|
UN Agenda 21 and its ties to the local communities I was seeking information to unequivocally tie the local visioning process to the larger Agenda 21 plan so I could demonstrate it to our local "facilitators." This is the response I got... Quite enlighening. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael O'Callaghan" <moc@global-vision.org To: Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 9:11 AM Subject: re: Information please http://www.global-vision.org/index2.html Mr. O'Callaghan I desperately need some information. I am seeking clarification on an issue and there is no small matter of dispute in our community over it. I am seeking to clarify whether or not terms that Agenda 21 uses such as sustainable development and visioning and other terms originated at the U.N. or one of the conferences or did these terms come into use by the U.N. from some other quarter. And I am seeking the tie between Agenda 21 from the Rio U.N. summit to the local community 'visioning' processes that are going on in counties here in Arkansas. Perhaps that would help more than anything in clearing up the ambiguousness. If you would not be the person to answer these questions, could you please refer me to the person(s) who could? I would be most grateful! This would help clear up a lot of confusion if you could help me out with that. Thanks for responding, Charlene Sanders Hot Springs, Arkansas Garland County, charlie@hsnp.com Dear Charlene The term "sustainable development" was originally coined by the Brundtland Commission, a body set up by the UN and headed by the then Prime Minister of Norway, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland (now head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), to investigate the global environmental situation back around 1990. The Brundtland Commission defined SD as a way of using the Earth's resources to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, warned that Humankind's current overconsumption is on a collision course with the carrying capacity of the planetary ecosystem, and called for a global summit to discuss solutions. This was the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) also known as the Earth Summit, which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In 1991, at the invitation of Secretariat for the UN Conference on Environment and Development, ICLEI presented a draft of Chapter 28 of Agenda 21 including the mandate for all local authorities to prepare a "local Agenda 21." Following the adoption of the LA21 at the Earth Summit, ICLEI began organizing to ensure that this mandate would be used to advance sustainable development. In particular, ICLEI was concerned that LA21 processes be truly participatory and that they result in new commitments by municipalities and their communities to improve and extend urban services in a sustainable way. To address these concerns, ICLEI established a Local Agenda 21 Initiative with three elements. Local Agenda 21 Model Communities Programme The Local Agenda 21 Model Communities Programme (MCP) was a research and development project which supported a select group of municipalities to design, test, and evaluate planning frameworks for sustainable development. These local frameworks were guided by a general ICLEI framework called "Strategic Services Planning" which addresses many of the organizational and institutional problems related to governance and public sector service delivery in the sustainable development context. The LA21 MCP established the guiding principles for LA21 planning and tested a variety of participatory planning tools. The experiences of the MCP participants resulted in the publication, in English, Spanish, and now Turkish, of the ICLEI Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide: An Introduction to Sustainable Development Planning in 1996 (available from ICLEI's web store at http://mail.iclei.org/store1/index.ihtml). This guide is being increasingly used in university and local government institute training courses around the world. Local Agenda 21 Campaign With the creation of its Local Agenda 21 Campaign, ICLEI has positioned itself in the growing LA21 movement--which presently counts more than 2,000 communities involved--as a developer and promoter of standards for LA21 planning. The mission of the Local Agenda 21 Campaign is to build a worldwide movement of local governments and associations dedicated to achieving sustainable development through participatory, multistakeholder sustainable development planning and the implementation of resulting LA21 action plans. The LA21 Campaign is designed to generate tangible results and increase standards of local performance. Cities in the LA21 Campaign make a formal commitment (endorsement of ICLEI's Local Agenda 21 Declaration, the Aalborg Charter, or other equivalent regional charters) to undertake broadly based participatory planning processes that aim at achieving sustainable development in their communities. Municipal councils commit to completing five milestones that gauge the progress of the participants in meeting the campaign objectives. LA21 Campaign Milestones 1. Establish a multi-sector stakeholder group to oversee the LA21 process, consisting of representatives from all sectors of the community, that will be formally involved in the development and implementation of all actions aiming at the achievement of the LA21 Campaign milestones. 2. With the active participation of the LA21 stakeholder group, complete a sustainability audit considering social, economic, and environmental conditions and trends in the community. 3. Complete a sustainable community vision for the future, based on community review of the audit and assessment of priorities. 4. Implement an LA21 action plan, identifying clear goals, priorities, measurable targets, roles and responsibilities, funding sources, and work activities. 5. Establish community-based monitoring and annual evaluation and community progress reporting on performance in achieving the LA21 action plan, using locally appropriate indicators. The overall LA21 Campaign has gained considerable momentum over the past two years, broadening its programmatic and geographic impact, particularly through the implementation of three international projects: the Local Agenda 21 Incentive Grants Project, the African Sustainable Cities Network, and the Local Agenda 21 Charters Project. These projects involve cities and stakeholder groups in Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America. In Europe, ICLEI's International Training Centre (ITC) is organizing conferences on LA21 and seminars at the national and international level. ICLEI is involved in the European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign including nearly 500 participating municipalities who have signed the Aalborg Charter. Parallel with the regional networks, ICLEI is establishing a system for monitoring progress in implementing LA21 action plans worldwide. Local Agenda 21 Declaration ICLEI also developped with participating municipalities, the Local Agenda 21 Declaration. This declaration consists of a set of milestones and principles which are formally adopted by local councils as their standard for LA21 planning. In 1998, ICLEI directly assisted more than 180 municipalities in the establishment of LA21 planning and projects that are consistent with the declaration's standards. To find out more about ICLEI, visit their website at http://www.iclei.org Hope this is useful! Good luck Michael O'Callaghan President Global Vision Corporation This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml] |