(NUA) agreed upon at the Habitat III cities
conference in Quito, Ecuador in 2016, also
highlights “sustainable urban development as a
critical step for realizing sustainable development
in an integrated and coordinated manner at global, regional, national, sub-national, and local
levels, with the participation of all relevant
actors” (United Nations 2017). In its main report
from 2016, the German Advisory Council on
Global Change (WBGU) suggests that cities
“should play a decisive role in the ‘century of the
cities’—as key drivers of the transformation
towards sustainability” (Kraas et al. 2016). On
one hand, cities trigger technological innovation
and social mobility. On the other hand, they
incite climate change and excessive resource
consumption, while their populations are
exposed to the consequences of heat waves or
heavy rain, increasing land consumption and
motorized traffic, as well as poverty and challenges of social inequality (Ministerinnen und
Minister der Bundesländer 2007).
Therefore, the Agenda 2030 implies a threefold responsibility along its core dimensions of
implementation, which are also particularly relevant for the local level. First is the dimension of
domestic policy: for example, halving the
national poverty rate (SDG 1, target 1.2) also
involves a challenge for countries that are highly
economically developed. German municipalities
have the opportunity to positively influence this
goal. They can make use of local social policies,
such as early childcare, or of non-formal and
professional education offers to improve opportunities for the deprived. Second, local political
action and collective behavior patterns can have
a lasting impact on other countries. For example,
German municipalities can help to improve the
living and working conditions in the Global
South through fair trade (SDG 12, target 12.7) or
a reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions
(SDG 7, target 7.2 and 7.3) or consumption of
natural resources (SDG 8, target 8.4). In particular, public procurement policies of German
administrations tend to make growing contributions in this field (SKEW 2015). Third, municipalities may become actively involved in other
countries in the field of SD, for example, through
partnerships, projects or technical cooperation
(SDG 17, target 17.16 and 17.17). Many German
municipalities engage in concrete bilateral projects, e.g., for common climate change mitigation
policies (Website SKEW 2017). Although in
many German municipalities, different and thoroughly successful approaches to implement SD
can be identified, SD is rarely understood as a
core business of local action and implemented in
an integrated manner.
Therefore, this paper focuses on answering
the research question of how integrated management and participatory multi-stakeholder
approach can be systematically realized at the
local level, thus contributing to the implementation of the Agenda 2030. This is done on the
basis of experiences and results of the model
project titled “Global Nachhaltige Kommune in
Nordrhein-Westfalen” (GNK NRW, Eng. Global
Sustainable Municipality in North RhineWestphalia), which took place between January
2016 and April 2018. In this two-and-a-half-year
process, 15 municipalities in North RhineWestphalia (Germany) developed individual
Integrated Municipal Sustainability Strategies
(IMSS) in the context of the Agenda 2030.
The GNK NRW project was carried out by the
Sustainability Network of North RhineWestphalia (LAG 21 NRW) and the Service
Agency Communities in One World (SKEW)
from Engagement Global and was funded by the
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ).
1
The paper presents the methodical approach to
the participation process and the results of a
project-internal process-oriented monitoring and
evaluation. The project results presented here are
based on an approach of participatory urban
planning for the LAG 21 NRW, as explained in
Sects. 2 and 3. How the approach was implemented is explained in Sect. 4. Subsequently, the
design and empirical findings of the accompanying monitoring and evaluation are presented in
1
The SKEW of Engagement Global provides support to
German municipalities engaging in development cooperation. SKEW works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
A Participatory Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Implementing …
241
conference in Quito, Ecuador in 2016, also
highlights “sustainable urban development as a
critical step for realizing sustainable development
in an integrated and coordinated manner at global, regional, national, sub-national, and local
levels, with the participation of all relevant
actors” (United Nations 2017). In its main report
from 2016, the German Advisory Council on
Global Change (WBGU) suggests that cities
“should play a decisive role in the ‘century of the
cities’—as key drivers of the transformation
towards sustainability” (Kraas et al. 2016). On
one hand, cities trigger technological innovation
and social mobility. On the other hand, they
incite climate change and excessive resource
consumption, while their populations are
exposed to the consequences of heat waves or
heavy rain, increasing land consumption and
motorized traffic, as well as poverty and challenges of social inequality (Ministerinnen und
Minister der Bundesländer 2007).
Therefore, the Agenda 2030 implies a threefold responsibility along its core dimensions of
implementation, which are also particularly relevant for the local level. First is the dimension of
domestic policy: for example, halving the
national poverty rate (SDG 1, target 1.2) also
involves a challenge for countries that are highly
economically developed. German municipalities
have the opportunity to positively influence this
goal. They can make use of local social policies,
such as early childcare, or of non-formal and
professional education offers to improve opportunities for the deprived. Second, local political
action and collective behavior patterns can have
a lasting impact on other countries. For example,
German municipalities can help to improve the
living and working conditions in the Global
South through fair trade (SDG 12, target 12.7) or
a reduction of their greenhouse gas emissions
(SDG 7, target 7.2 and 7.3) or consumption of
natural resources (SDG 8, target 8.4). In particular, public procurement policies of German
administrations tend to make growing contributions in this field (SKEW 2015). Third, municipalities may become actively involved in other
countries in the field of SD, for example, through
partnerships, projects or technical cooperation
(SDG 17, target 17.16 and 17.17). Many German
municipalities engage in concrete bilateral projects, e.g., for common climate change mitigation
policies (Website SKEW 2017). Although in
many German municipalities, different and thoroughly successful approaches to implement SD
can be identified, SD is rarely understood as a
core business of local action and implemented in
an integrated manner.
Therefore, this paper focuses on answering
the research question of how integrated management and participatory multi-stakeholder
approach can be systematically realized at the
local level, thus contributing to the implementation of the Agenda 2030. This is done on the
basis of experiences and results of the model
project titled “Global Nachhaltige Kommune in
Nordrhein-Westfalen” (GNK NRW, Eng. Global
Sustainable Municipality in North RhineWestphalia), which took place between January
2016 and April 2018. In this two-and-a-half-year
process, 15 municipalities in North RhineWestphalia (Germany) developed individual
Integrated Municipal Sustainability Strategies
(IMSS) in the context of the Agenda 2030.
The GNK NRW project was carried out by the
Sustainability Network of North RhineWestphalia (LAG 21 NRW) and the Service
Agency Communities in One World (SKEW)
from Engagement Global and was funded by the
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ).
1
The paper presents the methodical approach to
the participation process and the results of a
project-internal process-oriented monitoring and
evaluation. The project results presented here are
based on an approach of participatory urban
planning for the LAG 21 NRW, as explained in
Sects. 2 and 3. How the approach was implemented is explained in Sect. 4. Subsequently, the
design and empirical findings of the accompanying monitoring and evaluation are presented in
1
The SKEW of Engagement Global provides support to
German municipalities engaging in development cooperation. SKEW works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
A Participatory Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Implementing …
241