Hawassa Polytechnic College has already secured three hectares of land from the city administration and hired consultant to the design and supervision for the construction of regional flagship institute. Hence the college hosted a sensitization meeting aimed at creating community awareness on the construction of proposed flagship TVET institute and exploring possibilities of undertaking necessary assessments in identifying, evaluating and managing the associated environment and social risks and impacts in a manner that is consistent with the Environmental and Social Safeguards. The total of 68 local communities and government representatives participated in the meeting which included religious and community based organization leaders, youths and local authorities.

During the meeting, the general overview of EASTRIP was provided and key issues of environmental and social safeguards raised and discussed with participants. It is believed that this kind of meetings are very important to create shared understanding on the project implementation and avoid unnecessary environmental and social compliance.