ICIMOD’s South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), with the Asian Centre for Development (ACD) and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM), Bangladesh, has been conducting a research project on ‘The Economics of Solid Waste Management and Drainage: A sustainable approach to making South Asian cities- climate resilient’ with Bharatpur Metropolitan City, Nepal and Sylhet City Corporation, Bangladesh, since 2017.

In Nepal, SANDEE has a partnership with the Bharatpur Metropolitan City (BMC) and has been conducting research in partnership with local organizations Cleanup Nepal and Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI). The research project commenced in March 2017 with an inception workshop organized by SANDEE. A study tour with BMC officials followed in January 2018.

The BMC has newly elected representatives and the Constitution of Nepal has delegated authority to local governments to manage solid waste. Hence, newly elected ward representatives who can influence decision-making in the metropolitan city need to be informed about the research project and the many activities that are being conducted in close coordination with local Tole Lane Committees. With this view, a half-day introductory workshop has been proposed to orient newly elected ward chairpersons of the BMC towards the research area.

The objective of the workshop is to provide ward representatives information about the research project and orient their interests towards the same. The specific objectives are:

• To identify locations to install street bins and initiate waste mapping.
• To share preliminary research findings.