International Conference on Solid Waste 2011 Moving Towards Sustainable Resource Management Waste Management IMPLEMENTING REGIONAL ECOLOGY CENTERS IN THE VISAYAS REGION, PHILIPPINES: NETWORKING TO ENHANCE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT V.L. Acosta 1, J.G. Paul 1*, M.V.F. Ricana 1, L.R. Maceda 2, E.C. Aguinaldo 3 1 AHT Group AG, GIZ-AHT SWM4LGUs Project, Iloilo City, Philippines 2 DENR, Environmental Management Bureau Region 8, Palo, Leyte, Philippines 3 DENR, National Solid Waste Management Commission, Quezon City, Philippines * Corresponding author: E-mail:
[email protected], Tel: +6333-509 9788 ABSTRACT Local government units (LGUs) are primarily tasked by law to implement solid waste management (SWM) in the Philippines. But as in other developing countries, technical and financial constraints and limited political tenure delay SWM enhancement. Nevertheless, the law mandates the creation of multisectoral Regional Ecology Centers (RECs) that serve as platform for public participation, capacity development, knowledge transfer and networking. In partnership with Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), the first RECs were established in Region 6 (Western Visayas) and Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) with development support from the German International Cooperation (GIZ). Upon formulation of mission and vision statements, signing of Memorandum of Commitment and creation of working committees, the RECs pioneered in conducting annual regional SWM summits for sharing of best practices and by strengthening networking and sector development. Keywords: Regional ecology center, Networking; Knowledge transfer, Sector development Introduction In the Philippines, various forms of participatory arrangements had been tested and supported by development projects to demonstrate benefits of multisectoral empowerment and alliances in increasing environmental management systems.