-gas plant from waste - The group intends to assess a service charge from each

household to create a maintenance fund for sustainability

Lessons Learned: User committee leaders’ fear of possible complaints from citizens in case of lack ofregular maintenance or unintended technical drawbacks should be targeted in advance.

Links: http://www.pppue.org.np/

Contact: Purusottam Man Shrestha, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 24: SREBRENICA REGIONAL RECOVERY PROGRAMMEProject Title:Regional post-war Recovery Programme - Srebrenica Regional

Recovery ProgrammeCountry: Bosnia & HerzegovinaCosts: USD 35.3 Mill. (Phase I, II and III)Duration: 2002 - 2013Stakeholder:National government, Local authorities, Private sector, NGOs,

Finance organizations, Local civil society organizations

Entry Points:• Infrastructure• Finance Tools• Agriculture• Public-Private

Partnerships• Local Governance• Capacity Development

Project Description: The project objective is to promote socio-economic recovery of multi-ethniccommunities with strengthened local government structures. The project takes a holistic vision andaddresses the needs of the local authorities, communities and the private sector. It includes improve-ment of the public service delivery, expansion of the business opportunities and rehabilitation of the




infrustructure. The main activities comprise local capacity development, institutional strengthening,services to citizens, rehabilitation of infrastructure and private sector development.

As a result, local governments became more open and established one-stop-shop public services.Local employment opportunities have been enhanced through access to micro-credit and otherbusiness support services (business appraisal, business nance, marketing, market research and train-ings); Local agriculture was also supported by providing local farmers better farming techniques andlinking them with producers. Finally, local infrastructure has seen a rapid improvement, for instancethrough access to water supply beneting more than 1500 households, installation of meters to 450households, electricity access for 480 households and the 3 major cities, restoration of local schoolsand clinics and improvement of rural roads for the benet of more than 4000 people in rural areas.

Lessons Learned: The selection criteria for small infrastructure grants caused concern amongstsome informants that this discriminated against small returnee communities, which were less able toraise contributory funding. On the other hand, in such cases, projects represent less value for moneyin terms of benet and outreach to the community. Baseline assessments in key work areas should

be undertaken before planning new programmes. The collection of data on demography, economicpotential and social vulnerability should be prioritized to give municipal local development planningsubstance.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.undp.ba/index.aspx?PID=21&RID=60Project Evaluation:http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=2462

Contact: Alexandre Prieto, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 25: SCALING UP HIV PREVENTION, TREATMENT, CARE AND SUPPORTFOR MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS IN CITIES

Project Title:Scaling up HIV Prevention, treatment, care and support for most atrisk population in cities

Country: SerbiaCosts: USD 30,000.-Duration: 2011 - 2012Stakeholder:Local Authorities, Health Centers, NGOs

Entry Points:• Health• Capacity Development• Local Governance

Project Description: The project aims at supporting the local government of Belgrade in realigningnational responses to the specic needs of most-at-risk populations.

Municipal action plans have been developed to strengthen leadership and capacity in generatingevidence and knowledge to scale up HIV prevention, treatment and care services.

UNPD supported the authorities to develop 5 municipal action plans in order to plan and deliveradequate services. Those action plans aim to document HIV-service needs and access to justice, as wellas factors which enhance the vulnerability of most-at-risk populations. Furthermore, opportunities andbottlenecks in relation to most at risk groups are identied and responses adapted to specic localneeds designed.

Other activities include training of health professionals, linking NGOs with local authorities and locallevel service providers, composition of educational and informative materials, provision of legal sup-port etc. As a result, the key stakeholders are now aware of the fact that sustainability of services can






social protection and inclusion policies and services for extremely vulnerable groups such as Roma.

Links: Project Overview:http://rs.one.un.org/organizations/12/pbild/mart%20april%202012%20FINAL%2012%20eng.pdf Article: http://business.un.org/en/documents/8812

Contact: Nicholas Hercules, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 27: TUBERCULOSIS PREVENTION IN KARAKALPAKSTAN:A SUSTAINABLE MODEL OF VOLUNTEERISM FOR DEVELOPMENT (UNV)

Project Title:TB Prevention in Karakalpakstan: A Sustainable Model ofVolunteerism for Development (UNV)

Country: UzbekistanCosts: USD 550,525.-Duration: 2009 - 2012Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Local Civil Society

Entry Points:• Preventive Health• Citizen Participation• Capacity Development• Service Delivery

Project Description: The project aimed to strengthen community response in an early stage identicationof TB and thus contribute to the improvement of health and livelihood of the community members.

UNV in Uzbekistan, together with UNDP and supported by local governments, partnered in mobilis-ing and training local volunteers at district and village levels in Karakalpakstan. These CommunityVolunteers have in turn helped communities to report the appearance of TB’s early symptoms, todisseminate information regarding TB, to conduct advocacy activities such as preventing discrimina-tion against TB patients, and to undertake small-scale project initiatives designed to address low livingstandards.

As a result of the TB prevention project, more than 3,000 local volunteers (of whom about 1,800 werewomen) in more than 500 communities were trained to support their communities in addressing TB. These volunteers were able to create awareness within the communities about early treatment of TB.Health centres and TB hospital have reported an increase in attendance in the clinics for diagnosis andtreatment of TB. To ensure that healthcare infrastructure can meet the demands posed by increasedpatient testing, the project has renovated and developed primary healthcare and basic service pointsin project communities with the support of local volunteers and donors.

Lessons Learned: This project would not have been a success without the support of MahallaCommittees, which have ensured community participation and ownership in identifying TB as a prob-

lem of an entire community and not just individual residents, and have developed their own localisedsolutions. Through community outreach activities, the project has established a higher level of trustin communities, and has fostered a better understanding among the people about the importanceof both preventive measures and the early treatment of TB. Based on this approach there is a growinginterest to support the project nationwide, considering that it ts well with an emerging national visionof working with local community-based organisations such as Mahallas, through the use of volunteers.

Links: Project Overview:http://www.undp.uz/en/projects/project.php?id=152

Contact: Santeri Eriksson, [email protected]

http://rs.one.un.org/organizations/12/pbild/mart%2520april%25202012%2520FINAL%252012%2520eng.pdf

http://www.undp.uz/en/projects/project.php%3Fid%3D152

http://www.undp.uz/en/projects/project.php%3Fid%3D152

http://rs.one.un.org/organizations/12/pbild/mart%2520april%25202012%2520FINAL%252012%2520eng.pdf




CASE STUDY 28: RAISING COMPETITIVENESS OF THE REGION THROUGH INNOVATIVE APPROTO REGIONAL PLANNING AND SOCIAL SERVICES (UNJP)

Project Title:Raising Competitiveness of the Region through InnovativeApproaches to Regional Planning and Social Services (UNJP)

Country: KazakhstanCosts: USD 11,651,365.-Duration: 2011 - 2015Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA


Empowerment• Capacity Building• Local Planning

Project Description: The project aims to improve quality of life and advanced progress towards theMDG goals in particular in the districts severely hit by nuclear tests at the former Semey nuclear site.Among the expected results is the empowerment of local communities in local planning and initia-tives, improved access to social and economic services for vulnerable groups and capacity building oflocal executive and legislative bodies for local level planning, implementation, monitoring and evalua-tion, while ensuring better protection of the rights and interests of vulnerable groups.

In its rst year, Memorandum of Understandings were signed with local authorities, leading to trainingson local strategic planning, budgeting and community participation for more than 300 representativesof local authorities and public organizations. The trainings helped to increase social activity of localcommunities and engaged them into constructive dialogue with the local authorities. 6 projects onenhanced housing and communal services, development of district agriculture were approved bythe district administrations. 47 development projects elaborated by local communities were submit-ted for funding, of which 11 projects on solving housing and agriculture problems were approved.584 returnees took part in Russian/Kazakh language and computer literacy courses, enabling themto independently apply to state agencies. So far, 165 returnees got assistance in solving problemsconcerning issuance of documents, registration of immigration quota, Kazakh citizenship etc. Amicro-credit program was launched by a local microcredit organization, funding 16 business projectsof returnees (e.g. sewing shops, crop production etc.). Within the small grants programme 20 projectproposals were received from NGOs. Both nancial support structures involved volunteers assisting inthe implementation and through consultations on various issues. 40 already existing SMEs obtainedtrainings on business development, sales technology, personnel management etc. A special focus wasgiven to women’s entrepreneurship, including trainings for 154 rural women entrepreneurs on taxa-tion, human resource management, how-to-start a business etc.

Apart from scaling-up already started project components, further objectives of the project are thedevelopment of effective social protection for children and families at the local level and the em-powerment of regional and district level government agencies to collect, process and make availableimproved data for planning and monitoring of local development plans. Furthermore, 50% of youngpeople in the age group of 10-24 years will be empowered to participate more actively and communi-ties and local authorities will be trained in disaster risk reduction and emergency situations. In order toimprove the situation of children with special needs, they will get access to quality social services andsupport systems, better access to and quality of maternal and child health care services and guaran-teed universal access to reproductive health services. Also, an innovative system of providing specialsocial services to the elderly at home and day centres for elderly will be piloted.

Lessons Learned: The goals and objectives of this joint programme correspond to the state priorities,dened in national strategic documents and is therefore fully supported by the national government.

Links: Project Overview:http://www.undp.org/content/kazakhstan/en/home/operations/projects/

inclusivedevelopment/raising-competitiveness-of-the-region-through-innovative-approac/

http://www.undp.org/content/kazakhstan/en/home/operations/projects/inclusivedevelopment/raising-competitiveness-of-the-region-through-innovative-approac/







CASE STUDY 29: SUSTAINABLE CITIES

Project Title:Sustainable Urban Development Entry Points:• Community

Empowerment• •Empowerment of local

Vulnerable Communities• Integration of Minorities• Social Inclusion• Local Governance• Job Creation• Health• Water Management

Making cities sustainable is a very important mission especially in times of raising urbanization andurban growth.

Examples of sustainable city projects:

http://www.dac.dk/en/dac-cities/sustainable-cities/all-cases/

- Stockholm ’s Arlanda airport uses an innovative cooling and heating system through a series of wellslinked to a large underground acquifer. The water is plumbed up and into the facilities air system. Insummer, the cold water cools off the air while in winter the underground water remains warmer thanthe surface and is then plumed to a heating unit using biofuels to heat the water additionally. Thisheated water is also used to heat pads of cement on the ramp and near the large hangars.http://www.aviationbenetsbeyondborders.org/environmental-efficiency/case-studies/stockholm-arlanda-airport-and-aquifer

- Amsterdam launched the “Smart City”-initiative introducing street charging stations for e-cars,

renewable energy supply for 8000 households, “Smart Schools” where children learn about energyefficiency and compete with other schools and drop-in-workplaces reachable by 5min by bikehttp://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/amsterdam-smart-city

- Sungdo in Korea aims at recycling of 75% of the waste produced during the construction of abusiness hub, which will then offer optimal conditions for bikers and will reserve 5% of the parkingspaces for low-emission vehicles.

- InNew York , several initiatives revive urban areas with e.g. roof-top gardens for planning vegetablesby school children, urban beekeeping and urban sh farms with biological lters.http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/polis-blog/22745/urban-bees

- InBudapest , various roads now have cycle tracks, there is an attractive cycle route along the city’sparks, cycle stands are available in many parts of the city and passengers on suburban railway trainscan take their bikes along with them. Cycling now accounts for 4% of the city’s transport require-ments and the number of cyclists is doubling almost year on year.Copenhagen additionally offers special traffic lights for cyclists, which are often timed in “greenwaves”.Vienna constructed a housing project according to bikers needs (large elevators, a repair room, safestorage room etc.) and reduced the number of car parking lots instead.

- Zürich ’s households bring small amounts of recyclable material to the over 160 collection points forglass, metal and waste oil. Those who wish to dispose of larger items of waste, socalled bulky waste,

can bring it to one of two recycling centers in the city area. Those who do not have a vehicle attheir disposal can deposit their electrical devices and bulky waste at a tram stop once a month. Therecycling project has also introduced composting in private gardens, local common areas and local


http://www.aviationbenefitsbeyondborders.org/environmental-efficiency/case-studies/stockholm-arlanda-airport-and-aquifer


http://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/amsterdam-smart-city

http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/polis-blog/22745/urban-bees

http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/polis-blog/22745/urban-bees

http://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/amsterdam-smart-city







authority owned installations. Zürich’s most innovative initiative in this eld, however, is its ‘pay as youthrow’ duty on waste-related offences and fees on the volume of waste each household produces. This made people think about purchasing goods leaving much waste.http://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/zurich-zuri-sack-popular-rubbish-sack-policy

- InBarcelona , all new buildings or those undergoing major renovation have to have solar energysources installed to provide most of their hot water. 20 Spanish towns and cities have already fol-lowed suit.

