Westden

< Places, projects & networks, < Projects by location: England
Westden (formerly West Devon Environmental
Network) was launched in 1994 with a focus
on traditional ‘green’ issues. However it soon
became obvious that the outcomes of the
1992 UN Earth Summit could not be ignored.
Environmental issues could not be tackled in
isolation from social and economic factors
and, if anything was to be done about global
problems such as climate change and poverty,
the place to start was at a local level. As they
consulted on a way forward for Westden it
was apparent that their objectives and Agenda 21 were inseparable.
=== Latest news ===
According to the project's website (accessed May 1 2008) Westden has no active projects. This project is being category as 'apparently lapsed'. If it becomes active again it can be recategorised.
=== Westden and local government ===
The local authority, West Devon Borough Council,
agreed that Westden should take a lead on Local Agenda 21 and they, as an authority, would do
their best to respond to issues raised. It also
made good economic sense for a community
group to facilitate the process since Westden
could attract funding that was not available to the
public sector for any resulting projects. The
Council was also aware of the importance of
involving the community.
=== Consultation ===
The consultation process that led to Westden’s
set of ‘Sustainability Principles’ was not out of
any textbook. After trying the usual methods
which failed to create enthusiasm, they
developed an approach that included
presentations to the elderly at a tea dance,
theatre in schools and workshops with scouts
and guides as well as meetings over kitchen
tables. Sometimes these worked, sometimes they
did not, but over 3,500 of the Borough’s
population of 48,000 were directly involved in
achieving a consensus on the issues that people
felt were important to sustainability.
=== Practical projects ===
Westden considered that practical projects would
be the best way of demonstrating what
sustainability meant in practice. By 1998 over
20 projects had either taken place or were under
development. Some of these attracted funding,
others took place without finance, while
others waited until resources could be found. One
of these issues was the need for appropriate jobs
for no ‘the’ young people who were leaving the
area in search of employment and housing. From
this came the ‘Ley of the Land’ project that has
been providing training and other support for over
100 young people every year for the last 6 years.
=== Sustainability indicators ===
They also wanted to measure whether West
Devon was becoming more or less sustainable
and, with the help of the University of Plymouth,
evolved a system of indicators which are widely
recognised as good practice. Each ‘sustainability
principle’ had one or more indicator which ranged
from the amount of locally-produced food eaten
by local people, to the number of ethical
investment policies taken out in the Borough.
There have been four bi-annual indicators reports
covering progress.
=== Recent activity ===
It became clear in 2002 that Local Agenda 21
was no longer very popular with central or local
government in the UK. Many local authorities
were not even pretending to use the LA21
strategies that they had developed. Ironically it
was a local government submission to the
Johannesburg Summit that suggested that Local
Agenda 21 ought to be revitalised under the
name Local ACTION 21. LA21 in West Devon has
now been retitled in this way. Westden’s current
projects include:
* training and retraining for young and older people affected by the downturn in small-scale farming; loan of motor scooters for young people handicapped by access to transport;
* a team of Community Animateurs helping to build capacity in rural communities;
* support for the production, sale and consumption of healthy local food; and
* projects with partners in Europe and India to promote local sustainability and to build community capacity. 
=== Reference ===
Building our
own futures:
Local action for sustainable
development across Europe
in the 21st century
A report for ANPED,
the Northern Alliance
for Sustainability, Chris Church, March 2005
=== External link ===
West Devon Environmental Network 
category:UK networks and projects apparently lapsed
category:South West England