Ibero-American and Caribbean Forum on Best Practices

IBERO-AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN FORUM ON BEST PRACTICES, HUMAN SETTLEMENTS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
1997 ACTIVITY REPORT

SUBMITTED TO THE VI MINURVI MEETING
(COSTA RICA, 26-28 NOVEMBER, 1997)

A. BACKGROUND

This project originated during the Third Preparatory Committee meeting for the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II), which took place in New York 5-16 February, 1996.

During this meeting, the representative of the Spanish Government offered to support initiatives which were directly related to the Best Practices Initiative for Habitat II. These initiatives included:

To translate the Best Practices Data Base. This database was developed by the United Nations and represents the first global catalogue of initiatives on sustainable human and settlement development. Furthermore, the Spanish version of the Database would be posted on a WEB site created for this purpose by the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid with the goal of allowing the Spanish speaking community to consult the database. To support awareness-building activities on best practices for improving the living environment at the Habitat II Conference; To technically and financially support the establishment of an Ibero-American and Caribbean Forum on “Best Practices”.

A Memorandum of Understating was signed in April of 1996 between the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS), the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI) and the former Ministerio de Obras Pública, Transportes y Medio Ambiente (currently the Ministerio de Fomento).

The Forum is conceived as an ongoing process of exchange between public, private and civic institutions at all levels. Its purpose is to stimulate an ongoing debate of issues so that those involved can mutually benefit from each others experiences through the exchange of knowledge, expertise and experience derived from good and best practices in improving the living environment. The Forum represents an information network to improve the distribution of and access to information by those persons and organisations engaged in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and Agenda 21.

A.1 The Establishment of the Forum

The first meeting for the establishment of the Forum was convened by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements and hosted by the Brazilian Institute for Municipal Administration (IBAM) on May 19-20 1996, in Rio de Janeiro.

The objectives of this first meeting were as follows:

Establish the principals and objectives of the Forum
Establish the Forum’s organizational framework
Establish the work modalities of the Forum
Establish a calendar of events for 1997
Establish the mechanisms for cooperation with the BLP of the United Nations.

The principal results of the meeting are contained in the “Rio Document”, a summary of which is contained in the box below.

B. SUB-REGIONAL MEETINGS HELD DURING 1997

Five sub-regional meetings were held during the second semester of 1997:

B.1 Sub-regional Node for Mexico, Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, Mexico City, Mexico, 29 September - 1 October 1997
Organizer: Centro de la Vivienda y Estudios Urbanos (CENVI)
Participants: 32 organizations from the region. Countries represented: Mexico, Costa Rica. El Salvador. Guatemala, Nicaragua. Panama, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, Cuba*, Honduras

B.2 Sub-regional Node for the Andino Group, Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia, 22-24 October 1997
Organizer: Fundación Habitat-Colombia
Participants: 24 organizations from the region.
Countries represented: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Bolivia*

B.3 Sub-regional Node for the Cono Sur, Cordoba, Argentina, 3-5 November 1997
Organizer: El Agora
Participants: 65 organizations form the region.
Countries represented: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay

B.4 Sub-regional Node for the non-Spanish speaking Caribbean, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, 16-18 November 1997
Organizer: University of the West Indies (UWI)
Participants: 30 organizations from the region
Countries represented: Trinidad Tobago, Jamaica, Antigua, Aruba, Dominica, Belize, Barbados, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, Haiti, Grenada, Saint Lucia

B.5 Sub-regional Node for Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 17-19 November 1997
Organizer: Brazilian Institute for Municipal Administration (IBAM)
Participants: 67 organizations from the region.

C. PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS OF THE SUB-REGIONAL MEETINGS.

All participating institutions, which included National and Local Governments, NGOs, universities and the private sector, expressed their desire to associate themselves with the Forum and to give it a permanent character through the holding of activities throughout 1998. The institutions pledged to dedicate their efforts and experience toward the implementation of an Action Plan to be adopted during the Final Evaluation Meeting held in Cali, Colombia, 24-26 November, 1997.

Initiatives for future Forum activities proposed during the sub-regional meetings include:

C.1 General Initiatives

Activate National Committees for Habitat or establish alternative mechanisms established for facilitating the monitoring and implementation of the Habitat Agenda.

Produce a case-study book containing innovative practices to determine why selected practices worked, their potential and their limitations.

Support municipalities and NGOs in documenting their experiences with the aim of expanding the Best Practices Database.

C.2 Specific Initiatives

C.2.1 Meetings

Hold thematic meetings at the sub-regional level to stimulate the transfer of best practice knowledge, experience and expertise among governmental and civil society institutions involved in sustainable human and settlement development.

Hold an evaluation meeting towards the end of 1998 to review Forum activities during the year and to formulate a strategic plan for future Forum activities. This meeting will involve the participation of the sub-regional nodes, Focal Points and the Secretariat Ad Interim.

