Landscapes an agenda for change in West Chester

West Chester (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.) adopted Landscapes, a comprehensive plan policy, in 1996 to change the pattern of development at that time, and to develop a program for making that change.

Landscapes provides a framework for growth that complements the protection of natural resources, agricultural lands, and heritage.  It also requires the participation of all levels of the County community – County government, municipal government, businesses and citizens.

Landscapes was amended in the years 2000 and 2003, and was awarded the Outstanding Planning Award in 2002 by the state of Pennsylvania Planning Association.

The plan is current being rewritten, to be called Landscapes 2.

ICLEI’s Local Agenda 21 (LA21) Campaign promotes a participatory, long-term, strategic planning process that supports local governance by identifying local sustainability priorities and mobilizing local governments and their citizens to implement long-term action plans that address these sustainable priorities. Using the LA21 approach of participatory sustainable development planning, ICLEI aims to assist local authorities to move beyond general sustainable development planning and to apply this approach in tackling areas of priority concern. For more information, please visit www.iclei.org/la21.

West Chester is one of 208 local governments in the U.S.A. that are currently Members of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.  For more information on ICLEI and its activities in the U.S.A., please visit www.iclei.org/usa.

Source:  Landscapes on the West Chester website at www.chesco.org.