LA21 in a rural context : a proposal for Siggiewi

Abstract

Local Agenda 21 is a process which facilitates sustainable development at community level. It was developed by the United Nations in 1992, due to the fact that global sustainable issues have their roots In the local activities. This study develops d Local Agenda 21 strategy for the rural locality of Siggiewi. A consultative process was conducted with the stakeholders of the locality to identify economical, social and environmental issues characterising Siggiewi. The public opinion about the issues was primarily asserted by undertaking a quantitative method involving an online survey for the residents of the locality. A deeper knowledge of the problematic areas and the causes of these issues were acquired through one-on-one interviews with all the parties involved in the community. Through consultation, information was acquired for formulating the best strategy to direct actions towards a vision for a sustainable community. The acceptance of the community towards the proposed strategy was investigated in order to assess the effectiveness of the participatory process associated with Local Agenda 21. As such, a Local Agenda 21 tailored to the specific issues within Siggiewi was developed. This consisted of ten aspects considered by the community to be of priority importance. These pertained to the categories of transport, services, environment and tourism. The strategy to be adopted comprised of sustainable actions, such as an increase in awareness regarding sustainable development, law enforcement, fostering of partnerships between entities, and others.