Kenya: Consultant, Urban Planning Expert, Legislation,(Nairobi), Deadline: 14 May 2014

CONSULTANT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Issued on: 30 April 2014

ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION:

UN-HABITAT

DUTY STATION:

Nairobi

FUNCTIONAL TITLE:

Consultant, Urban Planning Expert, Legislation

DURATION:

4 months renewable

CLOSING DATE:

14 May 2014

BACKGROUND
The Urban Planning and Design Branch of UN-Habitat supports countries in developing urban planning methods and systems that address current urbanization challenges. It promotes urban planning approaches to address rapid urban growth and urban transformation processes in countries with rapid urbanization processes and where cities face a backlog of services and housing.

There is indeed an urban planning crisis: the unplanned city is largely inefficient and requires increasing resources to make it more functional and liveable. Only those cities able to embrace different patterns of growth and address inequalities and inefficiencies will be able to provide better lives for their residents, while limiting ecological damage.

Urban planning frameworks have changed very little in the past 50 years, despite huge changes in the urban world, and a new approach is required which links planning with legal instruments and a sound financing and economic rationale. In this respect, five principles of sustainable urban planning are being promoted by UN-Habitat:

Plan in advance of population increase, with the view to remain basic but relevant and comprehensible but not necessarily comprehensive, and to leverage plans for revenue creation through value capture. Plan at the scale of the problem, particularly the projected growth of the urban population. Plan incrementally, starting with streets and following with water and sanitation, drainage, energy and lighting, transport, etc. This gives priority to improving the proportion of land allocated to streets and in turn supports service delivery and progressive taxation. Plan for density and mixed land use, aiming at vertical features that lower transaction costs, positively impact the economies of scale (and economies of agglomeration), and improve revenue from taxation. Provide for urban networks for sustainable mobility and sustainable energy.

In view of promoting this approach and supporting ongoing urbanization processes to best serve national development goals, UN-Habitat supports countries and cities in developing planning scenarios and concepts for urban extension, urban redevelopment and the creation and design of sustainable urban patterns.

In view of the above, UN-Habitat has established a global programme (Planning for Sustainable Development) to concurrently develop innovative tools and support countries in their adoption and implementation. This work includes the development of innovative urban planning tools for physical and strategic planning at the city-region, intermediate city and city-extension scales. Application of such tools is ongoing in selected countries over the next 2 to 4 years.

In Kenya, UN-Habitat is engaged both at central level and with a number of Counties in the review of urban planning legislation, support to the development of strategic plans and the preparation of extension and redevelopment plans at city and neighbourhood, in supporting plans implementation through detailed planning and public space design, and in advisory and capacity building work.

The programmes act in synergy and aim at 1) helping cities develop practical, feasible approaches to implementing urban planning interventions and 2) assisting national governments to scale up successful local-level approaches, build the capacities of planning and facilitating institutions, and (3) reflect the resulting lessons in national policies.

A recently launched Urban Planning and Design Laboratory based in its premises in Nairobi provides direct support to projects in the field through development of plans and designs. Furthermore, to support Nairobi city county on implementing Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Master Plan (NIUPLAN) for 2014-2030, City Planning Extension and Design Units has been reviewing legal framework for urban planning policy in the city county Thus, collaboration between the UPDB and the Urban Economy and the Urban Legislation Units is core feature of such programme both in terms of normative than of operational work.

Given the relative new focus provided to urban planning work of UN-Habitat and the need to strengthen its planning capacity, a consultant is required to provide technical support with concrete knowledge for planning legislation to UPDB activities in Nairobi, Kenya.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical inputs to UN-Habitat Kenya component of the ‘Support to Urban Planning Legislation framework in Nairobi’ to contribute to the development of a new generation of extension plans of Nairobi city county adapted to the Kenyan context.

