Disclaimer:
Please be aware that the content herein has not been peer reviewed. It consists of personal reflections, insights, and learnings of the contributor(s). It may not be exhaustive, nor does it aim to be authoritative knowledge.
Title
Please provide a name for your action learning plan.
Urban waste behaviours
Challenge statement
Challenge type: If you are working on multiple challenges, please indicate if this is your "big bet" or "exploratory" challenge.
Please note: we ask you to only submit a maximum of 3 challenges - 1x Big Bet, 2x Exploratory. Each challenge must be submitted individually.
EXPLORATORY
Challenge statement: What is your challenge? (Please answer in specific terms: "Our challenge is that...”.)
Our challenge is to understand the factors that contribute to urban waste behaviours in Jordan.
Background: What is the history of your challenge? What is causing or driving it? Who is involved? How does the current situation look like? What undesired effects does it produce?
Over the past decade, Jordan has seen a significant increase in waste volumes, projected to double in the next 15 years due to a rapidly growing population. Jordan generates about 2.7 million tons of municipal solid waste annually, with half coming from Amman. The solid waste management sector is the second-largest contributor to Jordan's greenhouse gas emissions, primarily methane, due to unsorted and landfilled waste, including hazardous materials. In response, the Jordanian government is focusing on inter-ministerial cooperation, job creation, and private-sector involvement to improve waste management. Despite the challenges, there's potential for positive change if waste-related habits are altered. Currently, Jordanians produce more waste than the global average and slightly more than the Middle East and North Africa average.
Quantitative evidence: What (official) data sources do you have on this challenge that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge? You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Check above
Qualitative evidence: What weak signals have you recently spotted that characterizes its urgency? Please provide qualitative information that better exemplifies the importance and urgency of this frontier challenge. You can add text, a link, or a picture.
Through the past year and a half, waste behaviours kept appearing in the discussions we had with stakeholders such as Aqaba Marine Reserve, who expressed their concern regarding the growing challenge of littering there. We also learned from consultations we did for another project the problem of food waste in Jordan.
Value proposition: What added value or unique value proposition is your Accelerator Lab bringing to solving this challenge? Why is it your Lab that needs to work on this challenge and not other actors within UNDP, other stakeholders in the country respectively? Why is it worth investing resources to this challenge?
Our Accelerator Lab brings a unique value proposition to addressing waste behaviours in Jordan by integrating innovative and sustainable approaches at the source. Unlike other actors, our lab combines evidence-based preventative measures with a deep understanding of local contexts in Amman and Aqaba. We focus specifically on organic matter and plastics, the main constituents of waste in Jordan, and address critical knowledge gaps in waste management behaviours.
Our research aims to uncover the underlying factors driving food waste, reliance on single-use plastic bags, and littering. By providing actionable behavioural insights, we enable policymakers to design tailored regulatory measures, infrastructure interventions, and public awareness campaigns. This comprehensive approach not only supports environmental sustainability but also aligns with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
Short “tweet” summary: We would like to tweet what you are working on, can you summarize your challenge in a maximum of 280 characters?
The Jordan Accelerator Lab is working to understand the behaviours of people in Jordan to design and test interventions that are culturally relevant and aligned with their interests.
Partners
Who are your top 5 partners for this challenge? Please submit from MOST to LEAST important and state Name, Sector and a brief description of the (intended) collaboration.
Please state the name of the partner:
NA
What sector does our partner belong to?
United Nations
Please provide a brief description of the collaboration.
NA
Is this a new and unusual partner for UNDP?
No
Learning questions
Learning question: What is your learning question for this challenge? What do you need to know or understand to work on your challenge statement?
Why do people still litter in Jordan? How are people using single-use plastic bags? What are people doing with food waste in Jordan?
To what stage(s) in the learning cycle does your learning question relate?
Explore, Test
Usage of methods: Relating to your choice above, how will you use your methods & tools for this learning question? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
1. Desk Research will provide a foundational understanding of littering behaviours and existing waste management challenges in Jordan.
2. Qualitative Research through semi-structured interviews will reveal in-depth attitudes and behaviours related to littering among Jordanian citizens.
3. Observations in urban areas will offer real-time data on littering patterns and the types of waste involved.
4. Experiments will test and compare the effectiveness of different interventions to reduce littering.
6. Surveys will assess public usage of single-use plastic bags and gauge the potential impact of alternative solutions.
7. Solutions Mapping will review global and local strategies for mitigating food waste.
Existing data gaps: Relating to your choice above, what existing gaps in data or information do these new sources of data addressing? What value do these add in answering your learning question?
It is not clear what interventions work best for people in Jordan. Currently it is mostly awareness campaigns and fines, which do not seem to systematically change the people's behaviours in Jordan. Moreover, all concepts are imported from Western cultures which do not apply to Jordan.
Closing
Early leads to grow: Think about the possible grow phase for this challenge - who might benefit from your work on this challenge or who might be the champions in your country that you should inform or collaborate with early on to help you grow this challenge?
Through the results of this research, we hope to create waste behaviour scalable solutions that can be applied all over Jordan.
END OF ACTION LEARNING PLAN: Thank you! The form saves automatically and your submission has been recorded. You may now exit this window.
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11Sustainable cities and communities
12Responsible consumption and production
15Life on land
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