Regional : Promoting Urban Climate Change Resilience in Selected Asian Cities - Development of Pilot Activities and Project Development Support (Subproject 3)

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Other urban services

Subproject SP3 will provide resources for piloting approaches to integrate community-led projects into ongoing or planned ADB projects, and thereby contribute to resilience building at various scales within UCCRTF cities. SP3 can be implemented in the following UCCRTF eligible countries: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal, Philippines and Viet Nam.

In 2017, in order to identify the range of activities that will be financed under SP3, UCCRTF together with The Rockefeller Foundation organized 2 rounds of ADB Resilience Academy, a four-day project preparation workshop. It brought together interdisciplinary teams from cities in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines and Viet Nam. Participants were invited in consultation with the ADB Operations Departments (ODs) and came from cities that are already receiving support from UCCRTF for other urban planning and infrastructure investment activities. With mentoring from international and national technical experts, each city team identified projects that could address the current and future climate related risks of its most vulnerable populations. The multidisciplinary and iterative project design process employed at the ADB Resilience Academy reaffirmed the need for the three outputs of inclusive resilience planning, community-identified small-scale projects and driving towards an integration of community-level planning with city-wide planning.

The cities of Faridpur and Patuakhali (Bangladesh), Yangon (Myanmar), Abbotabad and Sialkot (Pakistan), Del Carmen, Janiuay, La Trinidad and Malay (Philippines) were eventually selected for SP3.

Community Assessment and Resilience Planning activities were carried out in each of the cities to determine climate change vulnerabilities and who and where are the most affected segments of the population. Via a multi-criteria analysis and multi-stakeholder consultations, the village/ward/barangay have been selected in each city. These were then followed by intensive community dialogues to strengthen community voice and participation in urban resilience project design and to help urban planning processes address the priorities of the most vulnerable groups of people.

The communities, each with support from a Community Resilience Officer (CRO) recruited through the project, identified small-scale civil works that could improve their resilience, and specified the knowledge and skills that they need in order to operate, maintain and sustain their community-led project.

The Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) aims to scale up urban climate change resilience (UCCR) especially for the urban poor across 25 secondary cities in Asia, prioritizing eight of ADBs developing member countries (DMCs), namely: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Viet Nam. The UCCRTF takes an urban systems-centered approach that supports climate change integration into city planning, project development and implementation, operations and knowledge sharing and capacity building, to reduce the risks of increasing urbanization and climate change on urban populations, particularly the poor.

UCCRTF was designed to have three complementary areas of support, with different funding allocations, offered to cities in DMCs through ADB Operational Departments and SDCC. The three areas are: (i) investments (70% of UCCRTF funds); (ii) urban resilience planning (20%); and (iii) knowledge management and resilience measurement (10%). To support these three areas, the C-R-CDTA: Promoting Urban Climate Change Resilience in Selected Asian Cities was approved on 8 April 2015 and comprises three subprojects: Subproject 1 (SP1): $3.95 million focuses on improving urban planning; Subproject 2 (SP2): $4.985 million will monitor the results of activities funded through UCCRTF; and in Subproject 3 (SP3) investments will be directed by vulnerable communities, not only as beneficiaries, but as active participants in designing and implementing development projects.

The true test for urban resilience is to ensure that the poor and vulnerable communities are protected from the shocks and stresses of climate change. Following the planning activities that have been initiated at the city, provincial and regional levels, UCCRTF seeks to enhance this approach by working from the bottom up. By supporting the preparation of community level resilience plans, implementation of identified community projects and institutionalizing these in higher level plans, this subproject aims to close the loop in building urban resilience. SP3 places a special emphasis community-driven development, gender justice and non-income dimensions of poverty resulting from exclusion and marginalization.

Urban populations, especially the urban poor in selected DMC cities, are less vulnerable to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change.

Increased application of UCCR principles in selected DMC cities.

Community resilience plans (CRP) prepared in a participatory and inclusive manner.

Community-led projects implemented.

Mechanisms to sustain community resilience plans developed.

Output 1: Preparation of Community Resilience Plans and Identification of Community-led Projects.

The community assessment and resilience planning have been completed in 2 cities in Bangladesh (Faridpur, Patuakhali), 2 cities in Pakistan (Abbottabad, Sialkot), and 4 cities in The Philippines (Del Carmen, Janiuay, La Trinidad, Malay) as of June 202. These involved the creation of Community Stakeholder Group (CSG) in each site, identification of shocks and stresses that communities are facing, the conduct of capacity needs assessment, and the preparation of community resilience plans. Building up on the lessons learned under this Output, a guidebook on community resilience planning was published in December 2021 to inspire and support other communities and development practitioners who are interested to replicate the process.

Output 2: Implementation of Community-led Projects.

Feasibility Studies (FS) for the community-led projects in 7 cities have been completed. Due diligence compliance for environmental and social safeguards based on ADB and country-specific guidelines is adhered to. The CLPs are a mix of small-scale civil works and measures related to capacity development and livelihood improvement customized based on the context of each community. Various stages of implementation are underway The construction work of the CLPs in the Philippines which include a drainage system in La Trinidad, a community-based water supply system in Janiuay, a multi-purpose evacuation center in Malay, and a materials recovery facility in Del Carmen have been completed as of December 2021 and their operationalization are on-going. The establishment of a community-based solid waste system in Patuakhali is 100% completed, while the construction of the waste composting and recycling facility is at 75% level. The community-based solid waste system and the livelihoods skill training center in Faridpur are both at 50% level of completion, while the Faridpur Community Park is expected to start construction on August 15, 2022. The community-based solid waste system and the rehabilitation of community water supply system were both 100% completed, while the construction of the solid waste management facilities is at 30% level. The construction of the Community Park in Sialkot is 50% completed while the accompanying Capacity Development Training of the community on sustainable park operation and maintenance is also at 50% level implementation.

One of the overarching goals of the TA is to empower communities on project design and implementation through the conduct of capacity development activities. As of June 2022, a total of 3,092 individuals (935 females, 2,157 males) took part in knowledge sharing activities, training courses and other events.

The first regional peer-to-peer learning event (P2P) was conducted virtually last February 15-16, 2022 wherein communities shared their experiences, lessons and challenges in implementing community-led resilience projects to inspire the current and future practice of community-led urban resilience. The second P2P event is scheduled in October 2022. City snapshots featuring the La Trinidad and Malay CLPs were published, and the TA was also the focus of a chapter in an 2022 ADB publication on informal settlements. A feature video entitled "Letting the community voice flow: The resilience story of Barangay Betag in La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines" was released in February 2022. Two (2) Knowledge Products are under preparation. One will be on how to implement community-led projects and another will be a video showing case stories of the CLPs and the value of the community-led approach.

Output 3: Sustaining Community Resilience Plans.

The TA is creating a strong alignment with city priorities, plans and programs. Additionally, the TA identified potential mechanisms to ensure the sustained operation and maintenance of the community-led projects through a fee-based enterprise model operated by the community wherever possible, and the establishment of symbiotic relationships with city governments, private sector and civil society organizations for collaboration. In May 2022, the TA has commenced two (2) small studies. The first one is to assess the value for money and the economic and social benefits and return on investment of the community-led projects. The second study will analyze the emerging trends and key drivers in the evolution of ADB community-led approaches. In addition, the study will also understand the role, contribution, and impact of ADB operations and business processes in facilitating the promotion and implementation of community-led approaches to ADB investments.