Partnerships for sustainability: Effective practice?

This paper presents as case studies some New Zealand local government sustainable development initiatives in cleaner production and civic building design. From a series of structured interviews with key players, it describes key motivators and demotivators and puts these in the context of behaviour change theory. These enable a set of actions for local government to be developed that, if applied, could result in an advancement of the sustainable development agenda. However, other critical factors are given that are external to these actions and on which their overall success is dependent. In reviewing these factors as a group we conclude that far greater understanding of the partnership formation process and its dynamic in engendering successful sustainable development decision-making processes is crucial to move beyond the rhetoric of partnerships and enter the more complex and difficult world of truly participatory approaches.     

Tales of local sustainability

Abstract

Local Agenda 21 (LA21) has emerged as the principal means of addressing sustainable development practice at the local government level. In the UK, progressive local authorities have emphasised the need for participatory processes and innovative policy options. This requires commitment and active involvement from a variety of individuals and organisations. Participants in LA21 have been interviewed to determine their motivations and perceptions, and their responses are represented in terms of the storylines of various constituencies of interest. The key themes seem to be those of actively promoting widespread participation, gaining competence in innovative techniques, taking a holistic approach to quality of life concerns, and claiming the legitimacy of local government as a key player in sustainable development.     

Liberalising environmental governance and the hazards of democratisation

This paper aims to initiate a debate through which the gap between rhetoric and the local-level implementation of sustainable development might be addressed. It seeks to contribute towards a conceptual as well as a practical basis for the understanding of what contribution sustainable development can make in the context of the post-apartheid reconstruction of South African cities. The analysis draws on an examination of the incorporation of sustainable development in post-apartheid policy as it relates to the urban environment, and its implications for implementation as experienced by formal (local government) and informal (community groups) local-level institutions. In order to ensure that capacity exists for the implementation of sustainable development, it is argued that this rethinking of sustainable development should be informed by the present transformation of formal and informal institutions, whilst the transformation of institutions should occur in a manner that reflects these new conceptual understandings.     

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.     

Community-based participatory research: Changing scientific practice from research on communities to research with and for communities

The Agenda 21 treaty adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development set out new goals for the provision and management of information in a sustainable society. New information and communications technologies (ICTs) have the potential to be used as tools for managing information and consequently have a role in sustainable development. This paper considers the use of ICTs to manage local information areas and the extent to which these new technologies are compatible with the broader goals of Agenda 21 such as social inclusion and public participation in decision making. The use of the World Wide Web by local authorities in the UK to manage local information and promote Agenda 21 is explored through a critique of website contents. It is concluded that, although the use of ICTs is not incompatible with the broader aims of Agenda 21, and has many possible positive applications, current use of the World Wide Web by local government in the UK does not yet fulfil this potential.     

Beyond sustainability indicators

Abstract

Sustainability indicators are an increasingly popular tool for the identification of policies and monitoring of progress towards sustainable development. The need for indicators is clearly set out in Agenda 21 and has been taken up by the Commission for Sustainable Development. Devising alternative measures of progress to gross national product has been the subject of much research in the past few years. There are many local sustainability indicator initiatives now under way, co‐ordinated by local authorities and involving local communities. However useful these exercises have been (not least to those engaged in them) there is little evidence, so far, that sustainability indicators are leading to substantial shifts in policy at national or local level. Evidence points, in fact, to substantial barriers to progress in several key areas: for example, the necessity for the greater integration of environmental, social and economic policy, the tackling of inequality and poverty and the encouragement of greater public participation in action on sustainable development. In order for indicators to make any progress in surmounting these barriers there is a need to address issues of trust and to examine existing institutional structures and practices. In parallel with the development of indicators, national, and particularly local, government will need to experiment with new and creative techniques for community participation in decision making, engage in dialogue with new cultural networks and implement practical initiatives to improve the quality of life in particular communities.     

