In reality, there are several ‘mainstreams’ – reflecting the ways that societies and economies work in different localities, sectors, nations and ultimately the planet as a whole. Furthermore, these mainstreams are linked e.g. by international trade and development decisions and institutions. Environmental mainstreaming is necessary throughout all the processes of development – particularly those concerned with policy-making, strategy development and planning – and at all levels from national to sub-national to local, and across sectors.

Thus, firstly, entry points into the process ‘cycle’ are needed. Experience shows that, to be most effective, policy and planning processes should be cyclical and iterative to facilitate learning and enable lessons from experience to be addressed, and for appropriate changes or correction in direction to be made, where necessary. Figure 5.1 illustrates such a continuous improvement approach for developing and implementing a sustainable development strategy. There are many opportunities and leverage points through all the steps of such processes when information and analysis about environmental issues should be taken into account¹. Here, the challenge is to enable mainstreaming through the mechanisms which drive the cycle (i.e. those shown in the centre of Figure 5.1 – communications, participation, coordination, information and learning) and ensuring that effective monitoring and evaluation systems are in place.

But, as indicated above, the national planning cycle does not provide the only means for environmental mainstreaming. Secondly, links between the ‘levels’ and sectors’ are needed. In reality, development aspirations, values, ideas, policies, plans and behaviour are also shaped at other levels, across all sectors, and by a wide range of institutions. The innovative period between the 1987 Brundtland Commission on sustainable development and the 1992 Earth Summit tended to emphasise international environment or SD processes as drivers of mainstreaming. Since then, a norm seems to have developed where environmental mainstreaming concentrates on the national development plan or equivalent as entry points for mainstreaming:

“Environmental mainstreaming should not just be the concern of environmental ministries or departments; it relates to all sectors, private as well as public, and everybody has a role to play.” (Danish Fellowship Centre)

For example, the UNDP-UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative has made a particular emphasis on working with ministries of finance and planning to ensure national development plans and budgets handle poverty-environment issues. And several donors have been working to ‘green’ PRSs.

As such work progresses, however, the limits of ‘getting environment words into plans’ becomes clearer, and entry points are sought ‘downstream’ in localities and sectors. As UNDP notes, with particular reference to mainstreaming drylands issues:

“…Mainstreaming drylands should occur at the local (community), sub-national, national, regional and global levels. Mainstreaming at only one level or one planning framework does not create the minimum scale required to significantly impact the livelihoods of many people. However, many factors dictate at which level the impact of mainstreaming can best be realised. For example, issues of trans-boundary nature – i.e. regional conflict over natural resources and use of shared resources such as river basins and lakes – can best be handled by regional institutions using appropriate protocols. Nation-specific problems such as regulating irrigation practices in drylands or defining access to land can be handled at national level. Strengthening the implementation of the UNCCD can be greatly enhanced at the global level by advocating for increased financial assistance from developed countries to address dylands issues in developing countries” (UNDP, 2008)

Many lessons relevant to local-level environmental mainstreaming can be drawn from work undertaken and supported by governments, donors, international organisations and NGOs at community and watershed levels (e.g. community-based natural resource management initiatives and local-level resource planning, GEF small grants projects (see http://sgp.undp.org/) and initiatives of Equator Prize recipients – see Box 5.7) and attempts to scale-up and link bottom-up and top-down.

While much of the learning from this wide range of international, national, local and sector experience has not yet been brought together – this issues paper is one of the first attempts – it is already clear that many institutions offer their own ‘tracks’ for mainstreaming – political, business, civil society, media as well as in the bureaucracy.

The nature of the mainstreaming process may differ (and needs to differ) according to the level concerned. For instance, at national levels, it is usual to take a big-picture, country-wide perspective, and often to include international and cross-border issues of global public goods. Stakeholder participation would generally be through ministries, national organisations and NGOs, and representative bodies. At increasingly decentralised levels, the focus is usually on more local concerns and the opportunities and possibilities for public engagement will change – particularly it will become increasingly easier to engage directly with resource users, communities and individuals on issues that directly concern them. For a review of approaches to participation in sustainable development strategies - that can also help in environmental mainstreaming - see Dalal-Clayton and Bass (2002, Chapter 6).

At the sector level, it is critical that environmental concerns are addressed in policy development, planning and decision-making. Line ministries are often accused of failing adequately in this regard and it is certainly a key challenge. But equally, there have been a wide range of efforts specifically to integrate and mainstream environment in different sectoral activities. For example, in South Africa, a (draft) strategic framework for mainstreaming environmental management has been developed recently for the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (CSIR 2008). This aims to direct the choice, and co-ordinate the implementation, of practical water services projects for achieving the intentions, goals and targets established in existing water sector policy, legislation and strategies. The need to address the environment sectorally in development cooperation is equally important. Yaron and White (2002) discuss effective ways of incorporating environmental issues in donor programme aid and Sector-Wide Approaches (SWAps).

A key challenge is to build and maintain a system that links levels, processes and the issues that concern stakeholders at different levels and across sectors (this requires good communication and coordination, and transparency to foster trust) and to deal with differences in perspectives or priorities. It is not always possible to resolve differences and ultimately it can become an issue of power. As work in Tanzania has shown, all of these tracks can help to shape a more open, and ultimately more systemic, approach to environment in development (Assey et al., 2007). Even if the national development plan is selected as the central process (as in Tanzania) that process needs to be open to, and draw upon, these other tracks.