Strengthening Urban Environmental Governance in Thailand:
Good Practice Dissemination, and Capacity-Development and Replication Strategy
An Asian Development Bank Project Proposal
UN-Habitat Sustainable Cities Programme
Project Goal
To enhance urban environmental planning and management amongst Thai municipalities leading to a sustained increase in equity and environmental quality in urban areas.
Rationale
The documentation and dissemination of good practice and sustained and coordinated capacity-development has been hampered to present by two factors. First, rapid decentralisation and the sevenfold expansion of municipalities since 1999, together with the lack of both human and financial capacity in documenting good practice (including the lack of external expertise in assisting with the documentation and dissemination process), has seriously constrained institutional learning and sharing. Second, whilst there is capacity-development activity in Thailand financed and carried out by a number of agencies and organisations, a rational and systematic coordination and collaboration of efforts is yet to be realised. This ADB project would seek to address both of these limiting factors. It will document and disseminate environmental planning and management (EPM) good practice and develop an agreed, consolidated and integrated long-term capacity-development and replication strategy.
Key Activities
1. Prepare and circulate a ‘documentation framework’ for the review and use of implementation instruments in Thai urban municipalities, select documentation partners and support the documentation of good practices and instances where current practices lead to corruption of government officials and identification of parties who are involved in such practices.
A clear and easy-to-use documentation framework will be developed. Initially, an invitation to document good practice will be circulated to approximately 350 municipalities covering all Thai regions and the three levels of municipality. The initial request for information will seek to identify both the needs and challenges faced by municipalities, and provide the foundation for a national capacity-development and replication strategy. Responses will be screened and municipalities to document good practice will be selected. This selection process will be complemented by the short-listing and selection of municipalities already known to be active in the field. This short-listing will take place in cooperation between TEI, Municipal League of Thailand and Local Agenda 21 Task Force. In total approximately 10 to 20 cities will be involved in the documentation process and all regions in Thailand will be represented by selected cities.
Municipalities selected for the documentation of good practice will be offered a small honorarium and the process of documentation will be assisted by the TEI project manager who will visit and work with assigned municipal staff.
2. Provide a comprehensive overview of the existence, use and customisation of capacity-building processes and toolkits in environmental planning and management, good governance and poverty reduction.
In order to work towards an agreed national capacity-development agenda, it is necessary to learn from, and build upon, the best practice already implemented through various capacity building activities undertaken in Thailand. This overview will consist of two elements. The first will provide a summary overview of capacity building methods and tools developed and implemented by a number of agencies, including GTZ, DANCED, US-AEP and World Bank support. The TEI project manager in cooperation with the Municipal League of Thailand and Local Agenda 21 Task Force will complete this overview. The second will provide a qualitative in-depth assessment of the benefits of implemented capacity-building methods (such as toolkits, handbooks and training) in the municipalities selected for documentation (4.1). This assessment will be carried out as part of the documentation process with municipal staff assisted by the TEI project manager.
3. Profile regional and national capacity-development institutions as potential partners.
This profile will include regional universities and other regional and national training institutions. The TEI project manager will take the lead in this profiling and will work closely with the Local Agenda 21 Task Force and TEI’s existing network of partners, such as regional universities.
4. On the basis of documentation and review (activities 1-3), further discuss the development of a ‘National Capacity Building Agenda’, including the need for and scope for Training of Trainers, management tools and curricular to be developed in partners institutions.
The multi-stakeholder Local Agenda 21 Task Force (under the auspices of the Municipal League of Thailand) will be used as the main mechanism for dialogue and agreement. This action-oriented voluntary forum brings together key Thai stakeholders involved in all aspect of urban governance.
5. Develop, discuss and agree a national replication strategy, including the preparation of generic terms of reference for regional anchoring and national capacity-development institutions.
The Replication Strategy will be discussed, developed and agreed amongst Local Agenda 21 Task Force members and other interested parties. Negotiated terms of reference, counterpart inputs and the issuance of contracts for the subsequent delivery of capacity building activities will be dependent upon securing additional funding.
Outputs
1. The documentation and disssemination (in both printed and electronic format) of Environmental Planning and Management good practice throughout Thailand.
2. An agreed National Capacity-Development Agenda and Replication Strategy to be driven forward by MLT and the Local Agenda 21 Task Force.
Outcomes
1 The strengthening of capacity within partner municipalities and regional institutions capable of developing and implementing environmental improvement strategies and action plans and and honest, fair and corrupt-free manner.
2. The further strengthening of the LA 21 Task Force as a key MLT implementation and dissemination mechanism, and enhancing MLT’s capacity to advocate and achieve change through the integration of lessons learned into national policy and legal frameworks.
Project Proposer
Dr Chamniern Paul Vorratnchaiphan
Director, Grassroots Action Program
Thailand Environment Institute
210 Sukhumvit 64
Bangchak Refinery Building 4
Prakanong
Bangkok 10260
Thailand
Chamniern@tei.or.th
Annex 1 - Time Frame
| ACTIVITIES | 2002 |
2003 |
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NOV |
DEC |
JAN |
FEB |
MAR |
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| 3.1 Prepare a ‘documentation framework’ | |||||
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| 3.2 Document use of capacity building toolkits | |||||
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| 3.3 Profile potential capacity-development partners | |||||
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| 3.4 Discuss a ‘National Capacity Building Agenda’, | |||||
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| 3.5 Agree a national replication strategy | |||||
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Annex 2 - Budget
BUDGET |
US$ |
IN-KIND1 |
| 1.0 Personnel | ||
| 1.1 Project Director | 5,925.00 |
3,160.00 |
| 1.2 Project Manager | 6,175.00 |
0.00 |
| 1.3 Administrative Support Personnel | 0.00 |
2,930.00 |
| 1.4 Project Consultants (Municipal Honoraria) | 600.00 |
0.00 |
| 1.5 Webmaster | 0.00 |
2,220.00 |
| 1.6 Travel | 700.00 |
0.00 |
| 1.7 Direct expenses | 200.00 |
0.00 |
| Sub Total | 13,600.00 |
8,310.00 |
| 2.0 Workshops | ||
| 2.1 Consultative workshops | 600.00 |
600.00 |
| 2.2 Seminars | 0.00 |
0.00 |
| Sub Total | 600.00 |
600.00 |
| 3.0 Miscellaneous | ||
| 3.1 Reports | 500.00 |
0.00 |
| 3.2 Translation | 1,000.00 |
200.00 |
| 3.3 Communications | 500.00 |
0.00 |
| 3.4 Operation overheads | 1,800.00 |
0.00 |
| Sub Total | 3,800.00 |
700.00 |
| TOTAL | 18,000.00 |
9,610.00 |
1 In-kind contributions of Thailand Environment Institute