Republic of Moldova

National Consultant on Sustainable Urban Planning

Vacancy Number: Pr15/00968

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	22 Jun 2015, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	01 Jul 2015, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	01 Jul 2015
Reference to the project:	United Nations Development Programme Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	80 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposal should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online", no later than June 22, 2015. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: valeria.ieseanu@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Currently, over 50 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas consuming over 70 percent of the global energy supply while being responsible for 70 percent of the world wide carbon dioxide emissions.  By 2030, it is expected that 5 billion people worldwide will live in cities. This is mainly caused by people moving from rural to urban areas searching for better economic and employment conditions. Moldova is in line with the global trend of continuously growing urbanization from 47% in 2010 to 60% in 2030. Chisinau, Moldova’s capital and also the largest city whose inhabitants make up over 22% of the total country population, is the largest energy user, emitter of GHGs, and consumer of resources in the country.

Therefore, UNDP and GEF are currently developing a project which aims to create a model for sustainable green cities in Moldova by supporting a shift towards low-emission and resilient urban development and implementing mitigation policies in the most efficient and cost effective manner. This project places specific attention on finding integrated solutions for increasing the involvement of the private sector and promoting the green economy, addressing the private sector as supplier of urban services, provider of innovative technologies and management practices, and implementer of low-emission policies. The five components of the project consist of:

1. The establishment of an innovation hub in Chisinau which identifies, develops, and secures financing for innovate green urban development proposals, thus providing support to the following three components.

2. Support for integrated urban planning in the area of waste with a focus on developing an integrated waste management strategy for the City of Chisinau including the development, scoping, financing, implementation and operation of a waste-to-energy project. 

3. Support for integrated urban planning in the area of sustainable transport with a focus on developing and adopting a Sustainable Urban Transport Plan (SUTP), a parking strategy for Chisinau, and an integrated traffic management system (ITMS).

4. Support for the energy sector with a focus on developing a national database on energy consumption for all public buildings, an Energy Management Information System (EMIS), and detailed and comprehensive trainings on ESCOs all contributing to catalyze additional investment in energy efficiency. 

5. The replication of the integrated urban planning approach to at least three other cities with special emphasis on outreach and dissemination of best practice including establishing innovation hubs.

In summary, the project will address the modernization of urban policies, develop integrated urban development plans and methodological guidance by using innovation hubs as the key mechanisms to drive investment and develop innovative approaches for broader citizen engagement through incentive schemes, awareness raising and capacity development targeting the urban population. Priority sectors for technology transfer and accelerated uptake of low-emission technologies, approaches and mitigation options are energy efficiency, transport, and waste management. The private sector will be systematically engaged as a partner since private sector investment mobilized is a key indicator of project success. In addition, dissemination of best practices will be replicated from Chisinau to other towns and cities.

Scope of work

The Consultant will be part of a team of consultants which will conduct a number of studies and stakeholder consultations with the view to further develop the approved project concept into a fully formulated project document. The final output of the initiation plan will be a UNDP-GEF project document and GEF CEO endorsement template ready for submission to UNDP and GEF including GEF tracking tools, and all co-financing letters. The consultant will report to a Senior International Consultant who will be the team leader and he/she will mainly focus on strengthening and specifying the baseline situation of sustainable urban planning in Chisinau as well as identifying at least three other cities in Moldova where the low-emission and resilient urban development approach will be replicated.

For detailed information, please refer to the Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Competencies:

• Strong interpersonal skills, communication skills and ability to work in a team
• Ability to plan and organize his/her work, efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities

Qualifications:

The Consultant should possess the following qualifications:

Education

• Advanced University degree in economics, energy, engineering, international relations, environmental science, social sciences or a related field

Experience

• At least 5 years of work experience related to sustainable urban planning
• Experience with integrated urban planning, such as with interventions simultaneously addressing energy and/or waste and/or transport related issues is an advantage
• Strong technical knowledge and experience of green urban planning preferably in the field of energy, transport, and waste
• Strong knowledge of laws, strategies, responsibilities etc. of all stakeholders involved in urban planning in Moldova, such the City of Chisinau, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Regional Development and Construction etc.
• Strong knowledge on statistics related to urban management in Chisinau, such as GHG emissions, waste etc.
• Experience with partnerships/resource mobilization for urban interventions is an advantage
• Prior experience working with Government bodies related to urban planning is an advantage
• Knowledge of MS Word, Excel and email communication software

Language

• Excellent English and Romanian writing and communication skills

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

1. Proposal: Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work including information on previous similar assignments;

2. Financial proposal;

3. Personal CV or P11 including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).  

 
Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP Moldova and the Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Local travels in Moldova are envisaged under this assignment.

 

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