Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment

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SUBMISSION GUIDE AND REPORTING FORMAT FOR THE YEAR 2004
About this Guide
This guide provides detailed information on how to submit a Best Practice for the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment. Specifically, users will find information on the following:

1.Introduction
2.The Dubai International Award
3. Criteria for a Best Practice
4. Submission process
5. Selection Process
6. Time table for the Year 2004 Dubai International Award
7. Reporting format used to document a Best Practice (Annex 1)
8. Best Practices Partner Institutions (Annex 2)
9. 7th Edition: January 2003.

Please photocopy and distribute these guidelines as necessary. Copies are currently available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

Complete information on the award, including an online reporting form is available at: http://dubai-award.dm.gov.ae/

INTRODUCTION

Best Practices are outstanding contributions to improve the living environment. They are defined by the United Nations and the international community at large as successful initiatives which:

• Have a demonstrable and tangible impact on improving people’s quality of life;
• Are the result of effective partnerships between the public, private and civic sectors of society;
• Are socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable.

Best Practices are promoted and used by the United Nations and the international community as a means of:
- Improving public policy based on what works;
- Raising awareness of decision-makers at all levels and of the public of potential solutions to common social, economic and environmental problems;
-Sharing and transferring knowledge, expertise and experience through networking and peer-to-peer learning.

The original call for Best Practices was launched during the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) as a means of identifying what works in improving living conditions on a sustainable basis. An international conference on best practices was held in Dubai. The Conference adopted the Dubai Declaration and established the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment in 1995.

As a result of four successive Award cycles in 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002, currently there are over 1600 good and best practices from 140 countries featured on the Best Practices database. At each cycle, an independent committee of technical experts (Technical Advisory Committee) identifies Good and Best Practices and prepares a shortlist. An international jury selects the award winners from the shortlist.

On World Habitat Day, in October 2004, Dubai Municipality will present the fifth Dubai International Award to a new group of 10 Best Practices.

We look forward to receiving your submission.

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THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR BEST PRACTICES TO IMPROVE THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT (DIABP)

1. Purpose:
To recognise and enhance awareness of outstanding and sustainable achievements in improving the living environment as per the basic criteria established by the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and the Dubai Declaration.

2. Award:
The total amount of the Award is US$ 400,000 (Four hundred thousand US Dollars). This amount will be divided as follows:
a. US$ 300,000 (Three hundred thousand US Dollars) for ten Best Practices.

b. US$ 100,000 (One hundred thousand US Dollars) towards management expenses including travel and accommodation for a delegation of up to two people for each award winning best practice.

c. Each Best Practice Award winner will also receive a trophy and commemorative certificate especially designed for the award.

3. Periodicity:
The Award shall be presented biennially.

4. Eligibility:
The Award is open to:

a. Government organizations or agencies, including bilateral aid agencies;
b. National Habitat committees or Focal Points;
c. Multilateral Agencies (United Nations Agencies, World Bank, etc.)
d. Cities, local authorities or their associations;
e. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
f. Community-based organizations (CBOs);
g. Private Sector;
h. Research and academic institutions;
i. Media;
j. Public or Private foundations;
k. Individuals are eligible for the Dubai International Award provided that they are submitting a specific initiative or project that meets the Best Practice criteria.

5. Criteria for a Best Practice
The major criteria for a Best Practice to be considered for the Award:

5.1 Impact: The best practice should demonstrate a positive and tangible impact on improving the living environment of people particularly of the poor and disadvantaged.

A. Sustainable Shelter and Community Development:

i. Extension of safe water supply and sanitation;
ii. Affordable housing, services and community facilities;
iii. Access to land, secure tenure and finance;
iv. Community-based planning and participation in decision making and resource allocation;
v. Inner-city core, neighbourhood and settlement revival and rehabilitation;
vi. Safe and healthy building materials and technologies.

