IMPACT SHEET SWITCH-ASIA PROJECT Sustainable & Efficient Industrial Development (SEID) Bhutan and Nepal New waste and water management practices improve living environment in Bhutan and Nepal The SEID project works withs 200 MSME to reduce hazardous material used in production up to 50 %
IMPACT SHEET SWITCH-Asia project Sustainable & Efficient Industrial Development (SEID) Bhutan and Nepal the challenge activities / strategy Landlocked countries, Nepal and Bhutan are among the least developed countries (LDC) with the population of 31% (2009 data) of Nepal and 23.2% (2010 data) of Bhutan living below national poverty line. The unemployment rate in Nepal is 46%, and urban and rural dwellers suffer from an acute energy crisis. Bhutan s economy heavily depends on imported goods and services, and local enterprises have hard time to create own competence, which is a decisive prerequisite for future sustainability of the country s economy and society. In both countries, a great development potential lies in the agro-based and tourism sectors, considering the climate and topographical conditions as well as their rich cultural and historical assets. However, there are myriad problems in these sectors. Besides poor government policies, the problems are related to low awareness on optimized process, obsolete technology, and unsustainable sourcing that leads to deforestation, extra waste generation, environmental degradation and pollution. objective Capacity building The project primarily capacitated over 40 national young engineers and technicians on resource efficiency, cleaner production, renewable energy, and building energy performances, as well as on soft skills such as technical reporting and presentation skills and other management and communication topics for profound environmental consulting. MSME support and materials Through CEO Forums and stakeholder conference, enterprises and business associations are encouraged to participate in the SEID company support programme. They benefit from the reduced operational costs, improved resource efficiency and optimized operating practices. The up-to-date knowledge and experience of inter/national Technical Experts from the project consortium is materialized in the forms of training manuals, guidelines, worksheets, checklists, and handbooks. The materials help the national consultants and the participating companies to understand and implement a broad range of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) practices step by step. The project aims to contribute to sustainable development of Nepal and Bhutan through reduction of environmental impact of the industries, employment generation and poverty alleviation particularly in the tourism and agrobased industrial sectors. The specific objectives are: To reduce costs by saving resources with more efficient production and operation; To lower pollution by encouraging companies to implement appropriate treatment measures; To improve health and safety standards; To enhance capacity of national consultants through trainings and company supports; and To provide access to existing knowledge and effective SCP practices from inter/national initiatives as well as green financing schemes. Alliance building and empowerment of academia By engaging industry associations, NGOs, academia, and inter/national projects for SCP, the project seeks for synergies between these influential parties. Global best practices are introduced to local companies and institutions which result in establishment of new academic curriculum and Green Clubs at colleges and exchange programmes of knowledge and experience.
scaling-up strategy Policy improvement With assessment studies on policy and institutional framework, the project aims to identify country specific mechanisms for promoting resource efficiency, cleaner production and other SCP actions. TARGET GROUPS The action will improve the situation of the target groups as follows: Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises from the tourism and agro based industries; National environmental, energy, managerial consultants and service providers; Business associations, industry associations and academia; Public institutions, government authorities, industrial park management authorities and policy makers; and Company Workers (especially women). Capacity Building of National Consultants for 200 MSMEs During the capacity building phase, a small number of selected companies (so-called Frontier Group ) serve as real life samples of the target sectors for national consultants to gain knowledge and skills. Through environmental assessments, energy & building audits, the consultants familiarised themselves to the industrial contexts, learn the vocabularies of the field, and practise communication with entrepreneurs. The trained consultants now go out in the field and provide 200 companies with profound consulting for SCP. Showcasing through Success Stories The companies that actively adopt proposed improvement measures for resource efficiency and use of renewable energy will become great showcases exhibiting economic and environmental paybacks. Entrepreneurs share their experiences through the national consultants, CEO Forums, and dissemination events. Building Partnership and Empowering Academia SEID facilitates dialoguing and networking amongst key stakeholders i.e., government, financial institutions, industry associations and academia. The alliance building programme includes partnerships with inter/national projects and institutions, faculty engagement, academic relation established with foreign universities, international exposure visits of national consultants. Publicity, Knowledge Management and Dissemination It appears that even greater number of MSMEs and other organization will reap benefit from publicity, knowledge management and dissemination of the achieved results from SEID. Outstanding performing companies will be honored by awards, awareness materials will be widely distributed among key stakeholders, and success stories will be published in print/online media.
