Localising sustainable development. The potential of the asset-based strategy in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Think global, act local. Never before has this slogan been as relevant as it is today. Agenda 2030 is the document that puts this idea into practice by elevating local community engagement to a new level of importance. Local communities finally have a chance to become not only beneficiaries of different policies but also (and foremost) their co-implementers. According to the strategy presented in the Agenda 2030 local knowledge, skills and partnerships will need to be mobilized to successfully implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Within this context, for the purposes of this study, the author asked herself the following questions: whether local authorities have been effectively exploiting knowledge and skills (defined as assets for the purpose of this study) of their inhabitants when shaping local policies? Have they got the proper tools to recognize those assets? Finally, can such a model of city management, which lacks this knowledge, be considered effective?
This study compares the classical need-based approach to local development with the asset-based development approach. It, therefore, presents the implementation of the new approach based on rediscovering local capacities, which was first presented by Kretzmann and McKnight in 1993. The asset-based approach challenges traditional approaches to solving urban problems. The basic principle of this strategy is to focus on community assets rather than on their needs, as well as letting communities be drivers of their own development process thus leading to ownership and sustainability.
This work thus aims to investigate the role and potential of an alternative approach to local development, the asset-based approach, within the process of implementing sustainable development goals.
Mots clés : asset-based community development|citizen engagement|local development |community-led development|social sustainability
A105323PG