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Newsletter and Technical Publications
<The Councillor as Guardian of the Environment>
An Essay and Workshop for Local Elected Leaders on Environmental
Governance
with Emphasis on Adopting Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs)
- Training for Elected Leadership -
Part I - Essay on the Councillor as Guardian of the
Environment
- ESSAY -
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever
he does
to the web he does to himself. Chief Seattle, Native American Leader, 1857.
Definition and Summary
D. Tactics, Strategies and Approaches for Sustainable
Development
2. PARTNERS AND COALITIONS
The next drawer in your toolbox is something we are calling Partners
and Coalitions. We will be using the terms partners and coalitions
to describe different kinds of "guardian" relationships. Perhaps a
word or two about what we mean by these terms would be useful.
Partners most commonly describe our effort to team up
with one other person or organization to accomplish a goal, or perform a task. Partner
is also a nautical term meaning "one of the heavy timbers that strengthen a
ship's deck to support a mast" (Webster's Dictionary). The term, in
this context, is also appropriate as a metaphor for strengthening communities in
their voyage through time.
Coalitions we perceive as collections of like-minded
people, organizations or institutions that come together to perform tasks,
accomplish goals. Or, as Webster's Dictionary informs us, "a
temporary alliance of distinct parties, persons or states for joint
action." More specifically, these tools, partners and coalitions, are
helpful in:
- building problem solving relationships;
- expanding the understanding of, and commitment to, your community's vision
of sustainable development; and
- sharing the responsibility to assure that the vision becomes reality.
Potential partners in sustainable development are everywhere. The following
examples point out the potential for involving new partners and forming new
coalitions. The first is about private contributions to community awareness and
the second, failure to include critical partners in community problem-solving
ventures.
Many private sector organizations have seen the need to increase awareness of
environmental problems and opportunities among their employees and their
customers. If you remember, we talked about the importance of awareness as a
tool in the first drawer of the toolbox. Now, we are suggesting a direct
relationship between the Awareness tool and the Partners and Coalitions tool.
Have you ever tried to tighten a nut on a bolt and the bolt kept turning? When
you applied the second wrench, the task became much easier. So it is with
managing the kinds of sustainable development you want for your community. Some
examples of environmental awareness efforts carried out by large private
corporations (some of which might even have operations located in your
community) are:
- Private Sector Contributions to Awareness and
- Potential Coalition Building
General Electric, the old line multinational
corporation with over 200,000 employees worldwide, has said it wants to
move from being reactive to environmental problems their manufacturing
processes create to prevention - keeping them from happening in the first
place. To make this shift in emphasis, GE required every plant manager to
attend two-day environmental awareness workshops that highlight
their environmental responsibilities.
Five electronic companies, Grundig, Loewe, Nokia, Philips and Thompson, in
cooeration with an eco-institute, initiated an awareness campaign on how
many out of more than 2000 elements of a TV-set are recyclable. This was
to improve the re-use rate of such elements.
Ford Motor Company has a programme called, Wildlife at Work, that
demonstrated sustainable development and the potential for compatibility
between industry and the environment.
Daimler-Benz, after testing "industry plants," raises awareness
of caremakers on utilizing reproduceable and biodegradable raw materials
such as natural fibres, sisal, and rape-oil instead of plastics or fossil
fuels.9 |
Are you surprised that some of the major multinational corporations are so
committed to helping keep the environment healthy? And, that they fund
environmental awareness programmes from their own budgets? Here is a test of
your own awareness. Take a few minutes and record in the following box
those efforts you are aware of that increase awareness about environmental
concerns and the need for sustainable development in your community. Are there
large corporations or small private businesses in your city that have
environmental awareness programmes for their employees, or perhaps implement
endeavors to create greater environmental awareness among their customers? You
might also want to jot down a note or two to remind yourself to personally thank
them and to determine if their programmes can be expanded to reach more
citizens.
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Here are some environmental awareness programmes currently being
implemented in my community (either by our local government or others):
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Here are some actions I plan to take to acknowledge these
contributions and to explore ways in which they might be expanded:
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Some organizations never take the tools out of their toolbox when it comes to
promoting and managing the processes of sustainable development. The following
is a description of how the lack of awareness and vision and the
unwillingness to reach out to build problem solving relationships, by the
world's largest Integrated Food for Work (IFFW) Programme in the 1980's,
had adverse ecological, environmental and economic consequences to numerous
rural communities in Bangladesh.
