The ‘Sustaining Our Communities’ International Local Agenda 21 Conference attendees endorse the Principles of Local Agenda 21 and urge the Commonwealth, State and Local Governments to accelerate efforts to further implement these Principles.

We, of Local Government from Australia and neighbouring regions, gathered in Adelaide, recognise the following:

The primacy of ecological sustainability. The relationship between environment, social and economic sustainability is defined by the economy as a subset of social structures, which in turn are a subset of the environment, namely:

We note that whilst significant progress has been made in the implementation of Local Agenda 21, environmental quality has continued to deteriorate, social inequities have worsened, and the disparity between rich and poor continues to widen. Therefore Local Agenda 21 implementation needs to be accelerated and the time has come for a more concerted move from commitment to action.

We are committed to and advocate actions, to:

• improve two way communication, collaboration and support between the spheres of Government, nationally and internationally
• embed Local Agenda 21 and ESD criteria as the foundation of government processes; and review all statutory instruments and policies accordingly
• reach intergovernmental agreement(s) to ensure adequate resourcing of Local Agenda 21 implementation
• foster and resource transdisciplinary partnerships between knowledge-based organisations and Governments to achieve greater integration between environmental, social and economic disciplines and sectors
• integrate Local Agenda 21 into government reporting processes
• raise community awareness and participation
• embrace cultural diversity and engage indigenous peoples to achieve ESD
• develop a Commonwealth policy recommitment to Local Agenda 21 and ESD
• agree to measureable targets, standards and indicators.