SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: LOCAL AGENDA 21 PRINCIPLES OF AGREEMENT
Table of Contents
Index
Action SCC Advisory Board
Principles of Agreement
Introduction
12 Focus Area Reports:
Agriculture
Biodiversity & Ecosystem Management
Education
Energy
Housing
Population
Pubic Health
Resources & Recycling
Social Justice
Toxic Technology & Waste Management
Transportation
Viable Economy

*PRINCIPLES OF AGREEMENT

For Developing a Sustainable Community

As we go forward with our "Local Agenda 21," we will seek to:

  1. Include all community groups and interests with full participation of all ethnic groups, the youth, elders, and women; fully honor both our unity & diversity; and treat all with respect.
  2. Provide opportunities for the community at large to contribute without having to attend a meeting. (The viability of implementation of a local Agenda 21 depends on total inclusivity.)
  3. Establish an Information Sharing Network focused on our "Sustainability."
  4. Look for creative ways to collaborate, avoiding duplication of efforts,
  5. Establish positive working relationships with business, the education systems, government, social institutions, organizations, media, and all segments of society.
  6. Provide a values-based education, with respect for all peoples, nature and all of life. Educate the community at large about individual responsibility, encouraging a positively-focused community empowerment.
  7. Maximize conservation and develop local renewable resources, so that, as much as possible, we live off the interest our environment provides without destroying its capital base.
  8. Create a vital economy with a viable and sustainable economic system, creating opportunities for work that are based on "right livelihood" and service, as well as products that sustain life; and that this collective wealth must support and sustain well being for all.
  9. Recognize that environmental quality, economic health, and social well-being are mutually interdependent. A healthy environment is integral to long-term economic interests and to each individual's welfare; achieving a healthy environment must ensure that inequitable burdens are not placed on any one geographic or economic sector of the population.
  10. Protect, preserve, and restore the natural environment.
  11. Define "development" in ways that bring about improvement in the quality of life for all.
  12. Look beyond Santa Cruz for additional successful programs and strategies, and be willing to share our model with other communities around the world.

* This list represents a consolidation of principles agreed upon by all participants to date.

site by Brittany 2004