Armenia: The Public Discussion of Gyumri’s Green City Action Plan

Gyumri, the second largest city of Armenia and signatory of the Covenant of Mayors, has joined EBRD Green Cities program in September 2018, with the aim to develop a strategy to improve water, air and soil quality, upgrade transport services and infrastructure, and promote knowledge-sharing by working with international experts.

The EBRD program strives to build a better and more sustainable future for cities and their residents by identifying, prioritizing and connecting cities’ environmental challenges with sustainable infrastructure investments and policy measures. 

The program consists of following three main components: (i) Development of a Green City Action Plan (GCAP), a document that assesses and prioritize environmental challenges of a city, and outline an action plan to tackle the identified challenges through policy investments; (ii) Facilitation and stimulation of public or private green investments in energy efficiency in buildings, urban transport, solid waste, water and wastewater, as well as in actions aimed to improve the city’s resilience to climate change; (iii) Provision of technical support to city administrations and local stakeholders to ensure that infrastructure investments and policy measures identified in GCAPs can be developed, implemented and monitored effectively.

In many aspects, particularly, in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation, the objectives of the program coincide with the commitments of the city taken under the Covenant of Mayors. Moreover, the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) of Gyumri, developed within the framework of the Covenant, served as a source of background information in preparation of GCAP. Hence, support of EBRD and other international and national stakeholders in development and materialization of GCAP may help Gyumri to achieve its strategic goal outlined in the SEAP by and even beyond 2020.

The Public discussion of Gyumri’s GCAP was held in Gyumri on November 21, 2019. The event was organized to introduce the key elements of the document and discuss activities that require particular attention during implementation of the plan. Special attention was paid to the proposal of gradual revision of the city’s mater plan aimed to ensure development of green urban zones. The ultimate goal of this activity is to increase the per capita green space in the city.

The participants of the public hearing were asked to provide their comment within five days. Then the document is to be discussed and approved by the Council of the Elders. Implementation of the Action Plan can be launch upon its endorsement by the Government of Armenia.

Gyumri joined the Covenant of Mayors on June 13th, 2014 and submitted its SEAP on February 4th, 2018.