Pakse City, Champasack Province, Lao PDR, Aug 31- Sep 01, 2020.  Pakse City, the Public Works and Transport Research Institute (PTRI) under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport together with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) jointly hosted a training workshop on Green City Action Plan Development for Pakse to provide capacity building on green city development framework for key relevant authorities in Pakse. The training workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Oudomsack Divixay (Pakse Mayor), Associate Professor Dr. Aphisayadeth Insisiengmay (Deputy Director General of PTRI) and Mr. Ankit Bhatt (Senior Water and Sanitation Analyst) and attended by 31 people, 10 were women including representatives from some provincial departments, Pakse city line offices and village communities.

The Green City Action Plan (GCAP) component is a part of the Wastewater and Solid Waste Treatment Capacity Building Project for City Environment Implement in Lao PDR Project which aims to enhance the capacity of Lao PDR to manage green city development and improves access to waste management and treatment services including collection, waste-to-resource opportunities, and water treatment. The project will help Pakse authority to develop a comprehensive green city action plan that addresses environmental performances and offer potential economic and social outcomes.

This training workshop aims to help participants understand more about green city development framework using GGGI training manual as well as some innovative and practical solutions to address urban challenges. It was also designed to obtain inputs from Pakse stakeholders on the GCAP.  The workshop participants broadened their understanding about green city definition and the steps or processes to develop green city development. Different exercises were conducted to facilitate discussions to identify green city vision for Pakse, priority sectors for green city development and key challenges faced by Pakse people in terms of solid waste and wastewater management. As a result, sectors of priority for GCAP for Pakse City include solid waste management, wastewater and sanitation, climate/disaster resilience, sustainable mobility, public green spaces, and energy efficiency.