Dubai International Award for Best Practices – 2006 Cycle – Status Update

Forty eight finalists have been short-listed for the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment, a biennial award given to the most outstanding initiatives that have made a positive contribution to improving the quality of life in cities and communities around the world. A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting in Weihai, China, selected the forty eight (48) finalists from over 609 submissions. Out of the forty eight (48) finalists, nine (9) were from Africa, twelve (12) from Asia and the Pacific, four (4) from the Middle East, nine (9) from Europe, two (2) from North America and the Caribbean, and twelve (12) were from Latin America.

The next stage will be an independent international Jury which will meet before the end of the year to select twelve (12) award winning practices. Each winner will receive US$ 30,000, a trophy and a commemorative certificate, which will be presented at a ceremony held in Dubai in early 2007.

Short-listed Best Practices by Region
Regions based on UN General Assembly groupings of member states (Res. A/49/527)

Africa Region

1. Mise en place d’une équipe de 1200 femmes (dénommée “ Brigade verte”) pour assurer le balayage manuel des voies urbaines à Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso.
2. Poverty Reduction through Food Security and Environmental Protection, Burundi.
3. Chaîne des foyers Saint Nicodème, Douala, Cameroon.
4. High Efficient Stove, “Mogogo” Asmara, Eritrea.
5. Addis Ababa Grand Housing Development Program, Ethiopia.
6. Blantyre City Assembly HIV/AIDS Initiative, Malawi.
7. Village of Hope (VoH), Rwanda.
8. Gauteng Rental Housing Tribunal, Johannesburg, South Africa.
9. People’s Process on Housing and Poverty Reduction, Lusaka, Zambia.

Arab Region

10. Pioneering Socio - Environmental Responsibility – GPIC Model, Manama, Bahrain.
11. Adros, Rabat - Sale, Casablanca, Marrakech and surrounding areas, Morocco.
12. Riwaq – Centre for Architectural Conservation, Ramallah, Palestinian Territories.
13. Makkah Construction and Development Company, Makah Al-Mukaramah Saudi Arabia.

Asia and the Pacific

14. Recycling and Reuse of Municipal Solid Waste in Pudong New District in Shanghai. China.
15. Transfer of Technology for Sustainable Development – the CETED model, Trivandrum, India.
16. Environmental Management through Multi-pronged strategy, Bangalore, India.
17. Ahmedabad Slum Networking Programme, India.
18. Earthquake Resistant Structures, India.
19. Gwangju Rail-to-Greenway Movement (GRGM), Korea.
20. Talisay Rivers for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (TREES) Project. Municipality of Talisay, Camarines Norte, Philippines.
21. The Duck Ranger - Rice Duck Systems to the Rescue, Town of Victoria, Philippines.
22. Sustainable Indigenous Peoples Agricultural Technology (SIPAT) Best Practice Transfer, Kalinga, Philippines.
23. Hatien - Habitats – Handbags Phu My Commune, Kien Luong District, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam.

Europe

24. Flood Control on the Danube in Vienna, Austria.
25. Parla Citizen’s Forum: We All count. A New Way to Understand Urbanism, Parla, Spain.
26. Creating a Liveable Community, Dungannon, United Kingdom.
27. Supporting Private Sector by integrating the Chinese Entrepreneurs, Carpi (Modena), Italy
28. Social and Health Services Mobile Unit Municipality of Mértola, Portugal.
29. Comprehensive Socio-Economic Development of Khabarovsk City, Russian Federation.

Latin America and the Caribbean

30. Ph15, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
31. Staying Alive: Homicide Control Programme, Brazil.
32. Traditional Fishery Development Plan of Saavedra: “The sea is no longer our frontier” Puerto Saavedra, Chile.
33. Urban Management and Participative Governance: Neiva’s Commune 10, Colombia.
34. Peace and Reconciliation Programme, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia.
35. Biodiversity Conservation in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Jalpan de Serra, Querétaro, Mexico
36. Sustainable Solid Waste Management Program in the City of Carhuaz and the School of Planning and Environmental Municipal Management, Peru.

North America

37. Commerce Design Montreal Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
38. Scojo Foundation, New York, United States of America.

Short-listed Best Practices for Transfer Award

39. Let’s Make Work Fashionable Forever, La Matanza, Argentina.
40. Transfer of Vienna's Eco-Business Plan to Cities in CEE and Asia, development of an Eco-Business Partnership, Vienna, Austria.
41. Rede Jovem de Cidadania [Youth Citizenship Network], Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
42. The Cooperative Association of Recyclers – (ARB), Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
43. Electrification of Remote Villages in Lao PDR
44. From Lead-Free Pottery to Kiln Efficiency, Mexico.
45. Ñemby – De la Crisis al Sostenido Desarrollo, Ñemby, Paraguay.
46. Community Mobilization and Partnership Building for Disaster Preparedness in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka.
47. GWIA-Grassroots Women’s International, Academy, Netherlands.
48. Choose the Future for Your City. City of Ekaterinburg, Russian Federation.

Background

The Dubai Award is offered every two years to practices that have made significant and sustainable improvements in human living conditions. The Award was established in 1996 during the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), held in Istanbul, Turkey, where countries from around the world met to debate and develop an international plan of action to improve human living conditions. This action plan, known as the Habitat Agenda, has two key goals that all United Nations member states have agreed to pursue in order to improve their cities and the living conditions of their citizens: Adequate Shelter for All and Sustainable Urban Development. The practices selected by the TAC in Weihai represent the most successful examples of initiatives that have achieved these two goals.

The objective of the TAC meeting held in Weihai was to undertake an independent technical appraisal of validated submissions, to classify them as Best, Good, Promising or Non-qualifying and to propose a shortlist of forty eight to an independent international jury. The jury will then select the twelve best practices that qualify to receive the prestigious Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment. Previously, ten winners were awarded. However, starting in 2006, two additional prizes were availed to allow at least two awards for best practice transfers. The selection process of Best Practices is a transparent process based on the following criteria: a tangible Impact on human living conditions; Partnership between two or more stakeholders; and Sustainability in terms of lasting changes in policies, management practices, attitudes and behaviour, as well as the additional considerations of potential for replication, innovation and contribution to promoting gender equality and social inclusion.

The members of the TAC are all experts in sustainable development from around the world. They represent local authorities, non-governmental organisations, research and academic institutions, the private sector and professional associations. The TAC is normally assisted by UN-HABITAT, and Dubai Municipality. The Municipality of Weihai, as hosts in 2006, generously provided major logistical support to the TAC meeting.