Based on a Memorandum of Understanding between the Dushanbe City Administration (DCA) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the “Green City Action Plan” (GCAP) technical assistance was initiated in November 2020 to help identify and address key environmental challenges of the capital city of Tajikistan. Informed by an environmental baseline and strategic objectives, the plan will identify green city actions, including infrastructure investments and supportive institutional measures.

To continue the development of the GCAP for Dushanbe, a mission of the International Consultant Team visited the city between 2-5 November 2021.

DCA together with and state-owned company Dushanbe Smart City (DSC), EBRD and its Consultant Team (AECOM with Urbanlogic and ARPA) hosted the first meeting of the city administration’s Expert Group in the Hilton Dushanbe Hotel on 3 November 2021. Participants learned about the GCAP Dushanbe process to date and agreed with the Priority Environmental Challenges (PECs) and the Vision for Dushanbe’s GCAP. This will ensure that the actions in the GCAP reflect the true needs and goals of DCA and Dushanbe’s residents in terms of sustainable and resilient city development.

The mission also featured three parallel focus group discussions with local stakeholders to move the GCAP process from the vision and objectives stage to the action scoping and prioritisation stage. Each focus group discussed different sectors and related actions, such as for water supply, transport, buildings and energy. The Consultant Team presented a draft long list of possible GCAP actions to participants and collected their feedback and suggestions for other actions. Additionally, the Consultant Team confirmed with the participants the criteria that shall be used for the prioritisation of GCAP actions to inform their shortlisting for the final GCAP report.

On Thursday, 4 November 2021, DCA together with EBRD and its Consultant Team hosted the first capacity development session in the Hilton Dushanbe Hotel. The topic chosen by DCA for the session was ‘Sustainability and Energy Efficiency in Buildings’. The training provided participants with an overview of best practice in energy-efficient buildings, including examples of successful retrofitting programmes, as well as a brief introduction to sustainable construction waste management. This will allow municipal staff to understand the importance of implementing corresponding actions that will be reflected in Dushanbe’s GCAP.

To further inform the GCAP development, site visits were organised to some key locations in the city. During the site visits, the Consultant Team had the opportunity to understand the status of different neighbourhoods and infrastructure projects within Dushanbe where the GCAP and related investments could contribute to green city development. Additionally, the Consultant Team was able to collect observations from the accompanying participants and collect suggestions for actions to be included in the GCAP.

The main focus over the coming weeks after the mission will be the scoring and prioritisation of GCAP actions to arrive at a shortlist of infrastructure investment ideas and institutional measures that can be further mapped out for the ensuing final GCAP report.

For further information on the GCAP Dushanbe, please contact:

Dushanbe City Administration, Rudaki Avenue 80, Dushanbe, Republic of Tajikistan

Phone: +992-37-2232076 // Fax: +992-37-2232076

Email: [email protected] // Website: www.dushanbe.tj