ABSTRACT
Local authorities around the world have accepted the challenge of Agenda 21, and they have done so with a recognition that their performance for sustainability is far from perfect. This chapter presents the proposals and plans for expanding and strengthening the initiative in the coming years. The Local Agenda 21 Initiative, which was launched by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) in 1991, has engendered one of the most extensive follow-up programmes to Agenda 21. In 1993, Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan adopted a civic charter for global environmental protection called the Kanagawa Environment Declaration, as well as a local action plan called Agenda 21 Kanagawa. The ICLEI has established an international research collaboration with 14 local authorities to test and jointly evaluate the methods and tools being used in Local Agenda 21 planning. The ICLEI has focused its efforts since 1992 on supporting the development of the Local Agenda 21 process in developing and transitional countries.
