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Local Agenda 21 |
Sustainable development (SD) is no more a mere
idea and theoretical principle. It is quite a practical thing. Many
countries and cities world-wide and in the Baltic Sea Region in
particular implement their development purposefully, basing on
sustainability principles.
One
of the characteristic features of cities in Latvia is that in lieu of Local Agenda
21, environmental strategies and action plans have been developed
that attempt to also include the broader aspects of
SD. This phenomenon finds its roots in the fact that
initiators of the LA 21 process (typically municipal environmental
departments), to date, have not received strong political support
and thus meaningful input from other municipal sectors and
stakeholders in the community has been limited. Consequently, not
only has community consensus not been achieved but limited
integration of environmental, social and economic development issues
in municipal policies exists.
In
the last several years, the City of
Riga
has undertaken many initiatives to incorporate the concept of SD
into the city's operations as well as the behaviour and attitudes of
Riga
inhabitants. This process is only just beginning, and
Riga's biggest challenge has been fostering a
participatory and transparent policy-making environment.
There
are a number of problems creating barriers to sustainable
development. Those more important are mentioned
below:
-
lack of
co-operation between public, municipality, interest
groups
-
insufficient
public education and level of environmental
awareness
-
insufficient
involvement of public in solving environmental
problems
-
shortage
of regular targeted information about
environment
-
lack of
experience and the resources
The
integration of sustainability issues into sectoral planning and
decision-making in Riga is limited and governance often takes the
traditional command-and-control form.
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Introduction