B. Sustainable urban and regional development:
i. Job creation and eradication of poverty;
ii. Reduction of pollution and improvement of environmental health;
iii. Improved access to public transport and communication;
iv. Improved waste collection, recycling and reuse;
v. Greening of the city and effective use of public space;
vi. Improved production and consumption cycles, including replacement/reduction of non-renewable resources;
vii. Protection and conservation of natural resources and of the environment;
viii. More efficient energy use and production;
ix. Preservation of historically/culturally important sites;
x. Formulation and implementation of integrated and comprehensive urban development strategies.

C. Sustainable, efficient, accountable and transparent settlements management:
i. More effective and efficient administrative, management and information systems;
ii. Gender equality and equity in decision-making, resource-allocation and programme design and implementation;
iii. Crime reduction and prevention;
iv. Improved disaster preparedness, mitigation and reconstruction;
v. Social integration and reduction of exclusion;
vi. Leadership in inspiring action and change, including change in public policy;
vii. Promotion of accountability and transparency;
viii. Promotion of social equality and equity;
ix. Improvement of inter-agency co-ordination.

5.2 Partnership: Best Practices should be based on a partnership between at least two of the actors mentioned in item 4 above.

5.3 Sustainability: Best practices should result in lasting changes in at least one of the areas listed below:

i. Legislation, regulatory frameworks, by-laws or standards formally recognising the issues and problems that have been addressed;
ii. Social policies and/or sectoral strategies at the (sub) national level that have a potential for replication elsewhere;
iii. Institutional frameworks and decision-making processes that assign clear roles and responsibilities to various levels and groups of actors, such as central and local governmental organisations and community-based organisations;
iv. Efficient, transparent and accountable management systems that make more effective use of human, technical, financial and natural resources.

Additional Criteria

The following criteria will be used by the Technical Advisory Committee and Jury for differentiating between good, best and award winning practices.

5.4 Leadership & Community Empowerment:
1. Leadership in inspiring action and change, including change in public policy;
2. Empowerment of people, neighbourhoods and communities and incorporation of their contributions;
3. Acceptance of and responsiveness to social and cultural diversity;
4. Potential for transferability, up-scaling and replication;
5. Appropriateness to local conditions and levels of developments.

5.5 Gender Equality & Social Inclusion: Initiatives which: accept and respond to social and cultural diversity; promote social equality and equity, for example on the basis of income, gender, age and physical/mental condition; and recognise and value different abilities.

5.6 Innovation Within Local Context & Transferability:

i. How others have learnt or benefited from the initiative.
ii. Means used for sharing or transferring knowledge, expertise and lessons learnt.

6. Submission Process
1. Best Practices shall be submitted in accordance with the reporting format for the relevant biennium (please see Annex I).
2. The reporting format is available in three versions: on-line via the Internet
( http://www.bestpractices.org/bp2004) by Email or fax. Paper submissions will also be accepted.
3.
4. Submissions shall be made in English. Submissions in Arabic, French or Spanish should be accompanied by an English translation.
5. Submitters are encouraged to include the following supporting materials:
a- Articles appearing in newspapers, professional journals, newsletters or other publications;
b- Beta-Cam or other standard format videos less than 10 minutes in length;
c- Photographs and/or other graphic material;
d- Brochures or other promotional material.

1. Submissions shall be sent to either UN-HABITAT or Dubai Municipality, or any recognised Best Practice partner institutions (please see Annex 2). Submissions should be sent on-line via Email, fax or mail. Dubai Municipality or UN-HABITAT may forward any submission for review or validation to a partner institution. Those who forward their submissions directly to the partner institutions shall notify UN-HABITAT or Dubai Municipality of their submissions and ensure that the submissions are forwarded to UN-HABITAT. Submissions reaching UN-HABITAT by 31st January 2004 may benefit from substantive feedback if so requested.

2. All submissions received will be acknowledged and assigned a catalogue number by UN-HABITAT for documentation (code, name of submitter, subject, etc) purposes and for eventual inclusion in the Best Practices Database. UN-HABITAT shall inform all submitters the status of their submission.*

3. Partners may contact the submitters who shall provide effective assistance to them by reviewing the documents with the objective of ensuring their compliance with the criteria as well as the rules and regulations of the award and advise them of any further actions required. Partners shall forward the validated submissions meeting the award criteria to UN-HABITAT.

