The goal of the Local Agenda 21 project’s new phase was to further strengthen the institutional capacity and raise awareness at the authorities and public level regarding the adopting and introducing the principles of sustainable development within the local and county development strategies and action plans in furhter 3 cities and 1 county: Constanta, Medgidia, Gura Humorului, and Brasov County.
With the purpose of developing the institutional capacity of the selected local authorities, LA21 offices have been established in each location. The establishment of the participative mechanisms at the local level succeeded through informing the local civil society about the project and organizing public debates that contributed to the finalization of the three documents essential for implementing the LA21: the local strategy for sustainable development and the local action plan, and the portfolio of priority projects.
A new element of this phase consisted in the support offered by UNDP and NCSD to the local authorities in the preparation of the documents for the Concession of the water supply/waste water treatment system in the city of Medgidia.
All in all, the fourth phase of the LA21 project confirmed the need to further implement the LA21 process in Romania, based on the good practice examples gathered so far in elaborating the Local Agendas and on the positive results of the projects carried out under this umbrella.