Local agenda 21, compulsory competitive tendering and local environmental practices

This paper focuses on the issues arising from Local Agenda 21 where the role of local authorities is seen as vital in promoting and achieving sustainable development. The implications of the current forms of public sector restructuring for local authorities, and in particular the consequences of the requirement to contract out the delivery and management of traditional environmental services such as grounds maintenance are considered. The paper concludes that the ongoing processes of local government restructuring, together with the removal of many functions from local democratic control, are reducing the capacity of local communities to respond positively to the demands of Local Agenda 21.     

Local agenda 21 in Italy: an effective governance tool for facilitating local communities' participation and promoting capacity building for sustainability

Based on the findings of the 2004 national survey of Italian Local Agenda 21s (LA21s) involving 535 local authorities, this viewpoint outlines the progress achieved in Italy, and describes the strengths and weaknesses of the Italian LA21 processes. At the time of writing, there were more than 160 Local Forums facilitating participation with a range of different stakeholders groups, 100 Action Plans had been produced, and 1300 projects had already been implemented for local sustainability. The findings from the survey indicate that Italian local authorities are starting to develop effective frameworks for enhancing local sustainability policies, capacity building within local communities, and improving innovation in local government and decision-making processes.     

Implementing agenda 21 in local government: The Swedish experience

Abstract

Chapter 28 of the UNCED agreement ‘Agenda 21’ asks for implementing sustainable development at the local level of government. Sweden is amongst the fore‐running nations in having responded quickly to these demands. Virtually all of Sweden's 288 municipalities have decided to embark on the Local Agenda 21 process. In this article, the progress so far and how LA21 has been interpreted at the local level are examined. The motives behind the process, the tensions between national and local policy making, and the role of municipal networks and NGOs are analysed. Four case studies of pioneer municipalities are used to illustrate how LA21 has sometimes inspired more far‐reaching goals at the local than at the national level, and the combination of economic development and marketing with environmental policy. It remains to be seen whether the most recent national government investment programme towards local projects for sustainable development will resolve the present conflicts between national goals and local priorities.     

Local sustainability processes worldwide: a systematic review of the literature and research agenda

This article presents a systematic literature review of 109 articles (1992–2015) dealing with Local Agenda 21 processes worldwide. It analyzes two essential elements of Local Agenda 21: (1) the holistic approach of the sustainable development concept and (2) the main driving forces behind such processes. It shows that, although at the beginning, sustainability was seen as a natural extension of environmental policy work, it has been perceived over recent years as a guiding principle applied to issues of environment, economic development, and social welfare, and Local Agenda 21 is perceived as a coherent approach to sustainability planning. In addition, Local Government Strategy is the main typology followed, although it suffers from important limitations. Future studies could focus on local sustainability process outcomes. Further quantitative studies would be welcome, given the qualitative case study dominance in the field. We conclude with a research agenda to tackle theoretical, methodological, and empirical lacunae.     

Radical,reformist, and garden-variety neoliberal: coming to terms with urban agriculture's contradictions

For many activists and scholars, urban agriculture in the Global North has become synonymous with sustainable food systems, standing in opposition to the dominant industrial agri-food system. At the same time, critical social scientists increasingly argue that urban agriculture programmes, by filling the void left by the “rolling back” of the social safety net, underwrite neoliberalisation. I argue that such contradictions are central to urban agriculture. Drawing on existing literature and fieldwork in Oakland, CA, I explain how urban agriculture arises from a protective counter-movement, while at the same time entrenching the neoliberal organisation of contemporary urban political economies through its entanglement with multiple processes of neoliberalisation. By focusing on one function or the other, however, rather than understanding such contradictions as internal and inherent, we risk undermining urban agriculture's transformative potential. Coming to terms with its internal contradictions can help activists, policy-makers and practitioners better position urban agriculture within coordinated efforts for structural change, one of many means to an end rather than an end unto itself.     

