The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide - Democrats Against UN ...

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The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide stakeholders that different communities have involved in planning. In general, the creation of a dedicated structure or “Stakeholder Group” to coordinate and oversee stakeholder involvement in planning is an important first step in any sustainable development planning effort. Typically, the first task of such a Stakeholder Group is to formulate a Community Vision which describes the community’s ideal future and expresses a local consensus about the fundamental preconditions for sustainability. 1.3.3 COMMUNITY-BASED ISSUE ANALYSIS Involving local communities in the analysis of development and related service issues is essential to the optimal solution of problems. Municipal investments are more likely to succeed and win public support if they are responsive to the articulated needs, concerns, and preferences of service users. Service strategies can also benefit from the knowledge and resources that local residents and institutions can themselves contribute to solving problems. At the same time, the process of issue analysis can be used to educate stakeholders about technical conditions and constraints for service delivery, such as ecosystem carrying capacities or financial constraints. Community-based issue analysis typically involves two components. First, a process is established to gather and discuss the knowledge and wisdom of local residents about local conditions. Second, technical assessments are undertaken to provide stakeholders with further information that may not readily be available to them. Popular knowledge and technical research are then reviewed together by the stakeholders. Using this information, they aim to establish a consensus about local problems. Community-based issue analysis provides two additional benefits. First, the process can help the local community to establish priorities for action. As resources are very limited in most communities and not all problems can be effectively addressed at the same time, priority-setting can be very important for the success of local action plans. The combined use of technical assessments and participatory issue analysis also permits the community to establish “baseline” data and indicators against which progress and future changes in conditions can be measured. 1.3.4 ACTION PLANNING Following the identification and analysis of priority service issues, partners can begin the process of creating Action Plans. The action planning process has three basic components: • Action Goals: Action goals are the specific aims that the community wishes to strive towards to achieve its vision for the future. They should translate the Community Vision into focused directives and resource allocation priorities. They are used to guide organizations, experts, or professional staff to develop specific programs, and in this way they serve as an intermediate step between a Community Vision statement and specific measurable targets for improvement of conditions related to sustainability. • Targets and Triggers: After action goals are established, professional staff should work with stakeholders to define specific targets to be achieved within specified time frames. Planning efforts benefit greatly from the establishment of concrete targets. These targets permit managers to evaluate both the adequacy of actions being taken and the progress made http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/448-2/ (16 of 180)18/10/2010 12:47:23 AM
The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide in implementing an Action Plan. Triggers are unique forms of targets. They are agreed-upon future conditions that trigger further action by stakeholders when addressing a problem. For example, a community with air pollution problems may not be able to agree at present to establish restrictions on private automobile use, but they could agree that when local roadway use reaches a certain level they will institute a system of road pricing, such as toll collection. • Action Strategies and Commitments: It is essential that an Action Plan specifies the action strategies and commitments of different stakeholders in order for them to work as partners in achieving the different objectives of an Action Plan. Action strategies and commitments should be very precise and contain specific projects, time schedules for implementation, and commitments to allocate money, time, and human resources. Ideally, these action strategies will include commitments by service users to contribute to implementation. It is recommended that action strategies be designed to commence immediately. This is especially important because the sustainable development planning process will inevitably raise community expectations for action and change. 1.3.5 IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING The implementation of partnership-based Action Plans requires adjustments in standard operating procedures and, oftentimes, some institutional reorganization. Pre-existing administrative procedures, divisions of responsibility among municipal departments, contract arrangements, and other practices must be adjusted to allow for the active participation of service users and partner institutions in the implementation of an Action Plan. While the municipality institutes internal reforms to support partnership approaches, external projects and/or service partnerships must be formalized. Agreements that outline the responsibilities and investments of each partner are required, including specific work schedules and methods for ongoing monitoring of work. The Stakeholder Group or municipality may consider it necessary to establish a new organization or institution to coordinate the implementation of certain aspects of an Action Plan. Monitoring begins during the implementation phase; not afterward. Accurate documentation of both implementation activities and their impacts should be kept regularly, in order to allow for the evaluation of action strategies, service approaches, and their impacts on local conditions. Such documentation is extremely valuable, and at times necessary, to identify the causes of problems that arise during the institution of new service approaches. 1.3.6 EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK Monitoring is primarily useful for internal management purposes. Evaluation and feedback are used for both internal and external purposes. It is necessary to maintain accountability among the stakeholder participants in the implementation of an Action Plan. Evaluation and feedback are also used to inform the general public about progress in meeting specific targets, and to signal when the Action Plan must be altered in the face of change. An effective evaluation and feedback system provides regular information to both service providers and users about important changes in local conditions and progress towards targets; with this information, the actors can adjust their own actions and behaviors. Evaluation information is used to guide planning and resource allocation (budgeting) processes so that these processes are kept accountable to the Community Vision and its action objectives. If an Action Plan fails to correct problems or to satisfy prioritized needs, the feedback system triggers further planning or action. In summary, the sustainable development planning approach presented in the Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide is a participatory planning process. It can be used to improve municipal sector performance, to mobilize and focus resources available in a community, and to address the sustainable development challenge at the local level. Since the Guide emphasizes partnership approaches to service delivery, values the concerns of residents and validates their role and contribution in development, and addresses the need to preserve environmental and community systems, it will almost certainly contribute to the implementation of Agenda 21. http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/448-2/ (17 of 180)18/10/2010 12:47:23 AM
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