RESPONSIBILITIES
The consultant will work under the supervision of Leader, City Planning, Extension and Design and within the Urban Planning and Design Laboratory and she/he will contribute to the implementation of the Project Component by assisting to test, develop and implement the UN-Habitat planning principles in the Kenya context by performing the following tasks:

Implementation strategy and urban planning legislation review

Assist in the design of the implementation strategy of selected plans with inputs on local market and planning practice

Assist in the legislation review through the provision of feedback on planning legislation implementation and practice, testing of planning regulations and design of graphic guidance where appropriate

Assist in writing a clear and structured analytical report outlining key planning legislation frame work in Nairobi and how on the ground, they are enacted The report should include narrative explanations of the planning regulation where relevant, about how it gets utilized by the various key stakeholders and bodies through to the community level. The report will include a series of specific recommendations based on the analysis, suggesting ways to move forward, areas of strengths and those for change.

Engagement with urban sector stakeholders for awareness and capacity building:

Develop liaison role with sector actors particularly in the private and professional sectors

Develop engagement mechanisms for the discussion of new urban planning approaches with the sameConduct consultative and awareness raising meetings and training.

In addition, the consultants will provide inputs as requested on planning documents and initiatives, undertaken by the Unit and develop presentations related to the above outputs and ensure work is documented and fed into the overall activities of the Branch and Unit. Last but not least, the daily presence in UN-Habitat offices is highly expected.

SCOPE AND EXPECTATIONS

4 main outputs are expected:

Design and plan proposals for the Nairobi Master Plan implementation (conceptual level) Graphic and other support to the Urban Planning Legislation review in Nairobi City County (diagrams and physical testing of legal provisions) Awareness and communication materials and meetings with industry stakeholders Planning solutions in other projects and cities supported by UN-Habitat in Kenya

Outputs production will be documented through interim (monthly) reports and one final report.

COMPETENCIES (maximum of five)
• Professionalism: Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to urban planning and design; knowledge of to planning legislation framework. Ability to manage a regional scale project involving multiple stakeholders and partners; knowledge of urban development issues; ability to observe deadlines and achieve set goals
• Communication: Excellent written and oral presentation skills in English
• Teamwork: Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve agreed goals.
• Planning and Organizing: Ability to prioritize activities and assignments.
• Creativity: Is not bound by current thinking or traditional approaches, takes calculated risks on new and unusual ideas; thinks “outside the box”, and offers new and different options to solve problems or meet client needs.

EDUCATION
Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Urban/Regional Planning, or related field that is relevant for sustainable urban development. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

WORK EXPERIENCE
Different level of work experiences are required to perform the different tasks needed for providing adequate support as follows:
Junior planner: between 3 to 5 years of experience in urban planning with direct proven experience in drawing and preparing plan graphical material using computer assisted design tools.
Senior Planner: A minimum of ten years of experience in urban planning or sustainable urban development, of which at least three at national level (experience in more than one level of government), a significant part of which should be directly related to different aspects of urban planning such as settlements infrastructure, community development, urban geography, cities and climate change, strategic planning or land management. Experience in activities of the United Nations, both in field projects and policy dialogues with stakeholders are desirable.

TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE
Technical knowledge of urban planning contemporary approaches.

Research and analytical skills combined with good drafting and drawing skills, manipulation of graphic materials and production of complex urban planning documents. Writing skills, in English and possibly another UN language

Able to work independently and as part of a team and to deliver on time under pressure.

LANGUAGE SKILLS
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this consultancy, fluency in oral and written English is required. Although not a requirement, knowledge of another UN language is an advantage.

REMUNERATION
Payments will be based on deliverables over the consultancy period. There are set remuneration rates for consultancies. The rate is determined by functions performed and experience of the consultant. The fees will be paid as per agreement.

Applications should include:
• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)
• Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:
1. Educational Background (incl. dates)
2. Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)
3. Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)
4. Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments
5. Expectations regarding remuneration

Please be advised that applicants for consultancies must be part of the Inspira e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster through the following address: inspira.un.org

Applications should be submitted to:

Mr. Geoffrey Oluoch
UN-HABITAT
P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Email: geoffrey.oluoch@unhabitat.org
Deadline for applications: 14 May 2014

UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org

Applications should include:

• Cover memo (maximum 1 page)

• Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:

Educational Background (incl. dates)Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignmentsExpectations regarding remuneration

Please be advised that applicants for consultancies must be part of the Inspira e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster through the following address: inspira.un.org

Applications should be submitted to:

Mr. Geoffrey Oluoch

UN-HABITAT

P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya

Email: geoffrey.oluoch@unhabitat.org

Deadline for applications: 14 May 2014

UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org

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Cities and Climate Change Consultant,(Home Based), Deadline: 14 May 2014

CONSULTANT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT Issued on: 30 April 2014

ORGANIZATIONAL LOCATION:

UN-HABITAT

DUTY STATION:

Home Based

FUNCTIONAL TITLE:

Cities and Climate Change Consultant

DURATION:

70 days over 7 ½ months

CLOSING DATE:

14 May 2014

BACKGROUND The Climate Change Planning Unit within the Urban Planning and Design Branch of UN-Habitat is supporting several related activities, as follows:

The Cities and Climate Change Initiative (CCCI), launched in August 2008, supports small- and medium-sized cities in developing countries to begin to become more resilient to climate change and embrace low-carbon growth trajectories. CCCI has received additional funding support from the Government of Norway to implement activities during 2014. The new proposal from the Norwegian Government is structured as a one year agreement which upon satisfactory implementation is subject to be renewed for an additional three years. The agreement places emphasis on partnerships, including a specific reference to Norwegian partners, and on the balancing between normative work and technical assistance. The proposal has five activities that have been identified as priorities:

Linking with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat to encourage dialogue with local governments;

Developing the cities work stream as part of the Climate Summit (23 September 2014);

Engaging in the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to reduce short-lived climate pollutants;

Preparing a source book for stakeholders to develop urban nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs); and

Advising countries on climate issues in national urban policies (NUPs).

The ‘Promoting Low Emission Urban Development Strategies (Urban-LEDS) in Emerging Economy Countries’ project is a European Commission (EC) funded initiative that seeks to enhance the transition to low emission carbon development in cities in the emerging economy countries of Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa. This project is jointly implemented by UN-Habitat and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. It began in March 2012 and is scheduled to complete in August 2015. A Mid-term Evaluation is scheduled during 2014. UN-Habitat is increasingly playing a substantive role in urban spatial planning issues that have emerged in several of the participating cities.

As suggested above, UN-Habitat is supporting the UN Secretary-General (SG) in his plans to convene a Climate Summit on 23 September 2014 in New York City. The Summit will bring together Heads of State, as well as global leaders from civil society and other sectors. This event will offer a chance for leaders to mobilize political will for an ambitious global legal agreement by 2015 to rein in global warming, as well as to catalyze climate action on the ground. ‘Cities’ has been identified as one of a handful of high-potential thematic areas that will be addressed at this Summit, and the SG’s office has tapped UN-Habitat to help lead the cities work stream leading up to 23 September. The UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos, along with the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Support Team, and Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael Bloomberg, are working with partners to bring major announcements to the table on 23 September.

The Climate Summit will occur in addition to the ongoing negotiation processes of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which include mid-year talks in Bonn, Germany, as well as an annual Conference of Parties (COP) which in 2014 will occur in Lima, Peru (COP-20). The mid-year talks will include a ‘cities and sub nationals’ day, and the UNFCCC has asked UN-Habitat to play a leading role in that day. It is also highly likely that COP-20 in Lima will feature a cities day as well, in which UN-Habitat likewise should play a role.

The demands of supporting the Climate Summit process and playing an increased role in UNFCCC events, placed on top of the ongoing requirements of managing two projects with one Unit staff member currently on leave, has necessitated the hiring of a Consultant to support various activities during the remainder of 2014.

RESPONSIBILITIES Under the supervision of and in close coordination with the Unit Leader of the Climate Change Planning Unit of the Urban Planning and Design Branch, the consultant will:

CCCI

Assist as needed with finalizing the work planning and budgeting process for 2014. Noting that the implementers of several activities have committed to starting activities before mid-year, help to monitor implementation of those and other activities to ensure completion within the calendar year.

Primarily via periodic meetings with the CCCI monitoring focal point, ensure that we are capturing 'results' and obtaining supporting documentation on an ongoing basis in the CCCI monitoring database, so that this is not a last-minute end-of-year activity.