7 Selection Process
The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2004. Submissions received by this date will undergo the following selection process:
1. All submissions complying with the reporting format meeting the basic Best Practices criteria shall be forwarded to an independent, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for review.

2. The TAC shall review all submissions and prepare a comprehensive report including:
a- Description of the selection process;
b- List of approximately 100 Best Practices;
c- Short list of up to 40 submissions to be forwarded to the Best Practices Jury for final selection of the Award recipients.

The Best Practices Jury shall review the short listed Best Practices to select those initiatives deserving of the Dubai International Award. The Jury may recommend less than ten or none for the Award depending on the quality of the submissions.

All submitters will be notified of their status following the final selection by the Jury. TIMETABLE FOR THE 2004

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AWARD

31st March 2004: Deadline for submissions requesting substantive feedback on compliance with criteria or reporting format.

31st March 2004: Deadline for receipt of submissions for consideration for the 2004 Award and inclusion in Best Practices database.

June 2004: Evaluation of submissions by the Technical Advisory Committee – selection of up to 100 submissions that deserve to be considered Good and Best Practices and short-listing of a maximum 40 initiatives to be forwarded to the International Jury.

July 2004: International Jury selects Award recipients

May - September 2004: A selection of best practices from past on current cycles will be invited to present their initiatives, in person, at the Universal Forum on Cultures to be held in Barcelona from 9 May to 26 September 2004.

October 2004: Best Practices Award ceremony and International Seminar on Learning from Best Practices coinciding with the World Habitat Day.

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Annex I: BEST PRACTICES REPORTING FORMAT

Please provide the following information when submitting your Best Practice:

1. a) Name of the Best Practice
b) City/Town
c) Country
d) Region

2. Address of the Best Practice
(including street, P.O. Box, City/Town, Postal Code, Country, Telephone, Fax and Email addresses. N.B. Please ensure country and city-codes are provided for telephone and fax. Please Note that the address should be in the sequence given above.)

3. Contact Person
Type of Organisation: choose from the following

Central Government
Local Authority
Para-statal
Private Sector
Non-Governmental Organisation
Community-Based Organisation
International Agency
Foundation
Professional Association
Academic/Research
Media
Philanthropist
Technical Experts/Consultants
Others, please specify

5. The Nominating Organisation (only if different from above).
a. Name of Organisation
b. Address of the Organisation
(including street, P.O. Box, City/Town, Postal Code, Country, Telephone, Fax and Email addresses. N.B. Please ensure country and city-codes are provided for telephone and fax. Please Note that the address should be provided below in the sequence given above.)
c. Contact Person
d. Type of Organisation

›Central Government
›Local Authority
›Para-statal
›Private Sector
›Non-Governmental Organisation
›Community-Based Organisation
›International Agency
›Foundation
›Professional Association
›Academic/Research
›Media
›Philanthropist
›Technical Experts/Consultants
›Others, please specify.

6. The Partners
Partner 1
a) Name of Organisation

b) Address of the Organisation
(including street, P.O. Box, City/Town, Postal Code, Country, Telephone, Fax and Email addresses. N.B. Please ensure country and city-codes are provided for telephone and fax. Please Note that the address should be provided below in the sequence given above.)

c) Contact Person

d) Type of Organisation
›Central Government
›Local Authority
›Para-statal
›Private Sector
›Non-Governmental Organisation
›Community-Based Organisation
›International Agency
›Foundation
›Professional Association
›Academic/Research
›Media
›Philanthropist
›Technical Experts/Consultants
›Others, please specify

e) Type of Support:

Financial Support
Technical Support
Political Support
Administrative Support
Other

Partner 2
a) Name of Organisation

b) Address of the Organisation
(including street, P.O. Box, City/Town, Postal Code, Country, Telephone, Fax and Email addresses. N.B. Please ensure country and city-codes are provided for telephone and fax. Please Note that the address should be provided below in the sequence given above.)

c) Contact Person

d) Type of Organisation

› Central Government
›Local Authority
›Para-statal
›Private Sector
›Non-Governmental Organisation
›Community-Based Organisation
›International Agency
›Foundation
›Professional Association
›Academic/Research
›Media
›Philanthropist
›Technical Experts/Consultants
›Others, please specify
e) Type of Support:

