81321279-Policy Advice and Capacity building on Urban & Regional Development in Moldova for EU-Accession

The "Strong Businesses and Communities for Moldova" (SBC) project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the Swiss Government. The project is implemented by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ in the time frame from 01/2022-12/2026. It has the objective to improve the socio-economic development prospects of the population in Moldovan municipalities. The strategy of the projects builds on a multi-level approach and complements targeted interventions across five distinct outputs in selected partner municipalities with advisory support to the national policy level. Output 2 "Integrated Urban Development", in which the consultancy services requested are anchored, seeks to strengthen the capacities of selected partner cities to apply integrated urban development procedures as well as to improve the corresponding policy framework on the national level. On the one hand, the project team works on local level with city administrations on the implementation of the National Program for Growth Poles. In addition to strategic and organizational consulting for the implementation of the program, the focus is on technical and process consulting for the participatory preparation of infrastructure projects that are ready for financing. The city administrations are also supported in connecting with national or international financing partners. Moreover, on the basis of existing socio-economic development strategies, the city administrations are provided with technical support in developing urban plans in a selected sector (e.g. sustainable mobility, waste management or green areas/open space) in a participation-oriented and cross-sectoral manner. On the other hand, the project team advises the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development (MIRD) on improving the policy framework for sustainable municipal, urban and regional development as well as the vertical dialogue between the a