Local Government and Sustainable Development/Post-4

Sustainability and Local Government

Within academic world and professional groups, there is agreement on the necessity for local governments to formulate and implement policies that are concerned with “sustainability”(Leuengerger and Bartle 2010, cited in Hawkins and Wang 2013, 63).Sustainable development  has been regarded as  a ‘guiding principle for local growth policies’  that changed from an attention  on  environmental questions to a more ‘integrated approach that consists of environmental, economic, and societal dimensions’ (Fiorino, 2010, cited in Hawkins and Wang 2013, 63,). 
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Sustainability from local government standpoint links human needs with environmental safety and is largely acknowledged as including socio-economic and environmental constituents (Krause,Feiock& Hawkins  2013).These three components have been  applied widely to structure research on local sustainability in multiple subjects, comprising public administration and policy ( Feiock and Coutts 2013 ;Bulkeley 2013; Krause,Feiock& Hawkins  2013).

Local governments are distinctively located to initiate a variety of activities that openly address sustainability and climate change. They also have mechanisms to address land use, energy efficiency, ecological-conservation, and carbon emissions through their role in ‘regulation and service delivery’.  However, in their struggles to do so, they have to face ‘challenges of scale, policy instrument design, and governance’ (Feiock and Coutts, 2013 ,4).

To spread the application of sustainability practices, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) approved Agenda 21 in 1992 as a ‘blueprint’ for environmentally sustainable growth. It inspires participation of UN member states to think through the environmental effects of their land, resources, and transportation improvement strategies (Krause,Feiock& Hawkins 2013).

Local government is crucial to successful sustainability practices. Of the 2,509 actions recognized in Agenda 21 to attain superior sustainability, almost two -thirds  stress on the active involvement of local government (Keen, Mahanty, and Sauvage, 2006; Krause,Feiock& Hawkins 2013). The role of local government requires taking responsibility ‘for introducing, interpreting, adapting and eventually implementing the most relevant aspects of Agenda 21 for their local communities” (UNCED 1992, 74; cited Saha 2009, 21).

To be continued-

Posted by-

S.M. Mehedi Hasan

BCS (Administration)

ID- 16194

27th Batch

Upazila Nirbahi Officer

Kishoreganj, Nilphamari

Bangladesh