Local Agenda 21 and the European Experience

Local Agenda 21 may be regarded as one of the most enduring and possibly most effective outcomes of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, and in Europe alone, approximately 4.000 cities, municipalities at regional and local level, and regional authorities are now engaged in a Local Agenda 21 process of some kind. This paper reports on the main findings of the recent LASALA project which conducted a Europewide research programme into the European LA21 initiative. Th research demonstrates the significant levels of commitment to th LA21 process amongst European local government, and the high levels of achievement towards LA21 goals within a very short space of time. Although there is still a long way to go, the LASALA research indicates that LA21 is an effective policy vehicle for encouraging and supporting sustainable development initiatives at the local level in Europe.