Leeds: LA 21, Environment City and Environmental Action Forum

Abstract:

Being awarded the title of a UK 'Environment City' in 1993, the Leeds City Council in cooperation with local organizations began working on a Local Agenda 21 (LA 21) campaign in 1996. The Leeds initiatives build on and integrate a broad spectrum of environmental projects, and are significant as they bring together local government capacities with the resources of business groups and civil society.

Concept and aims

While Leeds environmental initiatives predate the Agenda 21 call of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, by the mid-1990s Leeds had also committed itself to the preparation of a Local Agenda 21 Action Plan. Whereas the Agenda 21 expected all local governments to have such plans adopted by 1996, by the end of the 1990s such efforts were given further encouragement by the British Prime Minister, who challenged all cities and towns to draft LA 21 documents by the year 2000.

Leeds City Council's formal vision for the future is that the City of Leeds -

• is and will continue to be one of the principal progressive cities in Europe,
• has a diverse and successful economy capable of adapting to change,
• provides a quality of life and growing standards accessible to all its citizens, in an improving environment,
• provides a wide variety of facilities available both to its citizens and visitors,
• mus develop in such a way as to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations, in all parts of the world, to achieve their aspirations.

With a history in local environmental planning, the Leeds LA 21 efforts roughly parallel those of the Leeds Environment City Initiative and have been coordinated through three local networks:

1. Community Action through the work of the Leeds Environmental Action Forum,
2. Local Government projects organized by the City Council,
3. Green Business initiatives managed by the Green Business Club.

Leeds Environmental Action Forum (LEAF)

Acting as an umbrella organisation, LEAF was established to facilitate communication and discussion between its 100 or so member groups and to encourage individual and community environmental action.

As an equal partner of the Leeds Environment City Initiative, LEAF provides an opportunity to represent the distinctive voices of the community and voluntary sector and ensure that they are heard in environmental decision making in the City.

LEAF has been directly involved in the Agenda 21 process in Leeds and jointly co-ordinated the first ever Leeds Agenda 21 Conference called, 'Facing the Future' held in June 1996. LEAF has also undertaken extensive work on the development of an environmental youth forum.

Membership of LEAF currently numbers 125 concerned environmental organisations and resident's groups.

City Council

The Leeds City Council interprets LA 21 as concerning local action, especially environmental initiatives, and those that the City can directly influence. This has to do with services that the City provides, the way it manages its waste, monitors pollution levels, promotes healthy lifestyles, offers transportation alternatives, sustains the local economy and ensures equal opportunities for its citizens. To this end, in 1991 the Leeds Green Strategy was drafted, and The Leeds Environment City Unit was then established in 1993 as a part of Leeds City Council's Environment Department. This City Unit coordinates efforts across all City Council departments, and works with LEAF on the Leeds Environment City Partnership. Green Strategy Action Plans concerning all City Council departments are drafted on an annual basis. A comprehensive environmental management system for all City Council activities is also being developed that will influence both policy and practical day to day operations. All City employees are offered a training in environmental issues that concerns the environmental performance of contractors.

Green Business and The Leeds Initiative

Whereas LA 21 is often understood to be a comprehensive program itself, in Leeds the LA 21 is seen as a part of the larger Leeds Initiative. The Leeds Initiative was established in 1990 to bring together the business community with City Council and other local agencies to identify common objectives. Workshops and surveys conducted in the late 1990s led to the creation of the Vision for Leeds. In 1998 questionnaires were sent to all households in the City, and tens of thousands of responses came back. The resulting Vision includes a Strategy for Sustainable Development, that covers a wide range of topics such as transportation, technology, health, competing in a global economy, neighborhood concerns and environmental issues.

Implementation

Leeds Environment City was established in 1993 as one of four Environment Cities in the UK (other cities include Middlesbrough, Leicester, and Peterborough). Leeds Environment City is a partnership between the public, private and voluntary sectors, and aims to demonstrate more environmental and sustainable ways of managing cities. Environment City organizers claim that their partnership approach offers equal opportunities for government, business and civil society to work together, thus going beyond the process of 'consultation' advocated for Local Agenda 21 campaigns, through which local governments are expected to 'consult' with local interest groups. The Environment City Programme itself is sponsored by British Telecommunications (BT) and supported by the national Department of the Environment.

LA 21 efforts in Leeds as well as elsewhere in England have been encouraged and supported through the national Local Government Management Board (LGMB) and several local government associations.

Results and impacts

As of the year 2000, it is clear that environmental issues are being dealt with in a progressive way in Leeds, for example through the Leeds Environment City program and the Green Strategy. A general vision for the City has also been developed through the support of the business community in the form of the Vision for Leeds project. While LA 21 activities were relatively well supported between 1996 and 1998, it seems that they are being overshadowed and left behind in the wake of the more traditional environmental and business oriented projects.

References

Leeds Environment City Initiative (1998) Leeds, Environment City: case studies from the UK's largest Environment City

National Environment City (1995) Trading in Futures: The Role of Business in Sustainability

National Environment City (1994) Painting by Numbers

Leeds Initiative (1998) Vision for Leeds - a strategy for sustainable development

Leeds Initiative (1998) Vision for Leeds - Action Plan Summary

Leeds Environment City Initiative / The Leeds Environmental Action Forum

www.leeds.gov.uk/lcc/environ/envinit/envcomm.html

Leeds City Council

www.leeds.gov.uk

Sustainable Development, UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

www.environment.detr.gov.uk/sustainable/index.htm

Environment Agency United Kingdom

www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

Contact:

Cities:

Leeds:

Leeds is the second largest metropolitan district in the UK; containing some 562 square kilometres - of which two thirds is Green Belt. The city's central positioning - midway between Edinburgh and London - places Leeds in the heart of the country.

A relatively affluent capital, Leeds offers arts, sporting and entertainment scenes, and a range of refurbished theatres, shopping malls, hotels, galleries and cafes. Leeds has transformed its once neglected Waterfront into a chic dining quarter and thriving visitor attraction, fashioned city apartments from former grain mills and built the country's largest regional theatre.

Leeds is also known for its history of department stores, for Chippendale's furniture and at one time the largest clothing factory in Europe.

The city's fastest-growing industry is financial services, whereby Leeds has more law and accountancy firms than anywhere outside London. The engineering, textile and clothing sectors suffered greatly in the eighties, but they have recovered and still provide for nearly a quarter of all jobs in the city.

Population:

Project was added at 05.09.2001
Project was changed at 05.09.2001

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