Evaluating Public Participation Mechanisms in LA21 Programs in Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 76-83
Author(s):  
Hardev Kaur Latchimanan Singh ◽  
Shamsinar Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Local Agenda 21

Objective - The role of local government in LA21 is important in order to harness local level participation. In Malaysia, as in many other countries, the need to engage the public in sustainable development issues has shifted the focus to more decentralized and bottom up approaches in harnessing public participation in achieving sustainable development. This means that local authorities as the leading partners in LA21 need to work with the local community and the private sector to develop community action plans for sustainability under Local Agenda 21(LA21). Thus, the overall goal of the study is to determine how participation can best be implemented in LA21 programmes in selective councils by evaluating the key participatory mechanisms that have been employed by the councils. Methodology/Technique - This is a qualitative study that was conducted on four specific councils in West and East Malaysia to determine the effectiveness of the participatory mechanisms used in LA21 programs. The main methods of data collection were through the use of semi-structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis. Findings - The overall conclusion is that the councils were still using the conventional methods to encourage public participation and hence were not able to enhance public participation in the LA21 program. Novelty - The study will not only create a framework for local councils intending to implement a bottom-up approach to participation but also establish a base-line description of participatory mechanisms in LA21 programmes to encourage further research in this area of evolving LA21 research. Type of Paper: Empirical Keywords: Public Participation; Participatory Mechanisms; Local Government; Local Agenda 21; Sustainable Development. JEL Classification: H83, Q01.

Local Agenda 21 and Culture: Lessons from the Czech Republic

2011 ◽  
pp. 83-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oldřich Hájek ◽  
Jiří Novosák ◽  
Pavel Bednář
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Local Culture ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Local Agenda 21

Sustainable development represents one of the leading concepts of modern society. On the local level, sustainable development principles are implemented by Local Agenda 21 (LA 21), the most influential output of the 1992 Earth Summit. Although culture is not explicitly mentioned in its definitions of sustainable development, there are close links between culture, on one side, and the economic, social, and ecological dimensions of sustainable development, on the other. Culture is an important factor of social cohesion and economic development, and culturally led urban and rural regeneration projects may have also positive ecological impacts. Moreover, the efforts to maintain local culture may be the main impetus in accepting the LA 21 principles in culturally rich communities. This article assesses the importance of culture in the LA 21 implementation process, with two municipalities from the Czech Republic as case studies. Findings point to complex links between LA 21 and culture. Uherské Hradiště is a culturally rich city that is progressive in the LA 21 implementation process; however, our findings show that LA 21 and culture live independent lives in planning processes. Zděchov tells a completely different story of the relationship between culture and LA 21: here, local culture has become the leitmotif of the LA 21 implementation process. The goal to maintain and develop local culture has been the prime motivation behind the decision to accept the LA 21 principles. The case studies share several common characteristics. In both cases, LA 21 has stimulated public interest in both municipalities, and ever more local actors are getting involved in the LA 21 implementation process. A combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches has been applied in this process. LA 21 is also perceived as a good brand for project management, and may be an incentive for innovations in strategic planning.

scholarly journals Local Agenda 21 and sustainable development: The case of Harran, Turkey

Urbani izziv ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 144-153
Author(s):  
Reyhan Genli Yiğiter ◽  
Funda Yirmibeşoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
Local Agenda 21

Community Based Eco Cultural Heritage Tourism for Sustainable Development in the Asian Region

2012 ◽  
pp. 347-363
Author(s):  
G. Poyya Moli
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Mass Tourism ◽  
Asian Region ◽  
Local Agenda 21 ◽  
Local Livelihoods ◽  
Cultural Heritage Tourism

Tourism has emerged as one of the world’s largest industries and a fast growing economic sector. The Asian region attracts a growing number of quality-conscious tourists as it is endowed with a rich bio-cultural/heritage diversity. However, the diversity and integrity of many Asian tourist destinations have been severely eroded or irreversibly damaged due to ill-conceived, poorly planned, and under-regulated mass tourism and other human activities, increasing the conflicts between conservation and local livelihoods. Fortunately, the newly emerging community-based eco-cultural heritage tourism (CBECHT) can be effectively used in the region for achieving the objectives of sustainable development by integrating pro-poor tourism approaches. Such approaches are strongly promoted and supported by several international organizations as well as Local Agenda 21. This article provides a broad conceptual framework for this approach and evaluates the potentials and constraints for evolving and implementing such strategies in the region with their policy/planning implications.

scholarly journals Dissemination of Environmental Information and its Effects on Stakeholders’ Decision-Making: A Comparative Study between Swedish and Polish Municipalities

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-47
Author(s):  
Anna Cregård ◽  
Iwona Sobis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Development Economic ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
Positive Effects

Abstract According to Action Agenda 21, which was adopted at the Rio Conference in 1992, sustainable development is a major objective for local and global development. Economic growth, good living conditions, and protection of the earth’s natural environment are important to all people in the world. This article focuses on one aspect of sustainable development, i.e. on environmental sustainability. Research shows that local government can take a leading position in protecting the natural environment and disseminating information on it among stakeholders. However, our knowledge about the dissemination of environmental information practices among stakeholders is limited. The purpose of this research is to fill a gap in current knowledge, to describe and compare the practical work with dissemination of such information among stakeholders in Swedish and Polish municipalities. The questions to be answered are: What environmental information is collected and produced by the local government ? At what stakeholders is such information targeted ? and What effects does it have on decision-making by stakeholders in the investigated municipalities ? The study is based on state regulations, the homepages of municipal offices, and policy documents, official reports, and semi-structured interviews with key managers responsible for the protection of the natural environment in the studied municipalities. Data were collected from late 2015 to early 2017. This research indicates that dissemination of environmental information has a positive effect on the decision-making of internal stakeholders. In both countries, the municipal authorities follow the EU recommendations, resulting in innovative work and growing environmental awareness among the municipal authorities, the residents, and other stakeholders. Improvement of the natural environment is perceived as “a must” for the future. Nonetheless, especially larger municipalities face challenges because the production and dissemination of environmental information is time-consuming. In the long run, however, surprisingly positive effects on the local protection of the natural environment appear.

scholarly journals On the Design of a Youth-Led, Issue-Based, Crowdsourced Global Monitoring Framework for the SDGs

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6839
Author(s):  
Sharada Prasanna Mohanty ◽  
Rajiv Ramaswamy ◽  
Anantha Kumar Duraiappah
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Community Learning ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Societal Problem ◽  
Monitoring Framework ◽  
Development Goals

In this paper, we propose a novel methodology and design to contribute towards the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by member states of the United Nations for a better and more sustainable future for all. We particularly focus on achieving SDG 4.7—using education to ensure all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development. We describe the design of a crowdsourced approach to monitor issues at a local level, and then use the insights gained to indicate how learning can be achieved by the entire community. We begin by encouraging local communities to identify issues that they are concerned about, with an assumption that any issue identified will fall within the purview of the 17 SDGs. Each issue is then tagged with a plurality of actions taken to address it. Finally, we tag the positive or negative changes in the issue as perceived by members of the local community. This data is used to broadly indicate quantitative measures of community learning when solving a societal problem, in turn telling us how SDG 4.7 is being achieved. The paper describes the design of a unique, youth-led, technology-based, bottom-up approach, applicable to communities across the globe, which can potentially ensure transgressive learning through participation of and monitoring by the local community leading to sustainable development.

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