Cooperation guidelines for business - science - LA-21 initiatives
The aim of the project was to develop a practical guide in the form of an illustrative brochure, in which best practice examples were presented and success factors for successful cooperation between Local Agenda 21 initiatives and science and business were formulated.
When Local Agenda 21 groups campaigned for more sustainability in their communities, they were often unable to co-operate with stakeholders from science and business. The IZT wanted to remedy this situation. It received funding from the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment to work with the Centre for Technology and Society (TU Berlin) to develop an illustrative "Cooperation Guide for Business - Science - LA-21 Initiatives". This guide presented examples of best practice and identified success factors for successful cooperation. It was published in the run-up to the Network21 Congress 2008 and has been available since August.
Since the international "Conference on Environment and Development in Rio des Janeiro" in 1992, a wide range of efforts have been made in municipalities to anchor sustainability in various areas. In line with Agenda 21, the central document from Rio, efforts have been made in many places to develop a "Local Agenda 21" based on participatory processes with citizens and relevant stakeholder groups and to implement it by means of guiding principles, objectives, action plans and concrete projects.
There were numerous experiences and assessments of the implementation of Agenda 21 in various contexts. One key finding was that the involvement of scientific and economic actors in the Agenda 21 process was of great importance, but that this involvement was not sufficiently realised. Municipal and civil society actors continued to articulate an urgent need for knowledge and co-operation. This applied both at the level of city-wide processes and in relation to specialised sub-processes as well as at the level of specific implementation projects.
This obvious need for cooperation between municipal and civil society LA 21 stakeholders with science and industry was offset by a clear and frequently articulated lack of actual cooperation. The reasons for this were manifold and ranged from information and communication deficits, reservations of the respective stakeholder group towards the cooperation partners and unsatisfactory cooperation experiences to a lack of institutionalised cooperation platforms and moderated exchange through to conflicting objectives and incompatible development directions of the potential cooperation partners.
The aim of the project was to develop a practical guide in the form of an illustrative brochure, in which best practice examples were presented and success factors for successful cooperation between Local Agenda 21 initiatives and science and business were formulated.
Based on various case studies, this brochure presents a range of possible forms of cooperation with scientific and business stakeholders. Conclusions were drawn regarding the motivation of the individual partners to enter into co-operative relationships and factors that promote or inhibit them were identified. Based on this, practical recommendations were formulated for overcoming existing obstacles (e.g. with regard to the organisation of the cooperation process and the creation of incentives) and, on the other hand, further steps that could be implemented in the medium term and that could lead to the intensification of cooperation relationships with scientific and business stakeholders. The guidelines also included a service section containing further literature as well as contact and transfer centres for interested stakeholders.
Info
Project management
- Katrin Nolting
Employees
- Dr Lydia Illge
- Katrin Nolting
Title
Cooperation guidelines for business - science - LA-21 initiatives
Duration
2008
Grant/contracting authority
Info
Title
Cooperation guidelines for business - science - LA-21 initiatives
Duration
2008
Grant/contracting authority
Project management
- Katrin Nolting
Employees
- Dr Lydia Illge
- Katrin Nolting