Citizenship, civicness and social capital in local agenda 21

Local Agenda 21s are now being widely produced throughout Britain. Whilst there is wide variation in the nature of such exercises, many are exceeding original expectations and opening up important new opportunities for community involvement in sustainable development. This paper argues that, if LA21s unlock the energies necessary to engage widespread participation in local quality of life issues, they can become an influential and enduring part of the governance of the local state. This raises a number of theoretical and practical issues relating to types of citizenship, social capital, appropriate participatory mechanisms, and the respective contributions of lay and technical expertise. Individual people who are pivotal to the dynamics of local sustainability strategies must themselves be sustained and supported throughout the process.     

Stretching “smart”: advancing health and well-being through the smart city agenda

ABSTRACT

Contemporary smart cities have largely mirrored the sustainable development agenda by embracing an ecological modernisation approach to urban development. There is a strong focus on stimulating economic activity and environmental protection with little emphasis on social equity and the human experience. The health and well-being agenda has potential to shift the focus of smart cities to centre on social aims. Through the systematic and widespread application of technologies such as wearable health monitors, the creation of open data platforms for health parameters, and the development of virtual communication between patients and health professionals, the smart city can serve as a means to improve the lives of urban residents. In this article, we present a case study of smart health in Kashiwanoha Smart City in Japan. We explore how the pursuit of greater health and well-being has stretched smart city activities beyond technological innovation to directly impact resident lifestyles and become more socially relevant. Smart health strategies examined include a combination of experiments in monitoring and visualisation, education through information provision, and enticement for behavioural change. Findings suggest that smart cities have great potential to be designed and executed to tackle social problems and realise more sustainable, equitable and liveable cities.     

LASALA: Evaluating Local Agenda 21 in Europe

Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) may be regarded as one of the most enduring and possibly most effective outcomes of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro ‘Earth Summit’. In Europe alone, approximately 4000 cities, municipalities at regional and local level, and regional authorities are now engaged in a LA 21 process of some kind. This paper reports on the main findings of the recent Local Authorities' Self-Assessment of Local Agenda 21 (LASALA) project, which conducted a Europe-wide research programme into the European LA 21 initiative. The research demonstrates the significant levels of commit ment to the LA 21 process amongst European local government, and some notable achievements in sustainable development policies within a very short space of time. Although there is still a long way to go, the LASALA research indicates that LA 21 is an effective policy vehicle for encouraging and supporting sustainable development initiatives at the local level in Europe.     

Local Authority/AcademicCollaboration and Local Agenda 21 Policy Processes

This paper looks at a recent example of local authority/academiccollaboration over a protracted period of time from the different perspectives of those people who were directly involved in the process as key role players. The arena within which this collaboration took place (Local Agenda 21 policy-making in Manchester) has some particular characteristics of its own which influenced this process, and these are identified alongside some of the theoretical issues which affect the way collaborations of this kind are perceived and (much more rarely) are written about. The perspectivesof the client and of the contractor, as the authors reflect on their experiences in these roles, show that in practice processes of adjustment and of learning were taking place, because both sides for various reasons found that the dynamics of this situation meant that their preconceptions both of each other and of the contractual relationship they had thought they were entering had to be modified as the process unfolded. The paper concludes with both specific observations about this collaboration, and more general and more tentative comments about issues that might be experienced in future collaborations of this kind.     

Local Government and Emerging Models of Participation in the Local Agenda 21 Process

Local Agenda 21, with its major emphasis on local accountability and democratization, challenges perceptions of local governance and offers a long overdue opportunity, for local authorities in particular, to develop broad-based, effective, participatory structures. This paper examines initial responses to this opportunity. It models the newly emerging participatory structures and processes in selected English local authority areas, and demonstrates that there may be no one path that local authorities should follow. A number of alternative approaches to community participation can and are being adopted, contingent upon local circumstances.     

