12 municipal officials improved their expertise to review and evaluate the effectiveness of local climate change mitigation and adaptation plans and measures
Within the framework of project BGENVIRONMENT-4.004-0010 “Black Sea E-mobility” under the “Environment Protection and Climate Change” Programme of the EEA FM 2014-2021, the first online training seminar on the topic “Evaluation of the effectiveness of municipal strategic plans in terms of mitigation and adaptation to climate change” was conducted. The three-day seminar was held on 22, 23 and 26 June 2023 and 12 municipal officials took part in it – two from each of the municipalities participating in the project: the municipalities of Kavarna, Byala, Dulgopol, Dolni Chiflik, Nessebar and Primorsko. The main objective of the event was, by combining theoretical concepts and practical solutions, to increase the competences of municipal officials regarding the review and evaluation of the effectiveness of municipal strategic plans and the measures already taken in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions.
The training was based on the fact that local authorities play a key role in overcoming the problems of climate change. 70% of EU legislation, 70% of climate mitigation measures and 90% of adaptation measures, as well as 65% of the UN Sustainable Development Goals are within the competence of local authorities. Their commitments include plan development, emissions reduction, infrastructure change, collaboration and education. Sustainable local government practices and actions create a sustainable community and improve the well-being of citizens.
The partner municipalities have Plans for integrated development, plans for sustainable energy development or for energy efficiency, which are to varying degrees focused on sustainable development, risks and vulnerabilities from climate change and adaptation to them.
The following topics were covered in the project training conducted by the team of the Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities (UBBSLA):
- Framework and regulatory framework in the field of climate change
- Methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of municipal strategic plans
- Data collection to assess the effectiveness of municipal strategic plans
- Data analysis to assess the effectiveness of municipal strategic plans
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of municipal strategic plans
- The identification of improvements – an important step in assessing the effectiveness of municipal strategic plans and measures for mitigation and adaptation to climate change
- Review and update of strategic municipal plans
During the discussion panels, the municipal officials participating in the training were asked to give examples of consequences of climate change in their municipalities, to indicate developed strategies, programs and plans of their municipality with elements of climate change included, to tell how strategic plans are evaluated in their municipality, what approaches and methods of information gathering they use in their municipality, etc.
Short video of the training workshop: