About Sustainable Dorset

Sustainable Dorset is a registered charity (Charity No. 1102528, Company No. 4988176) which acts both as a portal and as an enabling organisation for sustainability in Dorset. It strives to encourage sustainable living by the most effective use of all resources by local authorities, businesses, communities and householders.

Our Sustainable Dorset website is well-recognised throughout the county as a reliable source of information and serves as a hub, linking and promoting all sustainable communities, organisations and events.

The International Context

Sustainable Dorset is part of an international network of similar organisations created   following the 1992 United Nations Convention on Environment and Development (UNCED) held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Out of this convention came the Rio Declaration which set out 27 principles for sustainable development. One of the articles was Agenda 21, an action plan to address the pressing problems of poverty and hunger, unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and degradation of all parts of the environment – land, sea and atmosphere. Agenda 21 proposed that its actions should be carried through by the formation of local Agenda 21s. The UK was a signatory to the Rio agreement and the government of the day called on local authorities to take a lead in instigating the development of local Agenda 21s.

Under the auspices of Dorset County Council, Dorset Agenda 21(da21) was formed in 1995 from a consortium of local authorities, community organisations and nongovernmental organisations. It became an independent charity in 2001 and its constitution was consolidated in 2003.

Aims of Sustainable Dorset

• To raise awareness and understanding about sustainable living
• Initiate and support projects which demonstrate sustainability
• Influence decision makers to take sustainability into account

Key Objectives of Sustainable Dorset

The role of Sustainable Dorset is:

• To act as a focal point and umbrella organisation through which sustainability initiatives in Dorset can be linked up, and communicate with, other community groups promoting their interests in a sustainability issue.
• Be seen as a source of expertise and know-how for Dorset on practical sustainability issues.
• To support and facilitate local community initiatives on issues germane to sustainability such as energy and water, food and agriculture, the natural environment, transport and waste.
• Alert all Dorset residents about the impact of climate change on the social, economic, and environmental wellbeing of their lives.
• To educate, research and raise awareness throughout our community on sustainable living and how to achieve it.
• To access and extend the range of financial resources available for sustainability work in Dorset