Rural Affairs

Rural Strategy 2004 Fact Sheet: Sustainable Development

What is sustainable development?

  • Sustainable development is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

How is it relevant to the Rural Strategy 2004?

  • The vision of genuinely sustainable rural communities remains at the heart of our Strategy.
  • It includes tackling social exclusion – ensuring that all parts of society and all areas participate in and benefit from sustainable development – and ensuring that our economic and social strategies are consistent with our aim of protecting and enhancing our natural resources, as inheritence for future generations.
  • It means integrating and achieving sustainable outcomes from economic, social and environmental
    considerations at every stage of policy and delivery, and at national, regional and local level.

What does the Rural Strategy say about sustainable development?

  • The Rural Strategy 2004 sets out how the Government – working with national, regional and local partners – seeks to achieve sustainable development in rural as well as urban areas. In particular:
    • Through modernised rural delivery arrangements, all delivery bodies, whether primarily focused on economic, social or environmental goals, will work together in partnership within a delivery framework aimed at achieving sustainable outcomes.
    • The new Integrated Agency and the New Countryside Agency will operate within an overarching sustainable development remit.
    • Regional Development Agencies will have a key target of achieving a positive trend in the government’s headline indicators of sustainable development. Their work in the regions should also contribute to delivering a sustainable farming and food industry.
    • Government Offices for the Regions will provide a leadership role at regional and sub-regional level to ensure that processes and programmes are co-ordinated within a sustainable development framework.
    • Local authorities play a crucial role as community leaders joining up services to deliver high quality services that support the development of sustainable communities. Defra will work with the Government Offices and the Local Government Association to help local authorities develop Local Public Service Agreements that benefit rural communities and support the delivery of sustainable development.
    • The mechanisms that each region will adopt for taking decisions about priority actions for rural communities and businesses will need to meet the policy principle of promoting sustainable development.

Is this approach new?

  • The concept of sustainable development is not new – Defra has always been committed to working towards sustainable development, as set out in its June 2002 publication ‘Foundations for our Future – Defra’s Sustainable Development Strategy’.
  • But for the first time sustainable development will be an unmistakable and overt framework within which all policy and delivery partners will operate.

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Page last modified: 19 May, 2005
Page published: 21 July, 2004

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs