Lessons in promoting sustainable development in EU structural funds programmes

This paper assesses and compares the experiences of 12 Objective 1 and 2 regions across the EU which conducted pilot projects on methods of promoting sustainable development by means of Structural Fund programmes. It demonstrates how the regions translated the concept of sustainable development into practical applications that are compatible with structural funding procedures, relevant to the needs of specific programme areas and acceptable to programme partnerships. The paper analyses their experiences in terms of developing new methodologies, redesigning programme objectives, adapting management tools and opening up procedures to greater participation and dialogue. A central argument is that the success of the efforts to promote sustainable development via structural funding depends to a considerable extent on the ability of those involved to address local or regional issues of concern, to build on existing procedures and objectives of programme management and to respect the institutional framework of operation. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.