Nepalganj,the centre of the world: local perceptions of environmental change and the roles of climate-change adaptation actors

This paper explores community perspectives of environmental change and the role development actors in the regional Nepali town of Nepalganj. Understanding these perceptions is crucial for planning future adaptation to climate change and ensuring that these measures are sustainable and in line with community priorities. Firstly, I contend that whilst the local community in Nepalganj may be experiencing the impacts of climate change, they are unfamiliar and disassociated with the concept. Secondly, I identify a number of risks and opportunities around the role of local government, international development organisations and local non-government organisations in future adaptation actions. Participant perceptions of these institutions in their community reinforce a number of established critiques of development around themes such as poor consultation and short project timelines. The long-term success of adaptation actions will be shaped by the ability and willingness of development actors to evolve their practices by listening to local communities.     

Establishing the green neighbourhood: approaches to neighbourhood-scale sustainability certification in Portland,Oregon

ABSTRACT

While local governance is widely acknowledged as an important element in the pursuit of sustainability, local action alone is insufficient to produce lasting change. One recent solution to this quandary has been the production of certification frameworks that encourage sustainable development at the neighbourhood scale by providing local actors with standardised definitions of sustainable practices. While these frameworks facilitate the spread of sustainable development strategies between local communities, there are significant contrasts between their approaches to encouraging local sustainable development that simultaneously fulfils global objectives. This article explores these contrasts through two neighbourhood-scale sustainability certification frameworks: LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) and the EcoDistricts Protocol. Analysis of these frameworks in the context of two centrally-located neighbourhoods in Portland, Oregon, reveals substantial contrasts between the two frameworks in terms of the relative flexibility of their sustainability metrics, the time frame over which decisions regarding sustainable development are made, and community involvement in the process of pursuing specific objectives. Furthermore, it suggests that greater flexibility in the application of standards, continuous governance, and greater community involvement lead to more dynamic and holistic forms of sustainability that evolve as both local community needs and broader understandings of sustainability change over time.     

Barriers and enablers of local adaptive measures: a case study of Bengaluru’s informal settlement dwellers

ABSTRACT

Cities, with their increasing populations, are host to a range of issues including non-climatic factors due to the prevailing development paradigm, discriminatory urbanisation patterns, and weak governance structures. Climate change poses an additional challenge and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities affecting cities and its people, especially the urban poor. This paper highlights the barriers and enablers to climate change-related adaptation experienced in some of Bengaluru’s informal settlements. The barriers described in the paper include economic, social, governance and information related issues that impede local actions and increase vulnerabilities. Enabling factors such as improving social and human capital, gaining formal recognition and most importantly support from agencies (e.g. local government, civil societies, and community leaders), help overcome some of the barriers or challenges. Hence, local level adaptation measures mainstreamed with local developmental agendas help address some of the structural causes of vulnerability. Contextual policies and interventions can facilitate successful local level adaptation measures.     

Breathtaking Clarity,Delicious Ambiguity

Abstract

A new institutional architecture is emerging in Wales to govern sustainable development. The National Assembly for Wales (hereafter referred to as the ‘Welsh Assembly’)1 ¹The National Assembly for Wales is the legal entity and title given to the devolved body in Wales. ‘Welsh Assembly Government’ is the term used by the current administration. has a statutory duty to promote sustainable development in the exercise of all its functions; its response has been to design a set of political and organizational arrangements to manage this policy area, and to prepare a Scheme that sets out how it proposes to discharge this duty. Devolved government in Wales has also been the catalyst for the emergence of collaborative relationships and partnerships between different sectors and interests. The Welsh Assembly and the Welsh Local Government Association have published a Compact jointly committing them to promote sustainable development; national non-governmental organizations such as Oxfam and the World Wide Fund for Nature have set up Welsh agencies; local government sustainable development coordinators have formed a national network; a national Sustainable Development Forum has been created; and the Welsh Assembly has taken the lead in establishing a European network of countries interested in sharing best practice on sustainable development. A new Wales-specific structure and system is materializing and the test now is how far this will be effective in delivering sustainable development policies and solutions at local and national levels. This paper examines the challenges in managing sustainable development, and the potential for success of this new governance system, drawing on recent research undertaken by the author on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The examination is set in the context of different theories of governance, and sustainable development is conceptualized as a ‘wicked issue’—one that cannot be resolved by organizations and agencies acting autonomously, but rather needs concerted focus and action across all sectors.     

Sustainability in the USA and New Zealand: explaining and addressing the implementation gap in local government

This paper describes the frustrating reality of sustainability implementation in the USA and New Zealand (NZ), an early adopter of sustainability mandates. Local government has a key role in implementation, but has been slow to uptake sustainable practices. We surveyed senior planners in small to medium-sized local government agencies in both countries to identify which features of local government support (or hinder) sustainability in practice.

Environmentally sustainable practices are not well entrenched in either country. In the USA, the framing of sustainability and public support are significant predictors of implementation. However, sustainability is rarely a priority. In NZ, local government capacity is the main driver of implementation. We recommend that planners promote sustainability values, reconcile economic development goals with sustainability (e.g., green economy model), and translate public support for sustainability into institutional priorities. NZ localities also need increased capacity and US localities need continued Federal and State support.     

Sense and sustainability: The case of the Slow City movement

Abstract

In this article I draw on recent anthropological literature on the senses to propose a novel approach to sustainable local development. I suggest that attention to how the senses are engaged in both discourses concerning and corporeal experiences of sustainable urban development, can produced insights into how these processes operate. In developing the discussion I draw from examples from ethnographic research in British member towns of the Cittàslow (Slow City) movement.     

Local Institutional Development and Organizational Change for Advancing Sustainable Urban Water Futures

This paper presents the local institutional and organizational development insights from a five-year ongoing interdisciplinary research project focused on advancing the implementation of sustainable urban water management. While it is broadly acknowledged that the inertia associated with administrative systems is possibly the most significant obstacle to advancing sustainable urban water management, contemporary research still largely prioritizes investigations at the technological level. This research is explicitly concerned with critically informing the design of methodologies for mobilizing and overcoming the administrative inertia of traditional urban water management practice. The results of fourteen in-depth case studies of local government organizations across Metropolitan Sydney primarily reveal that (i) the political institutionalization of environmental concern and (ii) the commitment to local leadership and organizational learning are key corporate attributes for enabling sustainable management. A typology of five organizational development phases has been proposed as both a heuristic and capacity benchmarking tool for urban water strategists, policy makers, and decision makers that are focused on improving the level of local implementation of sustainable urban water management activity. While this investigation has focused on local government, these findings do provide guideposts for assessing the development needs of future capacity building programs across a range of different institutional contexts.     

Towards a framework for assessing the sustainability of local economic development based on natural resources: honeybush tea in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Despite the popularity of local economic development (LED) as a job creation and economic growth strategy in South Africa, many LED projects have not proved to be sustainable in the long-run, especially where human systems interact with biological ones. This article examines the relationship between sustainability and LED within the context of the emerging honeybush tea industry in the Eastern Cape. Data were gathered from provincial as well as local government policy documents and reports, and via key informant interviews. The data were analysed using Connelly’s [(2007). Mapping sustainable development as a contested concept. Local Environment, 12 (3), 259–278] three pronged approach to sustainable development as a lens through which to view the local industry. Findings showed that the industry offers many opportunities for development, including job creation in poorer, rural households; sustainable wild harvesting using a permit system; commercial cultivation; potential to develop social capital; potential for community-based LED; and product diversification. However, there are also corresponding challenges: There is currently no reliable data on the maximum sustainable yield, which is needed to guide quota allocations for entrepreneurial harvesters harvesting from wild stocks; possible biodiversity loss; and enforcing the permit scheme is proving difficult in remote rural areas.     

Economic instruments for sustainable community development

Abstract

In recent years there has been increasing interest in the use of so‐called ‘economic instruments’ in environmental policy. Economic instruments influence the behaviour of economic agents by providing financial incentives for environmentally improved behaviour, or disincentives for damaging behaviour. This paper explores the use of economic instruments in the field of sustainable community planning and development. It does so in the wider context of how environmental economic policy is made. The focus of this paper is to examine the role of policy instruments in community planning, and to review the different types of instruments that are available to policy‐makers. Numerous examples of the various instruments at the community level are described. It is widely believed that policy making should occur at the lowest or most local level possible while maintaining effectiveness. A system of government that does not give adequate legal power to local governments, and does not allow local governments considerable flexibility in the use of funds, cannot be expected to achieve all community objectives. Central governments must give local governments permission to take measures towards sustainable community planning, even though that requires giving them power to address broader issues. At the same time, when issues that should be addressed at national and international levels are not addressed, local governments may be able to take action individually. Given the general reluctance (and perhaps inability) of governments at all levels today to consider non‐economic and, particularly, non‐market policy instruments, it is pragmatic as well as timely to improve our understanding of economic instruments for sustainable community development.     

