１００８：ＥＣのＬＩＦＥプログラムからの新文書

時どきＥＣのＬＩＦＥプログラムから文書の発行ニュースが届く。途上国相手の仕事ばかりだが、ＥＣ各国の最新事情も参考情報としてはちょっとお勉強する。

途上国でも深刻なコミュニティーおよび地域レベルでの意思決定に関する報告書である。６０ページほどだが中身は濃い。下記は序文の抜粋。

相変わらず、ヨーロッパ人はintegratedが好きだ。特段の意味はないようだが。

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Sustainable development and integrated decision-making at local and regional levels

Integrated management at a more local level is essential to ensure that sustainable urban and regional development becomes a reality and that European regions, cities, towns and villages are transformed into more attractive places in which to invest and work.

To achieve this goal, local and regional authorities (LRAs) need integrated approaches that include a long-term strategic vision linking different policies at different administrative levels. Development must not only be coherent, it must also be sustainable. This means respecting the environment, promoting environmentally friendly technologies and products, sustainable transport and energy and infrastructure initiatives, as well as measures targeting water, air, biodiversity and nature protection and the social and economic aspects of sustainable development.

Integrated environmental management also means tackling related issues together, such as urban management and governance, integrated spatial planning, economic well-being and competitiveness, social inclusion, and environmental stewardship.

A challenging environment

LRAs face significant environmental challenges in areas as diverse as transport planning, waste management, water management and spatial planning, not to mention the growing impact of climate change.

LRAs play a pivotal role in helping to keep Europe moving, yet the diverse tasks of transport planning are complex and regularly involve harmonising competing socio-economic and environmental demands. The ability of LRAs to link citizens to producers and educate the public about individual waste management means they have a significant part to play in efforts to prevent waste at source. They are also at the forefront of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. Key water management challenges at local and regional level include improving and adapting sanitation infrastructure (including making planning and design more water sensitive), and making the public more aware of the need to save water. Among the most pressing spatial planning challenges that LRAs must address are how to manage the complex relationship between man-made and natural systems or networks, and how to reconcile the need for new economic development with protected areas of green space.

Horizontal and vertical integration

In each of these areas, successful action relies more and more on integrated decision-making. This means integrating not only the different administrative units and operational and political tiers within a local or regional authority, but also increasing co-operation with neighbouring municipalities or regions and improving links with national and European levels of public administration.

Yet, this can prove to be a difficult task, particularly if it requires amalgamating budgets previously controlled by separate departments of an authority or at different levels of government. Engaging all relevant actors in solution-finding will help avoid conflicts and produce a common long-term vision for development at local and regional levels. This includes enabling greater stakeholder participation in the setting of goals, the definition of activities, and the evaluation of results. As the levels of public administration closest to the public, LRAs are uniquely positioned to help bring environmental best practices and eco-innovation to a wider audience and, in the process, help deliver sustainable, economically vibrant and socially just environmental management.