Financial Support
Technical Support
Political Support
Administrative Support
Other

Partner 3
a) Name of Organisation

b) Address of the Organisation
(including street, P.O. Box, City/Town, Postal Code, Country, Telephone, Fax and Email addresses. N.B. Please ensure country and city-codes are provided for telephone and fax. Please Note that the address should be provided below in the sequence given above.)

c) Contact Person

d) Type of Organisation

›Central Government
›Local Authority
›Para-statal
›Private Sector
›Non-Governmental Organisation
›Community-Based Organisation
›International Agency
›Foundation
›Professional Association
›Academic/Research
›Media
›Philanthropist
›Technical Experts/Consultants
›Others, please specify

e) Type of Support:

Financial Support
Technical Support
Political Support
Administrative Support
Other

Partner 4 (Same as above)

Partner 5 (Same as above)

Partner 6 (Same as above)

Partner 7 (Same as above)

7. Financial Profile
Using the table below, provide a financial overview of the annual budget of the Best Practice for the past 3 to 5 years indicating the sources and general percentages of contributions from each partner (up to 10partners). Please also specify the name of each partner.

Global
Regional (international)
National

Provincial/State
Metropolitan
City/Town

Neighbourhood
Village
International

10. Eco-System
Select the eco-system in which your initiative usually operates:

Arid/Semi-Arid
Coastal
Continental

High Plateau
Island
Mountain

River Basin
Tropical/Sub-Tropical

11. Summary
In no more than 300 words, summarise the purpose and achievements of the initiative. Please note that the summary should be in narrative and not in point form.

12. Key Dates
Provide no more than five dates and describe in no more than five or six words, their significance.

13. Narrative:
In 2000 words or less, use the following headings and suggestions to describe your work.

SITUATION BEFORE THE INITIATIVE BEGAN [Approximately 50 WORDS]
Briefly describe the situation before the initiative including major issues, trends and conditions in the area. Please specify which social groups were most affected, including women, men and youth e.g. ethnic minority.

ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIORITIES [Approximately 100 WORDS]

List the priorities of the initiative, how they were established and involving whom. Please specify leadership and gender specific roles where appropriate.

FORMULATION OF OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES [Approximately 100 WORDS]
Provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom. Please specify any gender specific objectives and strategies. Describe policies and strategies adopted for city-wide development, where applicable.

MOBILISATION OF RESOURCES [Approximately 200 WORDS]

Describe how financial, technical and human resources were mobilised and where they came from including any form of bilateral and/or multilateral assistance. Specify key actors (including women), organisations or institutions that were/are responsible and accountable for managing the resources.

PROCESS [Approximately 400 WORDS]

Describe the problems faced in implementing the initiative, how were they overcome and the problems that remain to be solved. Describe also how people (men and women), communities, organisations and institutions participated in the initiative. Describe how people, communities and organisations participated in decision making processes and what their inputs were, with regard to basic needs, civil rights and/or policies. Provide a summary of tools, methods, and/or benchmarks that were used for assessing performance and who is using them.

RESULTS ACHIEVED [Approximately 250 WORDS]

Describe to what extent the objectives listed above were realised, how the impact was measured, quantitatively and qualitatively and who benefited from them. Describe how the initiative has resulted in, for example:

Actual improvement achieved in people's living conditions including women and children;

Better co-ordination and integration between various actors, organisations or institutions;

Changes in local, national or regional social, economic and environmental policies and strategies;

Improved institutional capacity at the national, sub-national or local levels;

Changes to local or national decision-making, including the institutionalisation of partnerships;

Recognising and addressing specific opportunities and constraints;

Changes in the use and allocation of human, technical and financial resources at the local/national level;

Changes in people's attitudes, behaviour and in the respective roles of women and men.
SUSTAINABILITY [Approximately 300 WORDS]

Describe how the integration of the social, economic, environmental and cultural elements of sustainability was achieved, particularly with regards to:

Financial: The use and leveraging of resources, including cost recovery, indicating how loans, if any, are being paid back and their terms and conditions;

Social and Economic: Gender equity, equality and social inclusion, economic and social mobility;

Cultural: Respect for and consideration of attitudes, behaviour patterns and heritage;

Environmental: Reducing dependence on non-renewable resources (air, water, land, energy, etc.), and changing production and consumption patterns and technology.