A tale from the Island of Laputa: The UNCHS (Habitat) crowding and health project from the perspective of two reluctant Laputans

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore Canada's response to the global dialogue over sustainable development on two dimensions: policy articulation at the federal and provincial levels and policy implementation at the municipal level. In order to accomplish these goals, this analysis begins by outlining a critical framework for understanding and assessing local sustainable development. Next, it examines the evolution of Canadian federal and provincial policies supportive of sustainable development, including the role played by non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) in enhancing this process. It then contrasts the Canadian promise and experience with that of the USA. In analysing local responses to the call for sustainable communities, it offers a case study of the Hamilton‐Wentworth Vision 2020 sustainable community programme—a North American showcase of sustainable community initiatives.     

Strategies for Rebuilding Closer Links between Local Indigenous Communities and Their Customary Fisheries in Aotearoa/New Zealand

There is a growing recognition that knowledge of indigenous communities, based on accumulated observations and experience over time, is significant for sustainable environmental management in collaboration with modern scientific knowledge. A number of innovative policy initiatives are currently being implemented in New Zealand to enable indigenous Maori tribes and sub-tribes to rehabilitate and manage their local fisheries in accordance with customary values and practices. These policies are an important milestone from an historical perspective as they are meant to recognise and empower the role of Maori as Treaty partners. The fisheries management regime in New Zealand now provides for Maori representation at the local level within a co-management framework that enables local Maori communities to exercise their customary rights. These institutional arrangements have been crafted to facilitate Maori input, based on customary values and practices, to complement modern Western management practices for sustainable harvesting of marine resources. Nevertheless, the degree to which these initiatives constitute an adequate response to Maori Treaty aspirations is debatable. A major constraint in this respect is that the government is compelled to recognise the needs of other, economically and politically more dominant, non-Maori user-groups in allocating and managing access to fishery resources and the marine environment.     

Occupational Entropy and Mind Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development

Abstract

A concept of occupational entropy is developed and related to the efficient use of mental (cognitive, emotional, and moral) resources and capacities. The corresponding “mind” indicators and pertinent response actions have proven essential for monitoring the state and projecting the behavior changes toward energy sustainability, as well as sustainable development in general.     

Access and Local Government Research: Methodological Reflections

Abstract

This methodological paper draws on research from Australia to examine the question of gaining access to local governments in undertaking work on natural resource management. It is argued that a range of macro-level changes have impacted on the local government sector in Australia, and these changes have rendered access problematic for researchers. These changes include an expansion of local government roles, an increase in financial pressure within the sector, a proliferation of audit measures across local governments and a low level of respect amongst local government personnel for academics and academic work. The paper concludes by identifying the reasons why understanding access in qualitative research on local government and environmental sustainability is important.     

Fostering Sustainability in Headwaters Country: Using Bioregional and Social Capital Strategies in Support of Sustainability

Abstract

Many of Canada's ex-urban and rural areas face a daunting array of sustainability challenges. In developing effective sustainability strategies, these areas must rely heavily upon local resources and capacities and existing social capital. Part of the solution for these areas may lie in multi-stakeholder collaborative approaches built on sustainability principles and strategies. These include the engagement and mobilization of civil society networks; the cultivation of strategic partnerships among key stakeholders in civil society, the private sector and government; and long-term local programmes of research, education and advocacy that are supportive of sustainability. This article describes and analyses a Canadian case study—Dufferin County, part of the Headwaters Country region in southern Ontario—in which a multi-stakeholder, civil society based approach to fostering sustainability is currently unfolding. The ideological and theoretical underpinnings of the initiative are explored, key process-oriented and substantive challenges to the approach are analysed and action research strategies are discussed.