MUE25 Online guidance - Integrated management system

Cities and regions are complex and dynamic. The everyday choices of small and large activities in cities and regions all add in one way or another to the urban area’s total impact on the environment.

Industries’ choice of cleaning technologies, the ways in which school and hospital buildings are heated and the purchase policies of the public sector all exert impact on waste generation. Furthermore, the individual choices of every household add up to a large impact on the environment. The impact of our cities is also determined by actions taken outside city borders. Neighbouring cities’ planning practices influence transport patterns. Regional and national authority policies influence the whole society in a nation. EU regulations and policies influence the national governments.

A present trend is that the cities’ management requirements are increasing. Cities need to make sure they fulfil the legislation affecting them. Numerous EU directives (such as the Strategic Environmental Assessment, Air Quality Directive, Water Framework Directive or Fauna Flora Habitat Directive, etc.) require cities to monitor and report on these aspects.

However, a city is not just about managing environmental issues. We can easily agree that the very objective of local politics is to strive for the fulfilment of human needs. In reaching this goal, many different challenges must be faced, from offering adequate infrastructure to the inhabitants and coping with migration flows, taking care of children and the elderly, to dealing with climate change, enhancing job creation and maintaining local viable and dynamic economies to name but a few.

Dealing with these challenges, a city has only limited resources available. In summary, the fulfilment of our human needs as well as the human well-being of future generations depend on the availability, the quantity and the quality of our natural resources together with our social common good and financial means.

If urban Europe is to achieve sustainable development, it requires efficient tools that will facilitate the process of sustainability management and enable the actual translation of the numerous strategies and programs from the European and national levels into the actions carried out by governments at the local level.

Introduction What is integrated sustainable development? General characteristics of the integrated management system The integrated management system: step-by-step Existing practices ENCOUNTER the scope of the steps Gradually expanding the scope and contents of the system Contact points with other management systems Prerequisites for the integrated management system	1. Introduction Cities and regions are complex and dynamic. The everyday choices of small and large activities in cities and regions all add in one way or another to the urban area’s total impact on the environment. Industries’ choice of cleaning technologies, the ways in which school and hospital buildings are heated and the purchase policies of the public sector all exert impact on waste generation. Furthermore, the individual choices of every household add up to a large impact on the environment. The impact of our cities is also determined by actions taken outside city borders. Neighbouring cities’ planning practices influence transport patterns. Regional and national authority policies influence the whole society in a nation. EU regulations and policies influence the national governments. A present trend is that the cities’ management requirements are increasing. Cities need to make sure they fulfil the legislation affecting them. Numerous EU directives (such as the Strategic Environmental Assessment, Air Quality Directive, Water Framework Directive or Fauna Flora Habitat Directive, etc.) require cities to monitor and report on these aspects. However, a city is not just about managing environmental issues. We can easily agree that the very objective of local politics is to strive for the fulfilment of human needs. In reaching this goal, many different challenges must be faced, from offering adequate infrastructure to the inhabitants and coping with migration flows, taking care of children and the elderly, to dealing with climate change, enhancing job creation and maintaining local viable and dynamic economies to name but a few. Dealing with these challenges, a city has only limited resources available. In summary, the fulfilment of our human needs as well as the human well-being of future generations depend on the availability, the quantity and the quality of our natural resources together with our social common good and financial means. If urban Europe is to achieve sustainable development, it requires efficient tools that will facilitate the process of sustainability management and enable the actual translation of the numerous strategies and programs from the European and national levels into the actions carried out by governments at the local level.	IMS short tour Background to the model City examples Glossary Links Downloads Contact us
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1. Introduction