LESSONS LEARNED [Approximately 300 WORDS]

Describe the three or four most important lessons learned and how these lessons have been or are being incorporated in your initiative and/or other initiatives. Describe any lessons learned from other initiatives that were incorporated into your initiative. Describe how these lessons learned have been or are being taken into consideration in determining ongoing or future policies, strategies and action plans.

TRANSFERABILITY [Approximately 300 WORDS]

Provide examples and/or means used for sharing/transferring knowledge, expertise and experience. Describe how your initiative has benefited from the experience or expertise of other practices. Describe how your initiative has been or is being replicated/adapted elsewhere, where and by whom? Describe what you would do differently or avoid doing if you were to help others in replicating your experience.

References
Using the format below, please identify any articles appearing in professional or other publications (including newspapers), focusing on the Best Practice. List no more than 10 articles or publications starting with the most recent.

Title of Article:

Source (include author, publication title, volume/number, date, page number(s): Please follow the sequence given above.

Annex 2: Sponsors of the Award
Dubai Municipality, United Arab Emirates, Fax: (971 4) 2246666; Email: info@dm.gov.ae

UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya. Fax: (254 20) 623080, Email: bestpractices@unhabitat.org

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Best Practices Partners

1. Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), P.O.Box 6892, Riyadh 11452, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tel: 480 2555 - 482 1867; Fax: 480 2666, Email: info@araburban.org Web: http://www.araburban.org/

2. Barcelona 2004: Universal Forum on Cultures, Marina 16-18, Avila 28-50, platna 3, E-08005 Barcelona,Spain. Fax: (34) 933 208 952, Email: erosenthal@barcelona2004.org, Web: www.barcelona2004.org

3. Brazilian Institute for Municipal Administration (IBAM, 1-Humaita, 22271 070, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fax: (55 21) 2537 1262 Email: ibam@ibam.org.br Web: http://www.ibam.org.br/

4. Centre for Environment and Development in the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE), El Hegaz St., Heliopolis, P.O. Box 1057, Heliopolis Bahary, Egypt. Fax: (20-2) 451 3918, Email: cedare@ritsec1.com.eg, Web: http://www.cedare.org.eg/

5. CENVI Centro de Vivienda y Estudios Urbanos, Violeta 27, Copilco el Bajo, Coyoacan, México D.F. 04340 México. Fax: (52 5) 550-0821,
Email: cenviac@laneta.apc.org, Web: http://www.cedare.org.eg/

6. CityNet Secretariat, Regional Network for Local Authorities, 5F, International Organizational Center, Pacifico-Yokohama, 1-1-1 Minato-Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, 220-0012, Japan. Tel: +81-45- 223-2161, Fax: +81-45-223-2162 Email: info@citynet-ap.org

7. City of Vienna, Best Practices Hub - Vienna, Viktorgasse 22, 1040 Vienna, Austria. Fax: (43-1) 50553114 Email: ariane@artfan.org Web: http://www.bestpractices.wien.at/

8. comHABITAT, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX, Tel: +44 0 20 7 7476385, Fax: +44 (0) 207 747 6168, Email: MANJIA@commonwealth.int / P.DeGroot@commonwealth.int, Web: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/

9. DelNet Programme, International Training Centre of the ILO, Caramazana, Coordinator of the Information Services, Viale Maestri del Lavoro, 10, I-10127, Turin, Italy, Tel: (39 011) 693 63 65, Fax: (39 011) 693 64 77, Email: infodelnet@itcilo.itv Web: http://www.itcilo.it/delnet

10. Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London 9 Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H OED UK, Tel: (44 207) 388 7581; Fax: (44 207) 387-4541; Email: dpu@ucl.ac.uk, Web: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu

