Green City is a project whose goal is to strengthen ties between Italian local authorities and foreign local authorities through the creation of partnerships that encourage sustainable and resilient territorial development. The protagonists of the project were two Italian municipalities, Marsala (lead entity) and Alcamo in Italy, six municipalities in Lebanon (Boudai, Dekwaneh, Hermel and Boudai) and two Jordanian municipalities (Irbid and Karak).
Through the activities implemented, therefore, work was done on improving urban development management and planning skills in the fields of energy and municipal solid waste management.
ICU acted as the implementing partner in the two countries of intervention-Lebanon and Jordan. Among the activities implemented, in collaboration with local partners (LCEC and Arcenciel in Lebanon and the German University of Jordan), specialized courses were conducted to raise the technical level of policy makers and technicians in the partner municipalities.
In this regard, Ibrahim Alaw, Development Projects Coordinator of the Hermel municipality, said he was very satisfied with the experience:
“Now our staff responds more promptly to local issues related to energy and waste management, thanks to the skills acquired during the course implemented as part of the project.”
These courses’ structure was in fact designed by the local technical partners, starting from a direct discussion with the municipalities that would allow them to highlight which aspects to intervene on, and thus offer content that would best meet their needs, starting from the specifics of the context.
“Most of the participants,” Ibrahim continues, “shared that they felt very privileged to have had this opportunity for growth, and to have learned many new techniques and best practices, which allowed them to identify some of the errors they were making and then improve their interventions and planning both in the field of energy efficiency and waste management.” Further enhancing the value of this training was the exchange with technicians from the two Italian municipalities, who provided their experience, knowledge and good practices adopted at the local level, which offered insights for all course participants.
The Green City project stands as a testament to the power of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and sustainable practices in driving local development. By empowering local authorities, this initiative contributes to building more sustainable and resilient communities.
