The importance of the local level
At the Rio Earth Summit, the United Nations agreed that the best starting point for the achievement of sustainable development is at the local level. In fact, two-thirds of the 2500 action items of Agenda 21 relate to local councils. Each local authority has to draw up its own Local Agenda 21 (LA21) strategy following discussions with its citizens about what they think is important for the area.
LA21 regards sustainable development as a community issue, involving all sections of society, including community groups, businesses, and ethnic minorities. Involvement of the whole society will give everyone the opportunity to participate and will generate a resource of enthusiasm, talent, and expertise, which is vital to achieve sustainable development. Many local authorities have begun schemes of co-operation to allow them to exchange ideas about sustainable development. Groups of local authorities can join together to give themselves a louder voice to influence large companies.
Phases of LA 21 programme in Romania:
The Local Plans for Sustainable Development
One of the primary concerns of National Centre for Sustainable Development is the development and implementation of Local Agenda 21 in Romania.
