A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN OUR HANDS - To Parent Directory

Cross-cutting policies© ECWhat’s being done?The European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign is madeup of a group of local governments whose goal is to establishtowns which are prosperous, creative and sustainable and in whicheveryone has a valued role to play. To achieve this they have signedup to the Aalborg commitments and the EU hopes that countrieswhose local governments are not involved will sign up soon.The commitments include, for example, ensuring people have fairaccess to natural resources. This involves improving water and airquality and the creation of parks and gardens. Another commitmentis to better transport and less traffic – boosting public transportchoices. Health and social equality are also on the list.The campaign brings together authorities on all levels from aroundEurope. What works, what doesn’t: such information is shared.The Municipality of Barcelona can rub shoulders with the Unionof Baltic Cities in their bid to find solutions to the challenges ofmaking sustainable development a reality.Another opportunity for action was put forward by the UnitedNations Conference on Environment and Development, 1992, inRio. Agenda 21 puts forward a complete action plan to achieve thegoals of sustainable development. Countries throughout Europeare getting involved and the EU hopes to see even more take upAgenda 21, sign up to the Aalborg commitments and involve themselvesin the European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign.Recognising that you have to get the message across if you want tomotivate people, the “enhanced communication effort” inspiredthe creation of an award for the best projects in the field of economicmodernisation, RegioStars. Put forward by the Commissionin 2006, this is just one prize set up by the EU in order to motivatepeople and highlight the aims of sustainable development.Open days such as the annual European Week of Regions andCities are another way the EU reaches out to its citizens andgets over the message of sustainability. The event brings togetherthousands of people representing development projects all overEurope.076