During the 90’s I was inspired by Local Agenda 21. LA21 came into being when the Rio Earth Summit called on the world’s local authorities to take centre stage and fulfil the second part of the famous aphorism: “think global, act local”.
As a permaculturist I worked with my then local authority – Newcastle City Council – and set up a community garden, as well as working alongside city nature parks, the Healthy City project, allotments, West End greenspaces, city farms, wildlife corridors and a cluster of other initiatives.
Fast forward to 2014 and I am inspired by Molly Scott Cato’s work on bioregional economies. Local Agenda 21 can play a role in developing these regions, for sure, but they will only succeed if the catalyst comes from the grassroots.
I am pleased that Molly is now a Euro MEP and I am sure she will share with her colleagues the growing collective, collaborative vision of bioregional economies. Â Imagine clusters of such economies, functioning like neural networks and embedded in the natural systems on which they depend.
