Sustainable Communities in Europe

THIS BOOK IS the final report of the SUSCOM (Sustainable Communities in Europe) project, and provides the reader with Local Agenda 21 (LA21) case studies from communities in 11 European countries that are trying to achieve sustainable development at the local level. The primary purpose of the report, produced in preparation for the Earth Summit 2002 in Johannesburg, was to present lessons learned and to point out possible ways forward. Country partners discuss the status of LA21 in their own country and give examples of implementation. Apart from looking at more practical and local aspects, the project also deals with issues with more academic and policy relevance, i.e. matters affecting policy implementation, democracy and participation, and subsidiarity. A common conceptual and analytical framework makes it possible to compare the different experiences systematically, and to get a sense of the particular realities of each country. The final chapter summarizes the most important findings in each case, before drawing some more general conclusions and pointing out policy implications resulting from the project. It concludes with a reflection on the issues of LA21 and subsidiarity, and the relevance of the former for the latter.