Services » Corporate and External Affairs

Local Agenda 21 is a process whereby sustainable development within a community is facilitated. The Directorate prepared a Local Agenda 21 Strategy in 2004, which

• has its basis in collaboration and participation;
• respects the social, cultural, economic and environmental needs of the present and future citizens of a community in all its diversity;
• relates that community and its future to the regional, national and international community of which it is a part.

In European terms, the Aalborg Charter is generally held as the model for preparing and implementing a Local Agenda 21 plan. It envisages an eight-step approach:

1. Recognise existing planning and financial frameworks as well as other plans and programmes.
2. Identify systematically, through extensive public consultation, local problems and causes.
3. Prioritise tasks to address these problems.
4. Create a vision of what a sustainable community should be, again based upon an active participatory process.
5. Consider and assess alternatives and scope other strategic options.
6. Adopt a long-term local action plan which includes pre-determined targets.
7. Implement the plan with appropriate allocation of responsibility to key partners.
8. Monitor and evaluate on an on-going basis (Aalborg Charter Part III).

This approach dovetails with the guidelines used to prepare “Imagine Our Future”. The Directorate followed this template in preparing its Local Agenda 21 Strategy.

This approach ties in with the guidelines which were used to prepare “Imagine Our Future”. The Directorate will follow this template in preparing its Local Agenda 21 Strategy.

For further information, contact:

Community and Enterprise Directorate, City Hall, Cork.

Tel: 021 492 4596

Fax: 021 492 4074

e-mail: mailto:dce@corkcity.ie