|
Mariupol
LEAP Initiative Group Visit to Eupatoria
July
23-28, 2002
The
Mariupol LEAP delegation, consisting of Local Environmental Initiative group
members, visited the city Eupatoria where they met with representatives of
Eupatoria’s LEAP initiative group, the city administration, and other
interested parties, on July 23-28, 2002. The visit was very important for both
groups as it provided an opportunity for Ukrainian environmentalists to
network, and for Eupatoria’s team to learn of successful environmental
action planning in Mariupol. Because both cities are located on the sea’s
coast and because of some similarities in the environmental problems that both
cities must deal with, it was determined that the best practices of
Mariupol’s LEAP could be adopted in Eupatoria. The visit was a great success.
By providing a real example of successful environmental planning and
showcasing existing environmental projects in Mariupol, it jumpstarted the
information campaign about Eupatoria’s LEAP program in the mass media, gave
the LEAP activists additional visibility and credibility in their relations
with the city administration and the public, and encouraged local
environmentalists to be even more proactive. A brochure summarizing
Mariupol’s experience was also a major hit with the environmentalists of
Eupatoria. The LEAP initiative group in Eupatoria used the brochure as a
practical manual during its meetings on August 10, and has been trying to
employ its methodologies in environmental strategic planning.
Mariupol
LEAP Initiative Group Visit Goals
- Share experience of local environmental program
implementation and creation of an action plan;
- Adapt the methodologies of public engagement and
social partnerships developed within the Mariupol Ecological
Initiative’s framework to Eupatoria’s situation;
- Learn about Eupatoria’s practices in
organizing and developing resort areas and services.
Results
and Impacts
To
achieve the above goals, Mariupol’s team met with representatives of the
mass media and the city administration, as well as with members of
Eupatoria’s LEAP Initiative Group.
The
group met its first goal with the following results:
·
Best practices and methodologies of the Mariupol experience were shared
with Eupatoria;
·
An information campaign about the LEAP and environmental planning was
begun;
·
Opportunities for effective environmental lobbying and advocacy have
been increased.
According
to Sergey Sukhoboychenko, Eupatoria’s LEAP program coordinator, it was
extremely vital for Eupatoria’s initiative group to meet Mariupol’s team
in order to understand differences between Eupatoria initiative group
priorities and what has already been successfully achieved in Mariupol. During
the meeting of Mariupol’s delegation with Eupatoria’s LEAP initiative
group, Mariupol’s LEAP project manager, Elena Levitskaya, shared the results
of the Local Environmental Initiative project and the experience of creating a
Local Action Plan for the protection of Mariupol’s environment. Sergey
Sergeyev, Mariupol Environmental Council Member and LEAP activist, gave a
presentation on the project’s brochure, outlining Mariupol’s experience in
local environmental planning. He also informed the Eupatoria group about the
role of the initiative group, the distribution of duties within the group, the
information campaign, and the kick-off conference for the project. The
brochure was a great hit with Eupatoria’s group members. In fact, they have
already begun to apply the methodologies described in the brochure during
their meetings on August 10.
The
visit evoked a keen interest among media representatives and laid the
foundation for mass media cooperation with Eupatoria’s LEAP group in
coverage of the project. For example, local radio HIT-FM offered to create a
program that would inform the public of the project’s progress. Local
journalist, Oksana Zhukova, who works for several local papers, accepted the
responsibility for organizing a roundtable of LEAP coordinators with local
media to further promote the project. Metsenat newspaper offered to place
material about the project in their issues. The local state radio aired a
30-minute program about the LEAP program on July 25. Morion TV and radio
station also offered support for the project in order to raise the image of
Eupatoria and make it a clean resort city. The partnership with Morion brings
more good news in the fact that they have a subsidiary NGO “Institute of
Creative Mass-media Technologies Development,” which works with children and
teenagers to raise their creativity by engaging them in all stages of TV
program production. Since Morion has expressed a strong interest in coverage
of the project, the children involved in the production will be educated about
environmental issues.
The
meeting of Mariupol’s team with the Eupatoria city administration was
devoted to sharing the experience of developing a local environmental action
plan, raising ecological awareness among the public, and increasing civic
engagement in environmental projects. Elena Levitskaya gave a presentation
about Mariupol’s experiences in implementing the environmental initiative.
She stressed that forming a positive image of the city was important for
attracting investments and donors to the city. In addition, she pointed out
that, when working with donors, good reasoning as to why financing is
necessary to solve particular problems is important. That is why, Elena stated,
prioritizing is so important for the LEAP. She also shared the successes of
the project, which, together with the testimony of one of the project grantees,
added more weight to the LEAP initiative team in the eyes of the city
administration. Thus, the visit prepared the way for the further buy-in of
LEAP activities by city officials in Eupatoria. They further discussed matters
of influencing and surveying public opinion, which is very important in
increasing public awareness and civic engagement.
Mariupol’s
team has also benefited from the visit. They learned about the efforts of
Eupatoria to improve the environment and provide the best resort services. For
example, it was very interesting for the Mariupol group to learn about the
wide use of bikes as a means of transportation in resort areas (i.e. for
garbage collection), ecological information boards in public places as a means
of raising awareness, methods of water purification in Eupatoria, etc.
All of the abovementioned
results and outcomes of the Mariupol LEAP initiative group visit bring us to
the conclusion that the visit was extremely successful. The main result of the
visit is seen in the fact that city officials and the public were persuaded
that local civic actions and social partnerships between all of the
community’s groups in Mariupol worked to produce great results. Thus,
Mariupol’s team visit has increased visibility and credibility of LEAP
activities and has prepared the way for further information campaigns and
effective lobbying for ecological priorities in Eupatoria. It has given
additional encouragement and practical guidance to local environmentalists and
city officials on how to solve existing environmental problems and how to
strategize in environmental management. Sergey Sukhoboychenko, Eupatoria’s
LEAP coordinator, believes that there will be more outcomes from the visit in
the future.
|