Good Intentions Gone Awry
Between 1980 and 1987, the production of food
from the aquaculture of Bangladesh's vast flood plain dropped by more than
20%. In a report on the environmental impact of donor assisted
infrastructure projects in Bangladesh during that time, some of the blame
was placed at the feet of the world's largest food for work programme.
"The IFFW programme has affected the Bangladeshi environment
negatively and by doing so threatens to reverse its gains in economic
development. Increased flooding, agricultural land loss and diminishing
numbers and species of fish are some of the significant adverse
environmental impacts" of the programme.
The IFFW programme, in its efforts to provide work and food for the
villagers, ignored the environmental consequences of the manner in which
the contributions were carried out. Projects that were designed to
rehabilitate roads and excavate canals ended up blocking waterways and
removing top soil and vegetation. The report admonished the project
supervisors to "talk to the fishermen in the villages...if there are
no professional fishermen, talk to those villagers who often fish for
sustaining their household...they will know which route fish generally
take during the flood."10 |
There is a positive lesson to be learned from the Bangladesh experience. It
is the importance of establishing an open dialogue with those who are or will be
affected by programmes and activities you may be implementing on their behalf.
In this situation there were early signs of impending environmental
consequences, but they were ignored for years. The villagers, unfortunately,
were caught in the middle of a difficult situation, one of exchanging future
sustainable aquaculture opportunities for an immediate source of food. When your
children are hungry, the motivation to secure the future of your trade (i.e.,
support efforts in sustainable development) is greatly diminished. The results
in the Bengal Delta could have been altered substantially by greater involvement
of local governments and their constituents in the on-going decision making
process. There were viable alternatives that would have achieved the food for
work program objectives while concurrently supporting the implementation of
environmentally sound technologies. Program officials could have "talked to
the fishermen" and others, involving them in honest and collaborative
decision making and problem solving discussions. Not after the damage is done,
but before actions are taken.
The concept of stakeholders can be a useful addition to our toolbox
and one you should be thinking about using as you perform your role as Guardian
of the Environment. It is also valuable when you assume the roles of Enabler,
Facilitator and Negotiator. The concept of stakeholder is one of
those multi-purpose tools, like the screwdriver.
While there are many ways to describe who the stakeholders might be in
any given situation, we like John Bryson's definition. He says a stakeholder is
"any person, group or organization that can place a claim on an
organization's attention, resources, or output, or is affected by that output."11
At the request of delegations of some countries
at the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul, the word
"stakeholders" has been replaced by "interested
parties." While we are sensitive to this change in terminology, we
have decided to stay with the term stakeholders for the following
reasons: Having a stake in a public decision is qualitatively different
than being an interested party in the decision.
While the difference may be challenged as merely semantic, we believe
tough decisions about sustainable economic development and environmental
preservation will require individuals, groups of individuals,
organizations and institutions to uphold and sustain their commitment to
these principles overtime. On the other side will be those with a
"stake" in different perspectives and ideas about what is
beneficial for the community. The role of Guardian of the Environment
is clearly an advocacy position concerned with long-term consequences of
the kind we have been discussing. When difficult public decisions are
required, you can be assured that those with economic, political and
environmental stakes in the outcome will be at the front of the line.
Interested parties certainly - but also vested interests who are prepared
to "stake their claim". |
One role of the Guardian of the Environment is to convert
"interested parties" who meet the Bryson criteria into
stakeholders. Joseph Coates and Ashok Jain identify a wide range of benefits to
be derived from bringing stakeholders together. We've included some in the
following list to illustrate what public participation can accomplish.12
- inform
- bring interested parties together
- evoke opinion and judgment
- encourage dialogue and exploration
- seek advice
- establish channels of communication
- promote better understanding of problems, causes, impacts and options
- provide a vent for hostile, vocal, or strongly concerned publics
- add credibility to a plan
- improve quality of a plan
- supplement staff capabilities, e.g., through training and use of experts
- build a constituency for new or alternative technology
- identify interested parties
- reduce alienation
- promote more effective decision making
- provide models of participation for others to follow
- legitimate public participation for agencies
- illustrate new or alternative techniques for participation
- promote cooperation
- promote community power
- make decisions
- share authority
- control projects and policies
- bring about changes in behaviour
Essaouira, Morocco Reaps the Bounty of Stakeholder
Involvement
Essaouira, Morocco is blessed with an
attractive natural environment, sitting on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean
with river wetlands to the south and a dune forest that embraces the
community to the east and north. Founded in 1760, the community also has a
rich cultural heritage. In spite of these valuable assets, all is not well
in Essaouira. The fishing industry is in decline and tourism is often
problematic as a stable economic anchor. Moreover, the town's natural
environment and cultural heritage are under siege.