11. Dubai Municipality, P.O. Box 67, Dubai. United Arab Emirates. Tel: (+ 971 4) 221 5555 / 206 4400, Fax: (+ 971 4) 224 6666 / 222 1319, E-mail: info@dm.gov.ae / dubai-award@dm.gov.ae, Web: http://dubai-award.dm.gov.ae/

12. Ecolo Bremen, University of Applied Science in Bremen, Leher Heerstrasse 102, D-28359 Bremen, Germany. Phone: +49 (0)421 230011-0; Fax: +49 (0)421 230011-18, Email: manfred.born@ecolo-bremen.de Web: http://www.ecolo-bremen.de/ / http://www.bremen-initiative.de/

13. El Agora, Caseros 344, pido 3 oficina 27, CP 5000 Cordoba, Argentina. Tel: (54 351) 5132881; Fax: (54 351) 4210060. Email: laub@agora.com.ar

14. Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA Tiers Monde), 4 & 5 rue Kléber, BP 3370, Dakar, Senegal, Tel: (221-8) 216027 / 224229; Fax: (221-8) 222695. Email: rup@enda.sn, Web: http://www.enda.sn/

15. Fundacion Habitat Colombia, Carrera 13 # 52-83 Edificio Inurbe Piso1, Bogot?, Colombia, Suramérica. Tel: (571) 3437889 / 3436480 ext.1192 Fax: (571)3437889, 571-3436480 ext. 1191. Email: habitcol@colnodo.apc.org

16. Government of Spain, Ministerio de Fomento del Gobieirno de Espagna, Subdireccion General de Urbanismo, Madrid, Spain. Fax: (34 1) 597-5884,
Email: jlnicolas@mfom.es

17. Harvard Graduate School of Design, Centre for Urban Development Studies, 48 Quincy Street S202, Cambridge MA 02138, USA. Fax: (1 617) 4959347
Email: mseragel@gsd.harvard.edu Web: http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/uhu

18. Huairou Commission, 249 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211, USA, Fax: (1-718) 388 -0285; Email: huairou@earthlink.net Web: http://www.huairoucommission.org/

19. Human Settlements Management Institute (HSMI), HMSI HUDCO House, New Delhi, India, Tel: (91) 11 436 7834; Fax: (91) 11 436 5292, Email: kulwants@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in

20. Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), P.O. Box 1935, 3000 BX Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Fax: (31 10) 4045671 Email: ed.frank@ihs.nl
Web: http://www.ihs.nl/

21. Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), The Schumacher Centre for Technology & Development, Bourton Hall, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, RUGBY, CV23 9QZ, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1788 661100; Fax: + 44 (0)1788 661101, Email: theos@itdg.org.uk / mailto:itdg@itdg.org.uk; Web: http://www.itdg.org/

22. International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), 100 Queen St. W., City Hall, 16th Fl. West Tower, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2, Canada. Fax. (415) 392-1478
Email: jwalker@iclei.org Web: http://www.iclei.org/

23. Joslyn Castle Institute for Sustainable Communities (JCI), 3902 Davenport St., Omaha
Nebraska 68131, USA. Fax: (1 402) 595 1007 Email: csteward@unlnotes.unl.edu
Web: http://www.unl.edu/JCI

24. Metropolis / World Association of the Major Metropolises, Ajuntament de Barcelona - Pl. Sant Jaume,1 - 08002 Barcelona, Spain. Tel: (+ 34) (93) 4027650 / Fax: (+34)(93) 4027373. Email: econti@mail.bcn.es Web: http://www.metropolis.org/

25. Prague Institute for Global Urban Development, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kozi 7110 00 Praha 1 Czech Republic. Email: MarcWeiss@pragueinstitute.org Web: http://www.pragueinstitute.org/

26. Regional Information Centre on Local Government, (Southern Africa Region), Coordinator, 2nd Floor Local Government House, 86 Selous Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe. Tel: +263-4-700532 / 701458 Fax: +263-4-701458 Email: info@locgovinfo.co.zw / clgfmdp@africaonline.co.zw Web: http://www.locgovinfo.co.zw/

27. Together Foundation, 5960 SW 57th Ave, Miami, Florida 33143. Tel: 1 (305) 860-0116, Fax: 1 (305) 860-9401. Email:info@together.org / Mvargas10@aol.com Web: http://www.together.org/

