Local Environmental Action Research Articles

Local environmental action plans and the `glocalisation' of post-socialist governance: The Macedonian experience

Local Environmental Action Plans (LEAPs) are a useful starting point for the theoretical and empirical unravelling of the global post-Fordist socio-economic drive, within the framework of environmental policy devolution in Transition. Accordingly, this paper aims to identify the interconnected economic, social and political specifities involved in the formulation and institutionalisation of such projects in the Republic of Macedonia. Seven LEAPs - broadly representative of the immense micro-scale physical and social diversity of the country - have been selected for detailed review, so as to provide more fine-tuned insights that should be relevant for the wider LEAP process in Macedonia and beyond. Preliminary evidence about the realisation of these initiatives indicates that comprehensive implementation is highly dependent upon the realistic political and economic abilities (and interests) of local and national elites, plus international organisations.

The local environmental action plan for Olivares commune in Manizales, Colombia

This paper describes the development of a local environmental action plan in Olivares, one of the poorest areas in the city of Manizales. It discusses both the successes and the difficulties in developing an environmental plan in a low-income area that fully involves community organizations – especially when many projects in the past had failed. It also describes the long process whereby different stakeholders were brought together to reach consensus on priorities and whereby priority items received support from the municipal government. The paper also discusses the different stages of the plan and highlights the degree of commitment by the local government, institutions, universities, the private sector, NGOs and community associations in the development and joint management of various programmes and projects.

Teaching Environmental Concepts, Attitudes and Behaviour Through Geography Education: Findings of an International Survey

Geography educators' perceptions of the aims of environmental education and its place in the teaching of geography were investigated in an international study. Questionnaire responses from 419 geography teachers and teacher educators in 18 countries indicate that geography educators perceive that most of what they teach in geography is environmental education and support the notion of teaching environmental education across the curriculum. Generally, geography educators focus on developing environmental knowledge and attitudes in the classroom rather than on influencing student decision-making and action in relation to the environment. The need for teacher education in environmental education is acknowledged and should be addressed not only through formal means but also through the provision of literature, teaching resources and assistance in the use of field experiences and local environmental action as teaching methods.

Let us build cities for life: the national campaign of Local Agenda 21s in Peru

In March 1996, representatives from several Peruvian cities, grassroots organizations and NGOs, together with scientists and staff from universities and local government authorities, decided to establish a national forum to promote the development and implementation of Agenda 21 in cities in Peru. This came to be called the “Cities for Life” Forum which, today, brings together representatives from 41 institutions in 18 cities. This paper describes the origin and early development of the Forum -and its vision, strategies and work to date. It seeks to show how this Forum developed beyond what was initially a conventional project which depended upon technical assistance and the initiatives of a local NGO into a network of many different actors from many urban centres in Peru who, together, form an autonomous and independent entity. The Forum has encouraged and supported its members in developing and implementing local environmental action plans and in learning from each other's experiences. The paper also outlines the main environmental problems in Peru's urban areas and the unsupportive national framework within which urban authorities and other urban actors strive to address environmental problems.

Agenda 21; a form of joint environmental management in Manizales, Colombia

This paper describes the development of Bioplan-Manizales, a local environmental action plan (LEAP) for the city of Manizales, and the different groups that contributed to its development; also, how this plan became integrated into the municipal development plan and the municipal budget. The measures taken to monitor and evaluate the social, economic and environmental effects of the environmental policy are also described and these include a series of urban environmental observatories. The paper also describes the broader national and international context for the innovations in Manizales – including the political, legislative and fiscal changes in Colombia that have encouraged local authorities to develop local environmental agendas. Manizales’ own historical development is described including the environmental changes that this development brought and the environmental problems that it precipitated.

Local Environmental Struggles: Citizen Activism in the Treadmill of Production

In recent years, environmentalism in the US has increasingly emerged at the community level, focusing on local ecological problems. Correspondingly, the American environmental movement has exhorted its supporters to 'think globally' but 'act locally'. The authors examine this modern environmental mantra by analysing the opportunities and constraints on local environmental action posed by economic and political structures at all levels. The difficulties involved in local activism are explored in three case studies - a wetlands protection project, water pollution of the Great Lakes, and consumer waste recycling. The final chapter then reflects on the challenges facing citizen-worker movements in each case study, and concludes that, despite the inherent difficulties, any successful attempt at mobilisation must have a local component.

Partnerships for Local Environmental Action: Observations on the First Two Years of Rural Action for the Environment

Rural Action for the Environment is a key element of the UK Government's 'Action for the Countryside' initiative. It has two main elements: the provision of advice, training, information and grants to local communities; and the formation of county based networks of environmental organizations to provide the necessary support infrastructure to local projects. This paper suggests that Rural Action is a laudable attempt to move towards a more 'enabling' style of operation which may ultimately result in a significant increase in the level of interest and involvement in environmental action. However, it has also highlighted a number of important problems which are likely to afflict all future attempts to encourage local communities to formulate and carry out sustainable environmental improvements in their areas. Particular difficulties result from the need to reconcile the multiple and possibly contradictory objectives of different agencies, the problems of engaging the interest of local people, the time and other resource constraints faced by those who seek to implement such initiatives and the political imperative to achieve action on the ground as rapidly as possible. Each of these issues will need to be addressed by future schemes if widespread involvement in locally determined environmental action is to be secured.

Towards Citizen Control and Social Justice in a Disadvantaged Community

Abstract This article describes the core elements of the authors' radical social work practice at the Parks Community Health Service in Adelaide, South Australia. The context of the practice is a disadvantaged community in Adelaide's western suburbs. The underpinnings of their practice is nothing more than what ought to occur, given social work's original and core values. The approach is illustrated by describing the work with a local environmental action group. The importance of this approach is emphasised in the current climate of conservatism and economic rationalism which serves to increase injustice.

Well Body, Well Earth

As the title of this book implies, the earth and the human body are associated holistically for or ill. In general, the authors' ideas are appealing, because if we destroy the balance of nature by polluting the earth, we increase the likelihood that the earth's illness will boomerang and lead us to extinction. Furthermore, the authors urge that the time for change is now and that change will come from personal life-style modification, local environmental action, and nationwide or international political pressure. In places, the book seems to advocate a return to the good old days when humankind communed with nature, lived as hunters and gatherers, and had minimal technology to pollute the earth. Unfortunately for the authors' thesis, life spans were usually only three or four decades, species became extinct without human interference, and the chemicals, technology, and resultant pollution from producing books such as this did not