Greening government11.3 Local Agenda 21 in Sweden: a qualified success?By 1996 all 288 Swedish municipalities had
reported to UNGASS that they had launched a
LA21 process and 70 per cent had adopted an
action plan. Key features:
∗Most had given responsibility for co-ordination
of LA21 to the overall council rather than the
environment department, i.e. LA21 was not
regarded as just about the environment.
∗In 2001 65 per cent had a full or part-time
Agenda 21 co-ordinator, which decreased to
52 per cent in 2004.
∗Initially, there was central government funding
for LA21 activities, but over time central
funding has been reallocated to a massive
local investment programme for ecological
sustainability that has partly taken over the
role of LA21, although activities now have a
more technical focus.∗Public awareness of LA21 is widespread, but
public participation is rather low and
decreasing over time.
∗Activities range from waste and water
management and ‘green purchasing’ to
renewable energy, biodiversity and auditing
systems. More recently, public health and
consumer issues have been included.
∗A core group of 40–60 ‘pioneer’ authorities has
implemented quite radical changes to
infrastructure, resource use and individual
lifestyles; elsewhere the impact is limited, and
there is widespread evidence of waning
interest.Based on Rowe and Fudge ( 2003 ) and Dahlgren
and Eckerberg ( 2005 ).◗ Local Agenda 21
There is enormous potential for planning and integration at the local level,
where there are many examples of individual municipalities implementing
innovative sustainability programmes. An important catalyst was the Local
Agenda 21 (LA21) process, which gained a firm footing in several countries.
Chapter 28ofAgenda21(seeBox8.2)focuses on the local authority role in
implementing sustainable development because it is the level of government
closest to the people. LA21 does not provide a single blueprint to follow,
but it makes two important recommendations: first, that the local author-
ity will take a leading role in planning and facilitating change; secondly,
that sustainable development requires ongoing consultation and partner-
ship with a wide range of actors in the local community. All local govern-
ments were asked to engage in a process of consultation and consensus-
building with their citizens, local organisations and businesses to produce
an LA21 action plan for sustainable development. A 2002 survey found that
over 6,400 municipalities had got involved in LA21 in 113 countries, of which
over 80 percentwereinEurope(Baker 2006 :112;ICLEI 2006 ).
Although there are huge variations in the take-up of LA21 both between
and within countries, overall progress seems rather limited (Lafferty 2001 ).
Nevertheless, there are some exceptions, particularly in Britain and Swe-
den (seeBox11.3). The reasons for the relative success of LA21 in these two
countries seem, in some respects, to be quite different. In Britain, where