Report calls for all-Ireland environment logo

A new report from the Centre for Cross Border Studies has called on the Departments of the Environment in Belfast and Dublin to create a single local sustainable development logo for the island of Ireland, along the lines of the all-Ireland tourism logo.

'Towards a Green Isle? Local Sustainable Development on the Island of Ireland' concludes that such a logo or icon would "symbolise local sustainability on the island of Ireland, help link the great range of sustainability activity, increase public recognition and understanding of sustainability activity, and add the potential of 'place promotion'".

The study, carried out by a research team drawn from Queen's University Belfast's School of Environmental Planning and Dublin environmental consultants Motherway Begley Ltd, also proposes a major all-island re-launch of Local Action 21 (LA 21), the local sustainable development programme inaugurated at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and re-branded at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

The authors argue that "the all-island dimension can provide a new way of looking at networking and opportunities for mutual learning". Such an event "could act as a milestone for the shift to a new, implementation focused, all-island version of local sustainable development".

The report concludes that "much progress has been made across the island of Ireland over the past decade, particularly in terms of enhancing the capacity for local sustainability, with the activities of committed individuals, developments in the institutional frameworks and the mobilisation of communities all improving significantly. However this capacity is not yet being used to its full potential".

The study’s authors carried out a survey of all local authorities in Ireland, North and South, and a wide range of social partners in both jurisdictions.

It highlights a number of case studies of good practice in local sustainable development.

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