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j anuary 2 0 1 2 robertsfors in machakos a newsletter about the visit from robertsfors in sweden to machakos in kenya partnership between municipalities in this newsletter you can read about what happened in machakos when representatives from robertsfors visited machakos in january 2012 this partnership started in 2007 and has been about exchanging knowledge among municipal officers and politicians in the municipalities international centre for local democracy icld has funded the project which made it possible to arrange study visits lectures and dialogue sessions in each country visitors from robertsfors and the municipal council of machakos the purpose of this visit was to summarize the first phase of the partnership and to discuss future collaboration sustainable development enough for all forever it is a big dream but you have to start somewhere this is where we start it

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the lorem ipsums about the partnership hÖsten 2016 action plans the collaboration between the municipalities has been directed towards building long-term and functional platforms for sustainable development in each municipality meaning an integrated action plan and a capacity centre exchange of experience what does the daily life look like in machakos and in robertsfors what differs and what is alike when it comes to planning and development how do we follow up the results of the plans how does a platform look like that can extend the sharing of knowledge to the citizens do we believe that we can gain anything if we continue this partnership capacity centre new constitution in kenya a constitutional reform in 2010 resulted in a new constitution in kenya sustainable development and participatory approaches to democracy are in the new constitution stated as principles of governance throughout the partnership we have witnessed the work of inclusion and participation of the people in the process for instance we visited an open meeting where people could give their opinions about the new county boundaries capacity centre in machakos one of the goals in the project has been to establish a capacity centre that meets the needs for shared learning and co-operation in each municipality but also shared learning and co-operation with other actors and municipalities we visited the new capacity centre and learned more about the conditions in machakos the capacity centre has two computers with internet connection where student can come and learn online this is a valuable service since merely 10 of the population has access to internet through computers this will also be a library where knowledge can be accessed for all visitors capacity centre in robertsfors in robertsfors they have established an online capacity centre a website where citizens can turn to lean about sustainability issues and find ways of collaboration young people in robertsfors have created the concept the videos and the music this website will serve as a model and machakos will with help from robertsfors build up a website that will complement the capacity centre standing in the centre of machkos today this is an example of how the exchange of knowledge has built platforms for future collaboration 2

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the lorem ipsums visiting machakos hÖsten 2016 tree planting ­ 100 000 new trees beautiful landscape outside the city machakos was awarded to be the 2nd cleanest town in kenya 2011 new supermarket city centre market in the city meetings between the municipalities and a meeting with city council of machakos is a good summary of the programme but we also had the opportunity to see the city we learned more about the projects in mackahos tree planting 100 km new roads 20 new classrooms three health clinics five water pipes and education for sustainable development we can confirm that the cleanest town award is well earned we are returning home with inspiration motivation and joy of life machakos teachers`college together with the politicians and civil servants we visited the teachers college we learned how this is an inclusive institution since the students with disabilities are integrated in the school as was stated by the teacher disability does not mean inability the students at the machakos teachers college are achieving a good environmental education and they come from all parts of kenya we learned how this education has a huge impact stressing the importance of education as a tool for sustainable development they are teaching 1000 teachers from all parts of kenya spreading the message how it is our duty to save and conserve our environment mayor´s residence visit to the mayor´s residence and lunch with the councillors fidelis kimuyu councillor nicholaus nzikoa env officer sheik abdullaih town clerk timothy kilonzo mayor of machakos and ira sundberg 3 entertainment church choir

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voices about the partnership during the green solutions conference in machakos i started to see the clear picture of the project because most of the things that we discussed there were put in practise we formed groups and disseminated information and introduced rainwater harvesting in some groups and other groups are planting trees through these groups we are reaching the rest of the community miriam ndeti officer at machakos municipality i did not know that it is that serious until i watched the hard rain film me and you are a cause of the climate change before we visited sweden we had not integrated sustainability in our planning jaqueline malavu officer at machakos municipality the issue of exchanging ideas has been important it is not going to work if we cut and paste what we see in sweden we must be able to work within our means i am very happy that our capacity centre is an example of that nicolas nzioka environment officer immediately when this partnership started i was able to feel the realities about climate change in our country we have seen the rains on which we have always relayed on now coming very scarce and when it rains it is sometimes so heavy that you can´t control it we have also learned about urban planning from sweden and the importance to do proper planning in urban centres especially to accommodate the heavy growing population in our area robertsfors has also learned from us in machakos about management james musyimi officer at machakos municipality we have been able to spread information and interest on a far larger scale than within this municipality during the partnership and also with the conference green solution 2011 no one can do this alone ­ it has to be a dialogue ingvar rönnbäck project manager it is important with dialogue meeting seeing each other finding a common ground from where to move processes take time and once it is on going it has energy to go by itself but you also have to decide how to use it the only concern i have is that you idealize sweden you have to find your own ways our environment movement started in the 70s but we are also overusing material in our country take the good parts inspiration from sweden but also trust yourself what you are what you are doing and also find people in your own country to share with ira sundberg consultant it s a good approach because you are able to interact with other people coming to kenya you can see and learn how people live the challenges and opportunities we have i am looking forward to the continuation of this partnership kamau wachiuri town treasurer machakos municipality at first i was a bit skeptical to this to go so far away to work with sustainable development but i have learned that this form of working is a very good platform at this level in the society we can make change we have some resources to use in order to go forward and make a change and i have seen the work we have done so far and i m satisfied ingrid sundbom politician at robertsfors municipality text barbro kalla photo maria elfving

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