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Russia-Canada Cooperative Environmental
Decision-making Project
Purpose:
The project is to demonstrate Canadian models of cooperation and decision-making,
and apply them to help develop cooperative management plans for priority
environmental problems in Russia.
Background:
This project is a follow-up to the Cooperative Federalism Project, managed
by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) in
1994-95. At that time, CCME assisted in showing various structures for
shared, cooperative decision-making on the environment, between levels
of government in Canada, including its own model.
The Russian participants of the federalism project requested a follow-up
project to actually demonstrate the shared decision-making models in Russia.
As a result, the present project was proposed, which attempts to show the
CCME decision-making model, and other models such as the Fraser Basin Council
decision-making model. Demonstrating the models are intended to assist
also in solving real problems. Therefore, two components were chosen
as the issues to work on: municipal solid waste management in Moscow, and
Angara River Basin management, with emphasis on water quality issues.
The project has been approved and funds have been provided to CCME by
the Canadian International Development Agency, based on the following key
components, and achieving the outcomes listed below.
Key elements of the Project are:
It is aimed at encouraging different jurisdictions, and levels of government
to work together, along with other stakeholders, in a cooperative process
of information sharing and collaborative decision-making. The project
is focused on relationship building and finding common interests between
organizations in Russia, in order to improve environmental decision-making.
It calls for a management and task force structure to guide and operate
the project, and for a liaison office in Moscow that coordinates activities
for the project, on behalf of CCME.
It provides money from the Canadian side to support the project management
and task force expenses, recognizing that Russian contributions will also
be
required.
Money is provided for training the task forces in decision-making processes
and techniques, with an emphasis on consensus-building and cooperation.
Project funds are available to hold workshops in Russia on topics related
to the two components, bring Canadian experts to Russia to support the
workshops, and bring Russians to Canada as follow-up learning experiences.
It is intended to run until December 31, 2000.
Key project outcomes include:
An established cooperative decision-making structure in both Moscow
and Irkutsk that can carry on after the project is completed, and serve
as a model for use in other parts of Russia.
Project participants who have been trained in the principles and techniques
of consensus decision-making, and can impart their knowledge and experience
to others.
Plans and strategies for resolving the problems of municipal waste management
and river basin management, which are based on consensus within each task
force. These plans can then be presented to other donor agencies
for funding support.
Guidebooks describing the project components for use by others in Russia.
Present Status of the Project:
The project was started in December, 1997 with the signing of an agreement
between CCME and CIDA. An inception mission to get the project going
in Moscow in January 1998 resulted in the signing of an MOU with key Russian
"anchor" partners.
The project management committee has formally affirmed the project's
goals and schedule.
There have been successful missions by Canadians In October 1998 and
February 1999 to Irkutsk and Moscow to advance the purpose of the project,
and a successful visit by Irkutsk task force members to Vancouver in November,
1998.
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Working Together to Solve the
Garbage Problem in the Moscow Region.
Introduction.
Municipal or domestic solid waste - garbage - is a problem we
all share in the Moscow Region. The volume of waste is increasing,
almost ten million tonnes a year in Moscow city and Region. Where
to put it all is becoming a crisis. The cost of managing and transporting
the garbage is too high. And, we are wasting valuable re-usable and re-cyclable
resources like glass, metal, aluminium and paper in the garbage we dump
in polygons.
Add to this that the cooperation between government agencies needs to
be improved to avoid duplication and costly gaps in services, the use of
new partners in the private sector could be strengthened, and the energy
and commitment of the NGO community harnessed to tackle the problems of
garbage.
The project.
The Russia-Canada Cooperative Environmental Decision-making Project
is attempting to improve the cooperation between all parties with an interest
in solving the garbage problem. It is doing this by demonstrating
the use of Canadian models for decision-making and cooperation between
governments, and with other stakeholders. The main model being used is
the one employed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment,
or CCME for short. The CCME model has been developed and refined for over
30 years between the federal, ten provincial and two territorial environment
departments in Canada.
In the CCME decision-making and cooperative process, all participants
sit as equals at the table, and decisions are made by consensus.
The basis of cooperation is trust and goodwill between partners, and the
understanding that environmental issues and problems do not respect boundaries
between jurisdictions. It is recognized that only by working cooperatively
can we tackle the really big problems that everyone shares. Cooperation
stems from a clear focus on the environmental problems that must be solved,
which develops a sense that all participants are working together to develop
and implement solutions.
This model is being used in this project by a task force which has been
organized. Its members represent a variety of interests in the municipal
solid waste issue, based on the principle that all legitimate interests
should be on the task force in order to participate in the project activities.
Participation in the task force is open.
The main aim of the project is to develop within the task force cooperative
relationships, communication and abilities to work together that did not
exist before. With this cooperation in place and operating, the task force
can proceed to develop cooperative solutions. these solution can
be developed in consultation with Canadian waste management experts, who
will visit Moscow for this purpose. In addition, trips to Canada
by Russian experts will be provided by the project, so that the Canadian
experience can be learned first hand.
Task Force Meetings.
Perhaps the most important element of the project is the series of meetings
that will be necessary in order for the task force to complete the project.
These meetings offer the environment in which participants can hear each
other's concerns and ideas, and develop the cooperative spirit that is
the main aim of the project. The meetings are also to the discuss
the business of preparing for workshops and Canada visits, to hear the
reports from these activities and use them in the development of solutions
to MSW problems.
Workshops.
Six workshops are planned, each one having the opportunity to examine
a specific sub-issue of the MSW problem in detail, and develop recommendations
for next steps or resolution. The first workshop, to be held
in mid-February, 1999, will be an overview of the problem in Moscow city
and region, and a description of Canadian waste management experience.
Other workshops will discuss polygon site design and operations, waste
reduction and recycling programs, and business opportunities.
Canada Visits.
Four visits to Canada are planned. A delegation from the task
force will visit different cities in Canada to get a direct understanding
and appreciation of the manner in which Canadians are approaching MSW problems.
The first Canada visit is planned for march, 1999.
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