Key Message

A sustainable development strategy is a continuing and adaptive process of strategic and coordinated action.

SD Strategies and Adaptive Governance

Researching innovation practices

Fifteen years ago Agenda 21, the United Nations' call to action for sustainable development, envisaged that the necessary harmonization and extension of existing policies and plans would occur through the adoption of an identifiable strategy for sustainable development. Rather than develop a new strategy document, the overall objective was "to improve or restructure the decision-making process so that consideration of socio-economic and environmental issues is fully integrated and a broader range of public participation assured."[1]

A sustainable development strategy is not simply a document. It's a continuing, adaptive process of strategic and coordinated action (Figure 1). It has been described as:

IISD continues to research and communicate innovative practices in sustainable development strategies and adaptive governance to practitioners around the world. IISD initiatives for researching innovation practices include the following:

Contents

[1] Paragraph 8.7 in UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development. (1993). Agenda 21: Earth summit-the United Nations program of action from Rio. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/index.htm; as cited in Cherp, A., George, C., & Kirkpatrick, C. (2004). A methodology for assessing national sustainable development strategies. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 22(6), 913-926.

[2] Dalal-Clayton, B., & Bass, S. (2002). Sustainable development strategies: A resource book. London: Earthscan Publications Ltd.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Page 16 in Steurer, R., & Martinuzzi, A. (2003). Sustainable development in an enlarged union: Linking national strategies and strengthening European coherence. Good practice guide, as cited in Steurer, R., & Martinuzzi, A. (n.d.). Toward a new pattern of governance: First experiences with national strategies for sustainable development in Europe. Vienna: Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.