Revision 899059631 of "Basque Declaration" on enwiki

{{Multiple issues|{{Third-party|date=June 2018}}{{original research|date=June 2018}}}}

The '''Basque Declaration''' (2016) is a formal document outlining 15 pathways for the development of more [[sustainable cities]] in Europe. The Declaration was acclaimed at the 8th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns from 27-29 April 2016 in [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]]. The document can be seen as a continuation of the [[Aalborg Charter|Aalborg Charter (1994)]] and the Aalborg Commitments (2004) echoing sustainability vision from Local [[Agenda 21|Agenda 21]], and is itself a call for active engagement from civil society..<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sustainablecities.eu/about-the-basque-declaration/|title=About the Basque Declaration}}</ref> The vision of the Declaration is 'to create productive, sustainable and resilient cities for a liveable and inclusive Europe'<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.sustainablecities.eu/fileadmin/repository/Basque_Declaration/BD_May_Update/Basque-Declaration-ENGLISH-www.pdf|title=The Basque Declaration (English)|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref>

The Basque Declaration is targeted at city leaders in Europe, including mayors and city governments, and can also be signed by individuals. It outlines pathways to help city leaders shape the development of their own municipalities, and ultimately aims to accelerate socio-cultural, socio-economic and technological transformation. The Declaration is based on the understanding that a diversity of local initiatives are required to address social, environmental and economic challenges. It recognises the importance of things such as protecting biodiversity, decarbonising energy systems, creating more sustainable mobility systems, protecting water systems, adapting to climate change, promoting social inclusion and strengthening local economies, among other things.<ref name=":0" /> Although focusing on action at the local scale, the Declaration is underpinned by the idea of cooperation, sharing and replication of solutions adapted to the local context. A strong theme of the Declaration is to have a highly engaged civil society, where participation is a key ingredient in both developing and ''implementing'' local transformative actions.

The 15 pathways listed in the Basque Declaration are summarised under three headings:

<u>The Socio-Cultural Transformation</u>
* To develop a 'culture of sustainability'
* To actively involve citizens, going beyond just participatory planning to co-creative approaches
* To re-think boundaries between public and private activities
* To promote social innovation, enterprises and civic engagement, focusing especially on marginalised groups and immigrants
* To nurture the [[sharing economy|sharing economy]] and ideas that combine entrepreneurship, civic engagement and societal transformation

<u>The Socio-Economic Transformation</u>
* To turn challenges into opportunities for local economies in key areas such as energy and food production
* To create and close local value chains, increasing public income and local investment
* To apply innovative financing, including crowd-funding and blends of public funding or complementary currencies
* To purchase products and services conscientiously, taking into account the environmental, social and economic impacts of purchasing decisions
* To pursue development towards a [[circular economy]], reducing the demand of natural resources and waste output

<u>The Technological Transformation</u>
* To wisely take advantage of smart technologies
* To use public procurement as a way to accelerate innovation in the market
* To address the [[Digital divide|digital divide]] within local societies, focusing on equal access
* To support open data standards, keeping data available to the public
* The prepare political and governance structures to deal with these changes

==Transformative actions==

The Declaration supports local 'transformative actions' and encourages cities to develop and share their sustainability solutions.<ref>{{cite web|title=Transformative Action Award|url=http://www.sustainablecities.eu/transformative-action-award/|website=Sustainable Cities EU|access-date=May 24, 2017}}</ref> The [http://www.sustainablecities.eu/ Sustainable Cities EU] website has a central database where cities can submit their own 'transformative actions'. The idea is that local innovations can inspire other city leaders and where it is possible, help to facilitate replication of successful strategies. To encourage cities to report on their activities a 'Transformative Action Award' was created.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.iclei.org/ ICLEI]

[[Category:Sustainable development]]