Background:The Climate and Clean Air Coalition Municipal Solid Waste Initiative (Waste Initiative) is an international partnership focused on reducing methane, black carbon, and other pollutants emissions from the municipal solidwaste sector. The Waste Initiative launched a Network of Southeast European, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian Cities in March 2018 at a workshop in Novi Sad, Serbia. The network, which is implemented by the Serbian Solid Waste Association (SeSWA), focuses on fostering informational exchange and outreach to municipalities in these regions while responding to the demand for knowledge on improved waste management techniques that reduce short-lived climate pollutants.Objectives:This second workshop will consolidate learning from the first workshop and help move concepts towards implementation. It will do this by connecting representatives from cities participating in the regional network withfinancial institutions, donors, and grant-making institutions in an interactive format, thus enabling cities to: Build on previous discussions about strategies designed to promote uptake of new technologies, updating of existing infrastructure, and modification of existing waste management practices.Share information about barriers and opportunities to use internal revenues to enhance the financial sustainability of waste management systems.Learn about opportunities for improving their readiness to access financing from external sources, and understand the processes involved in working with those sources.Participants:The workshop will include cities that participated in the March workshop, plus a select number of others from the SEE, Middle East, and Central Asia regions. Participants will include representatives of local self-government in charge of waste management, technical staff of waste management units, and landfill managers and operators.The workshop will also include participants from international and regional institutions that offer financial support for the implementation of these projects and associated strategies. A strong emphasis will be placedupon making this a participant-centered activity, one that is designed to impart knowledge while offering a direct exchange between cities and lending institutions.Format:This event will build on the action planning activities that were the focus of the March workshop. City representatives will present action plans to highlight priority areas for waste management investment. Using theplans as a foundation, cities will then interact with financial, donor, and grant-making institutions and technical experts to identify opportunities to advance the projects towards implementation. The workshop will involve acombination of technical presentations, case studies, interactive panel discussions, small group work, and matchmaking sessions to convey concepts and establish connections between workshop participants and financialinstitutions.
