There really are many people, perhaps even the majority, who think that the aesthetic impact of windfarms for instance, in relation to the benefits that they provide, are unacceptable but without taking full account of all of the negative impacts of the other ways in which we generate energy locally, nationally and globally. We have seen examples increasingly now in Europe and elsewhere of the use of photovoltaic-type panels, for instance in cladding on buildings which, as urban designers, will be a major issue for you in the future. So, renewable energy is a key issue, it's the first principle in sustainable development. Local sourcing and manufacture of goods and services creating dynamic regional and local economies. For instance, in agriculture, rather than importing the mango or other exotic product from British Guyana so that the 50 calories of energy used to get it to the market place for every single unit of calorific value and eating the thing, you've got to source and grow food locally and create diverse local markets and local consumption as a consequence of that.
Participation is a key issue.
People don't any longer accept big government. This is not acceptable any more but neither is local government in the way it's carried out at the moment particularly acceptable. We need to find new methods and modes of participation and decision-making that affects our lives and it's not just to do with government either. It is to do with the stakeholder economy where people have a say in their workplace about how things are planned, managed and operated. Key issues in sustainability.