Inclusive Climate Action for Tunisian Municipalities (ICATM)

FCM is recruiting member municipalities to take part in its international project called Inclusive Climate Action for Tunisian Municipalities (ICATM). The ICATM project, a five-year project with an investment of $11.5M from the Government of Canada and an in-kind contribution of $596,250 from the Canadian municipal sector, is carried out through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The project was designed and will be implemented by FCM and the International Development Center for Innovative Local Governance (CILG).

The project aims to strengthen the climate adaptation and resilience of municipalities in Tunisia, while promoting equity and inclusion for women, young people and vulnerable groups. It will strengthen the capacity of local institutions to provide climate governance and implement nature-based solutions, while considering biodiversity and gender equity. The project will be conducted using an integrated and multi-sectoral approach that will address environmental as well as individual needs, to ensure that interventions are sustainable and beneficial. For this purpose, the project will promote governance, planning and land development approaches that take into consideration the impacts of climate change.

Canadian municipalities, through their staff, elected officials and relevant community organizations, will support climate adaptation initiatives in Tunisia. The major objective of these initiatives is to strengthen the climate resilience of Tunisian municipalities in the face of climate change while promoting equity and inclusion for women, young people and vulnerable groups. This objective will be achieved through:

• Improved climate adaptation and resilience practices among selected Tunisian municipalities;
• New climate adaptation projects conducted by the communities using nature-based solutions (strategies, technologies or practices) that significantly decrease climate vulnerability;
• Improved multi-level governance mechanisms that consider the needs of women and vulnerable groups, including communities of practice and local action collaborations.

The themes that Canadian municipal partners could support include the following:

• Sea level rise and shoreline degradation;
• Degradation of water resources (drought, overuse, groundwater salinity, etc.);
• Loss of biodiversity and degradation of natural ecosystems;
• Flooding in cities (run-off and overflow);
• Fire prevention.

Through their involvement in this project, FCM members will share their experiences and knowledge to support Tunisian partners in:

• Determining which local adaptation measure is needed based on a better understanding of climate hazards that will have a significant negative impact on community well-being;
• Defining adaptation and resilience interventions (projects) that meet a recognized need in relation to a problem faced by at-risk people, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups;
• Ensuring that interventions are integrated and complement existing efforts to manage climate variability and hazards;
• Maximizing synergy and minimizing compromise between the benefits of adaptation and the achievement of other international and national environmental objectives.

The selected Canadian municipal partners will form a group of experts and will be engaged in the project for the next five years. They will take part in virtual meetings with international partners, exchange visits in Tunisia and knowledge-sharing events. They will also host Tunisian partners during exchange visits to Canada. The focus will be on building solid relationships between partners to maintain contact between trips or events and ensure long-term commitment. The selected Canadian municipalities will be encouraged to raise awareness among their community partners through networking, and to participate in knowledge sharing with international partners and among the selected FCM members.

Interested Canadian municipalities must have experience and internal expertise in relation to:

• Climate adaptation and resilience practices that use nature-based solutions in the following areas:
  • Water management, including issues of decreased water availability and salination of coastal groundwater
  • Preservation of biodiversity
  • Management of farmland yields
  • Management of natural ecosystems with forest and forage products
  • Fire prevention
  • Flood prevention
  • Protection of coastal ecosystems
• Implementation of equity approaches and governance mechanisms that consider the needs of women and vulnerable groups:
  • Community engagement and participatory planning, including targeted communications and the engagement of women and marginalized groups in municipal affairs (communications campaign, differentiated approaches, participation mechanisms, etc.);
  • Promotion of gender equality at the local level and social inclusion in general (policy, strategy, action plan on gender equality and social inclusion, provision of gender-sensitive services, gender-attentive budgeting or poverty reduction initiatives);
  • Differentiated or intersectional needs analysis to improve access to municipal services or the provision of services to different segments of the population (including the identification and consideration of the unique needs of women and disadvantaged or vulnerable groups);
  • Implementation of collaboration projects with associations, community organizations or private entities to leverage resources and improve services and local development, particularly for women;
  • Implementation of intermunicipal or intergovernmental agreements or collaboration projects to support gender equality and inclusive governance;
  • Internal commitment to equity that supports the promotion of women and minority groups to leadership positions within departments that are in charge of climate adaptation measures.

Prior participation in one of the programs of the FCM Green Municipal Fund should be mentioned.

The language of work for the project is French, and we invite French-speaking as well as English-speaking municipalities in all Canadian provinces and territories to apply. We hope to receive applications from small- and large-size municipalities, as well as urban and rural member municipalities.

The specific contributions of each municipality will include (without limitation):

• Municipal council: The selected municipalities will each appoint a member of their municipal council who will support the project activities by building relationships and providing strategic leadership, in particular by contributing to discussions with international partners, highlighting local and Canadian best practices, and hosting international delegates during exchange visits to Canada. In the event that the appointed person or any other member of the municipal council has expertise in the project’s thematic implementation areas in Tunisia, they may play a role as a municipal technical expert as part of the project activities.
   
• Technical expertise: The selected municipalities will each appoint one coordinator. This person will be in charge of researching and mobilizing the required local technical expertise to support the project activities. This person will work with FCM staff in Ottawa and the project implementation partner in Tunisia (CILG). The coordinator and their technical team will work together with the Tunisian municipalities to plan, carry out activities, strengthen capacities, innovate and achieve the expected project outcomes.
   
• Exchange visit to Tunisia: The ICATM project will use various in-person or virtual engagement methods. Every year, the Canadian municipalities will take part in one or two exchange visits to Tunisia, for 7 to 15 days per visit, between 2024 and 2029. A detailed reference framework will be prepared for each trip, depending on the activities included in the annual project work plan and the progress achieved by Tunisian municipal partners.

These exchange visits will include tasks such as:

• Assessing the needs and progress of partners, defining activities and preparing reports to support partners (this could take the form of virtual preparatory and follow-up calls with international partners);
• Sharing the experience of Canadian municipalities in relation to the project themes, at various workshops or seminaries;
• Providing technical assistance (advice, assistance, guidance and capacity development) to international partners, to help them carry out the required tasks to achieve the project goals;
• Contributing to the project assessment and knowledge-sharing activities.
• Exchange visit to Canada: As part of these exchange visits, international delegates will visit the selected Canadian host municipalities for about 10 days to better understand Canadian practices. The planning and hosting responsibilities associated with a study visit program include:
• Designing the program and itinerary of the study visit in collaboration with FCM;
• Ensuring the program includes site visits (coordinated by the partner municipality and in collaboration with community partners) and various opportunities to discuss with elected officials, technical staff and other stakeholders;
• Helping FCM make logistical arrangements such as local hotels, meals, transportation, etc.;
• Providing the required staff to host, inform and accompany the international delegation.

Note that Canadian municipalities are providing an in-kind contribution to the project. This means that FCM will pay all travel costs, while Canadian municipalities will offer the time of their employees and elected officials as an in-kind contribution to the project. FCM submits reports on in-kind contributions to its funder, Global Affairs Canada.