ARTIGOS I Fórum de Debates ECOLOGIA DA PAISAGEM E PLANEJAMENTO AMBIENTAL |
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LOCAL AGENDA 21, A PARLIAMENTARY MOTION IN BERLIN
PETER MEYER
The city of Berlin and all its 23 districts for years have been bustling with agenda-group-activities, with some financing by the Senate. Each of the districts up to now could rely on the services of two „agenda-coordinators"; unfortunately financing of this fairly successful institution is in the process of running out. Support by the Senate is administered and coordinated by the „Agenda-Buero", associated with the Senator of City-Planning e-mail: gabriela.kordeck@sensut.verwalt-berlin.de). Still missing up to this day is an official and legally binding Senate-decree to the effect that a „Local Agenda 21" for the city-state of Berlin must be installed. Unfortunately any agenda-activities so far have gone practically unnoticed by the general public. Nobody ever seems to even have heard of Agenda before. That is a problem. Even journalists who think of themselves as beeing normally well-informed occasionally resort to the popular, but misleading half-truth that it „has something to do with ecology" („Der Tagesspiegel", Dec. 2, 1999), implying that Agenda is important, but „out". But in fact Agenda is „in". What does Agenda mean? The last try to save our children? Maybe. Agenda is: ecology „plus". In the early days of mankind when we were ruled by the laws of ecology, ecology permitted social development, and the economy was at the service of social development. Today when instead the laws of economy govern us, ecology serves the economy, and economy deforms and debases social development. Agenda is the attempt to get social development back into the game, it´s been rather missing lately. In April of 1998 the Parliament of Berlin constituted a special survey committee „Sustainable Berlin" to have it investigate the chances and difficulties of a „Local Agenda 21" for Berlin. („21" stands for the „21st century".) In doing so Parliament followed a recommendation laid down 6 years ago in the now famous Agenda–21-document, signed by some 180 governments at the World Conference on Enviroment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In this document the municipal administrations of cities and villages world-wide were called upon to
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