Launch of the new SWITCH-Asia Network Facility

Following the award of the contract for the new SWITCH-Asia Network Facility, in September, the CSCP welcomed the new Network Facility team which had already began its first round of activities.

The CSCP Network Facility team has considerable experience with promoting environmental protection and SCP in the countries that benefit from the SWITCH-Asia Programme. The CSCP team is being led by Dr Uwe Weber, who has been working in the SCP field in Asia in both public sector and private sector capacities since 1994. Other team members include Dr Patrick Schroeder who is a former short-term expert with the SWITCH-Asia Network Facility and who now works as a SCP expert and Silvia Sartori, a former SWITCH project manager, who now works as the new Communication & Networking expert. Ms Kartika Anggraeni continues to support the Network Facility as a technical assistant.

The new Network-Facility is being jointly administered by the Hamburg-based GFA Consulting Group and the CSCP for the coming four years. The joint administration of the Network Facility is to ensure continuous support for approximately 80 and growing SWITCH-Asia projects that are funded by the European Commission. The purpose the SWITCH-Asia is to promote Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) among consumers and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia.

 

 

Facilitating synergies between 64 projects

To date some 64 grant projects are operating in 16 different countries in the region. A further 16 projects are expected to begin in 2014. With all the valuable and innovative work being done on the ground by the individual projects the Network-Facility will work to facilitate synergies between projects and will work to disseminate best practice and innovation while continuing to support policy uptake at the national and regional levels. This will be done in conjunction with existing and new partners in Europe and Asia to ensure broad outreach and impact for SWITCH-Asia grant projects with an eye to long-term sustainability. 

 

 

New team with plenty of experience

The newly established Network-Facility team will build upon the successful activities and achievements of the previous team while expanding and embracing new themes. The Network-Facility will continue to maximise the impact of individual projects by providing targeted support and mentoring jointly with the media, policy-makers, and others. Thematic networking events, demand-driven webinars and the use of new media will be key elements of the Network-Facility’s work.

Indicator-based assessment system

The Network-Facility will further develop an indicator-based assessment system and coach project teams on the use of these performance indicators. The goal is to produce a comprehensive overview of the outputs and impacts of each SWITCH-Asia Network Facility project. This information will support policy dialogue, collaboration and advocacy activities.

 

New key thematic areas

Policy uptake, access to green finance for SMEs and linkages between SCP and climate change are the key thematic areas for the renewed Network Facility. Activities and publications that contribute toward capacity-building and information dissemination have proven to be crucial for long term sustainability, replication and up-scaling of project results.

 

 

First activities

Since its inception in September of 2013 the renewed Network Facility has already made contributions toward a number of activities in the region:

 

  • September 2013 support for the SWITCH-Asia Regional Policy Component - coordinated by UNEP in Beijing to deliver a thematic workshop on “Indicators for a Resource Efficient Green Asia”.
  • October 2013 participate with the 3rd Committee on Environment and Development, organised by UNESCAP in Bangkok, to host a SWITCH-Asia networking session and booth at the “Pavilion of Partnerships for Capacity Building”.
  • November 2013 present the SWITCH-Asia Programme during the Forum on Eco Innovation jointly organised by the European Commission and UNEP in Hanoi.
  • November 2013 participate within the UNEP Finance Initiative Global Roundtable in Beijing.

 

As a key work area for the coming years the NF will focus on Access to Green Finance for Asian SMEs and work on this theme is already underway.

 

The Network Facility has begun to enhance its website and is about to finalise the launch of the “SWITCH-Asia bazaar” social platform which was first tested during a June, 2013 networking meeting held in Kathmandu.