- Madrid established a separate highway-lane for buses and cars carrying more than one person. Thecity managed to reduce pollution and traffic jams by promoting public buses and carpooling.

- Vaexjoe in Sweden decided to get fossil fuel free and will reach its goal by 2015 (currently 51% of itsenergy comes from renewable energies) by closely cooperating with the private sector, the transpor-tation sector and industries.

Links: http://www.sustainable-cities.eu/,http://regions202020.eu/cms/themes/buildings/

CASE STUDY 30: LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Project Title:Local Development ProgrammeCountry: UkraineCosts: USD 31,516,385.-Duration: 2005 - 2014Stakeholder:National government, Governmental Agencies, Local Authorities,

Association of Local and Regional Authorities, Association of

village, Settlement and Town Councils, European Commission,Academia

Entry Points:• Xxxxxx

Project Description: This local development programme comprises 4 sub-projects with the overallgoal of community empowerment and capacity building of local authorities, in order to addressadequately poverty issues, business development and vulnerable groups.

Under the Community Based Approach to Local Development project, 1146 newly formed communityorganizations realized 1303 projects on energy conservation in schools, renovation and purchase ofequipment for medical centers, waste management etc. All in all, the program covered more than1,200 villages and 1,600 local communities with more than 600,000 households. The community basedapproach emphasis on community empowerment and regeneration, building the spirit of activismand social inclusion, and contributing to the improvement of self-governance by encouraging adialogue between local authorities and communities, thus enabling joint prioritization and response tocommon development needs.

The Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme supported ICT and youth development initia-tives, created 258 community organizations and 5 regional economic development agencies as well as25 youth centers.Under the Municipal Governance and Sustainable Development Programme 100 neighborhoodorganizations got involved in local processes, 2 municipal sustainable development councils startedfunctioning and public auditing is partially practiced.

For the Crimea Integration and Development Programme please see a separate description.




Lessons Learned: A clearer understanding of sector priorities and a systematic assessment of localsocial service provision, including cost-benet analysis of investment should be developed by sector.For instance, in the energy eld, integrated action is often more cost effective than individual initia-tives, even if this necessitates delays for assessment of the local situation and denition of priorities.Authorities and communities lack the capacity to jointly plan, budget and implement local develop-ment strategies. Such limited capacities create a scenario where local development priorities attractinsufficient focus and resources. Therefore in order to achieve sustainable results more coherent andbroad support is required to address the problems beyond the limits of each thematic area. A widedialogue at regional and national level on learning best practices is necessary to ensure sustainablesuccesses. Generally, all layers of the society, including communities, local and central governmentshould be involved and provided assistance to.

Links: Programme Overview:http://www.undp.org.ua/en/local-development-and-human-securityProgramme Evaluation:http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=2361

Contact: Oksana Remiga, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 31: CRIMEA INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

Project Title:Crimea Integration and Development ProgrammeCountry: UkraineCosts: USD 28 Mill.Duration: 1995 – 2011Stakeholder:National Government, Governmental Agencies, Regional

Government of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, District andLocal Authorities


Empowerment• Local Economic

Development• Tolerance Building• Human Security and

Conict Prevention• Social Inclusion• Local Governance• Integration of Minorities• Health• Water Management

Project Description: The Crimea Integration and Development Programme (UNDP CIDP) was createdinitially as an emergent response of an international community to integration problems faced by theformerly deported peoples (mainly Crimean Tatars) returning to Crimea, and signicantly contributedto the improving of access to the water-supply, educational facilities, and medical treatment (rst—aidposts) in compact settlements of FDPs. Since 2002, however, the Programme focused on integratedregio¬nal development, good governance, institutional building, reduction of economic disparitiesand access to key public services in multi-ethnic commu¬nities in 14 rural districts of Crimea.

Successful community mobilization and area-based development was the agship experience ofUNDP CIDP, resulting in 420 community projects supported in the area of water supply, health posts,playgrounds and youth centres, and leaving behind over 800 viable rural community organizationsat the exit moment. 82 projects of parent communities in rural schools contributed to the tolerancebuilding, and promotion of good governance in the educational system of Ukraine. Local economicdevelopment projects - 33 agricultural cooperatives - strengthened income generation opportunitiesfor 1620 Crimean families in the most depressive rural areas of peninsula. In total, direct support ofthe Programme was provided to over 250,000 rural residents in the region. 57% of projects’ fundingwas cost-shared by communities and local authorities, ensuring strong ownership, commitment and

sustainability of results. The above certies that the CIDP project has applied most effectively the bestpractices of political mobilization and creation of the community will.

http://www.undp.org.ua/en/local-development-and-human-security





http://www.undp.org.ua/en/local-development-and-human-security




In practice, the project has deployed the community mobilization activists in the districts, who werein charge of talking to the individuals and securing their commitment and interest. Further, the com-munity members have been made aware, that they were in charge of making decisions and improvingtheir livelihoods. The project has also made use of the local champions of change as a resource tobreak through to other community members and secure their participation. The public meetings,facilitated by the project team and local leaders have been the major vehicle for identifying thecommunity priorities and selecting the community representatives in charge of taking these prioritiesforward towards implementation. Of course, the expectation of resource availability for the priorityneeds has also served as an important motivation, however, the cost-sharing by the community of anysingly project further signies the genuine motivation, commitment and engagement of the nationalpartners, that has predetermined the eventual success of the project.

Importantly, the project has successfully upscaled its experience through ensuring its replication in thewider areas throughout Ukraine, as well as use of the methodology as a nationwide applied one.

Lessons Learned: 1) Project implementation showed that rural residents are able to contribute (both

their time and nances) to project implementation and organize themselves despite stereotypes aboutpassiveness of citizens and deep crisis in rural areas. They key for this is trust building measures andtransparent operation of international projects on the ground. 2) Deep presence on the spot was contrib-uting to the success of the project. CIDP representative in each district provided on-going, close-to-clientsupport, and served as focal point and information hub for the beneciaries; 3) Area-based projectsin multi-ethnic groups signicantly improve communication and trust among different nationalities/cultures in Crimea; 4) Clear exit strategy ensures better sustainability of outcomes – in the very nal stageof the Programme operation, former employees and local partners of CIDP established the Crimean RuralDevelopment Agency to continue development activities in the vulnerable rural territories.

Links: Programme overview: http://www.undp.crimea.ua/Programme Evaluation:http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=2361

Contact: Kurtmolla Abdulganiyev, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 32: INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL-MEDIA INTO PLACEMAKING PRACTICES– FOURSQUARE FOR DEVELOPMENT

Project Title:Foursquare for DevelopmentCountry: MontenegroDuration: 2012 - ongoing

Stakeholder:Private Sector, Local Communities


Empowerment

• Sustainable Tourism• Innovations

Project Description: Using geo-location social networks (Foursquare) is an innovative way to pro-mote (sustainable) tourism and business development. Following an online survey on which areas tofocus on, the project settled on 5 specic routes/locations in a national park, each of them represent-ing a thematic story and connecting multiple locations so that interested tourists are able to explorethose regions of Montenegro. Using pictures and stories from the local communities presents thelocations in a new and interesting way and reaches more people through online tools. This promotestraditional products, handicrafts and supports the involvement of local citizens.

Links: Programme overview: http://www.undp.org.me/home/2012/4sq/index.html

Contact: Milica Begović Radojević, [email protected]








through coefficient monitoring, evaluation and couching. It has also established the network of socialenterprises. In order to ensure further promotion of social entrepreneurship, the project is organizingthe rst specialized exhibition of social enterprises of Uzbekistan “From Social Enterprises to SocialEconomy”, where social enterprises will have a chance to exhibit their products and services, developnetworking and nd new partners.

Links: Project overview: http://www.undp.uz/en/projects/project.php?id=171

Contact: Aziza Umarova, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 34: SOCIAL INNOVATION CAMP ARMENIA (MARDAMEJ)

Project Title:Inclusive Employment and Social PartnershipCountry: ArmeniaCosts: USD 44,000.-

Duration: May – November 2011Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Local NGOs, Youth, CivilSociety, Media, Private Sector

Entry Points:• Innovations• IT-services

• Capacity Building• Community Participation

Project Description: Social Innovation Camps bring together ideas, people and digital tools to buildweb-based solutions for social problems over the course of two days.

In preparation for this event, youth activists, CSO representatives, and technology experts from all overthe country were brought together for a series of “itch workshops.” The goal of these workshops wasto discover ideas (or “itches”) about social problems Armenians face with the hope that they wouldstimulate participants to create innovative and efficient solutions. Participants were then asked tosubmit their ideas to the event website.

Sixty-six ideas were submitted in all, and after being judged by a panel, six ideas were selected for theSocial Innovation Camp using the following criteria: understanding the social problem, use of technol-ogy, and likely sustainability of the proposal. Projects included an online platform for public transportoptions, a prototype of rating public and private services or an app to keep track of electoral promisesto let citizens follow up on the actual action.

At the event itself, the six ideas were further developed, solutions were prototyped and tested, and,nally, projects were presented to a panel of judges. The winning project addressed issues in thetransport sector; however, ve out of the six projects received nancial and technical support fromdonor agencies present at the event to further develop and implement their project.

Lessons learned: The fact that we received sixty-six submissions as well as hundreds of requests toparticipate begs the question as to why the format was so popular. A few ideas:

• The outreach involved us listening and allowing our stakeholders to set their agenda rather thandelivering training workshops based on priorities identied centrally;

• The itches, ideas and projects were encouraged to focus on practical solutions and what works;• The user-led and centred development projects empowered the participants and challenged them

to effect the change they wish to see in their society;

The outreach phase provided us with many project ideas. In addition, the initiative provided a costeffective mechanism for launching ve innovative development projects designed and run byvolunteers.




Links: Event website: http://mardamej.wordpress.com/;Blogs on the process: http://bit.ly/tzrXeo; http://bit.ly/rCARx5; http://bit.ly/tHRuqQ; Reections: http://bit.ly/KgjjLK;How to run an SICamp: https://undp.unteamworks.org/node/207778;

Contact: George Hodge, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 35: LOCAL AGENDA 21 IN BELARUS

Project Title:Local Agenda 21 in BelarusCountry: BelarusDuration: 2010Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Educational Sector,

Private Sector

Entry Points:• Community involvement• Capacity Building

Project Description: The development of a School local agenda triggered the creation of an actiongroup that was constantly growing and involving more and more participants. Over time, the actiongroup on this School local agenda developed into the action group on creating the Local Agenda 21of the city of Navapolatsk.

Due to an acute need in new approaches to strategic planning when the prices on hydrocarbon rawmaterials and oil products went up, resulting in nancial losses of the only city-forming enterprise, anoil renery. Hence, new options for sustainable development of the city were needed, leading to acooperation with the EU/UNDP project “Sustainable development at local level”. In 2010, Navapolatskbecame the rst Belarusian city with an elaborated Local Agenda 21, incorporating the perspectives ofdevelopment for the city and its neighbouring regions. Highlights of the LA21 are the efficient use ofall types of resources, to work to meet people’s needs, the creation of favorable conditions for intel-lectual, creative, labour, professional and physical development of the citizens, the enhancement ofpeople’s environmental awareness and active engagement of youth into the processes of sustainabledevelopment.

The implementation of LA-21 activities was based on mini-grants for several small projects: The actiongroup on sustainable development together with local teachers developed “The heritage of thenative heath” project in order to preserve and promote local cultural heritage. Ritual ceremonies and amuseum now attract an increased number of tourists as well as people wishing to have a ritual at theirweddings or other events.

Students created a volunteer team “Youth for Sustainable Development”, whose activity is aimed atpreparing and disseminating printed matters, holding informational meetings and participating inthematic actions for e.g. tree planning, waste collection or charity activities. About 600 students,volunteers, parents and city residents participated in the actions. An eco-festival on sustainable devel-opment or eco-tourism is held annually in order to support an action group and engage locals. Since2010, the festival attracted over 1000 participants.

Navapolatsk’s initiative gained international attention through continuous involvement of local and na-tional journalists, close cooperation with European partners and support of the Ministerial press-center.

Between 2002 and 2011, over 20 projects have been carried out and the results of each implementedproject is taken into account when developing new ones.

