Sustainable Regions: Making Sustainable Development Work in Regional Economies, Meirion Thomas and Martin Rhisiart (Eds), Aureus Publishing Limited, St Bride's Major, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK(2004). 190 pp. diagrams, notes, and references. £15.00.ISBN 1 899750 31 2.
The establishment of the National Assembly of Wales [NAW] in 1998 provided a unique opportunity to determine what the most essential functions of a regional government should be at the beginning of the 21st century. Perhaps not surprisingly was the inclusion in the enabling legislation of Article 121 a very strongly worded provision that made the direct overseeing and implementation of Sustainable Development (SD) a central task of this fledgling body. This was the first time that a regional body was provided with such a direct and codified charge. The volume at hand is the result of a two-year pilot study, Towards a Sustainable Knowledge based[B1] Region [TASK], lead by the Business School of CardiffUniversity, that investigated both what is occurring as a result of Article 121 and suggesting what more can or should be done.In the researcher’s words Wales became a …“’laboratory’ to test new approaches to sustainable development at the regional level” (p. 13).
Despite the ambitious goal, the results detailed here can only be fairly described aspreliminary and limited; yet one must consider that two years is quite short. However, the researchers are well aware of the shortcomings and see their major contribution as providing a series of policy lessons that need to be addressed in moving any region to a more sustainable path. This study emphasizes the need for the devolution of decision making and implementation of SD to a local level if efforts are to be successful. Second, it stresses the need to mainstream the concept of SD as a three-sided pyramid with an economic, social, and environmental face. Third, harmoniously building governance structures that include the public and private sectors as well as multiple voices ofthe community with all focusing on a common goal of a higher and sustainable quality of life is the unfinished task at which the policy lessons are aimed. Finally, this is only possible by addressing the central theme of educating and engaging all parties from leaders down to households in a new sustainable paradigm. None of this sounds particularly novel, but it is quite clear from the study that in fact implementation represents nothing short of a revolutionary change in the paradigm guiding the region.
The book is organized into four parts. Chapters 1 and 2 set the stage. The first chapter introduces TASKand the pilot studies it focused on as well as providing a glimpse of the limited understanding that the general public has of SD. Chapter 2spells out the unique duties ascribed by Article 121 to NAW to directly oversee and foster SD. This is a result of new governance models in the EU and elsewhere stressing local delivery and implementation of SD rather than simply centralized design and control. The result has been recognition of the need for devolution of power to the lowest effective level resulting in a direct linkage between subsidiarity[B2] and sustainability while mainstreaming SD into all aspects of economic, social and environmental activities. The question addressed here is how well has this been accomplished especially regardingthe relationship between the NAW and local governments and government-sponsored public bodies in Wales. Based on extensive interviews, debates and symposia the results have been shown to be inconsistent andthe signals unclear from the NAWwhile enforcement mechanisms are still not clearly defined. Simply, mainstreaming SDremainsa welcomed but unclear task as well as concept.
The following four chapters, 3 through 6, investigate the potential for implementing SD in the food, construction, solid waste, and education sectors. The selection of these rather mundane sectors hinges on the ability of the Government of Wales to actually create change. With a lack of taxation authority or control over its borders, the most effective way to pursue its policies is by leveraging its role as the largest consumer of institutional meals (especially school lunches), construction services (40% of the regional total), and solid waste related to construction practices (in total twice the level of household produced waste) as well as the primary provider of education, the factor which the research identifies as the single most important lever in the pursuit of SD. Each of these chapters suggests ways, many of them implemented elsewhere in the EU, by which the public sector can use this position as a major consumer and provider of services to mainstream SD.
In the school lunch program (Chapter 3), it is argued that focus on cost has damaged student health through the favoring of processed food imported into the region by large outside corporations. The solution suggested is the procurement of more fresh, local products and on-site preparation to both improve regional nutrition standards and generate more sustainable local employment. However, given classical von Thunen location theory and scale economies plus EU restraints on policies of buying locally (although the authors hope to use the French and Italian method of jigging the market by requiring fresh seasonal produce hopefully only available locally), it is unknown whether or not such a “buy local/fresh” movement will ever be successful without discriminatory market mechanisms. In the construction and solid waste chapters (Chapters 4 and 5) (which could perhaps benefit from being combined since they cover much of the same ground) drawing on the Dutch experience, much is suggested in regards to how construction practices can be improved and waste products turned into raw material for additional building. However, given the much lower solid waste fees in Wales then Holland,it is not clear that current market signals alone will accomplish the level of waste re-use that is desirable from an environmental standpoint.
The successful implementation of any of these schemes of course relies on a supportive leadership and community including its economic actors, which only becomes a possibility once all parties understand what SD is and agree to re-orientate their activities to reflect a new SD paradigm. This is where education becomes the key (Chapter 6). Although the study recognizes that broad-based and revolutionary community-wide changes are needed in this sector, the chapter on SD education is more a discussion of what this new SD education should be, and to whom and how it should be delivered rather then a description of what exists anywhere. Its parting shot is that if Wales gets things right then it would be in a good position to share its experience with the world during the UN’s “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” which has just begun.
If any part could be radically altered, part three,Chapter 7, which deals with global sustainable futures,would be the candidate. Not because this information is not valuable, but rather because such a brief treatment of such a broad field appears to be too limited and perhaps a bit of a distraction from the highly regionally focused and applied nature of the rest of the study.Perhaps an abbreviated overview of future trends might have better been summarized to fit into the introductory chapter rather than standing alone.
Finally, Chapter 8 provides the closing policy lessons. A goodly number are discussed here in a somewhat dense and repetitive fashion. However, in order for SD mainstreaming to become a reality first and foremost the case is made for the creation of an educated regional leadership championing change among an equally educated community of actors. The confusion or ignorance over SD must be dispelled, time horizons extended, knowledge bases improved, and society led by a group of inspiredindividuals establishing the interactive governance networks necessary to move the region onto a sustainable path of development. Article 121 has provided an opportunity for such a move, but it remains only that without commitment, especially from knowledgeable local champions in leadership roles.
In sum, this book provides an excellent overview of how some aspects of SD might be immediately implemented at the crucial regional level and does suggest excellent levers with which to experiment. However, for full commitment to arise a broad revolutionary change in SD education is called for as a necessary initial step. As a result, this study could well serve any region facing the daunting task of mainstreaming SD, and also provide advanced student seminars with a rich case study to review in this field.
Patrick H. Buckley
Department of Environmental Studies: Policy, Planning, Education and Geography
WesternWashingtonUniversity
[B1]Should Knowledge-based be hyphenated?
No Hyphen as indicated by the title listed in the book.
[B2]I added the second “i” in here…is this the correct word?CORRECT -- Thanks, spelling is not my forte.