(If confirmed) Organize two back-to-back day-long meetings in Norway, most likely during the fourth quarter. Day 1 would be an expert group meeting on ‘minimum standards for city-level climate change plans’, and would involve selected members of the CCCI Advisory Committee and other partners and local government representatives. This task may include coordinating with the World Bank on, and providing input to, a background paper. Day 2 would permit an exploratory and learning interchange between UN-Habitat and CCCI on the one hand, and representatives of the Government of Norway and proponents of an ‘arctic settlements and climate change’ initiative on the other.

(To confirm) Draft an article to be released under Dr. Clos’s authorship, on ‘Planned city extensions to address a changing climate’ or related topic.

Urban LEDS

Jointly supervise implementation of the Urban LEDS mid-term evaluation, including (if applicable) coordination between the lead evaluator and any national evaluators, review of draft submittals and so on.

Coordinate and supervise inputs in the area of urban spatial planning provided by UN-Habitat to city-level activities. This may include preparing TORs, ensuring the prompt fielding of short-term consultants provided by the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), liaising with ISOCARP and reviewing the quality of consultants' deliverables. It may also include mobilizing and coordinating with short-term consultants provided via other partners, including potentially Arcadis (via an agreement with UN-Habitat to provide pro bono assistance), UNIDO, Nature Conservancy, and others.

Task Area 3: Preparations for Climate Summit

Assist with final preparations for the Abu Dhabi Ascent meeting, scheduled for 4-5 May.

Assist with preparations for the Climate Summit itself, scheduled for 23 September in New York City, with a focus on the development of initiatives in the ‘city’ work steam: a ‘Compact of Mayors’ and several types of city-level ‘transformative projects’.

Assist with organizing one or more side events at the UNFCCC mid-term Bonn climate talks, and/or the year-end 20th Conference of Parties (COP-20) to be held in Lima, Peru.

COMPETENCIES Professionalism: Knowledge of the climate change field with specific regards to urban planning, institutional frameworks, policy support and development, financing mechanisms and related fields.. Communication: Excellent written, verbal and visual communication skills and ability to articulate ideas in a clear and accurate manner including the ability to prepare and edit a variety of documents, reports and briefs. Planning and organizing: Ability to work under pressure, establish priorities and plan, coordinate own work plan, use time efficiently and apply judgment in the context of competing deadlines. Teamwork: Work collaboratively with the core Cities and Climate Change Initiative team and technical support team to achieve consultancy objective while soliciting input by genuinely valuing their ideas and expertise; learning from and placing team agenda before personal agenda.

EDUCATION Advanced university degree in a field deemed relevant to the subject areas covered by the Terms of Reference such as Environmental Planning and Management, Urban Planning, Strategic Planning or related disciplines.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Experience in a organizational position focusing on urban management, urban environmental planning or similar tasks

Experience with programmes implemented or funded by international donors and/or UN agencies is essential.

Experience in developing countries working in the area of local government, urban environmental management or similar. A good grasp of the climate negotiation process, financing frameworks, policy instruments as well as proof of experience of working on this topic in developing nations and with local authorities and civil society is highly preferred

The consultant must have a minimum of five years’ work experience and experience with international agencies is an added advantage.

LANGUAGE SKILLS English and French are the working languages of the United Nations. For the post advertised, excellent proficiency in spoken and written English is required.

OTHER SKILLS

Proficient in use of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Ability to be flexible with changes in timelines.

Strong facilitation and communication skills (both oral and written)

Good analytical and writing skills

REMUNERATION Payments will be based on deliverables over the consultancy period. There are set remuneration rates for consultancies. The rate is determined by functions performed and experience of the consultant. The fees will be paid as per agreement.

Applications should include:

Cover memo (maximum 1 page)

Summary CV (maximum 2 pages), indicating the following information:

Educational Background (incl. dates)

Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months)

Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)

Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments

Expectations regarding remuneration

All applications should be submitted to:

Please be advised that applicants for consultancies must be part of the Inspira e-Roster in order for their application to be considered. You can reach the e-Roster through the following address: inspira.un.org

Ms. Jayne Kimani, Programme Assistant, Climate Change Planning Unit, Urban Planning and Design Branch

UN-HABITAT

P.O. Box 30030, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya

Email: jayne.kimani@unhabitat.org

Fax: + 254 20 7625404

Deadline for applications: 14 May 2014

UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: recruitment@unon.org

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