The political significance of local agenda 21: The early stages of some European experience

Sustainable development, as it emerged in Agenda 21 from the Rio conference in 1992, will only be meaningful when it touches the lives of ordinary people; then it becomes a reality. Local Agenda 21 (LA21) seeks to achieve that objective. This article assesses the origins of LA21, reviews its social and political significance, and considers its prospects in the light of case study experience emerging from the UK, Germany and Norway, focusing on the role of local government as a major stakeholder in Agenda 21 (A21). The range of response to LA21 has proved to be varied. A successful transformation to a more sustainable world will require visionary political leadership, supportive administrations, networks of experience sharing, alliances with non-governmental organisations and local industry, and effective community mobilisation. All of that, in turn, requires equally supportive economic and social policy backing from national governments. This article will indicate that, not surprisingly, it is the domestic political context, nationally and locally, which in the main determines the speed and nature of response to LA21, now and in the future. By understanding and being aware of these contexts, factors impeding progress towards LA21 may be addressed, whilst at the same time retaining the diversity of response which is an essential part of local sustainability.     

Governing sustainability: a dialogue between Local Agenda 21 and transition management

Since the 1990s, the local level of governance has become increasingly important in addressing the challenge of sustainable development. In this article, we compare two approaches that seek to address sustainability locally, namely Local Agenda 21 and transition management. Discussing both approaches along six dimensions (history, aim, kind of change, governance understanding, process methodologies, and actors), we formulate general insights into the governance of sustainability in cities, towns, and neighbourhoods. This dialogue illustrates two related modes of thinking about sustainability governance. We touch upon the importance of an integrated perspective on sustainability transitions through which sustainability is made meaningful locally in collaborative processes. We suggest that the explicit orientation towards radical change is a precondition for governing sustainability in a way that addresses the root causes of societal challenges. Governing sustainability should address the tensions between aiming for radical change and working with status quo-oriented actors and governing settings. We conclude that governing sustainability should be about finding creative ways for opening spaces for participation, change, and experimentation, that is, for creating alternative ideas, practices, and social relations. These spaces for innovation encourage a reflexive stance on ways of working and one's own roles and attitudes, thereby preparing a fertile terrain for actors to engage in change from different perspectives.     

From environment to sustainability: Surveys and analysis of local agenda 21 process development in UK local authorities

Agenda 21 has come to be the most significant outcome of the Rio Summit for local government in the UK and Local Agenda 21 is emerging as the main driver for the development of local policies and programmes for sustainable development. In general, the work is being undertaken by those charged with the development of environmental policy in local authorities. Sustainability is seen as a natural extension of environmental policy work, and survey results presented confirm a gradual emergence of LA21 work from an environmental focus to a strategic approach to issues of environment, economic development, social welfare and accessibility. The level of awareness of LA21 and commitment to it in general terms appear high, but survey results suggest that the full implications of the agenda, particularly those relating to new approaches to partnership, participation and democracy, have not yet been addressed by all authorities. The author suggests that problems of corporatisation of LA21 and its relationship with traditional democratic structures remain to be tackled. The potential for the consensual approach in tackling issues of 'hard sustainability' is also discussed.     

The National Forest and Local Agenda 21: An Experiment in Integrated Landscape Planning

The post-Rio environmental accord has offered new opportunities for landscape planning linking global concerns with Local Agenda 21 through concepts of sustainable development. This paper analyses the potential for integrated landscape planning by linking the aims of global sustainability with a major initiative of the UK Government, the National Forest located in the English Midlands. A common commitment to concepts of partnership and participation facilitated by local authorities can be found in the National Forest Strategy and in the principles of Local Agenda 21. Using case studies comparing local fora created to implement parts of the National Forest Strategy with focus groups formed to prepare Local Agenda 21 Action Plans, it is argued that a common consensus between these endeavours has not so far been achieved. Problems associated with the interpretation of national government policy guidance following the Earth Summit coupled with the constitution, membership and goals of specific groups are viewed as the primary reasons for conflict. These have implications for achieving compatibility between the Forest ideals and those enshrined in Local Agenda 21, particularly in localities where mineral exploitation and landfill are contentious planning concerns.