The Future of Hai Jabal Amman – CLOSER Jordan Local Proximity Network has taken a further step toward shaping a community-led approach to neighborhood development, identifying key urban priorities and agreeing on practical next steps to engage residents and translate these priorities into local action.
Meeting for the second time on 12 August 2026, network members built on their initial discussions to examine Jabal Amman’s urban needs and explore how local actors can work collectively to address them. The meeting placed particular emphasis on community-driven solutions, stronger coordination among neighborhood stakeholders, and mechanisms through which residents can have a meaningful role in shaping local development.
To strengthen its integration within Jordan’s broader civil society ecosystem, members agreed that the The Future of Hai Jabal Amman – CLOSER Jordan Local Proximity Network will serve as a supporting partner of the Jordan National NGO Forum (JONAF). This strategic alliance bridges local grassroots efforts with national platforms, creating vital opportunities for knowledge exchange while significantly accelerating the promotion and national-level replication of inclusive, participatory governance models.
The network’s next step will be to take the priorities identified through its discussions directly to the wider Jabal Amman community through a hearing session. The session will provide residents with an opportunity to validate, challenge, and further shape the identified priorities before the network moves toward developing concrete local initiatives.
Eng. Malak Suleiman, CLOSER National Coordinator in Jordan at the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), highlighted this progression: “Our discussions identified key urban priorities for Jabal Amman, but the network’s role goes beyond identifying needs. The next step is to bring these priorities back to the community through a hearing session, listen directly to residents, and work together to translate them into practical local initiatives.”
Bringing together actors with different roles and perspectives in the neighborhood, the network includes representatives of public and municipal institutions, civil society, academia, international organizations, local communities, and the private and cultural sectors. Participants include representatives from the Greater Amman Municipality, the Ministry of Local Administration, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, UN-Habitat, the German Jordanian University, the Jabal Amman Residents Association, Habibi Association, local community representatives, and other institutional and private-sector stakeholders.
Through continued dialogue and collective action, the Jabal Amman Local Proximity Network aims to develop practical mechanisms for community participation and shared decision-making, while testing approaches that can contribute to more inclusive and responsive neighborhood development.
The network was established within the CLOSER – Connecting LOcal proximity networks, Sustaining participatory govERnance project, with ARDD serving as the project’s national partner in Jordan. Funded by the Interreg NEXT MED Programme and implemented by partners from Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Italy, Spain, and Greece, CLOSER works to strengthen participatory governance by fostering collaboration among local authorities, civil society organizations, communities, and other local actors.
