Month: April 2021

This is the picture we see every spring in various places in the Republic of Moldova, the unauthorised dumped waste is crushed and kneaded with soil. Unfortunately, few localities have arranged landfills that meet the ecological requirements of operation. This is due to the lack of a community vision on the issue of waste management, but also the lack of a community solid waste management service.

Copăceni commune includes 6 localities with a total number of over 3300 inhabitants. In February 2021, the municipality signed a cooperation agreement with the project MĂ IMPLIC, to improve the solid waste management service in the locality. It is the first project in the community, which also actively involves citizens in its development. Although it is a first experience, the citizens are very curious about this process, they come up with initiatives and motivate each other to contribute to changing things in their community. Moreover, following a sociological study conducted at the initiative of the Community Initiative Team, it was determined that most residents of the six localities want household waste to be collected selectively. Selective collection would allow the separation of recyclable waste, its transportation to other collection centres and as a result will help reduce the impact of waste on the local environment.

Currently, there are two landfills in Copăceni commune, the one in Petrovca village is to be liquidated, and the one in Copăceni village is to be redeveloped and authorized. Ground waves will be raised to prevent the spread of garbage, acacia trees and bushes will be planted on the perimeter, areas for recyclable garbage will be organized and an access road will be arranged. Also, within the project will be procured a transport unit, which will serve all localities in the commune.

In the period 2021-2023, the commune Copăceni will implement a project aimed to improve the solid waste management service, with the support of the Project “MĂ IMPLIC”, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by SKAT Consulting. Following the signed agreement, the municipality will benefit from funding (maximum 65,000 CHF), consulting, and capacity building services. The Project “MĂ IMPLIC” will help the LPA and the service provider not only to improve the infrastructure but also to develop long-term approaches to keep this infrastructure in good shape and to have sustainable models for financing the provision of services. In our work, we will ensure that local citizens, employees of LPAs, NGOs, economic agents are actively involved in modernizing public services in the community and especially that the less advantaged have equal access to these services. 

In February 2021, the municipality of Borogani village signed the cooperation agreement with the project “MĂ IMPLIC”, to improve the solid waste management service in the locality. Since then, the Borogani community has successfully completed the activities of mobilization and community consensus, organized within the project, demonstrating a highly active social spirit. Through community mobilization activities, community members become aware of the problem of the lack or the unsatisfactory quality of the local solid waste management service, note that this issue is especially important for their lives, and decide together what steps are needed to solve it and act together.

Thus, during the needs mapping meeting, were presented the specifics of the project “MĂ IMPLIC”, was made the conceptual map of the community, were identified existing resources and problems in the locality, relevant to the project. The list of candidates to be invited to the Community Consensus Meeting was also drawn up, respecting the principle of inclusion of representatives from various regions of the locality and different segments of the population.

At the next meeting, the consensus was reached on the initiative of the municipality to modernize the public solid waste management service. The members of the Community Initiative Team (CIT) were elected by consensus. The consensus was reached on the choice of the person responsible for communication and promotion of activities within the community, the person responsible for logistics and organization, and of course, the CIT leader, being unanimously appointed the Mayor, Elena Savițchi. The steps to be taken in the process of improving the public solid waste management service in the village of Borogani have been clarified.

One of the most interesting and interactive activities was the Vision Development Workshop of the solid waste management service in the village. Participants explored the current situation in the field, described how they want this service to work in the future, and identified opportunities for the realisation. They formulated the team’s mission, objectives, developed the action plan, and identified potential solutions for potential risks.

“The team from Borogani managed to produce a very concrete and detailed plan of activities. It is gratifying that the number of participants in community meetings does not decrease over time, and the interest remains alive, the participants are very motivated to get involved to make life better in the locality. The meetings are interactive, they take place in a collegial format. Today, the team understands very well what communal service they want in their locality, so that all the inhabitants benefit from a quality service, managed transparently, at a reasonable price, based on the cooperation between the beneficiary and the provider. It even plans the selective collection of household waste and a campaign to educate locals in this regard. “, said Victoria Matveev, facilitator in the project “MĂ IMPLIC”.

In the period 2021-2023, the village Borogani will implement a project aimed to improve the solid waste management service, with the support of the Project “MĂ IMPLIC”, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by SKAT Consulting. Following the signed agreement, the municipality will benefit from funding (maximum 65,000 CHF), consulting, and capacity building services. The Project “MĂ IMPLIC” will help the LPA and the service provider not only to improve the infrastructure but also to develop long-term approaches to keep this infrastructure in good shape and to have sustainable models for financing the provision of services. In our work, we will ensure that local citizens, employees of LPAs, NGOs, economic agents are actively involved in modernizing public services in the community and especially that the less advantaged have equal access to these services.