ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have focused attention on global, European and national pressures for change and the differing reactions to the developing environment and sustainable development agendas at these different levels. Much of the policy framework generated at these levels of political organisation requires implementation at a local level and thus local government is often at the forefront of this process. However, to view local action as solely consisting of the implementation of policy generated from above would be to underestimate the practices and influence of local authorities. In many countries the experience of local government in fashioning policies and actions and the day-to-day environmental problems that they face has driven them to adopt innovative practices and partnerships with other sectors of the community. Their experiences, and the perceived inadequacies of the policy and resource framework at global, European and national levels, has meant that local authorities are often in the forefront of developing a more coherent approach to environmental issues. Local authorities and their representative organisations have often taken a lead in pressurising and lobbying other levels of government, international organisations and other public-and private-sector bodies to develop sustainable policies.