Contact: Alexander Levchenko, [email protected]




GOVERNANCE

CASE STUDY 36: SECURING ACCESS TO WATER THROUGH INSITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTAND INFRASTRUCTURE (UNJP)

Project Title:Securing Access to Water Through Institutional Development andInfrastructure (UNJP)

Country: Bosnia & HerzegovinaCosts: USD 4,95 Mill.Duration: 2009 - 2012Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Utilities, Community

Action Groups, UNDP, UNICEF


Empowerment• Empowerment of local

Vulnerable Communities• Water Management• Local Governance• Capacity development

Project Description: The joint-project between UNDP and UNICEF aims at strengthening the inclu-

sion of citizens in the participative municipal governance of water access, at improving economicgovernance in water utilities and at strengthening the local governments’ capacities while improvingwater infrastructure. Permanent community action groups (including vulnerable groups, women andchildren) were established and involved in water supply and social protection needs mapping andthe denition of priorities and possible solutions. The project also assisted the supply side throughsupporting water utilities to improve nancial management practices and fee collection capacities.Local community councils were engaged in water quality testing, collecting data which will be storedamong other in a DevInfo-database, providing a cross-section of the social situation within the munici-pality. This database will then be used for municipal budget planning and for developing legislation toaddress the needs of socially vulnerable groups. Municipal administrations were trained on a human-rights based approach and municipal action plans for the improvement of access to quality watersupply and as a basis to access funding more easily, have been established. In total, the project reached1187 people as direct and 15,000 as indirect beneciaries and trained 185 local officials.

Lessons Learned: Fundamental reform of the water sector legislature is required at national and locallevel. National reforms should address legal and institutional aspects of water utilities, which areoftentimes problematic at the local level.

Links: Programme Overview:http://www.mdgfund.org/program/securingaccesswaterthroughinstitutionaldevelopmentandinfrastructureProject Evaluation:http://erc.undp.org/evaluationadmin/manageevaluation/viewevaluationdetail.html?evalid=4758

Contact: Igor Palandžić, [email protected]

http://www.mdgfund.org/program/securingaccesswaterthroughinstitutionaldevelopmentandinfrastructure









CASE STUDY 37: CAPACITY BUILDING AND REGULATION OF WATER AND ELECTRICITY SEC

Project Title: Capacity Building and regulation of Water and Electricity sector -Economic Governance, Regulatory Reform and Pro-Poor Development

Country: AlbaniaCosts: USD 2,100,000.-Duration: 2010 - 2012Stakeholder: National government, Utilities


Empowerment• Empowerment of local

Vulnerable Communities• Water Management• Local Governance• Capacity Development

Project Description: The programme aims to build the capacities of state institutions responsiblefor policy making and regulation of the water and electricity public utilities to monitor the quality ofservices delivered to customers. UNDP designed and implemented a model service contract, whichhas been introduced by all water utilities, outlining the duties and responsibilities of utilities andconsumers. Its execution is still in an early phase and widely promoted by all players. Through a web-based consumer complaints management system (e.g. website featuring consumer rights with option

to post complaints) state and non-governmental consumer protection bodies are strengthened, sothat consumers have a stronger voice in promoting and protecting their rights. Two main studies on“customer services of the water utilities in Albania” and on “Citizens’ perception on service provided inthe water and sewerage sector” were compiled to provide important benchmarking in the measure-ment of water governance indicators. Another study on access to water in the informal settlementsand rural areas of Albania is on the way, documenting the challenges and the constraints utilities andlocal governments face in terms of addressing the access to water and sanitation problems in theinformal settlements. The outcomes of this study are not yet available.

Lessons Learned: A high-level body reporting to the central government and coordinating allnational strategies – including sectoral strategies – and external aid is a very effective governmentmechanism to maximize national/country ownership of programmes and projects. It is particularlyeffective when line ministries are fully engaged into this process and donors coordinate their supportthrough this mechanism.

Links: Project Overview:http://www.mdgfund.org/program/economicgovernanceregulatoryreformpublicparticipationandpropoordevelopmentalbania

Contact: Hachemi Bahloul, JP, [email protected],Eno Ngjela, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 38: MITIGATING CORRUPTION IN WATER GOVERNANCE THROUGH PARTICIPAProject Title:Mitigating Corruption in Water Governance through Participatory

Public FinanceCountry: PhilippinesCosts: USD 95,000Duration: 2012-2013Stakeholder:Citizens / Civil Society Organisations, National and Local

Government, Water Service Providers, Water Users


Empowerment• Participatory Public

Finance• Local Water Governance• Capacity development

Project Description: UNDP Philippines together with PACDE has been supporting the Water Integrityproject in the municipality of Sibagat, a poor remote town in the southernmost part of the Philippinearchipelago. The project attempts to mitigate corruption in water governance using participatorypublic nance - a framework which recognises the responsibility of citizens to engage and monitornancial processes, so that they themselves are able to hold government officials accountable to the

http://www.mdgfund.org/program/economicgovernanceregulatoryreformpublicparticipationandpropoordevelopmentalbania







public interest. In 2012, The project developed a citizen’s handbook which was used to organise andtrain “Integrity-Watch for Water Anti-Corruption Groups” (IWAGs), which monitored the public nancecycles specic to their local water projects. In 2013, the capacities of the IWAGs were strengthenedfurther, broadening their knowledge of public nance, and broaden their networks with neighbouringcivil society organisations. The guidebook was also integrated into a Local Water Governance Toolbox,which was rolled out to 11 regional hubs across the country. This allows other local government unitsto replicate the IWAGs nationwide, scaling up and sustaining the activity beyond the project comple-tion date. Finally, the project has built strong local constituencies to push their local governmentsto ensure that water is prioritised in the budget process, and advocate for local ordinances whichstrengthen water governance.

Lessons Learned: Participatory Public Finance can be used as a general framework to train citizensto monitor and advocate for the effective delivery of public services other than water. Water is nolonger viewed merely as a utility or a construction concern, rather as a multi-dimensional governanceconcern – from a Universal Right to….to an Integrity issue ….and nally as a Catalyst for Change

Links: Project Overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAEYgm8inLU&feature=youtu.beContact: Emmanuel Buendia, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 39: REINFORCEMENT OF LOCAL DEMOCRACY (LOD III)

Project Title:Reinforcement of Local Democracy III (LOD III)Country: Bosnia & HerzegovinaCosts: USD 2,066,600.-Duration: 2012 - 2014Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Association of

Municipalities and Cities, CSOs

Entry Points:• Local Governance• Decentralization• Service Delivery• Empowerment of

Vulnerable Communities• Capacity development• Citizen participation

Project Description: The overall objective of the LOD III project is to contribute to democratic stabili-zation, conciliation, and further development through support to selected municipalities in establish-ing improved local self-governance unit/civil society relations and facilitating nancing mechanismsfor improved service delivery. Specic objectives include facilitating permanent partnerships betweenCSOs and local self-governance units, generating unied and transparent mechanisms for disbursingmunicipal funds foreseen for CSO project-based activities in accordance with local service needs andidentied priorities and encouraging CSOs to specialize their activities and become more responsiveto local needs and less dependent on current donor priorities. As a result of the interventions underLOD, the municipalities will co-nance all selected CSO projects with at least 10% of the budget andcommit to continue nancing CSOs with a separate budget line. 10 local self governance units will usetransparent mechanisms for the disbursement of funds foreseen for CSO projects. At least one success-ful and transparent municipal call for CSO proposals will be executed in accordance with the projectsmechanisms for funds disbursement. Mechanism for monitoring and evaluation of project activitiesand results implemented by CSOs will be institutionalized and local stakeholders are aware of thenecessity to strengthen their capacities.

Links: Project Announcement: http://www.undp.ba/index.aspx?PID=7&RID=782

Contact: [email protected], [email protected]




CASE STUDY 40: RESILIENT LOCAL PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

Project Title: Resilient Local Planning for Sustainable Local DevelopmentStakeholder: National government, Local Authorities, City Planners, Architects

Entry Points:• Xxxx

Project Description: The scope and speed of environmental and settlement changes taking placedemands that policymakers and planners dene compelling visions and integrated design measuresfor shaping resilient communities, in which they can develop the physical and institutional capac-ity for constant change. Including almost all areas, from energy to transportation, water and greeninfrastructure, all stakeholders are requested to shape these systems to reduce the ecological footprint,congure resilient communities and adapt them to the impacts of climate change. A resilient planningrequires to expand traditional strategies and to include principles of sustainable design for resourceefficiency, green procurement and green infrastructure, solar design etc.

Measures for resilient cities are e.g. urban ventilation systems by creating micro-climates through well-placed parks, water bodies and streets. Those elements can mitigate the urban heat island effect and

therefore increase passive cooling, which reduces energy consumption, and allows fresh air distribu-tion. Thanh Hoa City in Vietnam uses these strategies by constructing linear parks along canals servingas fresh air corridors through the city grid.

Also solar design is an effective strategy to increase living comfort and reduce energy consumption, asurban buildings are aligned in a way that they are illuminated by direct sunlight during winter monthsand some shadow during most of the summer days. This affects the human thermal sensation at streetlevel and therefore energy consumption.

Other components of resilient urban design are maximization of green infrastructure with plantedcourtyards, water bodies, green corridors, gardens or living walls, the maximization of urban surfacereectivity, sky visibility and green energy of course.

In several countries, projects for climate change adaptation are already in place. In Armenia, 55 hect-ares of juniper and oak forests are restored in order to preserve the forest’s complex ecosystem and itslong term resilience to climate aridication. Local community members were involved in the imple-mentation of this project to raise awareness and understand the anthropogenic impacts on the forest.In Albania, 5000 square meters of degraded sand dunes along a river were rehabilitated. The area iscritical for buffering the vulnerable coast from sea surges and potentially rising sea levels. But alsothe cultivation of more less water-intensive fruits and vegetable crops, at the expense of cotton andother less sustainable agricultural activities, is contributing to resilient local planning. Local authoritiesdeveloped adaptation plans based on which the priority risks and adaptation actions were identied. The project also showed that a close cooperation with local governments and local-level stakeholders

already in an early stage is the key to success in the development and implementation of climatechange adaptation plans.

Several organizations are developing new methods and tools to assist in adaptation planning andresilience building. Those methodologies assess of how well climate risks to development are man-aged by institutions, how successful adaptation interventions are in reducing vulnerability and keepingdevelopment ‘on track’ in the face of changing climate risks.

Links: On urban resilience planning: http://resilient-cities.iclei.org/bonn2011/resilience-resource-point/resilience-library/urban-resilience-planning/Raven, J. (2011). Cooling the Public Realm: Climate-Resilient Urban Design. Shaping Resilient Cities forthe 21st Century by Adapting Urban Design to Climate Change. Available online athttps://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=10763

https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx%3FDocumentID%3D10763







Project Description: The project supported strengthening the inter-municipal set-up of 22 partner-ships involving 48 municipalities in total with the aim to improve delivery of local services to localcitizens. In particular, the inter-municipal cooperation was fostered in the areas of tax collection, urbanplanning, nancial management, social protection, inspections, environment and local development.Smaller municipalities are now able to provide better services particularly to vulnerable groupsand 920 representatives of local authorities and municipal administration were trained on IMC.Furthermore, basic trainings informed local authorities on energy efficiency matters, which resulted infunctional analysis of the energy management on local level, the establishment of the legal require-ments regarding EE in public buildings and a joint action plan. At the end of the second project year,74% of the municipalities still participated in IMC activities, which shows the sustainability of thisapproach.

Lessons Learned: Resistance at the local authorities towards the establishment of IMC was overcomeby very intense presence on the eld, strong awareness raising, increased quality of public services andcapacity building activities developed in order the concept of IMC and its benets to be internalizedand accepted. Lack of enabling IMC legal environment was overcome through support of central

government institutions in policy dialog and upgrading of legislation as precondition for successfulimplementation of inter-municipal cooperation on national scale. Implementation of the grantsschemes was based on substantial needs analysis and participatory approach by involving relevantstakeholders.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.undp.org.mk/content/Projects/13%20IMC.pdf; http://europeand-cis.undp.org/environment/kyrgyzstan/show/69B5B6C2-F203-1EE9-B0A904160813AAC2;http://www.undp.org.mk/content/projects/IMC%204%20Project%20Doc%20brief.pdf

Contact: Mihaela Stojkoska, [email protected];

CASE STUDY 43: Joint Integrated Local Development Programme

Project Title:Decentralization, Human rights and Gender - Joint IntegratedLocal Dev. Programme (UNJP)

Country: MoldovaCosts: USD 14,685,431Duration: 2009 - 2015Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, UNDP, UN Women

Entry Points:• Local Governance• Decentralization• Service Delivery• Empowerment of

Communities• Capacity development• Citizen participation

Project Description: The JILDP was designed to improve the policy framework, as well as to supportadministrative systems and procedures focused on efficient transfer of competencies to Local PublicAdministrations (LPAs) and the decentralization and promotion of LPAs’ role in decision-making.

