Providing local communities with environmental know-how

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends that countries, with the cooperation of international organizations, should establish support mechanisms to provide local communities and resource users with the information and know-how they need to manage their environment and resources sustainably, applying traditional and indigenous knowledge and approaches when appropriate. This is particularly relevant for rural and urban populations and indigenous, women's and youth groups.

The European Project 21 was initiated to meet the demand for exchange of information and experiences between people involved in Local Agenda 21 projects. The project was funded by the DG XIII (ICT) and is a collaboration between a number of NGO organisations. The project aims to create 'a poor man's door to the information society'. The challenging task was fulfilled by creating a web site that is essentially a search engine that sifts through a huge Local Agenda 21 database both on-site and elsewhere.