Activating Sustainable Development

1
Activating Sustainable Development

• PEEP Course Lecture
• HT 2004
• Lisa Van Well
• The Royal Institute of Technology

2
Squaring the Circle Robinson

• Problems with SD concept
• Vague Purposely so? Diplomats leave undefined
  to be implemented according to local conditions?
• Political compromise?

3
What is Sustainable Development?

• Sustainable development is development that
  meets the needs of the present without
  compromising the ability of future generations to
  meet their own needs.
• Bruntland report World Commission on Environment
  and Development, 1987, p. 43)

4
Another Sustainable Development Definition

• improving the quality of life while living
  within the carrying capacity of supporting
  ecosystems.
• World Conservation Union, UN Environment
  Programme and World Wide Fund for Nature (1991)

5
Local SD interpretation

• Sustainable development is development that
  delivers basic environmental, social and economic
  services to all residents of a community without
  threatening the viability of the natural, built
  and social systems upon which the delivery of
  these services depends
• International Council for Local
  Environmental Initiatives (1994)

6
Squaring the circle Robinson

• SD is Hypocritical
• Easy to use as a label for anything.
• EUs (Sweden) term of sustainable growth
• Difference between growth and development

7
What is development?

• Economic growth?
• Meeting basic needs?
• Improving quality of life?
• Meeting higher infrastructure needs?
• Meeting social, welfare, spiritual needs?

8
Squaring the CircleRobinson

• SD is Delusional?
• SD as an oxymoron? Can we increase industrial
  output 5-10 fold in a sustainable way? Will we
  reach the social carrying capacity before the
  ecological?
• Pursuing the wrong agenda? Focus instead on
  social and political change? Technical fix? Or
  even a more radical agenda?

9
Ecofeminism a more radical approach?

• Life in nature (including human activity) is
  maintained by means of cooperation, mutual care
  and love.
• Holistic and connected view
• Regarding planet as sacred
• Ecology and Feminism Aggressions against women
  likened to aggressions against the environment.

10
Ecofeminism A winning approach?

• Nobel Peace Prize for 2004 Wangari Maathai Green
  Belt movement Holistic approach to SD, including
  democracy, human (womans) rights

11
Activating Sustainable development

• Squaring the circle Robinson
• Make SD an integrative concept
• Go beyond concepts to action
• Technical fixes as complement to political will
• The social constructions of sustainability
• Engaging the community

12
Sustainable Development Integration

• Strong integration is described as the extent to
  which "each separate unit or department subject
  to integration undergoes a process of internal,
  cultural change. Its priorities and working
  methods are modified as it absorbs, and becomes
  genuinely committed to the new "integrating"
  values" Institute for European Environmental
  Policy in London (IEEP )

13
Sustainable Development Integration

• With weak integration "the separate units are
  required simply to refocus their individual
  activities so that they contribute to collective
  objectives. But in doing so they are not required
  to surrender their subject boundaries, nor asked
  completely to subordinate their values,
  objectives and methods" (IEEP 19926)

14
Integration of environmental issues the EU

• Maastricht Treaty in 1993 "Environmental
  protection requirements must be integrated into
  the definition and implementation of other
  Community policies (Treaty of the Union Article
  130R(2))(Emphasis added)

15
National environmental integration

• National forerunners/pioneers
• Netherlands, Sweden, Norway
• -supportive of intl organizations, multilateral
  cooperation
• -consensual/social democratic policy making,
  social planning, intervention
• -traditions of solidarity

16
Regional Integration (administrative)

• Södermanland county New developmental council

17
Beyond concepts to action

• Think globally, act locally
• Each local authority should enter into a dialogue
  with its citizens, local organizations and
  private enterprises and adopt a local Agenda 21
• Earth Summit- Agenda 21 (ch. 28)

18
LA21

• Europe 5292 LA21 in 36 countries (80)
• Africa 151 LA21 in 28 countries
• Asia-Pacific 674 LA21 in 17 countries
• Latin America 119 LA21 in 17 countries
• N. America USA 87, Canada 14
• Middle East 79 LA21 in 13 countries

19
LA 21 in Sweden

• 289 municipalities
• Focus on stakeholder dialogue (citizens and
  businesses), process, integration of environment,
  economy and social aspects

20
Sustainable Seattle non-profit organization

• Waste Reduction and Recycling Program
• Environmental Priorities Project
• Comprehensive plan
• Sustainable Seattle Citizens Initiative
  Voluntary network and civic forum, developed
  local sustainability indicators

21
40 Seattle sustainability indicators Criteria

• Relevant
• Reflect community values
• Attractive to local media
• Statistically measurable
• Logically or scientifically defensible
• Reliable
• Leading and
• Policy-relevant.