The newly approved National Decentralization Strategy is owned and accepted by all the key stake-holders in central government, local governments and civil society. The nationwide consultationprocess for the Strategy involved over 2400 participants. A new intergovernmental scal relationssystem will be implemented as of 2014, while sectoral decentralization roadmaps in education, socialservices, property, health and communal services are being elaborated and implemented.

Over 9,000 members of local authorities were trained on local public administration, rights based andgender responsive planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development

initiatives.

http://www.undp.org.mk/content/projects/IMC%25204%2520Project%2520Doc%2520brief.pdf

http://www.undp.org.mk/content/projects/IMC%25204%2520Project%2520Doc%2520brief.pdf




70 communities initiated community initiatives to address improved social and education services,access to community centers, public illumination, transportation, and water for more than 150.000persons. Through community meetings, rural communities and CSOs got empowered to activelyparticipate in local development planning, implementation and monitoring and have better access toimproved service delivery and community infrastructure.

The inter-municipal cooperation mechanism has been developed and piloted in 7 communities ofMoldova, thus laying the ground for further joint service delivery and informing the territorial-admin-istrative consolidation of the country. A large, active and dynamic national association of LPAs, theCongress of Local Public Authorities (CALM) is emerging and playing an increasingly important role inpushing the decentralization process forward. Also, for the rst time in Moldova, a Network of WomenMayors was created under CALM’s aegis.

Lessons Learned: Constant efforts and increased resources should be directed to the institutionalcapacity building for decentralization. Mainstreaming gender and human rights in the decentralizationprocess is critical to reach the main goal of the decentralization reform of equal access to quality public

services.. Consolidated efforts with central authorities and development partners to promote and buildIMC capacity are necessary. Community empowerment should be treated as a key element for localdevelopment initiatives along with local governance and services.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.undp.md/projects/JILDP.shtml, http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/fund/JMD00

Contact: Mihail Roscovan, [email protected],Valeria Ieseanu, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 45: ENHANCE GENDER EQUALITYProject Title:Enhance Gender Equality (UNJP)Country: GeorgiaCosts: USD 5 Mill.Duration: 2008 - 2014Stakeholder:National Government, Local Authorities, Women’s NGOs, UNDP,

UNWomen, UNFPA


Empowerment• Gender• Local Governance• Capacity Development

Project Description: The overall goal of the programme is to promote gender equality and women’sempowerment through strengthening capacities in the national and local government, civil societyand communities. UNDP partners with UNWomen and UNFPA to join forces and collectively promote

gender equality. The UNJP is managed using pass-through modality, with UNDP serving as administra-tive agent. The agencies have their distinct priorities to address in the framework of the UNJP, basedupon their experience, i.e. UNDP works on political and economic empowerment, UNWomen –ondemostic violence and UNFPA –on SRHR. Each agency has a PIU, and the UNDP recruited managerof its component serves with a coordination function. The PIUs sit in the joint premise and henceshare information regularly. The use of joint premise is goverened by a simple Memorandum ofUnderstanding, which spells out obligations of each agency. Before launching activities, the agencieshave made a decision to design a common programme logo and other visibiltiy materials and use thecommon logo in ALL programme supported events. This has resolved the visibility risks.

Links: Project Overview: http://mptf.undp.org/factsheet/fund/JGE00

Contact: Natia Natsvlishvili, [email protected]




CASE STUDY 46: COMMUNITIES PROGRAMME

Project Title:Communities ProgrammeCountry: TajikistanCosts: USD 6,357,915.-Duration: 2011-2015Stakeholder:National Government, Governmental Agencies, Regional/District

Government, NGOs, Private Sector, Agricultural Sector

Entry Points:• Capacity Building• Local Planning• Local Governance• •Infrastructure• Micronance tools

Project Description: The Communities Programme (CP) is the largest and the most complexprogramme of UNDP in Tajikistan. The CP was launched in 2003 and is based on initiatives of UNDPimplemented since 1996. CP operates through its 5 Area Offices. To date, CP has covered 46 districts ofthe country and over 3,000,000 people.

The programme provides a wide range of services to its beneciaries. These include comprehensive ca-pacity building packages such as knowledge, skills and tools, including infrastructure and micronancefor local economic development. During the rst phase (2004 – 2006) of the programme, the develop-

ment context in the country required addressing the immediate needs of the target beneciaries andis often referred to as the humanitarian phase.

During the 2nd phase the interventions of CP included sustainability elements to ensure required setof skills and knowledge as well as institutions are in place for lasting results. This phase (2007-2009) isoften referred to as the development phase.

The third phase of CP was launched in 2010 and will last until the end of 2015. This timing is alignedwith MDGs and also the UNDP Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) for 2010-2015.

The evolution is a clear demonstration of the scale-up capacities and opportunities used by thisprogramme.Most importantly, in this phase, CP is applying programmatic, rather than project approach to develop-ment. Programmatic approach taken forward by the programme is based on the following principles:

- the new initiatives are built on past achievements and extensively use connections, networks,mechanisms and structures put in place by the programme as result of past initiatives.

- the new initiatives of CP ensure strong linkages with existing programmes and initiatives.

The CP has proposed a novel method of programme implementation drawing upon its capacitiesestablished at the eld offices level. In particular, the CP provides the local level implementationsupport to any other programme, that operates at the national level and does not have the local levelresources.

In practice, the cooperation may take formal, or informal nature. In the more formal examples, theMOU is being signed between the 2 programmes, certied at the CO level with the respectiveprogramme analysts and the senior manager of the office. The MoU spells out the concrete services,that is to be provided by the CP to other programme and the budget for the services. Upon signingthe MOU, the CP receives the COA for the services that it provides. If the CP needs to add up a staff forfullling the additional function, the costs of the extra personnel is budgeted and being covered fromthe provided account. After the signature of the MoU, the staff of the CP is being responsible to carryout the activities, including procurement, recruitment, etc. Monitoring of the eld level actions is alsoundertaken regularly by the CP. The partner programme also does the monitoring actions, but in muchless scope. When CP is undertaken expenditure on behalf of the partner programme, the programmeanalyst of the respective programme is responsible for certifying it at the CO level.

On return, the CP is also entitled to receive services from the national level programmes in the same




fashion, i.e. resort to the technical or advocacy experience of national programmes.

Such programmatic approach has brought numerous benets such as (a) implementation of local ac-tivities with limited delays and lower overhead costs [cost effectiveness]; (b) minimized duplication andmaximized coordination within UNDP [efficiency]. By distributing the work based on their comparativeadvantages, the programmes were able to remain strategically focused. The operational efficiencyhas also been enhanced, such as two programmes joining resources to hire one staff member (i.e.engineer) to serve to the both programmes and ensure synergies. It is estimated, that the enhancedsynergies and cooperation has resulted in decrease of operational expenditures by about 35 % on anexpense of reduced travel, monitoring and staff costs.

Finally, to record and illustrate its practices, the CP has developed the SOPs of cooperation amongprogrammes that is expected to further promote this practice.

Links: Project Overview:http://www.undp.tj/site/index.php/en/our-programme/poverty-reductionContact: Gulbahor Nematova, [email protected]

CASE STUDY 47: TRANSPARENT TOWN

Project Title:Transparent TownCountry: Slovak RepublicCosts: EUR 23,000.-Duration: 2008 - ongoingStakeholder:Local Authorities, NGO, US Embassy in Slovakia

Entry Points:• Transparency &

Anti-corruption• IT-services• Community

Empowerment• Citizen Participation• Government Finances

Project Description: The ‘Transparent Town’ Project of the city of Martin, Slovak Republic, waslaunched in 2008 to increase transparency of the town council, enhance citizen engagement ingovernance, and reduce corruption in its activities.

In collaboration with the NGO “Transparency International Slovakia” the municipality identied 17key policies that might have an effect on the extent of corruption in the town. In the second phase,individual anticorruption measures were dened and the “Digital Town”-project, aiming at introducingthe e-Government concept and bringing free internet to citizens, full digitalization of the Town Councilmeetings and gradual introduction of intelligent electronic application forms. Furthermore, an EthicalCode for all employees of the Town Hall denes the rules for an impartial execution of work. The town council launched a website for citizens to monitor their municipality and take on the role ofwatchdogs 24/7. The site includes:

• Electronic auctions (used for procuring goods and services)

• Electronic market research

• Electronic bidding

• Map of electronic auctions

• Mayor’s diary

• Details about the city budget and assets (including all contracts and invoices)

• City grants, policy and information on recruitment of officials.

The introduction of electronic auctions alone led to savings of 21 percent of the city’s budget.

http://www.undp.tj/site/index.php/en/our-programme/poverty-reduction

http://www.undp.tj/site/index.php/en/our-programme/poverty-reduction




Simple ways for citizens to interact including electronic opinion polls and online notes or requestsfrom citizens provided an opportunity for the city to learn about citizen opinions and take them intoconsideration during city planning.

Lessons Learned: Finding a partner with experience and professional expertise on corruption wasessential. Also, members of the Town Council have to fully support the implementation of the transpar-ency measures and allocate budget to the project. Some of the proposed measures met with obstaclesfrom the legislature point of view though, e.g. in the disclosure of personal data of employees andelected officials.

Links: www.martin.sk, www.transparentnemesto.sk, http://www.transparenttown.eu/,www.martin.ebit.sk


CASE STUDY 48: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE – DECENTRALIZAT

Project Title:Local governance support: participation and partnership (LGSP)Country: UzbekistanCosts: USD 2,140,000Duration: 2010 - 2013Stakeholder:Cabinet of Ministers, Djizak and Namangan regional authorities

Entry Points:• Decentralization• E-governance• Access to information• Capacity development• Public-private partnership

Project Description: The LGSP was approved according to the Resolution No. 40 of the Cabinet ofMinisters of the Republic of Uzbekistan on March 09, 2010. The National Implementing Partner of theProject is the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan. The project activities are carried out in Djizak andNamangan regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan jointly with the respective regional khokimiyats(local authorities in Uzbekistan). The Project aims at assisting the Government in reforming the localgovernance by improving the performance of khokimiyats, strengthening their capacity and optimiz-ing the fulllment of functions by local government institutions. Supporting effective cooperation andpartnership among the local government authorities, civil society organizations and the private sectoris a key priority to achieve sustainable regional development.

The project is undertaking its activities at two levels of government: central (Cabinet of Ministers) andlocal (two pilot regions). At the central level (national decision-making level) the project is engagedin providing assistance in modernizing the public administration system by undertaking a numberof analytical research on decentralization issues and analyzing institutional and legal basis (including

functional review) to improve the cooperation between local executive and representative bodies.In particular, more than 20 analytical papers were prepared on various thematic areas such as: localgovernance reform, scal decentralization, regional development strategic planning, cooperation ofgovernmental organizations with NGOs and private sector in the pilot regions, the concept note onOne-Stop-Shop for delivering public services, access of citizens to information about performance ofgovernment agencies, local public services delivery etc.

Project is also piloting a number of initiatives at the local level (the regional and district decision-making levels), including the following:

To facilitate citizens’ access to public information, LGSP has managed to receive the additional fundingfrom DGTTF to establish 6 Local Government Information Centers (LGIC) of regional, city and districtkhokimiyats. This pilot model was presented to other 5 regions of Uzbekistan. Also more than 300 civilservants of local authorities received electronic digital signatures and on-the-job training to handle

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internal document ow through “E-Hujjat”, the electronic document management system. The officialwebsites www.jizzax.uz and www.namangan.uz of regional khokimiyats were updated to be user-friendly and client-oriented providing more diverse information to various target groups. In order todemonstrate modern approach on municipal management pertaining to local public services delivery,Project organized trainings for more than 200 civil servants to strengthen their individual functionalcapacity. 2 One-Stop-Shops (OSS) on public services were established in Djizak and Namangancities to deliver services to local population more effectively and timely on a “single window” basis. Their interactive and information services will shortly be available online at www.biroyna.uz. Thesystemic capacity development of middle and junior ranking civil servants will be supported throughdistance education system which to be developed in close partnership with the Academy of PublicAdministration of Uzbekistan. The development of community-based tourism through marketing andonline branding (http://www.facebook.com/Zaamin.uz?ref=stream, http://twitter.com/Zaamin_Brand,http://www.slideshare.net/zaamin) of Zaamin district in Djizak region and diversication of touristic ser-vices (www.zaamin.uz) available therein has created an innovative model to develop agrarian regionsthrough improvement of tourist services in other regions of Uzbekistan. This model was presented toNavoiy and Samarkand regions.

Piloting in two regions allowed testing innovative ideas, further analyzing lessons learned and receiv-ing recommendations for nationwide replication and implementation. Some of these concepts, espe-cially, on OSS, LGIC, and tourism development were shared with the Academy of Public Administrationof Uzbekistan, UNICEF, GIZ, other UNDP projects and partners.

