Students share solutions for urban ills via Internet

Students at 19 universities and other institutions around the world are linking up via the Internet to exchange information on promising solutions to urban environmental problems facing the poor, thanks to an innovative distance learning course initiated by UNDP.

Hundreds of millions of people living in squalid conditions in urban areas worldwide confront common problems affecting their survival, including access to water and sanitation, solid waste management, and energy services. Finding solutions to these urban ills is essential for overcoming poverty.

UNDP's Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment (PPPUE) is pioneering new ways for government, the private sector and civil society to join forces to address problems facing the poor in cities on every continent. The new Distance Learning Course is harnessing the Internet to share ideas and experience on these new partnerships.

The course links students, researchers and those working in public policy, with the main goal of helping developing countries build local capacity and expertise on ways that public-private partnerships can address urban environmental problems.

More universities are expected to sign on to the course, and five universities have started class sessions, integrating the Distance Learning Course into their academic schedules. The feedback is positive.

Dr. Mario Delos Reyes of the University of Philippines' School of Urban and Regional Planning said, "There were good interactions and discussions with the group. The students were unanimous in saying that they want to be part of local capacity building in urban partnerships, based on local experiences and inputs from collaborators around the world."

At Ukraine's Kiev-Mohlaya Academy, Olena Masylyukivska said, "We've got a good group of students and our first session went well. I am glad that I have this opportunity to be a champion of this partnership and try to change young people's mindsets."

Professor Brad Gentry from Yale University raised the question of privatization at the first session with his students. "Given the controversies around the world over 'privatization' and the many meanings given to the word 'partnership,' we asked the students what hopes and worries about private involvement in infrastructure services they brought to the class."

The major hope, he said, is that partnerships could help move environmental protection efforts away from confrontational approaches towards making progress through co-operative efforts. The major worries are whether governments really can or will regulate private provision of environmental services, including defining the goals clearly, involving users, monitoring performance, and taking action if performance is substandard.

UNDP is contributing to the operating costs of the course at most institutions. Basic teaching materials are provided, as well as an email forum for participants and other technical support. The materials were developed by Yale University and tested in collaboration with the University of Western Cape (South Africa) and the Center for Environmentally Sustainable Technology Transfer (China).

The Distance Learning Course is part of PPPUE's effort to establish a Global Learning Network to foster exchange of best practices and lessons learned on the development of public-private partnerships.

For more information contact Tomoo Ueda, Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment and visit the PPPUE website.

The 19 institutions participating in the Distance Learning Course include:

Africa: Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Ghana); Polytechnic of Namibia /University of Namibia (Namibia); Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University (Uganda); Institute of Economic and Social Research (Zambia).

Asia and the Pacific: Center for Environmentally Sustainable Technology Transfer and Sichuan University (China); School of Planning and Architecture (India); Kathmandu University (Nepal); University of the Philippines, School of Urban and Regional Planning (Philippines); Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Sri Lanka).

Latin America: Universidad de Costa Rica (Costa Rica); Instituto Technológico y de Estudios Superioires de Monterrey (Mexico); Universidad Privada, Antenor Orrego de Trujillo-Peru (Peru); Centro de Estudios de Desarollo and Universidad Central de Venezuela (Venezuela).

Other regions: International University Sofia (Bulgaria); Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem (Israel); Almaty Institute of Power, Engineering and Technology (Kazakhstan); American University of Beirut (Lebanon); Kiev-Mohlya Academy (Ukraine); Yale University (USA).