These troubling trends prompted the leaders in the municipality and
province to undertake the Localising Agenda 21 (LA21) process under the
guidance of UNCHS (Habitat). LA 21 is a comprehensive approach to
community planning and problem solving that brings together a cross
section of stakeholders who are capable of advancing, and on occasion
blocking, a forward looking programme of urban development and
environmental protection that is sustainable over time. (It is one of
those "soft technologies" we will be saying more about as an
initial intervention tool to bring about environmental management changes
at the community level.) One of the first steps undertaken by the
stakeholders in Essaouira was to hold a Consultation Workshop; a consensus
building event designed to reach agreement on a common plan of action. It
included a shared, integrated vision of the community's future; priority
action steps that would move them toward that vision; and, a decision
making structure to assure implementation of the plan.
The shared vision of Essaouira's future includes a culturally and
economically vibrant, but physically contained, community that will
attract visitors to enjoy their artistic traditions within the old Medina,
complemented by the creation of an institute for arts and handicrafts. To
achieve the vision, community leaders will employ a variety of
environmentally sound technologies including: institutional strengthening,
training, planning support, rehabilitation, environmental protection,
infrastructure improvement and employment generation.
Among the results to be achieved as a result of the action planning
process are: protection of the nearby river outlet as a natural wetlands
site; limitation of further housing development in the forest dunes;
improvement of the environmental quality of new housing estates;
restoration of the town wall between the Mellah and the ocean; and,
implementation of a greening programme in collaboration with local NGOs.13
If you have any doubt about the power and wisdom of bringing key
stakeholders together to help in your elected leadership role as Guardian
of the Environment, we suggest you plan to visit Essaouira and see
the results firsthand. If that's not convenient, contact the Localising
Agenda 21 staff of UNCHS (Habitat) for more information. |
Postscript:
Earlier in this discussion of partners and coalitions, we listed over
twenty benefits
to be derived by bringing stakeholders together to plan and problem solve
on
behalf of their community. In the case of Essaouira, over half of these
benefits
were achieved in the planning and conduct of the initial Consultative
Workshop. |
If you apply broad definitions of stakeholders, you will soon realize they
involve people and institutions who are often far beyond the organizational
boundaries of your local government institution and the physical boundaries of
your community. Earlier we described local self-governance as the keystone for
environmentally sound development, recognizing the potential powers of
persuasion and action that are vested in open, democratic institutions at the
local level. Webster's Dictionary tells us that "a keystone is
something on which associated things depend for support."
As Guardians of the Environment, councillors can become
keystones for change by supplying capacity for action (the enabling role)
to the myriad of individuals, groups and organizations (stakeholders)
that make up your community. Some examples of potential stakeholders (partners
to mobilize and coalitions to form) that you can call on and ways you
might get them involved in your efforts to guard the environment:
- school children: help them learn new ways to conserve energy and preserve
the natural beauty of the community.
- small manufacturing plants: work with them to find safer alternatives to
handling toxic wastes.
- civic clubs: garner their support to help the council adopt new
environmental policies.
- multinational corporations: draw on them as a possible source of new ideas
and commitment to sustainable development. (There is growing awareness on
the part of many multinational institutions that the use of environmentally
sound technologies, for example, is not only being a good neighbor, it is
good for business).
- small and medium size enterprises (SMEs): encourage them to adopt
environmentally sound technologies that have become mainstream operational
strategies in multinational corporations (as successfully practiced in Asia
through promotion of the Asia Pacific Technology Transfer Centre of the
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific).
- colleges and universities: seek their involvement in assessing the
consequences of adopting new environmental technologies.
- low income housing associations: collaborate to find ways to generate jobs
from neighborhood recycling programmes.
- commercial businesses: help them obtain financial assistance to retrofit
inefficient and energy wasting heating, ventilating and lighting systems in
the central business district.
Stakeholders can involve just about everyone in your community. The challenge
is to mobilize their strengths and resources to help you and other councillors
in your role as environmental guardians. Before going on to the next
drawer in our toolbox (the one with the assessment tools), we want to share a
successful experience one councillor had in mobilizing partners and stakeholders,
and forming coalitions, to carry out the role of Guardian of the
Environment.
One Coucillor, a Few Strategic
Coalitions and Many Stakeholders
Cities in developing countries are experiencing unprecedented and
unplanned growth, putting pressure on the delivery of basic services, such
as waste management, which in turn, more often than not, run afoul of the
environment. Quito, Ecuador is not immune from these modern day urban
maladies.To counter these adverse affects, Quito established a
Neighborhood Recycling Programme designed to establish waste collection
services in low income neighborhoods, strengthen neighborhood
organizations and provide a modicum of local employment.
The recycling programme began as an experimental project initiated by City
Councillor Roque Sevilla and facilitated (another of those
councillor roles) by him and his assistant. The first step was awareness
by Sevilla of the need to clean the ravines and streets in his
neighborhood of garbage and other waste materials. By reaching out and
involving citizens in the neighborhood (key stakeholders) his efforts
ultimately served as a model for establishing neighborhood recycling
programmes in a number of low income areas of the city. The programme
encompasses environmental, social and economic development goals
demonstrating the cross cutting nature of many of the opportunities to
engage in environmentally sound technologies, however limited their scope
might be. The neighborhoods participating in the recycling services. These
neighborhood enterprises collect cardboard, mixed paper, newsprint, glass,
metals and plastics, all materials that are recyclable and in demand by
brokers and users of secondary materials. The proceeds from thesale of
these recyclables is used to fund other neighborhood improvement projects.
There was an emphasis on building coalitions and partnerships, of engaging
an ever widening circle of stakeholders in the programme. While the
project was the vision of one councillor, he quickly involved his
neighbors and then other key elected officials and municipal officers to
gain the necessary support and resources to put the programme in place.
The programme has demonstrated that community participation can help
municipalities mobilize resources and expertise within local communities
to design and implement appropriate service delivery strategies that
foster sustainable approaches to social and economic development.
To summarize, Councillor Sevilla and his assistant demonstrated their
ability to manage change in their neighborhood. Their efforts
utilized many of the tools we have been discussing: awareness, vision,
partners, coalitions, stakeholders and the importance of reaching out to
others in initiating and implementing sustainable development efforts,
however small. There is one other point we would like to emphasize.
Remember our earlier discussion about the need to conceptualize
before you begin to en-vision what you might want as a future
result. In the case study about Quito's recycling programme, the author
says the decentralization process "generated new ways of conceptualizing
service delivery and has created a climate in which senior municipal
officials are receptive to innovation."14 |
1. Who are the major stakeholders you and your councillor colleagues rely on
now to address development-environment concerns? Who else do you believe should
be involved?
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2. What are their principal interests in the development-environment
dialogue?
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3. What do you, as a Guardian of the Environment, want or need
from these key stakeholders?
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4. How can you achieve the results you want or need, working with these
stakeholders?
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| The Importance of Transparency and Openness |
Before putting these tools back in the toolbox and reaching for our assessment
tool, we want to make a final observation. To reinforce our point we will call
on a major stakeholder as our witness. When we begin to involve partners
and build coalitions for sustainable development, we must also be aware
(this tool keeps reappearing!) of the importance of transparency [disclosure]
and openness in developing problem solving relationships. The International
Finance Corporation (IFC), the private investment arm of the World Bank Group,
recently made an announcement that it would "increase transparency and
public access to information as part of a strengthened effort to ensure that the
views of local communities and environmental considerations are factored into
project design and investment decision making."15 The
announcement goes on to stress the importance of consulting with the people
likely to be affected by projects that have significant environmental impact.
One wonders how many large development schemes (by the World Bank Group and
other major investment institutions) would have been done differently, or even
initiated over the past few decades, if policies of increased transparency and
public access to information had been the norm.
Involving partners and building coalitions in development requires a high
level of transparency and openness if the new relationships are to be
productive. And, this means greater opportunities to test the long term
viability and sustainability of new investments with those who will be left with
the consequences when the investment bankers move on. One of the "key
improvements" in the IFC disclosure policy is:making environmental
assessments publicly available as soon as possible in the project's appraisal
stage. This suggests disclosure happens after the assessment has been
done. We are, of course, advocating that the assessment process is strengthened
when it involves the key stakeholders. If you recall, they are the people with
information, with authority and resources to act, and those who will be affected
by what happens.
While experts are often loath to open their decisions to public scrutiny and
input from the "less informed," the world is strewn with
environmentally unsafe investments and unsustainable development programmes.
Involving partners and building coalitions are important tools to councillors
for closing the gap that often exists between economic development decisions and
environmentally sound decisions. Central to better decision making through the
involvement of others are norms of transparency and openness. Let the sun shine
in!
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Table
of Contents