C.2.2 Communications

Establish an Internet home-page for the Forum dedicated to the dissemination of information and to stimulate possible electronic debates.

Forge links with other related web-sites, which can be used to disseminate Forum information at the sub-regional level.

Publish a Forum Bulletin to disseminate practices, transfers and casebook studies in both electronic and printed versions in order to guarantee that both those with and without Internet can access the information.

Develop a media strategy designed to offer a positive view of human settlements to counteract negative news coverage of urban practices and with the aim of building a culture of sustainability in urban areas.

D. PROPOSED ACTION PLAN FOR 1998

During 24-26 November 1997, the Second Plenary of the Ibero-American and Caribbean Forum on Best Practices was held in Cali, Colombia. The objective of this meeting was to evaluate actions taken during 1997 and to propose an Action Plan for 1998 including a proposed financial plan for that period. This meeting represented a debate and analysis of the structure and consolidation of the Forum developed during the Rio meeting of 19-20 May 1997.

D.1 FORUM STRUCTURE Following much discussion, it was decided to retain the existing structure of the Forum based on its successful functioning during 1997. This structure consists of a Secretariat ad Interim, five sub-regional nodes (those previously elected); both of which will collaborate with National Focal Points which in turn, will collaborate with local networks found in each country.

D.2 PROPOSED ACTION PLAN

Based on the results obtained during the sub-regional meetings, the following Action Plan for 1998 was agreed to by the participants of the Cali Meeting:

D.2.1 Support the 1998 Best Practices Award Process

It was agreed that from January through March 1998, the Forum would dedicate its efforts to supporting the BLP initiative to collect Best Practices for the Dubai International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment. The goal of this effort is to aid in the selection and documentation of experiences to be presented for the 1998 Awards.

D.2.2 Thematic Meetings

As of March 1998, five thematic sub-regional meetings will be called to stimulate the transfer of best practice knowledge, expertise and experience among and between public and private institutions involved in sustainable human settlement development.

D.2.3 Evaluation Meeting

Towards the end of 1998, a Forum Plenary Meeting will be called to evaluate and analyze the actions taken during that year.

D.2.4 Communication Strategy

With the objective of disseminating Forum information and generating awareness of Forum activities it is proposed that a media strategy be developed to undertake the following actions:

Establish a Forum Home Page for the dissemination of activities, experiences and transfers and to stimulate possible electronic debates. Forge links with other related web-sites that can be used to disseminate Forum information at the sub-regional level. Publish a Forum Bulletin to disseminate practices, transfers and casebook studies in both electronic and print versions in order to guarantee that both those with and without Internet can access the information. Produce videos of experiences especially interesting to the general public to be incorporated into a television documentary series. Edit a publication summarizing Forum activities during 1997. The Ministry of Development of the Government of Spain has offered to edit this publication and produce both a print and CD-ROM version. A video will also be produced whose subject matter remains to be determined.

D.3 ESTIMATED BUDGET AND FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

The following tripartite cost-sharing system for financing activities is proposed for consideration by the relevant institutions in order to cover the cost of implementing the Action Plan:

One third to be funded by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI), agency that financed the establishment of the Forum as well as its activities during 1997. One third to be provided by HABITAT, which would coordinate the financial support offered through MINURVI by other programmes, bi-lateral agencies, national programmes and projects. One third to be contributed by the Sub-regional Nodes and National Focal Points.

D.3.1 Proposed Budget

Case Studies: A Case-study Book containing one Best Practice developed in each of the thirty countries.

Estimated cost: 30 x US$ 2,500. = US$ 75,000.

Support NGOs, Local Authorities and Grass Roots Organizations in documenting their practices through the distribution of electronic information, printed forms and technical assistance.

Estimated cost: US$ 10,000 per sub-region. 5 sub-regions x US$10,000. = US$ 50.000.

Thematic sub-regional meetings

Estimated cost: US$ 30,000 per meeting, 5 x US$ 30,000 = US$ 150,000.

Final evaluation meeting.

Estimated cost US$ 45,000.

Establish and up-keep of Forum Home-Page on the Internet.

Estimated cost: US$ 12,000

Publish both electronically and in print a quarterly Forum Bulletin

Estimated cost US$ 4,000 per issue, US$ 4,000 x four issues = US$ 16,000.

Film 30 five-minute videos of the practices, which were subjects of each country, case book study for broadcast through the mass media.

Estimated cost: US$ 3,000 per video. US$ 3,000 x 30 = US$ 90,000

Implement a Forum media strategy through the distribution of media kits, workshops with journalists and other related activities.

Estimated cost: US$ 50,000.

Maintain the coordinating and planning activities of the Secretariat ad Interim.

Estimated cost: US$ 126,000.

Total estimated budget: US$ 750,000

( Denotes countries which were unable to attend but are nonetheless members of the Forum Taking into account additional support offered from HABITAT -CERCA Programme Taking into consideration the collaboration of local media