In September 2011 the Prime Minister approved the establishment of the Inter-Agency CoordinationWorking Group with involvement of top government officials to coordinate, monitor and controlthe efficient implementation of the project. All analytical and practical project recommendations arediscussed at regular meetings of the Inter-Agency Coordination Working Group before sending themout to Government agencies for consideration and follow-up.

Lessons learned: A good networking with regional beneciaries to discuss the pending issues andquickly resolve the organizational matters was essential. To this end, 8 working groups created accord-ing to the decision of regional khokim (mayor) met several times to discuss the progress on projectimplementation and make proposals to key decision makers. A clear communication of results topublic through online publication of analytical reports and targeted dissemination thereof was a key tobuilding long-term partnerships with different stakeholders. Providing evidence-based policy adviceto the central Government through Inter-Agency Coordinating Working Group has led to follow-upmeasures by ministries and agencies to support pilot initiatives in regions.

Links: Project Overview: http://www.undp.uz/en/projects/project.php?id=161, http://www.lgsp.uz

Contact: Aziza Umarova, [email protected],Dilshod Isroilov, [email protected], Azizkhon Bakhadirov, [email protected]




“I am Yerjanik and trust me I’m happy…”UNDP Armenia started to interview their clients and to let them have their say on UNDP’s work.

“After the independence of Armenia the war, blockade, earthquake and pervasive unemploymentmade impossible to survive, and like many other migrant workers I left our village to support myparents and family.

A few years I spent in Russia. One day when I was talking to my family they told me that new programswere being implemented in the village and it gave me a hope for new perspectives. Immediately Imade a decision, bought a ticket and got back to Armenia, to my homeland.

I have established a greenhouse with the support of UNDP and started to grow tomatoes andcucumber. In the rst year there were days when I spent days and nights in the greenhouse regulat-ing the temperature like one would take care of a child. Drip irrigation, new seedlings, experiments,experiments…

UNDP has been consistent with its support and lent a helping hand again. With the support of Aid for Trade Project funded by the Government of Finland I underwent trainings on Agro-marketing deliv-ered by the best specialists in the country. I learned various greenhouse crop production technologiesand fundamental principles of marketing that enriched my knowledge acquired from my own experi-ence. My newly acquired knowledge and skills allowed me to scientically organize my business aswell as to make it useful for many people in our village through providing consultancy to those whohave greenhouses. Furthermore, my broad social network helps them to obtain seedlings, plantletsand fertilizers. Currently more than 40 greenhouses in Lusadzor and neighboring communities makeuse of my consultancy.

My family is not socially vulnerable anymore and I am a recognized greenhouse cultivation specialist inTavush region. I am Yerjanik (In Armenian my name means happy) and trust me I’m happy...

I am grateful to the UNDP for the opportunity to get back to my family, to become and feel self-sufficient and reliant on my own hard work.”

Yerjanik Ayvazyan

2. COMMUNICATING OUR WORK:BLOG POSTS ON SUSTAINABLE LOCA

2. Communicating our Work: Blog Posts on Sustainable Local Development




Development through partnership: Biodiversity and BusinessBy S evara Sharapova,UNDP in Uzbekistan

When I followed theInternational Development Studies program at Ohio University I became inter-ested in how the private sector can contribute to development in local communities.

I learned that working together is the most efficient way of achieving development goals. After gradu-ation I got my dream job – I do public relations for a UNDP-Global Environment Facility (GEF)project that helps to include biodiversity in the policies and and activities of Uzbekistan’s oil and gas sector.

One of my tasks is to get the representatives of the oil and gas industry involved in biodiversity conser-vation activities.

It is known that drilling for oil and gas can have a negative impact on biodiversity.

“It is quite possible that some workers of the oil and gas companies operating on the Ustyurt Plateausimply do not know that open ditches for gas pipeline create a barrier for saiga migration,” said LiliyaZakirova from theUzbek Research and Design Institute.

“ Maybe they do not know that Saiga antelopes cannot jump over them. I think if they were aware ofthis they would avoid doing that, they would take measures to arrange crossings over the ditches, toll them in time, to choose the time different from the time of saiga migration to perform works. It istherefore important to inform the employees at all levels about the habitats, migration routes and thehabits of this rare antelope.”

On the other hand, the oil and gas industry can play a leading role in Uzbekistan’s development.Howcan we combine our economic, social and environmental goals?

The answer is to make sure that the principles of biodiversity conservation are included in Uzbekistan’soil and gas policies and operations.

One of our project activities is a campaign to raise awareness of people working for oil and gas com-panies about the importance of responsible behaviour and policies when it comes to biodiversity. Ourcampaign consisted of:

• Anessay competition (in Russian)• A photography competition• A screenplay competition

• Aquiz (in Russian)

At the beginning of our campaign, many people thought that the business community might notsupport the idea. Some told me that it was not realistic to get such serious industries on board; somewere even more pessimistic – they told me that the oil and gas industry representatives would ignoreour ideas.

They all turned out to be wrong. On the contrary, business people not only liked the idea, but found itto be very relevant.

“When I was a student, I was taught how to drill but not to protect the environment,” said ErkinMamadjanov fromGazprom Zarubezhneftegaz, one of the leading Russian gas companies.

“It does not mean that there were no courses on environmental protection at all. There was one short

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http://www.developmentstudies.ohio.edu/index.html

http://www.undp.uz/




course on the basics, which I had to take, but in general the issue was not a priority in the curriculum.As a result, I needed to catch up with my studies on environmental protection when I started my workon the ground. I think it is important for students to learn about biodiversity.”

As the result of our campaign we were able to get the support of several companies. The journal ofNational Holding Company Uzbekneftegaz, theUzbek journal of oil and gas , which is distributedamong oil and gas organizations in Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia, is going to publishseveral of the prize-winning essays on biodiversity this year. The PETRONAS Carigali (Urga) OperatingCompany recruited one of the prize-winners, Ikboljon Mamatrakhimov, for an internship.

The experience has been very enlightening for me. It has taught me that if we want to make a differ-ence, we should not make assumptions (that might be wrong), but take action.

I learned that if we want the business community to accept responsibility for biodiversity conserva-tion in the areas where they operate, we should make them aware of the issue. At the same time, weshould nd other ways (for example, through strict environmental regulations) to convince them thatresponsible behaviour towards biodiversity should be the norm.

http://www.ung.uz/ru/press_center/mag_cnt

http://www.ung.uz/ru/press_center/mag_cnt




Some talk, we do – a fun way to go greenByKomila Rakhimova , UNDP in Uzbekistan

A few months ago, instead of driving our cars, we started cycling to work together with a colleague. This has created a buzz of emotions among colleagues –admiration, humour, and concerns - as well asnumerous questions on safety, time, interest and even pitty for the car in the garage.

Each of us had various reasons to choose cycling over driving. Initially sustainable development andenvironmental concerns were not the chief motivator, but the more we thought about the benets ofthis initiative, the more obvious they became.

There are several routes that we can take to work though we prefer the longer one, about 10 km oneway, that runs through a city park with bright green lawns and cool air. The other cool part is a straightdownhill road where we manage to speed to over 55km p/h. Fresh morning breeze, a squirrel on a

tree, rainbows in small fountains – these are the new experiences that add to our good relaxed mood.Since we start quite early we can choose to pause at an ice-cream shop for vanilla cornetto. Nowcompare that to morning fever of driving in hectic traffic, breathing car exhausts, being apprehensiveabout breaking a road rules followed by unpleasant conversation with policemen, disappointment atmalfunctioning streetlights, topped up by vain attempts to nd a parking space near the office.

Positiveenvironmental impact adds up to nice gures too. My colleague’s annual mileage on car ran to15.000 km, equaling to 2.000 USD spent on fuel and 1.000 USD on maintenance. His car’s CO2 emis-sions were 5.21 metric tons per year, which is comparable to 13 years of non-stop usage of one 100Wbulb! I drive less and own a small car, so I spent roughly 450 USD annually on fuel and about 200 USDon maintenance, exhausting 1 metric ton of CO2 per year. This is comparable to 6 years non-stop workof a midsize fridge! Now our commute emission equals zero and the realization that we are adding to asafer and greener future is quite pleasing.

Obviously there wereconcerns when we discussed launching on this new experience. Friends andrelatives were worried about safety. But cycling is not more dangerous than driving a car or beinga pedestrian. It takes knowing road rules, being attentive on the road, and observing basic securitymeasures. Other obstacles include pedestrians, drivers and other cyclists who break road rules. Also,occasionally, driving on a straight side road, we come across a ditch or steps. This means we need toget down and carry the bicycles in our hands. The local bicycle spare parts and accessories market isquite limited too, so we order mostly from abroad. Thus there is much yet to be done to make the citysafe and friendly towards cyclists and to raise general awareness about road rules.

Overall, despite a few challenges, the experience has been great so far. We encourage everyone to startdoing what we preach and join the “green” cycling world.

https://undp.unteamworks.org/user/3703

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx





This city is what it is because its citizens are what they areBy Olena Ursu,UNDP in Ukraine

A staggering54 percent of Ukrainians are mostly, or partially, dissatised with the services deliveredby the state or local authorities (Source:UNDP-supported manual, pdf , Ukrainian ).

Therefore earlier this year, theGovernment of Ukraine committed to reforms in the area of goodgovernance, access to information, anticorruption and e-governance byapproving an action plan toimplement the Open Government Partnership initiative.

But local governments, which have always been at the forefront of communication with citizens,demonstrated an interest in becoming citizen-oriented much earlier.

Our project launched partnership withVoznesensk municipality (population: 37,000) in 2006, and

supported its efforts with community-based development: 25 joint projects with a budget of ap-proximately $290,000 helped benet17,800 citizens ( 48 percent of the total population of the city),and built trust between the community and their local government. At the same time, citizens becamemore demanding about the quality of administrative services.

In response, the municipality, with support fromUNDP, implemented a number of projects:

It was among the rst 10 cities (out of 454 in Ukraine) which introduced thequality managementsystem for municipal services in accordance with ISO 9001:2001 (and later upgraded it to the 2008version). As part of this initiative, technological and information cards were developed for 91 admin-istrative services provided by the city council; the Code of Conduct, Municipal Policy on Quality weredeveloped and approved; and the staff was trained on the quality of service delivery to citizens.

After three years of quality management systems/ISO, the municipality realized that many proceduresrelated to providing administrative services could be improved bygoing digital . The municipalitycomputerized its administrative processes, and created data processing systems to support interactionbetween service providers and citizens and businesses.

The municipality quickly followed up with an initiative to provide the maximum number of services tocitizens according to theone-stop-shop principle. In Ukraine, there are great examples to follow, asin the case of a one stop shop centre in Ivano-Frankivsk municipality. It allows citizens to check onlinewhat kind of documents they need to prepareto get the service they want, as well as tocheck thestatus of their application.

Given that 27 percent of Ukrainians (10.2 million) have Internet access (according to a2009 study byGFK ), such projects have the potential for wider involvement of local communities in decision making,and they will surely advise the authorities how they can improve further.

As Plato said, “This City is what it is because its citizens are w hat they are.”

http://www.undp.org.ua/

http://www.pravo.org.ua/images/documents/CfAS_2ed.pdf

http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en

http://undp.org.ua/en/media/41-democratic-governance/1296-undp-supports-action-plan-for-implementation-of-the-open-government-partnership-initiative-in-ukraine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq_ZWl1ZXA0

http://olenaursu.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/community-based-development-approach-how-to-internalise/

http://msdp.undp.org.ua/

http://olenaursu.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/iso-for-the-better-quality-of-municipal-services/



http://olenaursu.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/good-news-week-voznesensk/

http://www.cnap.if.ua/services

http://www.cnap.if.ua/


http://eccosocialmedia.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/social-media-in-ukraine/






http://www.cnap.if.ua/services

http://olenaursu.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/good-news-week-voznesensk/



http://msdp.undp.org.ua/

http://olenaursu.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/community-based-development-approach-how-to-internalise/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq_ZWl1ZXA0

http://undp.org.ua/en/media/41-democratic-governance/1296-undp-supports-action-plan-for-implementation-of-the-open-government-partnership-initiative-in-ukraine

http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en

http://www.pravo.org.ua/images/documents/CfAS_2ed.pdf

http://www.undp.org.ua/




Is there a way out of this situation? Of course, as we have already realized, these issues largely dependon the system of governance.

One of the ideas of the working group that was hired to preparea report on municipal governance was to establish aDepartment of Urban Infrastructure Management attached to khokimiyats(localadministrations). This department would enable each city to consolidate activities of the variouscompanies responsible for providing infrastructure services.

