A seminar called "Modern methods of decision-making by local authorities and the inclusion of climate change factors in them" took place on 15 November in Samarqand.

It was organized jointly with the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the United Nations Development Program and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Participants discussed improving the regulatory framework that governs decision-making processes in urban planning, energy consumption, environmental protection, energy efficiency, settlement infrastructure, land allocation, building permits, use of building materials, taking into account climate change.

A special attention was paid to the importance of gender aspects in decision-making by local authorities and local governments - makhallas.

The seminar participants noted that the norms and requirements related to the environmentally-oriented development of human settlements are dispersed over a large number of documents, which makes it difficult to use them. In addition, they are poorly interconnected.

During the seminar, international experience was voiced and taken into account. Modern approaches and international practice of decision making.

The head of the construction management department of the Samarkand region Narzikulov Sayfitdin said:

“With the support of the joint project, house designs were developed using energy-saving materials - expanded polystyrene and basalt wool. People are very interested in such houses, they turn up at the city or district khokimiats, and there, their applications are being considered in order of priority and mortgage agreements are signed with “Qishloq Qurilish Bank.

I want to stress that 370 energy-efficient houses were built this year in the Samarkand region, including 176 houses with solar panels and solar water heaters were installed in 2 houses. These houses allow saving electricity and reducing the consumption of hydrocarbon fuels. All this positively affects the climate and the environment, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Our organization has approximately 30% of women and they are actively working on construction projects”.

Human Resources Specialist at “Qishloq Qurilish Invest” Rajabali Mekhribon noted:

“I have heard a lot of useful information at the seminar today, about new regulatory acts aimed at supporting women, about benefits for the poor and single women with children. We have an engineering company and among employees about 10% are women, they mainly work as middle class managers and even in technical supervision.”

The head of the secretariat of the deputy regional governer, chairman of the women's committee of the Samarkand region, Jumaev Sayyora, reported:

" Today's seminar is very relevant, all the information presented today was useful and we, from our part, will convey it to women, we will organize similar events and meetings for them. This will contribute to the acquisition of new knowledges, because nowadays there are many active women in the Samarkand region. We need to attract women to all sectors of the economy, including construction and design. When leaders and representatives of the authorities are making decisions, it is necessary to take into account the hot climate and its impact on female labor. Such events as today need to be organized for district leaders, for local authorities."

The seminar was attended by more than 35 representatives of design and construction organizations, the regional cadastre, the regional department of the Ministry of Construction, the regional committee of women, the engineering company “Qishloq Qurilish Invest” and the regional department of the State Committee for Ecology.

At the end of the seminar, recommendations on improving the regulatory and legislative framework were put down. It was determined that the timely and effective implementation of the recommendations is considered as extremely important for solving problems while making decisions on accommodation, settlement infrastructure, land distribution, building permits, use of building materials, energy consumption, environmental protection and climate change at the community level.