results The project aims to bring in the following results by the end of project: Capacity enhanced The project capacitates knowledge and skills of more than 40 Local Consultants as well as representatives from industries and academia through series of intensive training on resource efficiency and responsible production, renewable energy and building energy performances from the life cycle perspective. Through the successful demonstration of SCP practices in industries, a new market for competent national consultants will be created, which will spread out nationwide and neighboring countries. Training manuals are adapted to the countries business and policy characteristics. Resource and energy efficiency improved in MSMES Through implementation of recommended measures, over 200 MSMEs will achieve cost saving in production and utilities, while increasing resource and energy efficiency. Amount of hazardous material used for production will be reduced, and amount of waste for landfill or combustion will be lowered. A set of training and awareness materials prepared on local languages will further help a great number of MSMEs. Through lower pollution, and improvement in health and safety performances, there will be increased satisfaction for the employees. Strategic network established Strategic partnership with ongoing/upcoming inter/national projects is established to exchange existing knowledge, information, and materials to address needs of SMEs in the target sectors. Formal agreements will be signed with a number of selected academic, governmental, and business institutions. Mainstreaming RE and RP in Policies/ Strategies With sectoral mainstreaming policies/strategies, governmental bodies will be proposed with more practical implementation plan for improved policies and action plans. Relevant experts and decision makers from relevant government agencies and partner agencies will be trained on the implementation of the mainstreaming strategies. Industry Training of Trainer (TOT) Customization of Frontier Group Training Material Awareness Campaigns MSME MSME Support Progamme Technology Showcases Best Practises Adaption Awards Recognition Academia Awareness Campaigns Academia Establishment of Green / Eco Clubes Faculty Engagement Programme Creation of Interaction Platforms Key Stakeholder Assessment Studies on Policy and Institutional Mechanisms Development of Specific Mainstreaming Instruments Awareness Campaigns & Capacity Building of National Government Advocacy for Implementation of Key Findings
IMPACT SHEET SWITCH-Asia project Sustainable & Efficient Industrial Development (SEID) Bhutan and Nepal impact in numbers economic impact 200 MSMES generate financial saving of 10-15% and their energy consumption reduces 10-25 % (not yet verifiable). environmental impact New waste and water management practices improve living environment. Hazardous material used in production reduces by 50 % (not yet verifiable). social impact Enhanced employees satisfaction in at least 200 MSMEs. Women given special preferance in imparting skills and empowerment (not yet verifiable). Engagement of target group 200 MSMEs will participate in the company support programme. Agro-based: Food/dairy, poultry, incences, briquettes, wine, timber, felt products, etc. Tourism: Hotels, restaurants, handicafts production, etc. Awareness campaign and in-house trainings for industry associations Collaboration with other inter/national initiatives and projects and exchange of best practices Policy Linkages Developing mainstreaming instruments and sharing assessment studies with government agencies
Pokhara Nepal Kathmandu Thimphu Bhutan Phuentsholing Legend Eligible Asian countries for the SWITCH-Asia programme Non-eligible Asian countries for the SWITCH-Asia Programme Project implementation area City Region Country The boundaries shown on this map do not imply on the part of the European Union any judgment on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Objectives The project contributes towards sustainable development of Nepal's and Bhutan's economy with clear focus on industrial sectors that impact environment, employment generation and poverty alleviation. The project aims to reduce costs, lower pollution; improve health and safety performance in tourism and agro based Industrial sectors. Duration 2/2012 5/2015 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 PROJECT CONTACT Dr Robert Wimmer rw@grat.at +43-1-5880149523 GrAT, TU Vienna Wiedner Hauptstr. 8 10 1040 Vienna, Austria project total budget 2,160,000 (EU contribution: 90%) PROJECT CONSORTIUM Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), Philippines Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Nepal Bhutan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Bhutan Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Germany Austria Recycling (AREC) Austria STENUM Asia Sustainable Development Society (STENUM) India