Our Mission
The ASEAN Knowledge Platform on Waste Management and Sustainable Tourism aims to enhance environmental quality in small and medium-sized cities across the ASEAN region. By promoting sustainable waste management practices and advancing circular approaches in tourism, the platform supports ASEAN Member States in achieving sustainable consumption patterns. It contributes to regional environmental goals and accelerates the transition toward a circular economy aligned with ASEAN priorities.
Who We Are
This platform is an initiative under the ASEAN Municipal Solid Waste Management Enhancement (AMUSE) project, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project is implemented together with the ASEAN Secretariat and relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies.
The development of this platform has been carried out in collaboration with the ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC), ASEAN Working Group on Environmental Education (AWGEE), and the ASEAN Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ACESP). These partnerships ensure alignment with ASEAN’s environment and education agendas and reinforce the platform’s role as a practical tool for cross-sectoral collaboration.
Furthermore, this platform complements the ASEAN Environment Knowledge Hub by providing a specialized Learning Centre including knowledge products and tools, and promoting events and dialogue formats focused on sustainable waste management and tourism. It adds value to the regional knowledge landscape by enabling targeted learning, peer exchange, and practical implementation support.
The platform also contributes to the vision and work of the ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment (AWGCME) by supporting the implementation of regional actions on marine debris prevention and reduction. It provides tools and practical examples of implementation that help address land-based waste leakage into marine ecosystems, aligning with ASEAN’s commitments under the ASEAN Regional Action Plan on Combating Marine Debris.
Thematic Areas
Knowledge Sharing: Provide a digital hub offering tailored resources, training modules, case studies, and technical guidelines to support waste management and sustainable tourism initiatives.
Capacity Building: Strengthen the capacities of ASEAN Member States, local governments and further stakeholders from public and private sector, particularly in tourism cities, through targeted learning and technical assistance.
Best Practices Dissemination: Document and promote field-tested solutions and approaches to sustainable waste management, with an emphasis on gender sensitivity, community participation and behaviour change, and circular economy models.
Marine Litter Prevention: Support the efforts of AWGCME and other regional bodies in addressing marine plastic pollution through awareness, knowledge transfer, and local-level action.
Since 1977, ASEAN has cooperated closely in promoting environmental cooperation among its member states and partners.
In 2015, ASEAN leaders adopted ASCC Blueprint 2025, which envisions an ASEAN Community that engages and benefits the people and is inclusive, sustainable, resilient, and dynamic. The Blueprint guides ASEAN cooperation to include the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and natural resources, promotion of environmentally sustainable cities, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as promotion of sustainable consumption and production towards a circular economy.
With the completion of the ASCC Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and the accompanying ASCC Strategic Plan, both adopted in May 2025, will intensify efforts to realise a resilient, inclusive, sustainable and people-centred ASEAN by 2045 and strengthen substantive and mutually beneficial partnerships.
DownloadInvolved Partners
ASEAN Secretariat & Relevant Working Groups – Including:
ASEAN Working Group on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (AWGESC) – Coordinating sustainable city development across ASEAN.
ASEAN Working Group on Environmental Education (AWGEE) – Promoting environmental education and capacity building.
ASEAN Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment (AWGCME) – Addressing marine and coastal environmental issues, including marine debris.
ASEAN Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ACESP) – Facilitating knowledge exchange and stakeholder cooperation for circular economy transition.
ASEAN Environment Knowledge Hub – The broader regional environmental knowledge hub that this platform complements and supports.
GIZ – The ASEAN-German Cooperation Project: ASEAN Municipal Solid Waste Management Enhancement (AMUSE)
Our Activities
Training Programs: Online and blended learning covering topics such as source segregation, food waste prevention, circular business models, behavior change.
Dialogue & Engagement: Facilitate regional and national stakeholder engagement to co-create practical solutions and share experiences.
Policy and Implementation Support: Help translate knowledge into action through guidance materials, pilot projects, and technical cooperation.
Join Us
We invite government agencies, private sector actors, academic institutions, and civil society across ASEAN to collaborate with us in shaping a more circular, sustainable, and resilient future. Together, we can advance sustainable waste management and tourism to contribute to cleaner cities and the protection of our coastal and marine environments.
