Project Specialist

The high and sustained growth of urban population in Turkmenistan creates new and growing challenges in terms of environmental impacts. The sources of these impacts are varied - increasing use of motor vehicles, expansion of public lighting, consumption of resources in new residential areas and tourist zones, including increased ambient temperatures due to the "urban heat island" effect. In addition, the consequences themselves range from local pollution and traffic jams to depletion of scarce national water resources, as well as increased greenhouse gas emissions and their negative contribution to global climate change. There is sufficient potential for the implementation of sustainable urban development in Turkmenistan, however, there are institutional and economic barriers that promote growth and consumption without paying attention and taking into account the principles of sustainable development, as well as an insufficient level of technical know-how and best practices in the field of sustainable urban development and modern solutions.

The ongoing UNDP/GEF full-scale project aims to address these barriers through a comprehensive programme of activities in two of Turkmenistan’s most visible, dynamic cities, Ashgabat and Avaza, thereby unlocking technical capacity and achieving significant greenhouse gas emission reductions and other environmental benefits.

The objective of the project is to promote and implement integrated low-carbon urban systems in Ashgabat and Avaza to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate other environmental, social and economic development benefits.

The project consists of three components, each comprising several activities and outputs.

Component 1 aims to reduce the environmental impacts associated with public spaces and infrastructure in Ashgabat. Activities under this component will seek to increase the energy efficiency of street lighting and transport through planning, technical measures and investments. The component also includes activities to quantify and mitigate the urban heat island effect in Ashgabat.

Component 2 aims to institutionalize sustainability in the developing tourism sector in Awaza. The component’s activities will support the development and implementation of a “green building design” in one of the new hotels. “Green practices” will also be introduced to existing hotels in terms of operational performance. Finally, as in Ashgabat, the project will implement activities to improve the efficiency of lighting and transport, addressing the specific economic trends and characteristics of Awaza.

Component 3 will support the scaling up of the results achieved in the first two project components, through monitoring, documentation, knowledge sharing and the development of national strategies. This component will include efforts to adopt national fuel efficiency standards for imported vehicles and to implement related government policies and regulations.

To achieve these goals and results, UNDP and national partners in Turkmenistan have identified targeted interventions and activities under three components – the first component focuses on Ashgabat, the second component focuses on Avaza, and the third component seeks to disseminate lessons learned through policy and regulation at the national and municipal levels throughout Turkmenistan.

Under the direction and supervision of the Project Manager, Project Specialist/ Awaza Sustainable Development and Innovation is responsible for the following functions:

• Control of conducting the energy surveys and monitoring in the 8 pilot hotels in Avaza.
• Preparation of an Assessment report on energy audit in pilot hotels in Avaza.
• Assistance in finalizing the developed draft of the "Green" standard for the hotel sector of Turkmenistan.
• Assistance in further promotion and adoption of the draft of the "Green" standard for the hotel sector of Turkmenistan.
• Assistance in monitoring energy-saving measures in pilot hotels in Avaza.
• Coordination of work on the group of National consultants for the preparation of manuals on "Separate collection of wastewaters in the hotel sector of Turkmenistan and its use for irrigation of green spaces (industrial crops)"; "Methodological recommendations for the hotel sector of Turkmenistan in terms of reducing energy costs"
• Organizing the public awareness to promote the use of “green practices” in hotels in the Avaza.
• Regularly monitoring of energy and water consumption in pilot hotels with measuring devices and preparing reports.
• Holding a seminar on the results of monitoring energy-saving measures in pilot hotels in Avaza.
• Conducting a training on an energy survey and preparation of reports in the pilot hotels.