Initial Situation
The ASEAN region is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, with population growth averaging 1.6% annually from 1980 to the present. The region's cities face the major challenge of providing adequate basic services that keep pace with this growth while protecting the environment. There is a lack of the necessary resources and capacities to guarantee basic services in the water, waste and energy sectors. Principles of the circular economy for climate, environmental and resource protection have so far only been applied in exceptional cases.
On the other hand, the tourism sector depends on the attractiveness of clean cities, and the demand for sustainable tourism is constantly increasing. An increasing number of local or national initiatives in the tourism sector that include waste prevention, plastic waste reduction or public clean-up campaigns confirm the importance of the issue for the sector.
Inadequate waste management also has a negative impact on the living conditions of disadvantaged population groups and thus on human rights such as the right to life, physical integrity, food and water.
Objective
In medium-sized tourist cities, the capacities of public and private actors to optimize municipal waste management and recycling are strengthened.
Method
The strategy for achieving goals is based on strategic and technical capacities and competence development in a multi-level approach with the following focuses:
• Advice to the relevant ASEAN working groups, primarily those on sustainable environmentally friendly cities (AWGESC), and the ASEAN Secretariat will support the development of ASEAN-wide knowledge management on the topic of sustainable waste management and cooperation with the tourism sector.
• At the national level, the development of skills in the responsible ministries in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam is promoted through specific technical and process advice and the potential for cooperation with the tourism sector in the waste sector through dialogue formats.
• Institutional capacities are being developed in the tourism-relevant pilot cities in order to strengthen technical skills and financial framework conditions for sustainable waste management.