This would allow for streamlining the use of public funds and attracting foreign investment, smallbusiness and private enterprise to infrastructure development projects. Urbanization for Uzbekistan isan irreversible process. Cities and the urban population will grow, and therefore so will the demand forinfrastructure. And as a result, it is important to strike the necessary balance between the demand ofurban residents and businesses on the one hand and the Government’s capabilities on the other.

http://www.cer.uz/en/publications/1268

http://www.cer.uz/en/publications/1268




Chasing the ChangeBy Anvar Meliboev

This is my second blog out of several ones devoted to working with local communities in Uzbekistan. Theblog highlights short but yet life brought examples.

Traveling to regions is always a good way to discover new things such as a specic traditional dish,which you never tried before, a specic word or phrase used among local people, customs and tradi-tions or even a new legend/ historical facts relevant to your travel of destination. For me, these travelsalso help to spotlight the most pressing issues people have to face, sometimes dealing with limitedaccess to electricity and lack of information technologies. Hours and hours of conversations with localcommunities leave you with an impression to adjust your plans in line with existing local realities tocatch up with changes. And interestingly enough, the issues people have, are not always permanent,they change constantly, depending on various situations and conditions. Tura Halikov, Deputy Director

of Surkhan Strict Nature Reserve in Surkandarya region reveals that just two years ago he was heavilydepending on a fax machine to communicate with colleagues and partners. Now, a small wireless USBdevice is almost irreplaceable tool to send, receive and nd out information.

People Tend to Change, People Keen to Learn

In March, I was visiting Sherabad district together with a German expert who was assessing informa-tion needs of local communities on eco/nature concerned topics. A housewife of a house where westayed for a short break tried to communicate with her using pantomime. When we were living thevillage, both the house wife and German started drawing on the snow, their ages, number of childrentrying to identify their age and gender. To be honest, it was one of the most touching and honestscenes I have ever seen.

Saying bye to each other, a local woman promised to learn basic German or English when next timeour guest arrives at her village. Several months later, I visited this village again, and I met this woman,whom I could not recognize at rst. After greeting me, she proudly started speaking with me in Englishand German languages using very simple sentences. But she was disappointed that our expert had notcome. I was truly amazed how she is committed to new learning and discoveries.

Feeling of Belonging

Several years ago we took a picture of a senior couple living in a remote area. The picture was included intoa booklet dedicated to protected areas. Months later, a young man walked in the administrative building

of our counterpart’s office in the region and requested to have one booklet depicting his grandfather andgrandmother. He did not conceal gladness and grabbed several booklets to be shared with others.

In May of this year, this man was taking photographs during an awarding ceremony of children’s draw-ings contest organized by UNDP and partners using his brand new camera. We joked for a while andhe shared with me his portfolio of photographs of people in his community and even said that, theyare gender balanced.

Trusting in People, Believing in Development.

People should be a part of what we do. Thus, we gradually nurture a sense of belonging of local popu-lation to our activities. The important message we have to convey is that people and local communi-ties are part of our work, and development would not be successfully achieved without participationof people. They are the ones who will take on our activities, when we leave.






A Close neighbor is better than a distant relative (Armenian proverb)By Babken Babayan

Well here we are as one of the rst time bloggers presenting the Aid for Trade (AfT) Project which start-ed in Armenia in spring 2011. This Project is conducted with the nancial support of the Governmentof Finland (Wider Europe Initiative). AfT supports economic development of Tavush Region throughenhancing the trade related activities. Tavush Region lies in the northeast of Armenia and borders withGeorgia; in fact it is even closer to Tbilisi than to Yerevan. This region is famous with its delicious berriesand fruit (especially peaches, plums and persimmons) and it also serves as a main corridor for Armeniafor freight traffic to Russia and other CIS countries as well as to Europe and Turkey through Georgia.

We know that the goals can be achieved in many different ways and our team believes that it ain’twhat you do, but the way that you do it! Hence the Project aims to provide adequate knowledgeand skills for public sector authorities, SME’s, business support institutions, etc. who will contribute

to export promotion; to enhance the Market Information Center so it is able to provide high qualitycustomer services, to link the need & demand, the producers & consumers; and last but not least, theproject will support local businesses through implementation of innovative export oriented projects/business ideas.

Before starting capacity building we should identify the current situation. That’s why we’ve rstlyconducted a study to identify the target beneciaries in the Region (SME’s, market information center,business/farmers associations, cooperatives, public servants, etc.) and assess their actual capacities(nancial, technical and business skills) as well as the potential for production, processing and exportof agricultural products in Tavush Marz.

We are currently at the stage of mapping local businesses. There are certainly some challenges as wesometimes come across with businesses non-registered in tax authorities or the contrary – the regis-tered businesses are sometimes non-operational.

One of the dilemmas we are facing now is for example which businesses to promote – should wesupport the start up businesses where the risks are high? Or the ones that are already operating suc-cessfully and can overcome difficulties on their own?

We would be very interested to know your opinion/experience with similar initiatives and even advice.

https://undp.unteamworks.org/node/160377





Forest adaptation project in 10 points or less!ByEssi Ulander

Piloting of a new format of project reporting – blogging – is launched by UNDP CO Armenia. The“Adaptation to climate change impacts in mountain forest ecosystems of Armenia” project, as oneof the three volunteers, will start sending blog posts from the Climate Change Programme Unit, theproject’s home base at the Ministry of Nature Protection.

First time bloggers, we are trying to get our heads around the task and the rst topic, the introductionof the project. Even if yours truly is quite attracted to the ‘slogans’ of the Knowledge & Innovation-initiative –making the invisible visible, reporting about the process rather than only results,real-time communication (hopefully both ways) – I recognise how stuck I am on typical reportingand jargon like “mainstreaming” or “up-scaling”, which, in all honesty, often seem to capture the essenceof an outcome quite nicely. However, one does not have to look further than theProject Document for

exactly that kind of a description of the project. So to begin the project’s blogging career, for the rstpost we set two targets: 1) to present the project in 10 points or less and 2) to write a not-the-way-you-read-it-on-the-ProDoc –post. Here goes.

The “Adaptation to climate change impacts in mountain forest ecosystems of Armenia” project (tryrepeating that ve times quickly; henceforth the Forest Adaptation Project) is about three quartersdown the line and will be wrapped in 2013. Although the project has stayed well on schedule andseveral project ‘successes’ have already been posted onour website, now is the time to get the last,and maybe the biggest, things done.

The issue: climate change impacts on forest ecosystems and ecosystem services. Forests tend to beat the centre of manyclimate change mitigation projects, but, as the name suggests, our projectconcentrates on enhancing forestadaptation to climate change . The aspect is relatively new and theproject is piloting theoretical assumptions on the ground. The measures are important for the protec-tion of the scarce forest resources of Armenia, but should likewise be at the heart of forest mitigationprojects, likeREDD+, to improve their sustainability.

The solution:adaptive forest management . Traditionally forest, or protected area management isbased on expectedly unchanging conditions (static baseline); an assumption that will not hold underclimate change (dynamic baseline) and especially when we look at the rotation lengths of severaldecades up to a century of forest stands. Adaptive forest management is not about reinventing thewheel though; it is about ne-tuning the timing and practices of current forest management, rethink-ing the type and mixture of seedlings, learning as we go and, most importantly, identifying local scale

climate change impacts on forests.Climate change in the forests of Armenia is a burning issue. Literally, as wildres is one of the mainthreats posed by the drying and warming climate of the region. It is also a gnawing problem asleaf-eating forest pests are greatly benetting from the new conditions. The problem is also aboutaccumulation and tipping-point: the forests of Armenia are fragmented and degraded due to severalother human factors, which are leading to reducedforest resilience under climate change .

The Forest Adaptation Project is working in the eld with the abovementioned issues. Activities rangefrom building wildre suppression capacities to demonstration of biological pest control; stakeholdersrange from the Forest Enterprises,“Hayantar” (state forest authority) and the Armenian Rescue Serviceto elementary school children in the regions, all of which we will undoubtedly blog about later on. Theproject has also four reforestation sites in the Syunik region of Armenia.



http://www.nature-ic.am/en/PR_F_PD

http://www.nature-ic.am/en/PR_F_News

http://unfccc.int/methods_science/redd/items/4531.php

http://hayantar.am/en

http://hayantar.am/en

http://unfccc.int/methods_science/redd/items/4531.php

http://www.nature-ic.am/en/PR_F_News

http://www.nature-ic.am/en/PR_F_PD






Say No to Paper, Praise the Electronic Prodigies in UzbekistanBy Anvar Meliboev

Imagine ten years from now, you sit in a comfortable sofa watching the latest evening news. Anelectronic message just received, this a notication that your request on getting registered your earlyretirement has been received and being proceeded by the local administration.

Does it sound a bit unrealistic?. Excuse me, but not nowadays. With booming of IT technologies andthe efforts of governments to shift from paper based document management to more people-friendlyand client-oriented services such as application of electronic documents and use of e-data ow is atime –driven realistic demand.

A Little Bit of History

Back in 2005, the Government of Uzbekistan issued a decree on further development information andcommunication technologies. And, in 2011 the UNDP project “Local Governance Support” initiateddevelopment and successfully installed the e-document ow system “E-Hujjat” in Djizakh region ofUzbekistan. This work also included installation of the software in administration of Djizakh region, cityof Djizakh and 12 districts of the region, which are currently exchanging information and documentswith each instantaneously. More than 50 employees of the Djizakh region administration receivedadvanced trainings on practical use of e-ow.

Put simply outdated ways of paper work are not anymore in place, and for an employee of Djizakh cityand region administration embedment of these IT prodigies helps to safe time, spend less paper, andnerves spent on carrying out a bulk of papers, saying bye to a fear of losing an important letter, or evenspilling a cup of coffee or tea. It is like using computers after several years of handwriting, there aremany advantages in favour of IT’s.

Melted Away In History

Before introduction of new e-system, in 2011, the Djizakh regional administration would approximatelyspend 16 million soums annually (9,000$) while the city administration - 3 million soums (1,600$). Totalprocurement related to paper consumption of all administrations of Djizak region was equal to 31million soums (17,000$).

The big task remaining on the project’s to do -list is the inclusion of climate change risks into the10-year forest management plans and their guiding documents. Watch this Space to read more aboutthis process.

The Forest Adaptation Project is one of the only 26 projects to receive funding under GEF’s StrategicPriority on Adaptation – funding window making the project a global pilot . Examples of similarprojects are not widespread.

That is the Forest Adaptation Project in 7 points! In our future posts we are planning to write moreabout the chosen approaches of the project, the challenges and factors contributing to the successesof the project, reports from the eld from reforestation sites, maybe learning a thing or two aboutblogging on the way too. And better yet,we would like to hear from you what you would like toread about on the blog and greatly welcome your comments!






Benets in Numbers

The Head of Administrative Department of the Djizakh Regional Khokimiyat Mr. Vakhob Alimkulovestimates that “In 2012 a decrease in paper consumption by 2-3 times is expected, which allows tospend the savings on drinking water supply, installation of pipelines, urban improvement and han-dling of other urgent issues.

The introduction of modern forms of paperwork made it possible to increase work productivity. If inthe past the documents were transferred to regions (especially remote regions) via messengers orcouriers, sometimes through passing cars, within 2-3 days, but now they are sent to lower structuresinstantly.

Facts to know According to experts from University of Western Australia to produce one tonne ofpaper one should spend:

- 31,780 litres of water

- 4100 kilowatt hours of electricity- 75 per cent of chlorinated bleach

- 27 kilograms of air pollutants- 13 – 24 trees

- 4 cubic metres of landll- 2.5 barrels of oil




Inspiring Citizens to Get Involved in Shaping of the Local Policy AgenBy Toni Popovski

Thought-provoking ndings about public perceptions of the country’s social services and recentpolicy reforms made for interesting discussion at a meeting just held in Krushevo as part of theSocialServices for Social Development and Cohesion project [pdf] aimed at supporting inclusivelocal development and improving the nancing of local services.

Organized by UNDP in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the South-Eastern EuropeanUniversity, the two-day meeting was attended by more than 90 local stakeholders from the pilotmunicipalities of Krushevo, Konche, Cair and Jegunovce, mayors from the relevant ZELS Commissions,as well as members of national coordination bodies such as the Decentralization Working Group andthe Commission for Inter-Municipal Cooperation. The ndings are from a detailed survey carried out byexperts from the South-Eastern European University in the four pilot municipalities. The survey forms

part of a wider report entitledCitizens’ Responses for Improvement of Local Policies. I believe that this questionnaire for measuring the satisfaction of the citizens with the quality of localservices can be used on a regular basis, not only by the four pilot municipalities but by all municipali-ties in the country.

