Development Aspects Impressum Editors

UNITAR and CITYNET’s Eco-Tank Project for Negombo, Palembang and San Fernando

Although the Asia-Pacific region is contributing to poverty reduction, it is still home to more than 504 million slum dwellers. The State of Asian Cities 2010/11 notes that: “Over the coming decade, two-thirds of demographic expansion in the world’s cities will take place in Asia, which is already home to 50 per cent of the global urban population” (United Nations Human Settlements Programme and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2010).

There are a series of key dynamics confronting local authorities in developing countries today: increasing decentralization and growing urbanization, now cou- pled with pressures for greener growth. A transversal theme that can address the

challenges is the strengthening of governance through effective capacity develop- ment for local authorities and local actors.

Based on identified capacity gaps, UNITAR’s local development activities in- tegrate innovative training methodologies, develop contextualized learning con- tent and deliver training to enhance the capacity of local actors for a measurable impact on sustainable urban development. The vision is that “Every local actor has the knowledge, skills, and capabilities to effectively plan, finance, implement and manage urban services, while leveraging local expertise to achieve the MDGs and sustainable development at local level.” UNITAR’s local development activi- ties target local actors (public and private sectors and civil society) with a goal of multi-stakeholder cooperation and city-to-city exchange. Capacity-building is car- ried out through four key methodologies: e-learning courses, short-term training workshops and events, specialized face-to-face courses and longer-term, tailor- made capacity development programmes, such as the Eco-Tank project herein.

UNITAR implemented the Eco-Tank City-to-City (C2C) Cooperation Project in partnership with CITYNET, the Asia-Pacific Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlements. The pilot was titled “City-To-City Coopera- tion for Decentralized Sewerage Treatment Using Eco-Tanks” and was an outcome of a 2008 training workshop on urban sanitation improvement held by the Inter- national Training Center for Local Actors in Kuala Lumpur – CIFAL Kuala Lumpur (a regional training centre for local governments under the umbrella of UNITAR and CITYNET).² The growing CIFAL Network³ is currently composed of nine centres

2. 
   UNITAR ultimately seeks to stimulate city-to-city (C2C) cooperation through training implemented through the CIFAL Network of nine regional training centres for local actors, for measurable transfer of best practices in sustainable local development.
   
3. 
   For more information and a map of the global CIFAL Network as well as UNITAR’s other face-to-face and e-learning activities, see: www.unitar.org/ldp/cifal-network/cifal-centres and www.unitar.org/ ldp/e-learning
   

worldwide. Each CIFAL is a regional hub for capacity development bringing to- gether local governments, the public and private sectors and civil society. Through this training, the CIFAL Network builds regional communities of practice and pub- lic–private partnerships, leading to C2C cooperation to implement best practices and innovative approaches to sustainable local development.

During a CIFAL Kuala Lumpur workshop in 2008, the City of Bangkok, Thai- land, showcased its experience using Eco-Tanks for community sanitation, pro- cured from a Thai enterprise, which adapted the tanks from the Jokaso Japanese model. Various cities were interested in pursuing C2C cooperation with the City of Bangkok and the Eco-Tank enterprise (Premier Products, Ltd⁴), to explore how to implement replicable eco-sanitation for their communities and potentially even identify how to start-up Eco-Tank production with national manufacturers for sustainable technology transfer. In this case, the project pre-selected the type of technology to be tested for community uptake, but this was based on expressed demand from local governments and the successful experience of Bangkok in using the technology for improved decentralized sewerage treatment.
UNITAR and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, which supports effec- tive water resources management as one of its main tenets, co-funded the project, including the purchase and transport of Eco-Tanks from Thailand. Without these two partners committing financially, the actual project could not have been imple- mented in the beneficiary cities. As such, a key “C” to add to the Seven “C”s model in this case is “Collateral”, or assets required for obtaining financing for infrastruc- ture and technology acquisition. Sustainable financing is a key barrier to access, as this is needed to implement any sustainable step towards building local knowledge, skills, attitudes and capacities, for any private, public or community stakeholders involved in transferring technologies.
The Eco-Tank C2C Cooperation Project’s overall goal was to improve urban sanitation in Asia, particularly in low-income settlements, transfer Eco-Tank tech- nology and related expertise from Bangkok to other Asian cities, and offer an in- expensive yet efficient effluent treatment system adapted to local conditions. The C2C cooperation project aimed at reducing water pollution from domestic sources and raising awareness on sanitation issues using the technology and advantages of Eco-Tanks. UNITAR and CITYNET ensured research, coordination and facilita- tion in the knowledge and technology transfer process, as the actual expertise and technology came from Bangkok. As such, the project helped promote partnership between local governments and community towards sanitation improvement. To realize the above-mentioned goal, the operational objectives of the project were as follows:

2. 
   Thailand-based Eco-Tanks producer and project partner Premier Products, Ltd. See www.premier-prod- ucts.in.th/
   

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  To assess the city’s current sanitation situation with sanitation usage matrices
  

and needs assessments for the project’s initiation

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  To create a database from selected cities on sanitation, identifying their needs
  

and resources

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  To transfer the technical expertise and technology from resource city/company (Bangkok/Premier Products, Ltd) to selected cities for the installation and op- eration of Eco-Tanks
  
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  To develop the pilot projects showcasing the installation and use of Eco-Tank
  

systems in the beneficiary cities

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  To ensure the enabling framework (including soft technology skills) is present
  

to sustain the technology after the project’s end.

The first year of implementation of the project was mainly focused on assessing the institutional framework, including the development of baseline assessments regarding the Bangkok Eco-Tank model and the potential feasibility of the Eco- Tanks installation for beneficiary cities. UNITAR and CITYNET disseminated a call for applications among regional local governments, members of CITYNET, together with a survey to identify potential beneficiary cities and a Terms of Reference (TORs) to guide qualifying applicant cities.

In order to participate in the project, UNITAR and CITYNET requested appli- cant cities to meet the following criteria that included the willingness to:

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  Complete a sanitation usage matrix and needs assessment
  

•