Box 37B Local Agenda 21

The important role of cities in achieving sustainable development has been recognised at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). Agenda 21, which commits 179 signatory states to a common programme of actions, assigns to cities the special task of developing Local Agenda 21. Chapter 28 sets the target that, by the year 1996, the majority of local authorities will have initiated a consultative process for developing an Agenda 21 for the community.

The development of Local Agenda 21 is an exploratory process of the opportunities for sustainable development at the local level (see, eg, ICLEI, 1993). Four main elements characterise this process: