Bhutan Road from Rio - National Environment Commission

MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION5b.Creating Capacity forSustainable DevelopmentAt this juncture, it is important toempower Bhutanese with theexpertise to understand the potentialand limits of the environment, as wellas the various options that willenable them to make difficult choiceswhen dealing with such complexissues as climate change andprotecting biodiversityThe importance of creating capacityfor sustainable development is recognizedas a key challenge due to the complexityof achieving sustainable development andthe wide range of inter-disciplinary issues.This means that balanced developmentcalls for a much wider effort not just fromdifferent Government agencies, but fromall other sectors of society as well. In its1990 Paro Resolution, the Kingdom'sleaders declared: "This is an effort whichcan productively involve all levels of oursociety, including the dzongkhag (district)administrations and non-governmentalorganizations, as well as our RoyalGovernment."require scientific, technological,organizational and institutional skills to bedeveloped in the country.UNDP's Capacity 21 project has beeninstrumental in strengthening environmentalmanagement and fosteringeducation, coordination and awarenessabout sustainable development in Bhutan.Under the Capacity 21 project, outreachworkshops were conducted in all 202blocks in all 20 districts between 1996 and2002 and proved useful forums wherelocal people not only determinedemerging environmental threats and issueswithin their communities but also designedmicro-environmental action plans toaddress the more urgent threats. A totalof 950 villages drew up such action plans,including activities as diverse as communitytree plantation and sloping agriculture landtechnology. These Agenda 21 forumsfurther attempted to ensure thatconservation is integrated harmoniouslyinto the process of economicdevelopment.Education, Training andPublic AwarenessAt this juncture, it is important toempower people with the expertise tounderstand the potential and limits of theenvironment, as well as the various optionsthat will enable them to make difficultpolicy choices when dealing with suchcomplex issues as global climate changeand protecting biodiversity. This will alsoAs also noted in Section 4b, the RoyalGovernment is implementing programsthat include environmental concerns in theformal education curriculum as well asnon-formal education. The disseminationof information and knowledge related tothe environment is taking place throughawareness programs that involve theB H U T A N : T H E R O A D F R O M R I O54