The First National Forum on Sustainable Development

10-12 April 2002, Miercurea Ciuc

The organization of the first National Forum for Sustainable Development was a special achievement in the pilot phase of the LA 21 project. It succeeded thanks to the joint efforts of the National Centre for Sustainable Development, and of the Romanian Federation of Local Authorities, with the help of UNDP and of the Miercurea Ciuc City Hall.

The Forum took place under the high auspices of the President of Romania,  Ion Iliescu, and enjoyed important national and international support. The Forum was attended the President of Romania, Jonathan Scheele, Chief of the Delegation of the European Commission in Romania, Enrico Grillo Pasquarelli, Chief Negotiator for Romania of the European Commission, Jesus Atienza, Ambassador of Spain to Romania, Ben Slay, Director RBEC - Regional Support Center Bratislava, Denny Robertson and Jim Gordon of USAID, and Keith Withmore from the Council of Europe.

A meeting of the steering committee of the Romanian Federation of Local Authorities (RFLA) and of the Association of Municipalities of Romania (AMR) took place on the first day of the Forum.

The main discussion points of the Forum were:
- Sustainable development should increasingly become a concept that underpins all governmental actions at all levels; the LA 21 can be a successful instrument to that end;
- The accomplishment of Local Agenda 21 should be anchored in local reality;
- The early experience of LA21 has been positive and the process needs to be expanded;
- The need to integrate individual projects according to the objectives of strategic planning; for that purpose the role of different agencies of the goverment has to be better defined (the increasing role of operational management demands an enhanced input of information technology);
- The need to assess the available public/private resources and to identify the best solution for the completion of the agreed projects.

The main results of the Forum:
-  The participation of around 250 important national and local stakeholders in the Forum debates on the sustainable development of municipalities in Romania provided an opportunity for a serious discussion on Romania’s integration in the European Union;
- The signing of a Joint Declaration of the National Centre for Sustainable Development and of the Romanian Federation of Local Authorities;
- A cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Public Administration, the Ministry of Waters and Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Housing, and the United Nations Development Programme in Romania.

All in all, the successful implementation of the first phase of the LA 21 project was the key argument in expanding the project to further locations and advancing to higher phases.

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