Press document medev.gk4d_july2016

Lebanon: Solid Waste & Sewage Treatment in Cluster-Based Approach for Economic

Development: Exchange of visits & Training Program (Catalonia 17-22 of July 2016)

Press document Barcelona, 27 July 2016

I- The Group Knowledge for Development – GK4D, and Associate Partners organize a series of study tours and action learning aiming at Federations of Municipalities “Solid Wastes & Sewage Treatment: Cluster-Based Approach for Economic Development (Exchange of visits & Training Program)”

In the framework of its program MEDEV (Media & Advocacy for Sustainable Development) the Group Knowledge for Development, embracing the Triple Helix Thesis, launched “Lebanon: Solid Waste & Sewage Treatment in Cluster-Based Approach for Economic Development: Exchange of visits & Training Program” (Catalonia 17-22 of July 2016). The first exchange of visits planned for 2016 & 2017, was attended by the “Etihad Baladiet Al Dahiah”.

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MEDEV offers a number of communication activities and training for sustainable development with the aim of promoting greater awareness of the issues related to Sustainable Development Goals. These activities serve to foster the access to information, create the competences and provide the resources needed for "Knowledge activists, Media and Policy-makers” for local sustainable development through a study tours to best practices in green blue economies and science in a knowledge-based society.

II- Federations of Municipalities are Key

the decree law in Lebanon (Nº118/30.06.1977) setting the definition (juridical & autonomous bodies), the formation and the competencies of the Federations of Municipalities in policies, planning, implementation and supervision of the public projects with common benefits to all the members (roads, public spaces, sewers and waste management, slaughterhouses, hospitals, schools, fire-fighting stations, public transport, cooperatives, public markets, planning, land purchases, and the tenders with all needed conditions for the implementation of the common projects

the occasion of the unprecedented full recognition by Lebanon in 09 September 2015 of the key role of the Federations of Municipalities in their jurisdiction and scope to govern, manage, treat and dispose solid waste and sewage, in full coordination of the central technical and advisory committee headed by the Ministry of Interior and Local Governments.

the United Nations Multilateral Environmental Agreements and conventions, mainly Barcelona convention, and relative protocols focusing generally on issues related to waste management and putting an emphasis to follow the principles of sustainable waste management and to avoid illegal and uncontrolled dumping of waste (Mediterranean Land-Based Sources Protocol)

the key pillar of the environmental strategy for the Mediterranean; the Horizon 2020 initiative is tackling the top sources of Mediterranean pollution by the year 2020 that was endorsed at the 10th Anniversary Euro-Mediterranean Summit in Barcelona in 2005. The Mediterranean strategy fleshes out the detail of Horizon 2020, grouping planned activities under four headings (1/ Projects to reduce the most significant sources of pollution. The initial focus will be on industrial emissions, municipal waste and urban waste water, which are responsible for up to 80% of Mediterranean Sea pollution 2/ Capacity-building measures to help neighbouring countries create national environmental administrations that are able to develop and enforce environmental laws 3/ Using the Commission's research budget to develop greater knowledge of environmental issues relevant to the Mediterranean and ensure

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this is shared. 4/ Developing indicators to monitor the success of Horizon 2020

“What Local Governments need to know about Sustainable Development Goals”; all of the SDGs have targets that are directly or indirectly related to the daily work of Federations of Municipalities. Local governments should not be seen as mere implementers of the agenda 2030. Local governments are policy makers, catalysts of change and the level of government best-placed to link the global goals with local communities and to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” (SDG 11 for instance)

III- The Objectives of “Lebanon Solid Waste Treatment and Cluster-Based Approach for Economic Development: Exchange of visits & Training Program (Catalonia 17-22 of July 2016)” are:

1. Exchanging of best practices in view to consolidate a cross border research and development initiatives;

2. Contribution toward the full implementation of the Lebanese national-Provincial solid waste management policies and strategies;

3. Strengthening the strategic capacity, the planning, the self assessment and control functions of the public institutions (Federations of Municipalities), and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their human resources

4. Building partnership and Developing Bilateral Sustainable Development Agreement for implementation of best practices for the transfer of experiences on management and urban waste clusters with the highest International standards (scientific, practical and internationally recognized solutions) concerning the

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equipment to ensure that the waste flows coming from different sources (industrial, municipal, medical, port waste etc.) are adequately collected, possibly reused and recycled & eventually treated for final disposal.

IV- Cluster-Based Approach for Economic Development

Clusters are defined broadly as geographic concentrations of interrelated, competitive firms and related institutions that are of sufficient scale to generate external economies that are not found in regions lacking such concentrations. Clusters generate wealth in a region, clusters give a region a competitive advantage, and clusters can provide the basis for cost-effective economic development strategies. External economies are the tangible (e.g., reduced costs) and intangible (e.g., faster innovation) benefits generated either by the high relative concentration of a particular kind of economic activity in a region, or through firms, local governments and research centres deliberate decisions to work together to pursue advantages that they cannot achieve on their own (e.g., economies of scale, acquisition of common resources).

The concentrations that characterize clusters typically include local governments (such as public firms or environment units etc.), competitive firms, cooperating suppliers, service providers, knowledge and research providers-centres, and associated institutions that do business with each other and share needs for

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common talent, technology, and infrastructure. Interdependencies that define clusters include supply chains, core technologies, and proximity to resources and distribution channels. Because of the many elements that contribute to clusters,

They are referred to as “economic ecosystems”:

Clusters are sometimes referred to as “economic ecosystems” Clusters are geographic concentrations of Collaborating firms,

Research Centres and Local/National Governments (Triple Helix) Cluster-based economic development strategies are

interventions designed to improve a cluster’s performance by addressing the common needs of businesses within the cluster.

Local government managers and other local officials can enhance the success of clusters through interventions that cut across a number of domains, including economic development, education and training, workforce development, and infrastructure provision.

Cluster is a relatively new term for the activities in which a region has developed specialized competencies that allow it to produce goods and services for sale inside/outside the region. The cluster-based approach has influenced local, sub-national, state, and national economic development policy worldwide. It has also added significant value as a method of understanding provincial (sub-national) economies, as a tool for engaging industries in collective problem solving, and as a tool for organizing service delivery across public sector departments, services, and functions

Looking at a local economy in terms of clusters has the added benefit of providing a framework for addressing the needs of existing businesses in a way that can also make the community more attractive to new businesses in similar or complementary industries.

Addressing the needs of existing businesses is crucial because it is much more efficient to retain existing businesses than to recruit new ones: on a cost-per-job basis, bringing in new jobs can be as much as eight times more costly than preserving existing ones.

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Cluster strategies permit the integration and targeting of resources in ways that are consistent with the multiple goals of economic development programs: business recruitment, retention, expansion, and new-business creation.

When public private partnership attempts to improve a region’s economic situation by influencing how Triple Helix Thesis within a cluster use public resources, work together, or do business, they are using cluster-based economic development strategies (“cluster strategies”). The right public strategies can help the businesses within a cluster become more successful and competitive. And such strategies are always more successful when they are formulated to address companies’ real competitive needs.

Highly visible commitment from public sector, scientific and the business community support usually accompany such initiatives. Clusters and cluster strategies cannot be seen as the answer to every economic challenge faced by a community or region. However, they do represent a valuable tool that economic development stakeholders should have at their disposal. A cluster approach may be most useful in helping officials and practitioners to see a community’s economy in a new way—not as a collection of individual firms, but as an Ecosystem in which interventions can assist companies, industries, and the entire community

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V- Agenda - template

< Day 1Preparatory phase

Day 1

Arrival of Delegations

Free

Welcome reception by GK4D-MEP, Associate Partners and Administrations

Day 2

Cluster: Integrated EcoPark, Waste to Energy & Sewage Treatment Plant

Round-table“Waste Management in Catalonia: Past, Present & Future” (Government of Catalonia)

Day 3

Cluster: Integrated EcoPark & Waste to Energy Plant

Catalan Medical Waste Treatment Plant

Laboratories & Research wastes(Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Day 4

Cluster: Integrated Ecopark & Landfill

Biological & Mechanical Treatment, and Recycling Business Development(Private Industries)

Day 5

Free

Round-table“The Global Practitioners Network for Competitiveness, Clusters and Innovation”(Government of Catalonia)

Urban Ecology & Master Plan development (Barcelona City & Barcelona Metropolis)

Day 6

Cluster: Integrated EcoPark, Waste to Energy Plant

Cluster: Integrated Hazardous Waste, Waste to Energy Plant & Monofill

Day 7

“Ecology, Urban Planning and Mobility” & Week (Barcelona City)

Wrap-up with GK4D-MEP

Free

Departure

> Day 8

Follow-up

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IV- In close collaboration with and support of

Registration is open for the next MEDEV PTP (end of October 2016) ¿Interested Federation of Municipalities & Media? Kindly Contact Eng. Abbas Zahreddine, GK4D, CEO l Address C/ Consell de Cent 475Bis, 3º-1ª 08013 Barcelona Spain l Tel

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+34 931857714 or Tel/direct +34 636011331 l Email: [email protected] or [email protected] l WEBSITE: www.gk4d.eu

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