Sustainable Tourism Law

SUSTAINABILITY: THE PATH FROM STOCKHOLM TO THE EUROPEAN CHARTER 631 I.2.5. Euro Mediterranean Conference of Sustainable Cities In the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Sustainable Cities , that took place in Seville from 21st to 23rd January 1999, the objective was to integrate in the Campaign all the signs of progress achieved so far in the different initiatives at a global, European and Mediterranean scale for sustainable development. Concerning commitments that have been reached, we should highlight the growth of the Campaign with all interested actors, through the collaboration and establishment of actions between Mediterranean cities and Europe, with technical exchanges being implemented to share knowledge among citizens, groups of interest and cities. The report European Sustainable Cities , prepared in response to the request of the European Commission, includes eight chapters establishing relevant institutions, principles and techniques and its last version was elaborated by the Commission’s Expert Group on the Urban Environment (Directorate General XI – March 1996) The Third European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns took place in Hannover, from 9th to 12th February 2000, leading to a significant adhesion of the local and regional authorities to the Charter of European Cities and Towns Towards Sustainability (the Aalborg Charter), which shows the relevance of the document as a way of achieving the cities’ sustainability. One of the most critical issues on the Conference was the need to keep on disseminating in Europe the know-how to achieve sustainability at a local level, fostering more significant participation of the cities in the European and worldwide political agenda and eliminating the obstacles to the public participation on the Local Agenda 21 process. A new initiative regarding sustainable criteria was presented based on the European Common Indicators to provide a tool to compare change across Europe in terms of the progress being made towards sustainability (see Annex II: Agreement on the adoption of ‘Towards a local sustainability profile in European common indicators’ inTowards a local sustainability profile – European common indicators, Technical Report, published in 2000-09-11, Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission. Contribution of the Expert Group on the Urban Environment to the European Sustainable Cities &Towns Campaign and the Third European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns, Hanover, Germany, 9-12 February 2000).