Successfully created the Tagbilaran City Environmental Management Office (TCEMO) constituted a major step to ensure that city environmental concerns are addressed as an integral part of the city planning and management activities. Headed and supervised by a project coordinator and staffed with a project manager, the TCEMO was assisted by three part-time coordinators for (1) solid, toxic and hazardous waste, (2) Air quality and traffic, (3) Coastal resources, water quality and liquid wastes on temporary assignment to the office. Over time these City environmental management tasks have gradually been lodged within the City Planning and Development Office.
Successfully promoted the involvement & participation of key stakeholders in LGU decision making on priority environmental concerns, and facilitated the establishment of broader partnerships with other government agencies as well as with communities and the private sector. This proved to be fundamental in gaining the commitment and support of civil society groups to implement environment-friendly endeavors (see demo-projects).
Working Group members from civil society groups were able to acquire technical knowledge on coastal waste management, which further strengthened their organizationfs interest and helped develop advocacy strategies to their members, resulting in regular Coastal Cleaning Campaigns.
The capacities of the LGU were enhanced in different areas, including the establishment of Environmental Management Information Systems & Geographical Information Systems.
Up-scaling from the initial demonstration efforts of the Local EPM Project, a city-wide solid waste management plan is being implemented by the City, including the development of a sanitary landfill as required by new legislation, to be managed by a private company, with essential services like promoting segregation at source, and hauling of wastes to site as counterpart inputs of the City. Following the January 2007 CC, the City has developed a comprehensive water resource conservation and development project concept to specifically address the increasing demands of domestic water for households as well as for the growing industry. Discussions are conducted with potential project partners and investors.
Another important result was the design of a peri-urban neighborhood for the City, using techniques and methods of the SCP/LA21 approach.
Inter-Working Group coordination, especially through the sharing of information, proved essential for the successful implementation of the EPM process. Similarly, the sharing of resources and support institutions made sure that the WG recommendations and actions were mutually supportive and reinforced each other.
