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Transferring Effective Practices:
Guidelines
Presented by Dato’ Lakhbir Singh Chahl
Secretary General, CITYNET
Regional Network of Local Authorities for
the Management of Human Settlements
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Introduction
NETWORKING
DECENTRALISED
COOPERATION
PARTNERSHIPS
TRANSFERRING
EFFECTIVE
PRACTICES
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
- SHARING INNOVATIVE IDEAS & SOLUTIONS
- CREATING STRATEGIES FOR ADAPTATION & IMPLEMENTATION
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Peer-to-Peer Transfers
Before: Donor to Recipient
RECIPIENT
DONOR
Now: Peer-to-Peer (City-to-City)
Promote technical
cooperation
CITY
Better matching
supply and demand
CITY
CITYNET encourages peer-to-peer transfer by city-to-city
cooperation, promoting best practice transfers at the LOCAL LEVEL
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Peer-to-Peer Transfers
Makati
Dhaka
Hanoi
Mumbai
Colombo
Yokohama
Seoul
Chittagong
Shanghai
Shanghai
Suva
Bangkok
Lyon
Kuala Lumpur
Kathmandu
Karachi
Taipei
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Peer-to-Peer Transfers
EFFECTIVENESS:
More effective transfers between socially and economically similar cities
Similar cities face similar problems and are able to form cooperative solutions
What city networks such as CITYNET have to offer:
opportunities for the identification of common issues, problems and solutions
sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience
establishment of regional and national networks of urban practitioners
documentation and dissemination of effective practices
initiation of dialogues between cities
training activities; organisation of study tours
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Elements of a Transfer
Feasibility Factors for Transfers
Tangible Impact
Partnership
Sustainability
Three Main Types of Transfers
Technical
Informational
Managerial
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Elements of a Transfer
Four Principal Steps for Effective Transfers
STEP 1
Match Supply with
Demand
•Awareness of relevant
best practices
•Agreement in principle to
explore possibilities of
exchange
STEP 2
Define scope of
Transfer
•Formation of transfer
committees or task forces
comprised of key
stakeholders and task
managers on both sides
•Transfer feasibility study
(comparison of respective
indicators, contexts and
obstacles)
•Agreement and signature
of MoU between
stakeholders
•Documentation of lessons
learned (supply side)
STEP 3
Adapt Transfer
STEP 4
Implement and
evaluate Transfer
•Adaptation of transfer to
local context
•Full scale implementation
•Assessment of results
•Pilot demonstration project
•Evaluation report
•Documentation of lessons
learned (demand side)
Intermediary’s Role:
Intermediary’s Role:
Intermediary’s Role:
Intermediary’s Role:
Catalyst
Broker
Facilitator
Evaluator
Awareness Building and Media Involvement Monitoring and Evaluation
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Elements of a Transfer
Governments –
National, State, Local
City Officials
Private Sector
Media
Key Actors
in Transfers
Professional and
Civic Organisations
NGOs and CBOs
Academic/Research
Organisations
Foundations
Each has an important and specific role to play
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Elements of a Transfer
Suggested Actors and Possible Functions of Key Roles
Political
Support
Financial
Support
Government
X
X
City Officials
X
X
NGOs/ CBOs
X
Private Sector
Professional
Associations
Media
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Facilitator
/ Mediator
X
X
Foundations
Admin.
Support
X
X
Academic/Research
Organisations
Multi- and Bi-lateral
Support Programs
Technical
Support
X
X
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Elements of a Transfer
Process Indicators for the Effective Transfer of Practices
PARTICIPATION
Does the transfer involve and/or promote participation of all possible stakeholders?
TRANSPARENCY
Is the transfer process open and accessible to all stakeholders?
ACCOUNTABILITY
Are mechanisms in place to ensure accountability for actions and responsibilities of all
partners involved?
INCLUSION
Is the participation of all potential stakeholders considered in the transfer’s design?
FINANACIAL FEASIBILITY
Are resources and/or funding available to realize and sustain the initiative? Are funding
alternatives identified?
SUSTAINABILITY
Does the initiative consider the economic, environmental and social needs without
trading off one at the great expense of the other, now or in the future?
