1. Naples, Italy
26 October 2011
Local evaluation 21
- A summary presentation of the findings of the explorative
application
Sam Grönholm
Åbo Akademi University
sam.gronholm@abo.fi

2. Local Evaluation 21 (LE21)
Offers local governments an opportunity to self assess their local
process towards sustainable development via an internet- based
questionnaire that is available in 20 different languages
The basis of the LE21 evaluation questionnaire is ten evaluation criteria,
which encompasses different aspects of the local process for sustainable
development
The intention of the LE21 tool is to facilitate local governments to work
towards sustainable development by identifying areas of challenges and
progress

3. Explorative application of LE21
The 57 local governments that applied LE21 represent 18 European
countries
The local governments that have applied LE21 are generally cities with
less than 250,000 inhabitants
For the evaluation the local governments that applied LE21 were
divided into four regional groups because of contextual and structural
differences in Europe

4. Northern Europe Eastern Europe
1. Aalborg, Denmark 1. Bydgoszcz, Poland
2. Copenhagen, Denmark 2. Chrudim, Czech Republic
3. Helsingborg, Sweden 3. Jaworze, Poland
4. Helsinki, Finland 4. Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary
5. Kaunas, Lithuania 5. Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania
6. Kolding, Denmark 6. Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania
7. Kuopio, Finland 7. Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia
8. Liepaja, Latvia 8. Subotica, Serbia
9. Odense, Denmark 9. Świętochłowice, Poland
10. Panevezys, Lithuania 10. Timi oara, Romania
11. Stockholm, Sweden 11. Užice, Serbia
12. Vantaa, Finland 12. Valjevo, Serbia
13. Växjö, Sweden 13. Vranje, Serbia
Western Europe Southern Europe
1. Aberdeen, United Kingdom 1. Almada, Portugal
2. Augsburg, Germany 2. Arahal, Spain
3. Dublin, Ireland 3. Azuqueca de Henares, Spain
4. Eichenau, Germany 4. Barcelona, Spain
5. Freiburg, Germany 5. Bolzano, Italy
6. Geneva, Switzerland 6. Faro, Portugal
7. Leicester, United Kingdom 7. Granada, Spain
8. Münster, Germany 8. Granollers, Spain
9. Newcastle, United Kingdom 9. Naples, Italy
10. Plymouth, United Kingdom 10. Parma, Italy
11. Potsdam. Germany 11. Ravenna, Italy
12. Saint Hilaire de Riez, France 12. Rimini, Italy
13. Sheffield, United Kingdom 13. Saragossa, Spain
14. Stadt Neu-Ulm, Germany 14. Turin, Italy
15. Trier, Germany 15. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
16. York, United Kingdom

5. General findings
The summary of the general findings of the explorative application is
presented based upon the ten evaluation criteria which are the basis of the
evaluation
These criteria are:
political commitment, stability, resources, implementation
management, local relevance
participation, partnership, awareness
integrated approach, progress

6. Political commitment
Yes
In general local governments are politically committed to the local
process for Sustainable Development (SD)
Stability
Yes and no
Local governments’ ambition to manage the work on SD is not
reflected from a financial point of view, the work does not have a stable
and a long term financial commitment from the local governments

7. Resources
No
Local governments have in general not regularly provided sufficient
resources for managing and implementing SD
Implementation management
Yes and no
On a general level the local action plan is being implemented, albeit
to what extent varies. Northern and some Southern cities implement to a
high extent, but most Western and Eastern cities only to some extent

8. Most local governments utilize locally developed indicators to
monitor progress. Nationally developed indicators are in particular
used by Western cities, whilst European common indicators are mainly
used among Eastern and Southern local governments
Local relevance
Yes
The local process for SD has generally included a detailed
assessment of local priority concerns. Usually these concerns are
addressed, although the extent to which this occurs varies. Southern and
Eastern cities are especially active in addressing their concerns

9. Participation
No
Local governments have not managed to integrate stakeholders and
their perspectives into the local process for SD. Cities do however
generally have the capacity and the structure to involve stakeholders
Partnership
Yes and no
Local governments are generally active in collaborating on issues
related to SD, but these partnerships are seldom sufficiently formalized
and efficient

10. Awareness
Yes and no
Local governments do in general communicate on relevant SD
issues. But, cities provide only occasionally training for their staff and to a
lower extent to councilors and stakeholders. Western cities are usually
more passive than others in providing training

11. Integrated approach
No
Even if the majority of local governments state that the local process
for SD has to some extent changed the ways of working within the city, e.g.
interdepartmental linkages, cross-departmental joint projects and working
groups, the work on SD is generally not fully integrated and
mainstreamed into local plans, strategies and actions
Local governments undertake occasional, sometimes even limited,
assessments of how sustainable development is incorporated into local
politics

12. Progress
Yes
The local process for sustainable development has initiated new
activities and policy changes that cover a broad range of SD work which
has been categorized into areas of concern, e.g. energy, natural resource,
waste and pollution management
Most Northern, Western and Southern cities have experienced a
broad range of policy changes across many fields (global climate protection,
land use, mobility, urban mobility tools), however the changes within
Eastern cities have been more limited, and included a few major areas such
as the local economy and social cohesion policies