Realising DReAMS Kick-off Meeting Recently Concluded

The Realising DReAMS (Development of Resources and Access to Municipal Services) Project for South and Southeast Asian Local Authorities had its kick-off meeting prior to an official launch on February 24-27, 2010 at the Bohol Beach Club in Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines.

The gathering was attended by the representatives from the European Union, the funding partner, along with the project partners from Guntur Municipal Corporation in India, Province of Stung Treng in Cambodia, Thimphu City Corporation in Bhutan, City of Rajshahi in Bangladesh, City of Växjö in Sweden; the officers of the ICLEI secretariats in Europe, South Asia and South East Asia; and the officers and team members from the Province of Bohol, the project’s main beneficiary. The City of Bologna in Italy was not attending the meeting.

From Feb 24, 2010

With barely five years left until the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs, the Realising DReAMS Project is well-timed in assisting local authorities in the above-mentioned cities to improve services and urban governance and thereby take feasible steps towards achieving the MDGs at their localities. The project makes use of two tested and innovative tools, the ecoBUDGET and the Poverty Data-based Monitoring System or PDMS.

ecoBUDGET is an environmental management system, specially designed by ICLEI based on the concept of environmental budgeting. It provides a framework to assist in sustainable local development and effective long-term management of natural resources and the urban environment. The first ecoBUDGET model was implemented in European local authorities and has been constantly improved. It has been adapted for use in Asian countries and implemented successfully in Guntur, India and in the Municipality of Tubigon, Bohol. A site visit to Tubigon was conducted on 26 February 2010.

The Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS) for Local Governments is a database software developed by the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) of the Province of Bohol along with the Bohol Local Development Foundation (BLDF). An Orientation on PDMS for the Realising DReAMs project was given on 27 February 2010.

Below are the objectives of the kick-off meeting:

1. To discuss and agree on the project partners’ roles, share of tasks, main responsibilities and deliverables;

2. To discuss the European Commission’s requirements for financial and narrative reporting;

3. To discuss and agree on ways to ensure efficient monitoring of the project;

4. To discuss and agree on how to make communication effective and efficient;

5. To identify potential critical issues of the draft Consortium Agreement of the project;

6. To validate over-all time plan and to break down the time plan for the next 12 months;

7. To familiarize participants with the Poverty Database Monitoring System; and

8. To familiarize the participants with the ecoBUDGET environmental management system.

The expected outputs include the following:

1. An approved draft of Project Management Standards Document;

2. Clarified timelines and reporting requirements for both technical and financial monitoring;

3. Approved partnership structure, guidelines and standards;

4. Approved communication strategy, mailing lists, contacts/focal persons/addresses;

5. Compilation of list of issues for clarifications;

6. Agreed process for signing the final version of the Consortium Agreement;

7. Confirmed detailed work plan of the project for the next 12 months;

8. Agreed common work plan for the adoption of the Poverty Database Initial basic knowledge of the tool Monitoring System in the partner Asian local authorities and its integration in ecoBUDGET; and

9. Initial basic knowledge of the tools being used in the project.