Report of the Best Practice Jury

We, the members of the International Jury, having reviewed the 40 best practices put forward to us by an independent Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), have decided that the following ten initiatives be given the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment.

• Comprehensive Improvement of the Urban Environment of Zhuhai, China
• Urban Sub-centres for Citizen Life in the Low-income Areas of Medellin, Colombia
• Household Solid Waste Management: Zabbaleen Garbage Collectors, Cairo, Egypt
• Urban Governance in Environment and Public Health: Surat's Experience, India
• The Kipepeo Project, Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya
• Housing Programme for the Peripheral Areas of Xalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico
• Participatory Planning Initiatives in Naga City, The Philippines
• Programmes for Improving the Urban Environment in Malaga, Spain
• Community Infrastructure Upgrading Programme, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
• Interface's Journey to Sustainability, Kennesaw, Georgia, United States of America

In reviewing the 40 submissions, the Jury used the established criteria of tangible impact, partnership and sustainability. In reaching its conclusions, the members of the Jury worked in two independent groups, each selecting its choices of preference and then in plenary discussion, agreeing unanimously on the ten winners. The Jury gave due recognition to the considerations used, and the recommendations made, by the TAC regarding innovation, leadership in inspiring change, high demonstration value and potential for scaling up and/or replication.
In this spirit, the Jury wishes to recognize the efforts of the City of Vienna in providing a healthier, safer, more equitable and sustainable living environment for its citizens as evidenced by seven of its initiatives being included in the Best Practices 100 List for 1998 and two of those having been selected by the TAC in the short list of 40 submissions to be considered by the Jury.

Under the stewardship of its Chair, Dr. Arcot Ramachandran, the Jury also looked for "pointers to the future" in terms of initiatives, processes and partnership that will help meet the challenges of sustainable development in the next millennium. The Jury firmly believes that the concept of Best Practices and the experience they embody provide a strong building block for new policies, strategies, and even paradigms for the effective governance and efficient management of human settlements in the 21st century.

The Jury commends the Best Practice and Local Leadership Program (BLP) for the impetus it is giving to new forms of action in the field of international cooperation and development based on the exchange of lessons learned and derived from successful solutions, effective processes and tangible results. The Jury notes with particular satisfaction that some of the 1996 Award-winning practices have already resulted in inter alia, north-south, south-south and south-north transfers of expertise and experience.

In light of all the above, the Jury fully endorses the further development of the Best Practice Database as an information-sharing and networking tool. Additionally, it encourages all partners and relevant institutions in all sectors, to actively participate in, and contribute to, the Best Practices Network as an unique international forum for mutual learning. Both the Network and the Database offer a valuable source of innovation, inspiration and expertise for new approaches to common social, economic and environmental problems. They also indicate promising avenues for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and Agenda 21.

The Jury also commends Dubai Municipality’s initiative to establish the Dubai International Award Laureates’ Forum (DIALF) as a means of tracking progress made and further disseminating information on the results achieved by Award-winning best practices. It endorses the BLP Steering Committee’s full support to the establishment of the Forum.

The Jury wishes to thank the members of the TAC for their excellent work, and fully endorses the TAC’s recommendations regarding the widespread adoption of national and sub-regional pre-selection processes as integral parts of broad-based participatory mechanisms recommended by the Habitat Agenda for implementing national and local plans of action.

Last but not least, the Jury wishes to express, in addition to its gratitude to Dubai Municipality for hosting the Jury, its appreciation for the substantive contribution made by Dubai Municipality to the entire Best Practices endeavor.

Dubai, 26 July 1998

Members of the 1998 Jury

Dr. Arcot Ramachandran, India, Jury Chairperson
Former Under-Secretary-General, United Nations (Habitat)

Drew Horgan, USA,
Former Secretary-General, International Union of Local Authorities (IULA)

Mohammed Abdul Karim Julfar, UAE
Head of Administrative Development Office, Dubai Municipality

Professor Isabelle Milbert, Switzerland
Deputy Director, Graduate Institute of Development Studies (IUED), Geneva

Dr. Emilio Pradilla-Cobos, Mexico
Director of the Faculty of Design, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico D.F.

Special Advisors:
Grace Wanyonyi, Kenya
Chairperson, TAC
Deputy Director of Housing, Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Kenya

Nicholas You
Secretary to the Jury and Rapporteur
Coordinator, Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme, UNHABITAT

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For more information, please contact:

Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (BLP)
UN-HABITAT
P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254 20) 623029; 624981; 624328
Fax: (254 20) 623080, 624266, 624267
Email: bestpractices@unhabitat.org

Dubai Municipality
P.O.Box 67
Dubai
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Tel: (+971) 4 206 4414 / 221 5555
Fax: (+971) 4 222 1319 / 224 6666
E-mail: info@dm.gov.ae
dubai-award@dm.gov.ae
Web: http://dubai-award.dm.gov.ae