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Home » What We Do » Livable Cities » Promoting Eco-cities in Nepal

Promoting Eco-cities in Nepal

Introduction

The Kathmandu valley is an open-air museum of famous sites, ancient temples, shrines, golden pagodas, and inspiring deities. However, with urbanization and modernization, the significance of these assets of the city is diminishing and having adverse impact on the environment and human health. Concrete buildings, noise pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, air pollution and solid waste management problems are some of the immense concern of the people living in the valley.

RECPHEC, with a vision of ensuring peoples rights to health, has been working constantly in public health issues since last two decades. The centre works from health policy advocacy at the central level to the field study at the different divisions of the country. RECPHEC has been working for the Urban Health issues like noise pollution, nice walking zones, vehicle-regulated zones and zero waste management programs which took a momentum in the capital.

The vision of the project is to contribute in developing an environmental-friendly city, which can ensure the public health of the citizens. Thus, the ultimate outcomes of the project can be listed as follows:

To contribute to decreased morbidity and mortality due to injury, chronic diseases, and communicable diseases; and

To contribute to decreased emissions of air pollutants leading to poor air quality and climate change.

Objectives

The goals of the “Promoting Eco-cities in Nepal” program include:

Decreasing noise pollution in Kathmandu Valley by eliminating pressure horns;
Increasing the cleanliness of the cities and decreasing the amount of land needed for landfills by eliminating the use of plastic bags;
Creating increased employment opportunities for the poor by creating opportunities by creating alternatives to plastic bags;
Increasing physical activity opportunities and decreasing pedestrian injuries;
Decreasing congestion and fuel use;
Increasing the number of organizations working on Livable Cities issues; and,
Increasing number of local livable cities policies.

Results

Key results in 2010-2011 included:

Strong partnerships have been formed with both the local tourism council and the local police in Kathmandu to create a safer pedestrian environment in Thamel;
In response to the government of Nepal declaring 2011 the year of tourism, the Lazimpat Tourism Development Board (LTDB) and RECPHEC identified issues that impacted the walkability of the Lazimpat area. These issues included noisy streets, waste management problems, and litter. To address these issues, awareness campaigns were organized that included the distribution of 1000 leaflets on the harmful effects of excessive horn use, 5000 stickers with a no horn sign. This resulted in a number of pressure horns being captured by the traffic police.
LTDB also strategically placed recycle boxes and litter boxes throughout the area, resulting in less litter in the community;
A polythene bag program was initiative, which introduced woven bags as an alternative. These woven bags are being produced by local women and provide economic opportunities for the poor. As a result of this program, numerous stores in the valley are using woven bags instead of polythene and more municipalities have expressed interest in the program;
To address the issue of excessive horn noise to the broader community, RECPHEC developed a noise pollution radio jingle that promoted the anti-horn message. This jingle aired through Hits FM at peak hours at a rate of 24 spots per day; and
RECPHEC, in close coordination with Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC), developed a Zero-Waste pilot ward. A composting program was introduced, and the local population is adopting the program with great enthusiasm. The compost is being used in kitchen gardens and flower gardens. LSMC has reported a significant drop in organic waste from this ward and other municipalities have expressed interest in the program.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations

Forming partnerships with key organizations and government offices has been the key to our success. These partnerships have encouraged community participation and increase the sustainability of the programs. We’ve learned that people are interested in doing things to help the environment and it has not been difficult to convince people to compost and use woven bags. These programs will be expanded to other municipalities.