Implementing Agenda 21 through Local Agenda 21s

Project Survey Now Online
Canadian local government representatives and community sustainability plan partners are invited to share their professional local sustainable development knowledgeby completing the Implementing Agenda 21 online survey, hosted by ICLEI Canada.

Project Background
An outcome of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), “the Rio Earth Summit,” was Agenda 21, a comprehensive plan for global, national, and local actionon sustainable development. Twenty years later the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), “Rio+20”, is focusing on a “green economy” agenda. The goal of this research project is to help local governments around the world more effectively implement Local Agenda 21s (LA21s ) — or other community sustainability plans — and transition toward a local green economy.  The project focuses on innovative collaborative governance structures, thus contributing to the implementation of global environmental governance agendas and informing future international policy discussions.

Phase 1= Qualitative Research – Completed
The first phase of this project involved three qualitative studies on LA21 structure and outcomes in the Canadian context. In 2010 Amelia Clarke completed the first study entitled Implementing Regional Sustainable Development Strategies: Exploring Structure and Outcomes in Cross-Sector Collaborations for her doctoral studies. In early 2012 Adriane MacDonald completed the second study entitled Community Collaboration for Sustainability: Incentive and Disincentives for Partner Organization Engagement in Collaborative Community Sustainability Strategies. In mid 2012 Allan Taylor finished the third study entitled A Study of Indicators, Domains, and Scoring Methods for use in a Canadian Community Sustainability Indicator Framework.

Phase 2= Quantitative Research – starting Spring 2012
Launched June 2012 at the ICLEI World Congress and at Rio + 20 in Brazil, this phase of the project began with a pilot survey that will be tested in Canada. The final part of this project involves data collection using a survey instrument that will be administered internationally through ICLEI. Results will be released as they are ready, though the project completion is expected in 2014.

Related Materials

• Clarke, A. (2012). Passing Go: Going Beyond the Plan. Ottawa: Federation of Canadian Municipalities. (link to publication in English / link to publication in French)

• Clarke, A. (2012). Key Structural Features for Collaborative Strategy Implementation: A Study of Territorial Sustainable Development Collaborations. Management et Avenir. (article)

• Clarke, A. & MacDonald, A. (2012). Partner engagement for community sustainability: Supporting sustainable development initiatives by reducing friction in the local economy. Ottawa: Sustainable Prosperity. (article)

• Clarke, A., & Fuller, M. (2011). Collaborative Strategic Management: Strategy Formulation and Implementation by Multi-Organizational Cross-Sector Social Partnerships. Journal of Business Ethics, 94(Supplement 1): 85-101. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-0781-5  (journal article / pre-publication version)

• Clarke, A. & Erfan, A. (2007). Regional Sustainability Strategies: A Comparison of Eight Canadian Approaches. Plan Canada,47(3): 15-18. (journal citation /pre-publication version)
  
• Clarke, A. (2010). Implementing Regional Sustainable Development Strategies: Exploring Structure and Outcomes in Cross-Sector Collaborations. Doctoral dissertation. Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Canada: 451. (dissertation)

Related Websites

• UN website on Agenda 21
• UNCSD website
• ICLEI Canada Professional Local Sustainable Development Knowledge Survey

Recipient of 2011-2012 CIGI Collaborative Research Award