Bolivia Sustainable Urban Development Project

Micro-projects

Urban development in peri-urban areas involves more than the simple provision and upgrading of physical infrastructure. It is necessary to strengthen the capacity of the institutions responsible for service delivery and to build mechanisms for transparency and accountability in decision-making. Service delivery in peri-urban areas is also constrained by a lack of financial resources and/or inadequate community consultations on problems and priorities. UTUI is engaged in three complementary activities to address this issue:

1. The participatory planning process supported by the project is encouraging a more adequate means of public consultation.
   
   
2. Individual local projects are being supported through cost-sharing with community organizations and the municipality. Priority projects are identified in local development plans and selected through a participatory planning exercise.
   
   
3. Technical assistance is being provided to municipalities to develop methodologies for implementing individual local projects together with community organizations.

Gateway to the Juan Pablo II community in Tarija, where a partnership between local residents and the municipality conceived plans for a much-needed community centre. One of four micro-projects in Tarija subsidized in part by UTUI. (1998)

In the City of Tarija, four micro-projects have already been selected with gender issues and the environment as key considerations. They are being implemented in partnership with municipalities and include the establishment of new community centres and an industrial bakery and pasta factory.

One graduate student from UofT participated in UTUI's practicum program in 1999 and was asked to promote environmentally-sustainable activities within the communities containing micro-projects. After successfully initiating a community-level composting program with the cooperation of a local women's NGO (PROMUTAR), the student elaborated on this experience by writing her major research paper for her Masters degree on how to implement a city-wide composting program in the City of Tarija.

Reports

Guidelines for Co-Financing Community Projects
	Author: Christie Gombay Date: 1998 Description: "This presentation by UTUI established the guidelines for co-financing community projects targeted at poverty alleviation in peri-urban neighbourhoods of Bolivian cities" Language: Spanish (PDF, 10pp, 24KB)

A Composting Program for the City of Tarija, Bolivia

Author: C.J. Lamb Date: April 2000 Description: Applying lessons learned from existing composting projects across the developing world and elaborating on experiences from Tarija, a graduate student presents a proposal for a new municipal composting program in Tarija. Language: English