28. University of Naples "Federico II", Department of Conservation, of Environmental and Architectural Assets, via Roma, 402 - 80132 Naples, Italy. Tel: 0039 081 2538761; Fax: 0039 081 2538649. Email: girard@unina.it / cerreta@unina.it Web: http://www.unina.it/

29. World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities Coordination (WACLAC), General Secretariat. Ajuntament de Barcelona, Plaça Sant Jaume, 1. 08002, Barcelona, Spain. Tel: (+34) 93 402 76 00 - (+34) 93 402 75 46. Fax (+34) 93 402 73 73 - (+34) 93 402 78 77. Email: camcal@mail.bcn.es Web: http://www.waclac.org/

30. Youth for Habitat, Sisli Belediyesi 12 Kat, Esentepe Istanbul, Turkey. Tel/Fax: (90 212) 2889844. Email: youthforhab@turk.net Web: http://www.youthforhab.org.tr/
For a current list of partners,

please contact the Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme at bestpractices@unhabitat.org.

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Other Documentation Available

More detailed guides and documentation on the following are available at www.bestpractices.org

• The Habitat Agenda and The Istanbul Declaration
• Decision II/7 Outlining the Criteria for a Best Practice
• Guide to Preparing a Best Practice Video
• Guide to Transferring Best Practices
• Terms of Reference of the Best Practices Steering Committee
• Contact details for Regional and Thematic Resource Centres
• The Dubai Declaration
• Regulations and Procedures for the Dubai International Award
• Technical Advisory Committee and Jury Reports for 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002
• Award winners booklet for the DIABP Second Cycle for 1998 (English version).
• Award winners booklet for the DIABP Third Cycle for 2000 (English and Arabic versions).
• Award winners booklet for the DIABP Fourth Cycle for 2002 (English and Arabic versions).

Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme
The Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (BLP) is a global network of training and leadership development organisations dedicated to improving living conditions of people. It does so by identifying, analysing and disseminating of lessons learned from Best Practices and applying them to ongoing policy and capacity building programmes and activities.

Sharing Lessons Learned from Best Practices
Through its global network of partners, Best Practices are analysed with a view to extracting lessons that others can learn from and incorporate into their own work. From this material, the BLP and its partners produce case studies, engage in the transfer of practical knowledge, experience and expertise, and develop tools to facilitate learning and capacity building. These tools are in continuous development and are available on the Internet at: http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org/

The process of identifying Good and Best Practices also serves as a barometer of emerging urban trends and conditions and a means of identifying who is doing what to implement commitments made under Agenda 21, the Habitat Agenda and the Millennium Declaration goals. Every two years, Habitat compiles an analysis of current trends and conditions in the State of the World’s Cities report series and distributes the results to key decision-makers and civic leaders at all levels.

Good Urban Policies and Legislation
The BLP has more recently initiated the documentation of policies and legislation. The Commission on Human Settlements and the Istanbul+5 declaration recommended that UN-Habitat and its partners expand the documentation and dissemination of best practices to include examples of urban policies and enabling legislation. A UN Expert Group meeting in November 2001 decided on the framework and methodology to document and disseminate urban policies and legislation. Initial focus is on documenting pro-poor, gender sensitive urban policies and legislation that favours decentralization and empowerment of local authorities, access to shelter and services as well as HIV/AIDS.

Inclusive Cities
The BLP works closely with Habitat’s Global Campaigns for Good Urban Governance and Secure Tenure, their external partners and other programmes of UN-HABITAT to form the Inclusive Cities Network. The Inclusive Cities Network supports the local implementation of the Habitat Agenda by strengthening the capacity of local authorities and civil society organisations to improve the living conditions of all urban citizens and of the urban poor in particular. Particular emphasis is placed on more inclusive governance and better access to land, shelter and basic services.

Bio-diversity
The BLP works closely with the Equator Initiative of UNDP in identifying, documenting and disseminating bestr practices in the conservation of bio-diversity. Submissions from developing countries in this area will also be forwarded to the Equator Initiative for consideration.

Best Practices database and reporting format on the Web: http://www.bestpractices.org