There is little doubt that the idea of a sustainable development seems here to stay. The upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (June) will once again discuss what SD means to the world as it takes as its primary focus the institutional framework of sustainable development and a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. If you visit the conference website a counter indicates the number of days left to the conference with the slogan ‘days to the future we want’. And it is exactly this sentiment that embodies the fundamental tensions within the idea of a sustainable development. This tension is highlighted in the simple question ‘the future that who wants?’
Sustainable development is a notoriously slippery term, it is difficult to define, and therefore it is difficult to implement. It has been accused of being a contradiction in term, an oxymoron and a term so fuzzy that it means anything to everyone and so useless as a guiding principle.
With this said I am a strong supporter of the idea of sustainable development. Whatever the outcome of Rio + 20, international event such as these raise awareness and reinforce a global discourse that highlight the continuing problems of diminishing and inequitable distribution of resources. They demonstrate a level of commitment by world leaders to address these problems and motivate moral and ethical sentiment. This is an ongoing academic and political debate which I will address during the course of the Rio Conference, however the focus here is the integration of sustainable development into local politics.
So regardless of the positive outcomes of global conferences the term remains contested and ill defined and it is little wonder therefore that national and local governments have difficulty in articulating the concept into effective frameworks and programmes aimed at addressing real world problems. Furthermore, this lack of definition is compounded by the perceptions at the local level that sustainable development is a top down imposed agenda
It is perhaps the perception of sustainable development that it is a top down, imposed framework that makes it difficult to translate into the more local context. In a time of austerity where local problems seem more acute polices imposed by the international community, the UN, EU, OECD etc seem far removed from the everyday lived experiences of those people in local communities. It is exactly this communication barrier that needs to be overcome and addressed and this will be the front line of integrating the principles of sustainable development into the local policy framework. This is important because as well as being a concept that has arisen from a global problamatique the concept, properly articulated and developed encourages holistic policy development as well as concepts of equity and inter generational equity. An unfortunate side effect or even direct result of local governments need to legitimise their own policies and programmes through external pressure to integrate sustainable development means that the end result can be cosmetic and ineffectual.
With that in mind over the past decade national, sub national and local government have driven forward significantly to embed sustainable development into their practices. However, a review of policies and programmes from an international basis suggests that policies based on sustainable development are more symbolic with a high level of political currency but little real world impact. Whilst there has been significant progress, for example with programmes drawing on Local Agenda 21, there is still a lack of salience at the community level
With the above rather gloomy assessment in mind the UK has one of the worlds most well developed sustainable development strategies and the challenge of devolution and the achievement of a Big Society in whatever form that may take will depend very much on its effective transmission and integration with local government.
The recent Localism Act will also stimulate discussion on what sustainable development actually means to local communities. A very visible example of this has been the debates that have surrounded the changes in the National Planning Policy Framework. The framework document uses the term sustainable development over 50 times and emphasises the need for a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’. The final document has now been more broadly accepted but only time will tell the impact this will have on the built environment over the coming years.
There are a number of other areas which may be directly applied to sustainable development governance at the local level, but the crux of this discussion is how we overcome the idea of a symbolic politics, how we get past policies that only pay lip service to creating a sustainable development when infact they are continuing along the same ‘business as usual’ lines. To this end I focus on the importance of one area to which I am able to bring my own insights from extensive research over the past few years. This is the devolution of power to town and parish councils which has been made explicit in a number of government documents. There are over 10000 local councils in England and they represent the closest level of government to the community. Forces are in motion to increase the power of parish councils in order to form direct community engagement and consultation with community members on the future of their local environments. The Open Services White Paper (2011) and the recent review of this paper (March 2012) emphasise the importance that town and parish councils play within their local communities.
The advantage of empowering the town and parish level of local government is the visibility of the outputs of programmes developed. At this level the idea of a symbolic politics with regard to sustainable development is dispelled because of the immediate and direct impact of the policies developed. My research in Devon and Cornwall adds weight to this assertion. The research, amongst other things explored what sustainable development meant to members of town and parish councils and what they say as the best way of integrating this concept into their local communities. There was support for the principles of the concept, an integrated approach including environmental, social and economic factors, ideas of equity and community. As expected however, there was confusion over how to translate these ideals into real outputs, as well as frustration with principal authorities and national government at opaque and mixed messages with convoluted or non existent lines of communication. As such, there is an urgent need to provide guidance and support for sustainable development to this level of government. For example, the research indicated that in Devon and Cornwall principal authorities needed to be more considerate of local councils needs and there was an overall perceived lack of support. With this in mind there was an overwhelming response that town and parish councils wanted to work in partnership with their principle authorities in order to improve the quality of communities.
If handled effectively with the correct guidance and support with an appreciation of diversity there is a real opportunity to use sustainable development as a guiding principle, and implemented at the local community level move past the idea of symbolic politics for real and positive change
There does of course need to be a continued analysis of the policy context for sustainable development. In other words the framing of the policy what is the structural and societal context. The real danger is that without the analysis of the context of the policy and the lines of communication particularly between the principal authority and the community level there will be continued confusion a lack of coherence and fractured and disjointed policies and programmes that do not address community issues. There is a real opportunity to make sustainable development work using the parish council as a conduit through which local communities can respond to the challenges and risks of the 21st century
This work is ongoing and will be published over the course of this year and next. A number of interim reports can be downloaded from the following links
Understanding Town and Parish Council Needs for a Sustainable Devon
A revised version of this article will appear in the forthcoming edition of Public Service Review: Local Government and the Regions
A revised version of this article will appear in the forthcoming edition of Public Service Review: Local Government and the Regions
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