22
The European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign

• facilitate mutual support between European cities
  and towns in the design, development and
  implementation of policies towards
  sustainability Local Agenda 21
• http//www.sustainable-cities.org

23
European Sustainable Cities Towns Campaign
project

• Towards A Local Sustainability Profile European
  Common Indicators
• Launched by Environmental Commissioner Margot
  Wallström, 1999

24
Principles of sustainable governance

• Urban Management, including a range of tools for
  managing sustainability
• Policy integration-vertically and horizontally
• Ecosystems thinking, with a social dimension
• Cooperation and Partnership Learning by doing
  and by example, networks
• EUROPEAN SUSTAINABLE CITIES EXPERT GROUP
  ON THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT, MARCH 1996, BRUSSELS

25
European Common SD Indicators Survey method

• Citizen Satisfaction with the Local Community
• Local Contribution to Global Climatic Change
• (and/or local Ecological Footprint)
• Local Mobility and Passenger Transportation
• Availability of Local Public Open Areas and
  Services
• Quality of Local Outdoor Air
• Childrens Journeys to and from School
• Sustainable Management of the Local Authority and
  Local Businesses
• Noise Pollution
• Sustainable Land Use
• Products Promoting Sustainability
• equality and social inclusion , local governance,
  empowerment, democracy, local/global relationship
  , local economy, environmental protection ,
  cultural heritage/quality of the built
  environment

26
Partnerships for SD (WSSD), beyond technical
fixes

• Type I
• Specific commitments between governments

• Type II
• Informal, voluntary commitments between
  multi-stakeholders- governments, businesses,
  industry groups, NGOs and IGOs, etc.

27
Why Type II Partnerships?

• To make a concrete contribution to furthering
  sustainable development
• Improve quality of implementation of
  international agreements for S.D.
• To engage multiple stakeholder responsibility in
  a globalized world
• To complement, not substitute for national action

28
Managing Type II Partnerships

• Partnerships governed and selected by partners
  themselves but within criteria of WSSD
  preparatory process
• Bali Guiding principles
• General Assembly resolution A/RES/56/76
• Voluntary registration with Commission on
  Sustainable Development (CSD)

29
Advantages of Type II Partnerships

• Less time to develop than governmental agreements
• Use non-governmental resources
• Increased credibility
• Increased participation

30
Range of Type II Partnershipstotal as of June
2003 - 232

• Changing Unsustainable Patterns - 9
• Managing Natural Resource Base - 93
• Health Sustainable Development 15
• S.D of Small Island Developing states 17
• S.D. initiatives for Africa - 25
• Sustainable Tourism - 4
• Means of Implementation- 54
• Local Authorities and urbanization - 15

31
The social constructions of sustainability

• Sustainability is inherently problem-driven
  concept, rather than scientific (like climate
  change)
• About values and norms of the type of lifestyles
  we want and attitude to the resources upon which
  these are based.

32
(No Transcript)
33
Engaging the community in SD

• Activating citizens, groups etc.
• Networking for sustainable development
• Local examples?

34
Aalborg Conference

• European Conference on Sustainable Cities
  Towns
• Aalborg, Denmark on 27 May 1994

35
Aalborg 10

• Themes
• Natural common goods
• Consumption and Lifestyle
• Less traffic, better mobility
• Urban Planning and design
• Viable local economy
• Social equity and justice
• Local action for health
• Good governance
• Sustainability management and action
• From global to local

36
City networks in practice

• International association of local governments
  implementing sustainable development
• Local Agenda 21
• City Climate protection campaign