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Sustainable Communities: more than just the environment |
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Thursday, 18 September 2008 |
Forward Scotland Development programme leader Sandra Renicks, with over 10 years in local economic development, was critical of the culture of 'sustainable' initiaitives devised by government. She said "These initiatives are all too often fundamentally flawed as a result of their failure to connect with communities. The top down approach will not provide the 21st century solutions we need."
Forward Scotland has for over a decade championed sustainable communities as a process in our villages, town and cities. We believe that culture change is required to meet the aspirations of communities. The key to unlocking this is the wealth of experience, enthusiasm and dogged determination of local people.
We do not beleive that you can build a new settlement and make it sustainable. A community is not created by the desire of politicians, planners and architects. More environmentally friendly housing is something that should be revitalising our existing housing stock through energy efficiency measures and other smarter technologies to improve the lives of people and protect our planet for future generations.
Let's invest in the communities we have, let's build their skills, support local employers, provide better public transport, access to land for recreation and better local amenities all with regard to the principles of sustainable development.
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