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CALL FOR PROPOSALS  (1999-2000) TO ACCESS FUNDS FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS ON URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AT THE LEVEL OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS

Call for projects on:

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT:
TOWARDS NEW FINANCIAL MECHANISMS AND INSTITUTIONAL MODELS

Region: Latin America and the Caribbean

The interest that spurs these institutions to make this call for proposals is their wish to support the generation of knowldege as well as the systematisation and dissemination of experiences in the field of public-private partnerships in urban environmental management in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The public-private partnership (PPP) may cover a broad range of relations which will differ depending on how they respond to the needs for promotion and development of infrastructure and services in the management of urban and environmental issues. In such partnerships, the private sector may be represented by one or more enterprises or by more complex institutional structures which in some cases include NGOs or different forms of community organisations and/or representatives of the civil society.

GENERAL GUIDELINES OF THE CALL

This call aims to study PPP mechanisms throughout the region; the said mechanisms should take into account these basic ideas in their agreements:

• The promotion of micro, small and medium local enterprises (MSMEs),
• An analysis of the said MSMEs as main or complementary service providers.
• Creation and maintenance of jobs in the sector of the related MSMEs.
• Definition of relationships within the PPPs, with service provision activities based on the community.
• Orientation of PPP mechanisms toward a higher environmental efficiency in the promotion of urban services and, at the same time fostering
• financial sustainability of agreements with the MSME sector and/or services based on the community.

The specific issues of interest to the present call for projects are the provision of the following services at the level of municipalities:

• Potable water
• Sewerage
• Urban watershed management
• Urban waste management

KNOWLEDGE FOR URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Studies can be focused either on:

• The design of PPP alternatives throughout municipalities of the region, including aspects of interest for the present call, or
• The development of methodologies for the evaluation and follow-up of this type of partnership in order to facilitate a comparison with alternative scenarios and enable a means of disseminating proposed results and outcome to the public opinion.

KNOWLEDGE FOR CAPACITY BUILDING AT THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL

The call is open to Municipalities that are interested in the study of the subject proposed and it aims at fostering the partnership of municipal governments with research centres to make progress in the organisation of knowledge and the formulation of policies for a sustainable urban management.

Funds requested for these studies can reach CAD 20.000 (twenty thousand Canadian dollars; aprox. US$ 14.000) and must be executed in a maximum period of six months after the agreement between the municipal government and the donors has been signed.

The applications must be sent by the municipalities of the region and will be received via fax or e-mail up until October 31^st, 1999 inclusive. Applications may be presented in Spanish, Portuguese, English or French. It will be essential to have an electronic address available to facilitate communications and make consultations; in addition, it will help make progress reports on the evaluation and approval of the proposals.

How to submit an application for funds?

The proposal must be sent directly through a municipal government and must include the written approval of the government authority (Mayor, Municipal Superintendent, or its equivalent). The proposing municipal government may act on behalf of a group of municipalities interested in the study.

The call for projects for the Fund will have two phases. During the first stage a summarised proposal of the idea will be submitted (with a maximum of 7 pages) and, if chosen, a more developed project will be presented during the second phase.

The summarised proposal must include the following:

• A description of the partnership mechanism to be studied.
• Background information to the study, including –when appropriate—possible links between the present proposal with other ongoing programmes or activities with funds from other national institutions or international funds.
• The research proposal methodology.
• Support for the use of such methodology vis-à-vis other alternative methodologies.
• A reference as to the importance of the proposal as part of an action programme for the analysis of problems and the promotion of a local policy for improvement in the urban environmental management.
• The estimated budget and an idea of the contribution from the participating municipal government(s) and/or the private sector in terms of cash, personnel, equipment or any other type of resources.
• A schedule of the activities to be developed.

During the second stage, the short-listed candidates must present a project with a full detail of all the points previously mentioned including the comments from evaluators. In this second phase, documents should include the agreement undersigned between the Municipal Government and the participating research centre for the execution of the studies proposed.

The evaluation of the proposal and the decision on the approval of projects presented will be the responsibility of a Committee integrated by delegates from the institutions coordinating the call.

INSTITUTIONAL ASSOCIATION: MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS AND RESEARCH CENTRES

Research centres must be non-profit organisations, either public or private, with proven experience and capacity to conduct the proposed research project. All background information submitted in this regard will represent a basic evaluation criterion (annex, maximum 2 pages).

The research centre related to the project may be outside the geographic borders of the specific actions foreseen and may operate within a national, regional or international context.

Criteria for Selection

Proposals shall be selected according to the following criteria:

• Justification and description of the importance of their study in relation to the environmental protection policy of the municipal government.
• Justification of the proposal in the municipal policy to eradicate poverty.
• Contribution to the generation of decisive information for the creation of an accountable instance in the decision-making process of public and private actors.
• Effective incorporation of public and private actors in terms of urban environmental management.
• Contribution of the study to the effective participation of municipal experts in all activities proposed.
• Impact of the study in capacity building at the municipal level for the implementation of an effective and accountable environmental management in the municipal area.
• Impact of the study in the capacity building at the municipal level for the design, implementation, follow-up and assessment of PPP with the participation of MSMEs related to the provision of services.
• Degree of involvement and effective interest of municipal governments and the private sector in the use of systematised information during the project.
• Commitment for institutional sustainability throughout the different phases of the study on the part of municipal governments and/or the private sector participating in PPP.

Additional elements for evaluation related to the conceptual framework of proposals

The convening institutions acknowledge and emphasise the contribution that research centres can make to understand the close links between social and environmental problems in the Latin American urban context, as well as to seek their solutions. In this regard, special value will be given to the potential contribution of a research proposal that promotes the participation and decentralisation vis-à-vis urban environmental management, its contribution to solving problems such as marginality and the need for local governments to generate new forms of social organisation that jointly set out for equity and social justice.

Due to the objectives of the institutions mentioned before in terms of promoting and coordinating activities of the donors community for capacity building in urban environmental management at the level of local governments in the region, the funds of this proposal could be sought to fund research activities related to initiatives that are supported by other donors or national and/or international financial entities.

For further information please contact: info@ems-sema.org 

Additional information:

http://www.ems-sema.org  -  http://www3.undp.org/pppue/   -  http://www.pgualc.org