UCLG Position Paper v_2 (eng)
22/12/09
18:13
PĂĄgina 56
A Compilation of Case Studies
10 Building Capacity of the Local Environmental Administration in Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, South Africa
increasing awareness of inhabitants about environmental issues including sustainable development and transferring and exchanging technical expertise. In the beginning of the co-operation, the first priority was to support creating a functional environmental administration in Bojanala Platinum District Municipality and then to support building its capacity. In order to achieve this, an environmental management system (EMS) was built in BPDM with feedback and support from Lahti. In South-Africa, the environmental management systems are required to be developed by the industries to control their pollution levels. However, with the increasing pressure to effectively manage the environmental challenges in the area of Bojanala Platinum District Municipality, the development of the EMS for the district was seen as a necessary tool to assist in developing a dialogue with the surrounding industry and to look at the internal function of each Directorate on how to collectively take responsibility on saving scarce resources. Another reason for the local administration’s activity in developing environmental management was the strategic importance of tourism for the district. In addition to building an effective EMS, other key objectives of the co-operation have been to develop environmental awareness and transfer technical expertise and best practices.
Prepared by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities and the City of Lahti (Finland), September 2009
This case study highlights the development effectiveness of a municipal international cooperation between municipalities in Finland and Africa. Working under a model of peer-to-peer exchange, the partners have developed mechanisms for cooperation that are based on mutual learning, mutual accountability and transparency. This approach is yielding improvements in environmental management in both North and South.
Background The City of Lahti in Finland and Bojanala Platinum District Municipality (BPDM) in South-Africa have been cooperating for over 10 years. Since 2002, the cooperation has been a part of the North-South Local Government Co-operation Programme administrated and coordinated by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. The funds for the Programme come from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Since 2008 Lahti-BPDM co-operation has involved also the Municipality of Hollola, Finland and five local BPDM South African municipalities: Kgetlengrivier, Madibeng, Moretele, Moses Kotane and Rustenburg. The main longterm development goal of this co-operation has been to strengthen the local environmental administration, and more precisely, the capacity building of the municipal environmental authorities and the development of better systems and practices in the administration. Promotion of sustainable development and tolerance education are other overall objectives. Technical expertise is transferred and best practices are shared between the partners. Emphasis has been put on mutual learning and reciprocal activities. The cooperation has achieved results in the following areas: developing environmental management,
Approach An important part of the co-operation strategy has been to build capacity and support the local administration to plan and implement the new environmental policies. This helps to involve the local administrators in the environmental work and build environmental management skills in the local administration. The aim is not to bring ready-made solutions and technologies from North to South, but to encourage and facilitate the building of environmental management that is adapted to local needs. When the local administration is strongly involved, the effectiveness of the co-operation is considerably higher with better long-term results. Due to the strategic importance placed on local municipal involvement, partners have emphasized participatory approaches to co-operation. In the spirit of mutual accountability, planning and monitoring progress is done together with the Northern and Southern local authority officers or elected representatives during yearly visits. 56