UNIDO and UNEP have joined forces to help introduce Cleaner Production in developing countries and countries in transition. The UNIDO/UNEP Programme for National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPCs) (PDF - 59 KB) is a unique programme of capacity development to help achieve adoption and further development of the Cleaner Production concept at the national level.

NCPC News

• Training kit for "Establishing and Operating an NCPC" on-line
  
• Training for NCPCs undertaken in Mannheim, Germany
  
• Training kit for NCPCs for MEAs, Sustainable Consumption, EnTA on-line
  
• Mayrhofen Declaration: outcome from NCPC Annual Meeting (PDF - 529 KB)
• Learning from the Experience of the NCPCs

The NCPC Programme is administered by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) being closely associated with the execution. UNIDO is responsible for overall administration, local liaison (through UNIDO Country Offices), and provision of industrial expertise, especially for sectoral industrial demonstrations. UNIDO's information on the NCPC Network.

UNEP, on the other hand, is responsible for providing strategic environmental expertise in training, information and policy analysis. The Centre establishment depends upon the level of local support and commitment, largely from the organisation that volunteers to host the Centre (host organisation). The host institution is selected so that in-country institution has the ownership of the project.

Where are they located?

A total of twenty-four centres have been established in the following countries, since late 1994: Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Kenya, Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

NCPCs and CP Centres around the world

Activities

The role of National Cleaner Production Centres is to promote, coordinate and facilitate Cleaner Production activities within each country.

The purpose of an NCPC is to build local capacity to implement Cleaner Production in developing countries and economies in transition.

Cleaner Production can only be sustained in a country if capacity is in place to adopt it. True appreciation of Cleaner Production and, therefore, its application, can only come about if the concept is promoted by professionals in the beneficiary country itself and adjusted to the local conditions.

NCPC's target primarily to transfer know-how and not to transfer only technology. The Centres, and the Cleaner Production assessors trained by them, do not deliver ready-made solutions. They train and advise their clients on how to find the best solutions for their own specific problems.

Six basic services:

• Raise awareness of the benefits and advantages of Cleaner Production: In countries where there is little awareness of Cleaner Production, awareness-raising is a primary activity for a NCPC, particularly in its early years.
  
  
• Demonstrate that Cleaner Production works through in-plant Cleaner Production assessments and demonstration projects: Through in-plant demonstrations, a NCPC can show that the concept of Cleaner Production can be applied to any industrial sector and that waste avoidance can be turned into profit.
  
  
• Train local experts and build local capacity for Cleaner Production: Training in the Cleaner Production methodology is an essential NCPC activity to build local expertise and capacity. Training may be 1) in-plant training, as a part of in-plant demonstration projects; or 2) outside plant training, conducted through workshops and seminars for specific target groups.
  
  
• Help to obtain financing for Cleaner Production investments: The Centres also create a core capacity in the promotion of Cleaner Production investment projects to facilitate the transfer of Cleaner Production technologies to developing countries. This activity is closely linked to the in-plant assessments and in each country a number of national experts are being trained in identifying and formulating Cleaner Production investment projects.
  
  
• Disseminate technical information: One of the key advantages of being part of an established international network, is greater access to the latest Cleaner Production information. NCPCs are thus able to obtain and share Cleaner Production information nationally and internationally.
  
  
• Provide policy advice to national and local governments: Governments, particularly in developing countries and economies in transition, play an important role in providing the overall policy and economic framework for a country's development. NCPCs thus have an important role in helping governments to identify and develop the policy tools and economic instruments suitable to their country's context which would encourage industry to favour Cleaner Production over end-of-pipe treatment.

UNEP assists NCPCs to develop and expand their capacities and services through capacity building. Consult the library for training packages on Cleaner Production and key related topics.