Page 129 - Proceeding 2015

Mirela CARAMAN FAMP
STRATEGIC SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES. EXPERIENCE
CCASP
OF INTEGRATED TERRITORIAL INVESTMENTS (ITI) DANUBE DELTA

1. INTRODUCTION

Strategic planning had been practiced in the private sector for many years when city and county leaders
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11 TH ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
applied those practices in the public sector with good results. Communities embarked on their strategic
planning exercises by determining their vision for the future and by addressing broad themes of common
interest to all. So, strategic planning prescribes a „systematic process that enables a community’s
leadership to understand the numerous future environments in which the community will exist, establish

consesus about how best to achieve its most desired vision, and illuminate the actions that will most likely
make that happen – all within the context of expected available financial and human resources” (Gordon,
2005, p. 25).

As it is well known that each community is influenced by a series of factors, strategic planning has become
a challenge for local public administration as it should be implemented in all aspects of life, estimating
economic, social, ecological, territorial, political and institutional issues.

30 th – 31 st October 2015 ”Strategic Management for Local Communities” Bucharest principle to allow the integration of economic development and the environment within policy and strategy.
Moreover, in recent years there has been a growing interest in sustainable development as a guiding

Sustainable development involves many things. More appropriate technologies, supportive policies,

different ethics, and changes in individual behavior are among the more obvious factors.

New legislation places a statutory duty on all local authorities to prepare ‘community strategies’ for
promoting the „economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas, and contributing to the

achievement of sustainable development of the country” (Williams, 2002, p.198). Local communities
understood that the basis of strategic sustainable development plans has to be an integrated vision
regarding the actions that are to be made in order to accomplish their objectives.

2. NEW INSTRUMENTS USED IN STRATEGIC PLANNING

The multiple challenges confronting Europe – economic, environmental and social – show the need for

an integrated and territorial approach to deliver an effective response. This approach is multi-dimensional,
tailored to place-specific features and outcomes, which may mean going beyond traditional administrative
boundaries, and may require greater willingness from different levels of government to co-operate and

co-ordinate actions in order to achieve shared goals. This is in line with the new territorial cohesion
objective introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, which acknowledges that economic and social cohesion cannot

be achieved at the European level without a stronger focus on the territorial impact of EU policies. For
this reason the Common Provisions Regulation has introduced new integrating tools that can be used to

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