The survey found that citizens in all four municipalities see the development of the local economyand public infrastructure as challenges that urgently need to be addressed by their local authorities.Respondents pointed out that insufficient allocation of funds for local economic development in thebudgets of these municipalities, combined with high unemployment, have led to a high level of localdependence on state interventions. Local action is possible and called for, nonetheless, to encouragegreater cooperation amongst municipalities and in the private sector in support of productive eco-nomic activities at micro-region level.

Other signicant results from the survey include comparative data on public perceptions of proposedreforms to integrate ethnic communities in the education and further decentralize services for socialprotection and childcare.

It was interesting to note that support for the concept of integrated education differed accordingto the ethnic composition of each municipality. Greatest resistance to the concept was evident inmunicipalities with balanced ethnic communities while the highest support was found where therewas a clear ethnic majority. Such data will need to be taken into account in the process of introducingintegrated education.

Public attitudes towards the further decentralization of social protection and childcare services alsodiffered signicantly, with citizens from the urban municipality of Cair declaring greater condence inthe central government as a provider of these services while those from the three rural municipalitiesexpressed more trust in local authorities. In all four municipalities, however, there is an evident lack ofcondence in civil society organizations and the private sector as service providers.

All participants agreed that this valuable data will denitely need to be considered by the Ministry ofLabour and Social Policy in the process of deinstitutionalizing social protection and childcare services.




Household Garbage, That Big-City ProblemByNarghiza Alikulova

There are said to be only two ways to take care of the environment: to avoid littering it or to clean upafter yourself. The rst option is not feasible at all, since garbage is a result of human activity. But thesecond one is quite doable—if the desire is there. And if the necessary procedures are implemented.

Cities and the urban population are growing, and internal migration is intensifying. All this makesefficient management of household solid waste (HSW) one of the key issues in the development ofurban infrastructure and environmental conservation.

For the most part, HSW accumulates in large amounts at landlls, and the level of recycling is low. As aresult, damage to the environment is increasing, and so are direct and indirect economic losses.

In Uzbekistan, the greatest quantity of HSW forms in Tashkent and the cities of the Tashkent andSamarkand regions and the Fergana Valley. For example, the city of Tashkent accounted for almost 50%of the HSW collected in the country and hauled to landlls during the period 1996-2004.

From 1996 to 2007 a total of 72.6 million m3 of HSW was collected and hauled to landlls in Uzbekistanas a whole. Yet no more than 60% of waste in the republic’s cities and district centers are actuallyhauled away by sanitation enterprises.

By 2025, as a result of a projected increase in urban population to 17,170,000, the amount of urbanHSW will increase to 20.6 million m3 a year. This situation will be exacerbated by the low level of HSWrecycling, which for the city of Tashkent is only about 5-6%, whereas in the EU countries 40% of HSW isrecycled, 20% is burned for energy and only 40% is kept at landlls.

Uzbekistan currently has 182 HSW landlls, 142 of which are managed by the government and 40 bythe private sector. At most landlls and dumps, however, HSW burial and decontamination proceduresare not followed. Only 38 (or 20.8%) of these sites have HSW acceptance and inspection facilities andonly 17 have weighing equipment. In addition, more than 90% of landlls and dumps are in unsatisfac-tory condition, which has a negative impact on the environment. High air temperatures, especiallyduring the summer, contribute to the decomposition of organic substances and speed up the devel-opment of microora, including pathogenic microorganisms.

What is the reason for the low level of HSW management?

The main problem is the fragmented and contradictory regulatory framework governing urban wastemanagement. The second one is that the mechanism for overseeing and implementing the legalframework of urban waste management and the nancial, economic, scal and other governmentregulatory tools do not yet meet the current requirements of urbanization and the economic develop-ment of cities or the high standards of environmental protection.

Therefore one of the recommendations by experts is to introduce a system of tax breaks for legalentities and individual entrepreneurs who are engaged in collecting, hauling and disposing of waste,to educate the public better regarding environmental-protection measures and to foster mutuallybenecial cooperation with developed countries in improving HSW management.

And now I would like to ask you, distinguished UNDP colleagues, what success stories and productiveprojects from the developed countries could you suggest as possible solutions?

https://undp.unteamworks.org/user/NarghizaAlikulova

https://undp.unteamworks.org/user/NarghizaAlikulova




Improving human security in the Aral Sea region of Uzbekistan:A start of a new UN partnership

By Zakiya AbdurazakovaWhen asked about human security, one may solely refer to the absence of violence. However, it isfar more than that. In fact, human security encompasses the protection of fundamental freedoms ofvulnerable population and refers to creation of enabling governance systems, effective healthcare andeducation sectors, so that people can enjoy fullled lives with dignity. Often, human security is undera serious threat in communities where environmental disasters take place, as they affect economy,healthcare and overall welfare of population, such as in case with the Aral Sea.

Located in the heart of Central Asia – the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest lake, has now driedup to about 30% of its initial size as the lakes that fed it were diverted for irrigation purposes. Such adramatic environmental change has had a negative impact on the region’s economy, social sphere andlivelihoods of the population. Traditionally, the Aral Sea provided both irrigation and shing opportuni-ties, while nowadays due to the drying up of the Sea and reduced water ow, the shing industry andagriculture are devastated and even drinking water is scarce in many communities.

Due to the newly formed desert, frequently blowing toxic dust storms have a negative impact uponthe health of the population. Up to date, a number of national and international projects have beensuccessfully implemented in this region, nevertheless, the living standards of the population of thefarthest located districts such as Muynak, Shumanay and Kanlikul, need further improvement.

A Call for Collective Action

During his visit to Uzbekistan in April 2010 the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon specically high-lighted the impact that the shrinking of the Aral Sea has had on the human security and described itas “one of the world’s worst environmental disasters”. Considering the complexity of existing problems,collective actions of UN agencies become crucial in mitigating issues faced by people in this region.Particularly, Secretary General stated “We must work together – collectively. This is a responsibility sharedamong the communities in the region and among the nations of the world… and UN will work to providethe necessary assistance”.

The efforts of ve UN agencies in Uzbekistan - UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, WHO and UNV resulted in thelaunch of a Joint Programme titled “Sustaining Livelihoods Affected by the Aral Sea Disaster”. The JointProgramme is funded by the UN Trust Fund for Human Security, and aims to improve the welfare ofthe most vulnerable groups of population in Karakalpakstan. It seeks to support local communities ofMuynak, Shumanay and Kanlikul districts in improvement of their access to basic infrastructure, includ-ing access to clean water and gas through design and implementation of community developmentplans, by reaching out about 130,000 people.

Addressing Poverty, Healthcare and Public Awareness

This Joint Programme will also provide income generation opportunities for dekhkan farms, throughintroduction of improved agricultural practices and pasture management techniques, planting of newcrops and tree varieties. It will also support entrepreneurial activities of women and youth by develop-ing local handicrafts and tourism sites. Improvement of healthcare sector is also one of the targets ofthe Programme. These activities will be carried out through education of about 1,500 primary health-

care workers in reproductive health issues, and awareness campaign of youth on family planning, andHIV-prevention.






Armenia: Using Public Private Partnerships for theSustainable Development “Sweet Spot”ByHovhannes Sarajyan

In 2011 UNDP, USAID and “Eco-engineering”, a private company, launched a project to promote PETrecycling in Armenia, by establishing a legislative framework that allowed for private sector invest-ments in high-value-added recycling businesses. The Collection and Reuse of Plastic Refuse initiativewas initially designed to raise awareness of the issue, to reduce pollution and to improve public healthby engaging with local communities to encourage Sustainable Environmental Management in veregions (Lori, Gegharkunik, Kotayk, Ararat and Armavir) impacting the livelihoods of over 330,000people in 12 major towns and national parks.

In partnership with local municipalities, UNDP facilitated a Public Private Dialogue processes thatallowed the design of the legal conditions required for Public Private Partnerships. Also, a CapacityDevelopment Response strategy that focused on building technical and infrastructural capacities forthe differentiated treatment of waste, namely the segregation of PET bottles and plastic products, wasdeveloped. The municipalities were provided with special bins for PET waste, balers, compactors andother necessary equipment to create incentives for private businesses. A partnership model for the

local authorities responsible for waste management was designed, and private companies with capaci-ties to buy and recycle PET waste were identied. UNDP supported negotiations between partners andfacilitated the design of a long-term contractual relationship between the parties. Throughout UNDP’sadvisory support, and by developing “real” PPP initiatives, the knowledge and skills of partner munici-palities were enhanced. An intensive public awareness campaign contributed to widely inform andencourage citizens to separate PET waste into special bins that supported the implementation process.

Triple-wins achieved include: 50-70% of PET waste recycled in participating municipalities improvingthe environment; diverting negative impacts of illegal dumping and reducing waste sent to the landllbeneting over 330,000 people. Informal small scale and ad-hoc PET collection activities existed beforebut the sector has now been formalized and institutionalized resulting in (new) enterprise develop-ment and increases in income (up to 3%-5%) in existing waste management enterprises. Private sectorgrowth created 50 jobs offering opportunities particularly to socially excluded residents.

A paradigm shift in municipalities’ relationships and trust towards the private sector is now evident andthe capacity to identify and implement Public-Private Partnerships has greatly improved. Also, citizens’responses exceed expectations witnessed by the immediate impact of a healthier and cleaner environ-ment. A culture of PET recycling was relatively quickly developed: “It takes no effort to throw bottles inthe bins now, and I know it is better for nature,” said a resident of Sevan community at a public aware-ness event organized at Lake Sevan.

By acting on community level and reaching each and every individual, the joint programme andpartners aim to enhance economic opportunity, education, health care and environmental security, toensure that people in the Aral Sea region live fullled lives and enjoy various opportunities that life hasto offer.






Help conserve biodiversityBySevara Sharapova

Being part of the UNDP family,our project works with partners, including of the oil and gas companiesoperating in Uzbekistan, to nd ways of conserving biodiversity. The dialogs with representatives of the oil and gas companies have showed that there is a demand for knowledge in the eld of biodiversityconservation.

After nding out that there is a knowledge gap, we came up with several initiatives to ll the gap. Oneof them was an idea of launching an awareness campaign among the students who will be taking upcareers in the oil and gas industry. In Tashkent, there are three universities which prepare specialists forthe oil and gas sector; around 2700 students of these universities major in oil and gas sector subjects.

We chose the activities that in our opinion would build up the skills and knowledge around biodiver-

sity conservation and eventually inuence behaviors and attitudes towards the matter. We launchedthe essay contest, the photo contest, the screenplay contest dedicated to the World EnvironmentDay. Also, we organized the quiz competition on the theme “Biodiversity and oil-and-gas industry”.Questions that were put across in the quiz were categorized under four topics: 1) Uzbekistan ora andfauna; 2) the concept of biodiversity; 3) Landscapes of Uzbekistan; 4) Processing of oil and gas prod-ucts. Also, the lm ‘HOME’ was screened for all.

We were glad to learn that these activities have inspired some changes in knowledge and inbehavior of targeted population group. Shokhrukh Kholmatov, a student of the Tashkent Chemical Technological Institute (TCTI) said that he studiedthe Red Book of the Republic of Uzbekistan (the listof extinct and endangered species of ora and fauna of Uzbekistan) to get prepared for quiz. This wasthe activity that he never took before . The winner of the essay contest Maftuna Valieva, a studentof the Tashkent State Technical University (TSTU) said that she found signicant that the studentsmajoring in oil and gas sector`s subjects took part in the contests because such activities make themmore ecologically friendly.

We think that when these students graduate from universities and start work in the oil and gas indus-try they will apply environmentally sustainable technologies. We believe therefore that these activitiesalong with the actions that our project has been taken to enable biodiversity-friendly legislative andinstitutional environment will have a long-term positive effect.





http://tkti.uz/

http://tkti.uz/

http://tkti.uz/

http://www.gov.uz/en/press/society/9348

http://tdtu.uz/

http://tdtu.uz/

http://www.gov.uz/en/press/society/9348

http://tkti.uz/

http://tkti.uz/








Cricket for Peace and DevelopmentBy Nicholas Hercules

Can sport really build bridges across divided communities? The UN has its Sports for Peace andDevelopment programme yet sometimes I wonder if capital city-based policy makers sneer a little atsports when it comes to programme possibilities and under-estimate the impact potential of sport onthe ground in much-deprived communities. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is however an advo-cate noting with some envy in an op-ed penned on the eve of the 2010 football World Cup in SouthAfrica that FIFA had even more members than did the United Nations! Last week in early July southSerbia witnessed its rst recorded game of Street T20 cricket in Bujanovac – a multi-ethnic town 10kmfrom Kosovo comprising ethnic Albanians, Roma and Serbs -- in a partnership between theUN’s PBILDprogramme, the UK Embassy in Serbia, TransConict and Cricket for Change, a UK-based NGO. Coulda sport, the rules of which were little known to locals, help communities engage with one another? Iasked myself. As a true believer in the power of sport to overcome most obstacles in human develop-

ment, I was an optimist. Yet I harboured doubts, especially because the four-hour coaching sessionand matches were due to take place under the baking midday sun which saw temperatures near 40degrees Celsius.

