Global dialogue on technology for resilient cities osaka

Solid City Management Makes Cities Resilient

Participants and Speakers of the Global Dialogue on Technology for Resilient Cities, 17-19 October 2017, Osaka, Japan.

WHAT can local governments do to make their cities resilient? How to mainstream resilience in their policy making and proactively take actions?

Among the broad topic of resilience, included are climate change and waste management. Contributing to solution relating to these topics, International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC) of UN Environment in cooperation with Osaka City and CIFAL Jeju held the Global Dialogue on Technology for Resilient Cities, 17-19 October 2017 in Osaka, Japan.

In the occasion, Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC, explored comprehensively the topic of sustainable solid waste management. Dr. Bernadia emphasized that waste problem has been a stress to cities and can contribute to other problems and shocks such as flood, disease outbreaks, and contaminated water supply. This has, unfortunately, been exacerbated by implementing unsustainable practices in dealing with solid waste through its various stages, in collection – transfer – disposal. Making it more complicated, cities have not fully adopted the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and waste

minimization principle, local governments are more focused on large scale waste management, have low awareness of community roles to separate waste, and large sum of city budget is spent mostly for collection, transportation, and final disposal. With the increasing number of urban population in Asia-Pacific, the amounts of waste also follow an upward trend.

Undertaking its role to encourage cities to concentrate more on waste management, UCLG ASPAC has optimized its service to members aiming to improve on this key urban concern. It facilitated training and awareness raising of Lao PDR to Thai Municipalities on solid waste management practices, conducted training on solid waste management in Siem Riep, worked with Wakatobi Regency in Indonesia in creating green shelters consisting of Biogas Plant and Plastic Recycling to develop a role model of low carbon society, and worked with UNESCAP for the pro-poor and sustainable waste management approach by building an integrated resource recovery center (IRRC) in Malang Regency and Jambi City in Indonesia.

Waste Concern of Bangladesh, our IRRC’s partner, presented the benefits, functions and operations of IRRC in several countries in Asia.

Discussion of this forum also addressed the role of technology for promoting resilient cities. Attendees were also enlightened by exchanging knowledge on national and city waste management strategies. Through intense discussion, this forum also encouraged the leaders attending to develop city to city cooperation and involve private sector for promoting resilience. Meanwhile, participants were also enriched with knowledge on financing for technologies.

They highlighted governance and stakeholder awareness as enabling conditions for promoting technology. More than 130 people from 23 countries, 12 organisations, academe, private sectors and NGOs participated at this Global Dialogue. *****