La Agenda 21 en el Mundo

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• La Agenda 21 en el Mundo
• William M. Lafferty
• Programme for Research and Documentation for a
  Sustainable Society
• (ProSus)
• University of Oslo

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Program for Research and Documentation for a
Sustainable Society
A Strategic University Program Located at the
Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM),
University of Oslo
Funded by The Research Council of Norway
(RCN), Division for Strategic Priorities
Område for miljø og utvikling
Norges forskningsråd
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The ProSus mandate To conduct

• Documentation and evaluation of Norways
  follow-up to the Rio accords and the guidelines
  from the UN Commission on Sustainable
  developments

• Strategic research on the barriers and
  potential facilitators for a more rational and
  effective realization of sustainable development

• Information and dissemination of alternative
  strategies, scenarios and debates on normative
  futures

www.prosus.uio.no
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Strategic research The core programme
SusLink Exploring the links between sectors,
levels of government and policies for sustainable
production and consumption in energy and transport
SusGovDem Governance for Sustainable
Development Adapting Form to Function Sectoral
Integration Policy Instruments Integration of
Civil Society Reform of Liberal-Pluralist
Democracy
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• Evaluation What is sustainable development?
• A political program adopted by democratically
  responsible governments
• Based on Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report
  - WCED 1987), and endorsed by the Rio and
  Johannesburg agreements
• Which can be monitored and evaluated according to
  three types of standards
• External criteria documents and guidelines
  provided by the WCED, UNCED, UNCSD and more
  recently UNEP, the OECD, and the European
  Environmental Agency.
• Internal criteria strategies, goals, programmes,
  action plans, policies etc., adopted by
  governments to follow-up and implement the UNCED
  programme
• Comparative criteria activities, initiatives,
  programmes, policies, etc., undertaken by other
  governments in their pursuit of the Rio goals

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Local Agenda 21 The criteria from the SUSCOM
project
A more conscious attempt to relate environmental
effects to underlying economic and political
pressures (which in turn derive from political
decisions, non-decisions and markets) A more
active effort to relate local issues, decisions
and dispositions to global impacts, both
environmentally and with respect to global
solidarity and justice. A more focused policy for
achieving cross-sectoral integration of
environment-and-development concerns, values and
goals in planning, decision-making and policy
implementation.
Lafferty, W.M. (2001) Sustainable Communities
in Europe, Earthscan Publishers.
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Local Agenda 21 criteria (cont.)
Greater efforts to increase community
involvement, i.e. to bring both average citizens
and major stakeholder groups, particularly
business and labour unions, into the planning and
implementation process with respect to
environment-and-development issues. A commitment
to define and work with local problems within
(a) a broader ecological and regional framework
and (b) a greatly expanded time frame (i.e. over
three or more generations) A specific
identification with Agenda 21 and the UNCED/WSSD
process.
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Local Agenda 21 in Europa The SUSCOM-project
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Local Agenda 21 in Europa The SUSCOM-project
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Local Agenda 21 in Europa The SUSCOM-project
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Local Agenda 21 in Europa The SUSCOM-project
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Local Agenda 21 in Europa Most recent tendencies
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An updated ranking of SUSCOM countries on LA21
Figures from ICLEI Survey 2001-2002
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Source ICLEI Survey, 2000-2001
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LA21 in Europe Key issues

• Contextual adaptation Local sustainable
  development
• Political integration not oppositional
  mobilization
• Holistic integration not fragmentation
• Differentiated assessment Process / Plan /
  Policy / Product
• Differentiated responsibility central,
  regional, local governments / business and labour
  / civil society
• Democratic reform Ecological democracy

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• The Ålborg Charter Basic steps for Local Agenda
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• Information-gathering and consciousness-raising
• Interpretation and relativization of Agenda 21 to
  local conditions and problems
• Development of priorities and local action plans
  with both general and sector-specific targets
• Determination of appropriate steering
  instruments, including the procurement of
  voluntary agreements among sector-relevant social
  actors (stakeholders, major groups, target
  groups)
• Goal-specific procedures for implementation
• Monitoring and evaluation (of both the enactment
  process and its effects)
• Revision of goals, plans and initiatives

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Modes of Implementattion of LA21 in Europe
Stylized Models from the SUSCOM Project
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Modes of Implementattion of LA21 in Europe SUSCOM
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• The crucial issue of criteria for evaluation
  Controlling the results of the ICLEI survey for
  Norway, 2000-2001
• The ICLEI criteria for Local Agenda 21
• It must include a participatory process with
  local citizens
• It must include a consensus on a vision for a
  sustainable future
• It must address economic, social, and ecological
  needs togetherit must establish a roundtable,
  stakeholder group, forum, or equivalent
  multisectoral community group to oversee the
  process
• It must prepare an action plan
• It must prepare an action plan with concrete
  long-term targets
• It must establish indicators to monitor progress
• It must establish a monitoring and reporting
  framework
• In order to be considered active for the
  purposes of this study, municipalities must have
  moved beyond making a formal commitment to Local
  Agenda 21. For instance, they may have begun a
  consultative process with citizens or started
  preparing an action plan.
• ICLEI, Second Local Agenda 21 Survey, 2002 8

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Results from the ProSus survey, 2000-01 Based on
direct contact with 424 of 435 municipalities
Results documented at ProSus website
www.prosus.uio.no
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LA21 in Norway A strong regional effect
Municipalities that have eliminated or reduced
the responsibility of the chief environmental
civil servant
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Confronting the challenge of liberal-pluralist,
competitive democracy Adapting the democratic
idea to the functional needs of ecology and
sustainable development
Historical development
Ecological democracy
Economic democracy
Industrial democracy
National democracy
Local democracy
Complexity
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Sustainable development and democracy The need to
adapt democratic forms to SD functions
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• Conclude with a Best Case
• Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD)
• The Livable Region Strategic Plan
• Adopted by ca. 30 municipalities in the Greater
  Vancouver Area
• Key elements of the plan
• Appointment of an ad-hoc Committee for Strategic
  Planning (with the most important stakeholders
  for the region represented).
• Establishment of an administrative Section for
  Strategic Planning, with responsibility for
  co-ordinating and implementing the plan.
• Preparation of a visioning document Creating
  Our Future with 5- and 25-year perspectives.
• Mobilisation of the regions municipalities, urban
  local councils and their citizens behind the
  vision. Widespread circulation of the long-term
  scenarios and their implications.

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• Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD)
• Integration of the visioning document with
  existing plans, perspectives and goals. Moving
  from local environmental protection to
  sustainable development.
• Definition of four priority areas for more
  specific planning and implementation
• Protecting green areas
• Achieving a compact metropolitan area
• Developing complete satellite communities
• Increasing choice in transportation
• Co-ordination and prioritising of the four
  sub-plans
• Operationalisation and allocation of
  responsibility and resources
• Development of goal-specific partnerships
• Adoption of a Regional Charter
• Stimulation, dissemination, monitoring, revision
  and the brokering of conflicts by the
  Section for Strategic Planning

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A closing word from the OECD A strong
political commitment is crucial to achieve the
policy integration needed to underpin sustainable
development. This must come from the highest
levels of government, and be embraced by prime
ministers, as well as ministers of
economy/finance, social welfare, and the
environment. . . . Collective responsibility
within government for implementation of decisions
which support a sustainable development strategy
needs to be clearly established, and include
explicit procedures and an assessment of training
needs. Coherence across government departments
and among different levels of government is
vital. Sustainable Development Critical Issues
(OECD 2001)
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