Benefits of the LEADER method for Local Agenda 21 – Case study from their application in the Czech Republic

The basic characteristic and comparison of the community-led local development tools: Local Agenda 21, used in public administration generally, and of the LEADER method, used within Local Action Groups (LAGs), is presented in this paper. It analyses their application in the Czech Republic. It discusses the potential synergistic effects of the application of these tools in two rural locations – the areas of two towns (Chrudim and Litomerice), which are leaders in the application of Local Agenda 21 in the Czech Republic. Both towns are members of LAGs – LAG Chrudimsko and LAG Ceske Stredohori. This combination of Local Agenda 21 and LEADER method are mutually supportive. The conclusion discusses recommendations for the improvement of community-led development.

What is the current state of geoparticipation in Czech municipalities?

The active involvement of citizens in decision-making processes via geoparticipatory spatial tools is becoming a popular research field among geographers, GIScientists, environmental psychologists, political scientists and many others. This paper presents the idea of the Index of geoparticipation – an indicator-based index divided into three dimensions (communication, participation, transparency) that helps to evaluate the state of geoparticipation among Czech municipalities. It describes the current state of geoparticipation at the municipality level in Czechia. It aims to fill the research gap in finding which components of geoparticipation at the municipality level are being used, and how their use is affected by the size of municipalities and their membership of Local Agenda 21 networks. The paper builds upon an extensive dataset collected by the authors from all Czech municipalities (n=6 258) and presents various “shades” of geoparticipation in Czechia. Highlights for public administration, management and planning: • The highest average values of the Index of geoparticipation were obtained from the regions’ capital cities, followed by statutory cities, municipalities with extended powers, municipalities which are members of the Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic (HCCZ) network and cities. • HCCZ member municipalities use geoparticipatory tools significantly more than the rest of the Czech municipalities • The communication dimension is the most widely implemented pillar of the Index of geoparticipation • There is no significant relationship between social exclusion and geoparticipation at the nationwide level

Analysis of the Local Agenda 21 in Madrid Compared with Other Global Actions in Sustainable Development

Over the last two decades, numerous towns have been involved in the Local Agenda 21 program in Spain, which is founded on social participation. In the wake of this initiative, the recent promotion of the new Spanish Urban Agenda by the national government seeks to implement the 2030 Agenda in municipalities nationwide. This research aims to examine the Local Agenda 21 process by using Madrid as a case study to determine the lessons learned to enable the effective application of the new Spanish Urban Agenda. A total of 3712 activities included in the action plans of the 21 districts of Madrid were analyzed to identify linkages with the Sustainable Development Goals and the targets of Sustainable Development Goal # 11 (“Sustainable cities and communities”). Methodologies used were solely oriented to develop an ad hoc Local Agenda 21 plan for each district, hindering the comparison of schemes and findings. Social, institutional, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development were not equally considered by the plans, being the first two aspects the most predominant. Social engagement hardly reached 0.44% of the registered population. The contribution of all action plans to the sustainable development of Madrid was not assessed due to the absence of indicators in the program.

Potential risks and some of solutions for implementing LA 21 in Lithuania

Lithuania together with Latvia and Estonia are the countries considered to be a common Baltic Sea Region due to similar economical and political situation formed in the course of history during the Soviet occupation. All three East Baltic States are currently undergoing remarkable political, economical, socio- cultural changes, which started after the Independence has been regained. Although Local Agenda 21 has already been developed for a large number of cities in the Baltic Sea Region, Lithuania hasn't Agenda 21 strategy at the national level and its experience with Agenda's 21 implementation is very limited. In May, I 999, Zvejone (Environmental Club, part of Lithuanian Green Movement) has started project "Agenda's 21 activities in Lithuania" which lately concluded that despite various documents, resolutions, and action plans for implementation of Agenda 21 in Lithuania, almost nothing concrete is done at the national level and there is no national policy on Agenda 21 in Lithuania. Only two cities in Lithuania, Kaunas and Klaipeda, are participating in international cooperation projects and preparing together with international partners Local Agendas 21 for their cities. In general the LA21 knowledge is at quite low level. One of the reasons of that is that the authorities and citizens did not receive sufficient information about the Rio documents since the these documents were not in time translated and published. There is lack of training officials who are working to implement sustainable development strategies at local level. Ministry of Environmental Protection does not provide with guidelines for local level.