National Expert for Policy Assessment related to the Sustainable Development of Industrial Zones in Lebanon

The job vacancy falls within the framework of the SwitchMed II Program, a regional programme financed by the European Commission (EC), through the Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), aimed at fostering sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns in the Southern Mediterranean region.The overall objective is to stimulate the creation of new greater business opportunities and decent employment while reducing the environmental footprint of consumption and production activities. SwitchMed II builds on the results from the SwitchMed I (2014- 2018) and will take advantage of the experience and capacity built during the first phase.

SwitchMed II consists of three components, (i) Direct support to the private sector, (ii) Creation of an enabling environment and (iii) Coordination, networking and communication. UNIDO is the lead agency coordinating the Action, and is implementing the programme in partnership with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Economy Division, and the Regional Activity Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP/RAC) of UNEP-MAP.

As part of the first compoment of SwitchMed II, namely the direct support to the private sector, UNIDO is implementing the Lebanon SwitcMed IIMED TEST III project which aims at upscaling the adoption of resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP) in the Lebanese industrial sector.

The activities of Lebanon SwitchMed II MED TEST III comprise an initiative to mainstream RECP practices in the Lebanese industrial zones. As part of this initiative, the National Policy Expert (NPE) will to conduct a policy gap assessment of the Lebanese policy framework tackling Industrial Zones to identify gaps and opportunities leading to increased capacities to mainstream and monitor resource-efficient and cleaner production strategies in Lebanese Industrial Zones and to incorporate the Eco-Industrial Park International Framework principles in Industrial Zones’ rehabilitation and development process.

The NPE will build on the previous efforts of the SwitchMed I and II initiatives regarding the policy framework review related to the Industry and RECP. The incumbent will utilize guidance from the UNIDO Eco-Industrial Park policy support assessment tool to assess the reviewed policy instruments against its sustainability principles for greening Lebanese Industrial Zones and prepare a policy vision.

The main duties to be performed by the National Policy Expert (NPE) are as follows:

I- Inception and desk review

1. Present a work plan to execute the assignment describing the methodological approach, activities, and timeline.
2. Building upon the Industrial Zones’ stakeholder analysis prepared by the project team, the NPE will identify and prioritize the main stakeholders to be engaged in the policy analysis consultation strategy.  Based on a desk review of the current policy framework, the NPE will identify whether there are missing stakeholders relevant for the development of sustainable industrial zones that should be considered.
3. Identify and review the current policies, incentives, and regulation instruments, as well as governance structures and competencies relevant to Industrial Zones’ monitoring and development in the national and local scopes. Identify how these instruments incorporate or facilitate the promotion of sustainability principles, as per the Eco-industrial park international framework criteria, and RECP, and explore the status of initiatives related to RECP that concern or might concern industrial zones.

 II - Stakeholder engagement plan

Based on step I, the NPE shall:

1. Prepare a stakeholders engagement plan to approach those relevant partners to be consulted and engaged during the policy assessment.
2. Organize and carry out interviews with identified stakeholders as part of the assessment process (point III) and assess their interest and capacities for promoting sustainability principles and RECP in industrial zones.
3. Identify potential collaboration, synergies, and information needs among key stakeholders.

III - Policy assessment and roadmap

1. Prepare an assessment of the existing local policies and regulations, including the governance structures relevant to industrial zones in the country, and identify potential gaps, overlaps, and bottlenecks for adopting sustainability principles for the Industrial Zones development. The NPE will build on the UNIDO Eco Industrial Parks (EIP) Policy assessment tool to consider the EIP international framework; however, she/he will also bring practical and tailored approaches based on the local context.
2. Describe international experiences on the governance structures of policies, incentives, and regulations that promote the development of Eco-Industrial parks or similar models, as well as mechanisms to mainstream RECP practices in industrial zones. Implement a comparative analysis with the best international policy practices and identify lessons learned and good practices that might apply to Lebanon. 
3. Propose a policy vision/goal for promoting sustainable development of industrial zones by using the theory of change (as per UNIDO EIP policy support tool).
4. Identify opportunities to upgrade the current policies, incentives, and regulations related to industrial zones development by integrating EIP principles and facilitating the adoption of RECP practices into existing policies on industrial zones. Prioritize the most suitable policy intervention options to mainstream sustainable principles and RECP in industrial zones. 
5. Recommend the management structure needed and needed legal instrument, considering the different stakeholders and competencies of public agencies, for improving the governance of Industrial zones related to sustainability.
6. Based on the previous, prepare a roadmap proposal for achieving the defined policy vision/goal considering the identified priorities. The roadmap proposal should contain activities, milestones, and indicators to pursue the recommended policy interventions as a reference document to facilitate the organization of the next steps. 
7. Propose an awareness-raising strategy to involve stakeholders in the future mainstreaming of sustainability principles and RECP in industrial zones.

V – Consultation

1. Hold an inception meeting with the Ministry of Industry during the inception and desk review step to align objectives and obtain preliminary feedback.
2. Conduct two workshops with key stakeholders to discuss and obtain feedback on the progress, findings, and intermediate result of the policy assessment and building process of the roadmap. Through these workshops, the policy vision and quick scan on policies review in relation to EIP will be assessed with stakeholders’ participation supported by the UNIDO EIP policy support tool.
3. Conduct a final consultation workshop on the roadmap proposal and recommendations to move forward.