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Elements of a Transfer
Information Dissemination
Knowledge, expertise and experience
Host
Solution
-- Matching --
Problem
Participant
Site visits, Transfer
Roles and
responsibilities
Surveys, Plans
KEY COMPONENTS
OF A TRANSFER
Roles and
responsibilities
Implementation Plans
Pilot/Demo
Monitoring & Assessment
Target community
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Overcoming Obstacles and Challenges
OBSTACLES:
RESPONSES:
 Political resistance to change…
…face-to-face meetings with officials
 Staff resistance to change…
…training to empower staff
 Inappropriate rules and
regulations…
…peer-to-peer learning and study tours
to create awareness of problems
 Corruption…
…best practices forge ”win-win”
situations to overcome corruption
 Inability to work across
departmental or divisional
boundaries…
 Little or no local involvement in
policy formulation and decisionmaking…
…study tours and staff exchanges
involving a team of decision-makers
…demonstrate effectiveness of local
partnerships through best practice
transfers
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Overcoming Obstacles and Challenges
Flexibility and Innovation are a
Fundamental Requirement
To Any Transfer
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Overcoming Obstacles and Challenges
Building on New Opportunities
through Best Practice Transfers
Policy
Reform
Ensuring
Transparency &
Accountability
Empowering the
Local Community
and NGOS
Engage in broad dialogue and
consider how others have
introduced participatory planning
and decision-making processes
Involves multiple stakeholders and
actors in the process of
implementation, ensuring
transparency and accountability
By recognising and acknowledging
local communities’ potential and
real contributions to bettering their
own living environment
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Considerations for the
Selection of Partners and Projects
 a common or shared set of problems and issues
 similarities in social, economic and demographic contexts
 local support for such partnerships and co-operative
exchanges
 similarities in social, economic and demographic contexts
 a mutual commitment to share and to learn
 documented evidence of a proven solution in the form of a
good or best practice
 an understanding of the similarities and differences in
administrative and political contexts and procedures
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Considerations for the
Selection of Partners and Projects
Clarifying Capacity – Scales of Transfer Agreements
Types of technical cooperation Agreements
HOST
Study Tour
PARTICIPANT
Study Tour with
action planning
Staff Exchange
Staff secondment/experts
Technical Cooperation Agreement
Long term peer-to-peer learning, exchange, study tours, etc.
Twinning Agreement
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TCDC Advisory Services
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Promoting the Compost Bins as an
Alternative Solution for Household
Waste Disposal
CITYNET AS
INTERMEDIARY
Experts from Bangkok, SEVANATHA
And Sri Lankan Cities
Makati, Muntinlupa and Baguio
Resulted in the following proposals:
- Pilot waste segregation at barangay level with support from SEVANATHA
- Maximizing composting at the dumpsite
- Organizing waste pickers into waste recyclers at barangay level.
Photo: AX Walde
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Transfer from Yokohama to Penang
CITYNET facilitated successful
transfers from Yokohama to
Penang (1993 – 1995)
PENANG CITY
Photo: Bernadia
Yokohama
TCDC TAS (Technical
Advisory Services):
-- Experts from Yokohama
were assigned -TCDC Study Visit and Training:
-- Penang staff visited Yokohama
for study tours and training --
Photo: Bernadia
Penang (Malaysia)
Results:
Solid waste management: (a) Launch of
recycling activities by Penang Municipality, (b)
Solid waste data collection and management.
Urban Design: (a) Master plan for George Town
Areas and Campbell Street.
Road management: (a) Traffic safety plan for
Penang and (b) the development of parking lots.
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Considerations for the
Selection of Partners and Projects
Checklist for an Effective Partnership Agreement
Develop clear and achievable mission and goals
Identify type of partnership agreement
Develop estimated timeline
Secure required resources
Set clear expectations
Provide necessary staffing and training
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Lessons Learned
1. Hosts also learn from visiting teams and benefit from
reviewing their own practice
2. Learning takes place at individual, organisational, and
institutional levels
3. Product champions play a critical role in the transfer
process
4. Successful implementation of transfers requires
partnerships; a participatory, integrated and flexible
approach
5. Transfer provides a non-crisis incentive for cross-cultural
collaboration
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Lessons Learned
6. Transfer is not only a product but also a process
7. Extraneous factors can derail a transfer
8. Open-ended learning works best
9. Failures teach as much as success
10. Assessing cost-effectiveness of initiatives is important
11. Understand the local context to assess opportunities
and constraints of a transfer
12. It is important to celebrate the replicator
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Lessons Learned
OPPORTUNTIES FOR LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Empowering People
Formalizing and Strengthening
Mechanisms for Participation
Transparency, Trust, & Openness
Strategic & Comprehensive
Planning
Leadership and Change –
“Thinking Outside the Box”
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Monitoring, Evaluation & Feedback
STRATEGIC PROCESS FOR PROGRAM EVALUATION
STEP
PROCESS
Impact Evaluation
Gather key participants together as a group to evaluate the results
of the transfer
Constructive Critique
Develop a list of criteria from the previous stages of the transfer
process that best represents the critical factors of the project
Survey
Using the criteria developed by the participants, develop a surveyfeedback instrument to be distributed to and completed by
community stakeholders, e.g., residents, NGOs, businesses,
government
Document
Collect, compile and document survey results
Identify
Identify key success and problem areas
Long-term
Schedule on-going evaluative processes to highlight successes and
discuss remedies/alternatives for problems
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5F International Organisations Center, Pacifico-Yokohama,
1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama 220-0012, JAPAN
Tel: 81-45-2232161; Fax: 81-45-2232162
E-mail: info@citynet-ap.org; URL: www.citynet-ap.org/