Local Agenda 21

What is Local Agenda 21?

Agenda 21 is the agenda for the 21st Century agreed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It included proposals for every local authority to produce its own agenda for local sustainable development: Local Agenda 21 or LA21.

At the Earth Summit, more than 50 countries signed a commitment to Agenda 21. Most of the actions required to put this concept into real effect involve local government and councils across the United Kingdom have initiated Local Agenda 21 processes to encourage sustainable development at a local level.

What is sustainable development?

"Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable – to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." - Our Common Future, The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987.

"In this definition, the emphasis is on development which meets human needs, which does not damage natural resources and that takes the long term implications fully into account. ‘Sustainability’ is similar, but usually has less emphasis on development and more on environmental management." - Changing Places, Diane Warburton, 1999.

Key themes of sustainable development

Sustainable development aims to bring about patterns of development that in the long term will both improve the environment and the lives of all people. Not only is it about preserving the natural environment but it is also about our health, our employment opportunities, our access to local shops and services, the quality of our transport systems and our sense of community. In effect, it is about our whole way of life.

The UK Sustainable Development Strategy (1998) describes four key 'objectives' which should all be pursued at the same time if sustainable development is to be reached:

• Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone.
  
  
• Equip people with the skills to fulfil their potential.
• Improve the health of the population overall.
• Reduce the proportion of unfit housing stock.
• Reduce both crime and fear of crime.

• Effective protection of the environment.
  
  
• Continue to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases now and plan for greater reductions in the longer term.
• Reduce air pollution and ensure air quality continues to improve through the longer term.
• Reduce the need to travel and improve choice of transport.
• Improve river quality.
• Reverse the long term decline in populations of farmland and woodland birds.
• Re-use previously developed land, in order to protect the countryside and encourage urban regeneration.

• Prudent use of natural resources.
  
  
• Move away from disposal of waste and towards waste minimisation, reuse, recycling and recovery.
• Maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.
  
  
• Ensure that the economy continues to grow.
• Invest in modern plant and machinery, as well as in research and development, which is vital to future prosperity.
• Maintain high and stable levels of employment, so everyone can share greater job opportunities.

Local Agenda 21 in Medway

Local Agenda 21 in Medway is being taken forward in four main areas:

• Increasing community participation in decision making through LA21 community forums.
• Setting up an internal environmental management system to assist the council in managing its own environmental performance.
• Ensuring that the issue of sustainability is considered in all aspects of council policy, projects and service delivery, through use of a sustainability checklist and staff training.
• Producing a Medway strategy for sustainable development with partners.

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