I needn’t have worried. Sport creates opportunities, even if it’s not the one played by tennis worldnumber one and Serbian hero Novak Djokovic, and opportunities for a healthy lifestyle, fun andcompetition are scarce in the poorest part of Serbia. Thirty children, aged around 10 years, showedup in the main town square (a mere stone’s throw (or should that be a cricket ball throw?) from themunicipality and PBILD office) and, thanks to simple coaching from the experts, quickly picked up thebasics of cricket. Hit the ball. Run to the other end. Accumulate runs (which are like points). While thebowling (elding) team seeks to get all the batting team members out.

Peals of laughter from the teams, decked out in colourful T-shirts and caps, soon brought attentionfrom shoppers and shop keepers. What was this game? One enquired. Why are you allowing Romachildren to play in the main square? Another asked me. I had not anticipated this opportunity to usethe good news of cricket to spread the gospel of peace-building and social cohesion. The joyous facesand inter-action between team members made it easy to share with the disgruntled shop-keeper whythis was a good day for Bujanovac. It was not difficult for the growing crowd to observe how the chil-dren were sharing tactics and ideas with one another on how to win; be it through catching, throwingor where to hit the ball to avoid the elders. Thus, perhaps unwittingly, cross-cultural communicationand friendships were rapidly developing among the youngsters. Only their ability to score runs or gettheir opponents out mattered. One’s background, economic status or school results (if you attendedclasses that is as many Roma still do not), quickly became irrelevant. It was a meritocracy in action.

Governance decisions were made quickly. Social cohesion advanced a bit. Upon closing the tourna-ment all gathered for happy photo opportunities. Cricket Serbia is seeking funding to sustain the streetcricket schools and PBILD is exploring using football to bring communities together, not least thosedivided by the new Kosovo-Serbia frontier, in the programme’s second phase starting in 2013.

Recalling the event the following day to the town’s mayor, he reminded me that while such events areuseful, without economic development the region will continue to suffer from ethnic tensions. Thenal status of Kosovo remains a thorny question for Belgrade, yet while that continues to be very mucha live issue, the economy stagnates due to the future’s uncertainty. As a new government preparesto take up the reigns in Serbia, theUN Peace-Building and Inclusive Local Development programme(PBILD) is assisting them to formulate a regional strategy for its under-developed south with a focus oneconomic development.

http://rs.one.un.org/pbild/


http://ukinserbia.fco.gov.uk/en/

http://www.transconflict.com/

http://cricketforchange.org.uk/





http://cricketforchange.org.uk/

http://www.transconflict.com/

http://ukinserbia.fco.gov.uk/en/






Bicycling over the Sava River – and on towards Rio…By Juerg Staudenmann

All eyes are onRio de Janeiro these days. But do people on the street really care about it?

My four year old daughter certainly couldn’t care less, when we got on our bikes some ten days ago fora demo fun ride through the heart of Belgrade. All she was excited about was that we just pedaled inthe middle of Branko bridge together with hundreds of bicyclists, that same bridge over the Sava thatwe often take – by car. And, as kids in this age do, she asked the essential question:

“Why don’t the police close the bridge every day, so we can always bike over the Sava?”

I basically had to agree with her: Why not, actually? The answer isn’t as obvious as it may seem: Ofcourse, I could have made a point about closing this bridge would lead to congestion on another one.

She could have replied:“So what? Why do people take the car when they can have more fun taking the bike anyway?”

Good point, but I could have tried to explain the necessity (or habit only?) for people to use their carto go shopping (“… but why don’t they go to the shop closer to home?”); or to go to work (“…but whydon’t they take the bus like you?”); or to bring their kids to school (“… but they could also take the bikelike us now!?”); or….

The essential question would still remain valid: Why don’t cities simply close roads to motorized traffic,and thus provide more space for bicyclists and pedestrians? Would it really be so impossible as weusually argue? I tend to think that a central reason why people are reluctant to use their bikes in citiesmore often, is preciselybecause the streets are dominated by (their) cars, and thus dangerous.

Can we do something about it?

I’m convinced the city actually could in this case: There are numerous European towns that do provideextra space for bikes and pedestrians. Zurich for instance has closed the “Limmatquai,” the maincorridor along the city river, for motorized traffic ten years ago. The discussion before that was heated.Counter-arguments ranged from predictions about a complete traffic-collapse to the fear of shopsalong the route losing business. Quite the contrary happened.

Belgrade too could close the Branko Bridge and its connection on both sides, as the main transit cor-

ridor goes via the other Sava bridges anyway. Branko Bridge connects the historic city center with thebanks of the Sava where tourists and citizens alike like to go lunching in one of the dozens of oatingrestaurants Belgrade is famous for.

Wouldn’t it be a signal for Belgrade to send to its citizens and the world as well? About caring aboutcitizen health by decreasing air pollution along one of its main streets and providing a “free opportu-nity” for a work-out, caring about the economic situation by providing a safe space for low or no-costmobility, caring about promoting new (green) jobs in and around the bicycle industry, and caringabout the environment of course, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Isn’t that what we are hoping comes out of Rio+20 these days? – Some new, brave and bold steps thatare so obvious “triple- (multiple-!) wins”?

Serbia, with support by UNDP and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), just nished a

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/events/2012/June/rio-20-sustainable-development.html

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/events/2012/June/rio-20-sustainable-development.html




study onAchievements and Perspectives towards a Green Economy and Sustainable Growth – in timefor the regional Rio+20 side-event organized by Serbia together with the “Adriatic-Ionian Initiative.”

The study takes stock of existing examples and achievements to date, and elaborates on potentialareas for green growth in Serbia. The study looked into selected sectors with an aim “to triggergreening of central sectors of the economy and focus public and private sustainable investment on alow-carbon, resource-efficient path, increasing green employment and achieving social goals.” It identi-es ve strategic policy areas for Serbia to focus on:

Harmonizing socio-economic development with the European Union’s resource-efficient and low-carbon policies

Advancing social inclusion and poverty reduction

Empower the environment sector

Establish a long-term institutional and nancial framework in support of sustainable development (forinstance a mandatory budget line for sustainable development in every key institution).

Promotion of sub-regional cooperation

The study helped to inform the Serbian delegation in Rio, dening possible on-the-ground action inSerbia and will lay the foundation for the Government to dene plans after the meeting in Rio.

When cycling over the Sava, I didn’t hear people discussing Rio+20 or its expectedoutcome. WhatI did hear though were debates about how cycling to work would indeed not only be good for theenvironment and improve your health, but potentially also create new jobs and economic activity, and

actually be cheaper than taking public transport, taxi or even your own car.Without being explicitly aware of it, this group of bikers discussed the very key essence the over 150heads of state and government should be debating about in Rio de Janeiro these days: How to seizeopportunities, which generate synergies between environmental stewardship, economic growth andsocial inclusion, at the local level.

That’s where whatever pledges may come out of Rio+20 will need to be translated into deeds. So,people may not be aware of it, but they do care about Rio+20.

http://www.undp.org.rs/index.cfm?event=public.publicationsDetails&revid=0F47F5A0-B3F5-75BC-7FCE348F9A5A092E

http://www.uncsd2012.org/futurewewant.html

http://www.uncsd2012.org/futurewewant.html

http://www.undp.org.rs/index.cfm?event=public.publicationsDetails&revid=0F47F5A0-B3F5-75BC-7FCE348F9A5A092E




On the road again…ByPascale Bonzom

No worries… this is not another Rio blog post… this road is taking us from Tajikistan to Russia, orrather, to start with, is taking me from Moscow to Dushanbe…

On this windy Friday night, Moscow Belaruskaya station is lled with taxi drivers looking for customersdesperate to go to sleep at any cost. Instead of selecting one of them, I make my way to the streetand stop one there, hoping for a better deal. It was a good choice! Unknowingly I’d picked a migrantfrom Dushanbe earning a living as a taxi driver in Moscow! Too happy to nd someone living in hishomeland and able to speak 4 and a half words in his mother tongue, Abdullo gave me the queen’streatment, with not only a fair price but bags delivered up to my hotel’s reception. I could not help butbeing at the same time delighted to have found a national of the country where I had been workingfor the past year, and also sorry for Abdullo having to live several thousand kms away from his wife and

children for the sake of getting a better income.But unfortunately Abdullo is not an exception. There are hundreds of thousands of migrants like himmaking their way seasonally to Russia from Tajikistan. The country actually has aremittance inowreaching an estimated 40% of GDP in 2011, and this number is growing!

What if we could harness these remittances to power local sustainable development in the regions of Tajikistan?... Slowly but surely creating the necessary growth that would spur jobs and opportunities,eventually reversing migration and attracting the Tajik migrants back home. And, most importantly,how?

TheRural Growth Programme (RGP), a rural local development project supporting the North of Tajikistan has been trying to address these questions over the past 3 years in partnership withDFID,UNDP,GIZ, IOM and Aga Khan Foundation. Interventions have been designed and implemented alongall the migration lifecycle.

RGP has worked with local authorities to help them monitor and assess migration trends, as well asto take these into consideration when developing their local economic development plans. Localauthorities as well as NGOs have been supported to offer proper migration orientation coveringlegal rights, language and culture to potential migrants, so thathuman trafficking and abuses can beminimized and the benets of migration maximized. RGP supported 14 vocational training centers allover the region to offer courses and certicates that are in demand on the Russian labor markets, al-lowing better qualied migrants to receive higher salaries. This is turns allows migrants to send higher

remittances back home. The programme also worked with migrants families on budgeting and productive use of remittances. This particularly critical work is bearing fruits with many women left behind in Tajikistan investingtheir husband’s remittances into micro-businesses such as rabbit breeding, sewing, or small serviceactivities, diversifying this way their sources of income away from solely working on their family farmsor on cotton elds. This allows women not only to reduce their risks from depending on a single ruralactivity but also to save some money and invest into their children’s education and/or to expand theirsmall businesses. Some men are unhappy with their wifes’ initiatives and would have rather kept themoney for spending on social and traditional celebrations. But most men are actually delighted to nda burgeoning and sometimes full-edged business when they come home. So much so that some ofthem actually decide to stay and become self-employed.

Finally, thanks to the trainings and sensitizing carried out through the project, some families are


http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2012/04/20/000333038_20120420042429/Rendered/PDF/682110WP00PUBL0omic0Report00PUBLIC0.pdf


http://ukintajikistan.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-with-tajikistan/dfid-in-tajikistan/rgp-2011/

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html

http://www.giz.de/en/

http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp

http://www.akdn.org/

http://www.iom.int/jahia/page676.html

http://www.iom.int/jahia/page676.html

http://www.akdn.org/

http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp

http://www.giz.de/en/

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html

http://www.dfid.gov.uk/

http://ukintajikistan.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/working-with-tajikistan/dfid-in-tajikistan/rgp-2011/







actually investing in their own communities by sharing their remittances for local development initia-tives, such as schools or irrigation channels rehabilitation.

Now I am dreaming of the next level… what if remittances could also contribute to the environmentalpillar of sustainable local development as well? For instance, what if the Tajik diaspora or a percent-age of migrants’ remittances could contribute to a Renewable Energy Fund that would invest intosmall scale renewable energy production businesses, while at the same time providing a dividend ontheir prots (seeAbundance for an example of such fund in the UK)? This would address the issue ofsustainable energy for all, in a country wherean estimated 1 million people in rural areas spend muchof the winter without regular electricity supplies. Or what if remittances could be attracted to investinto energy efficient technologies such as those used for drying apricots (one of the most importantexport product in the North of the country) or water efficient techniques such as drip irrigation tosupport farm production?This would for sure change the face of Tajikistan’s rural areas and possibly lurethe migrants to come home and craft a better future for their families and country.

This would also hopefully stop the migrants from hitting the road to Russia again, except of course thistime, on holidays!

http://abundancegeneration.com/

http://europeandcis.undp.org/senioreconomist/show/2801DF39-F203-1EE9-BC73C347BB247275


http://europeandcis.undp.org/blog/2011/10/10/the-day-tajik-apricots-will-reach-global-markets%E2%80%A6-and-how-to-get-there/






http://abundancegeneration.com/

annex 2 on sustainable local development: best practice

Documents