Using an area based mark of environmental quality as a means of promoting bottom-up sustainable development

Getting local stakeholders to care for their own environments was the central focus of a pilot demonstration project recently undertaken in the West of Ireland. An area based environmental quality mark, known as Beatha, (pronounced bah-ha, an Irish word meaning life and livelihood) was bestowed on areas that, in the opinion of an international panel of adjudicators, exhibit not only exceptionally high environmental standards, but also, a determination, through a vigilant local partnership, to maintain these standards into the future. Participation in the project has encouraged communities and local authorities to work in partnership together in order to protect and manage the environment in a sustainable way. The project provides a model for promoting environmentally friendly development by seeking to ensure the protection and enhancement of the natural and cultural assets of each local area. Mainstreaming of what is regarded as a very successful pilot project, which would see the Beatha mark recognized internationally as a symbol of environmental quality, would greatly complement the largely top-down regulatory responses to environmental problems that currently prevail.