Strategies for National Sustainable Development
A Handbook for their Planning and Implementation

Chapter 1

This handbook is intended for practitioners: people who are or expect to be involved in developing and implementing NSDSs or other multi-sectoral national strategies. Its aim is to help them improve and build on existing strategies or start one if none exist. Its advice is based on an analysis of past and current practice, drawing directly from the experience of practitioners of many strategic approaches.

The handbook does not suggest conformation to a single model: each strategy should be designed and run by the government and citizens of the country concerned. The handbook is not an instruction manual. Users are  recommended to study it and reflect on its implications for their own circumstances, and then to design an approach suitable for local purposes, conditions and available resources. We strongly encourage implementation of existing
multi-sectoral strategies. They may be narrower in scope and less ambitious than an NSDS, but any improvements needed can be introduced concurrently with implementation. 

Purpose of the handbook

This handbook is intended for practitioners – people in governments, citizens’ and community groups, educational institutions, businesses and international organizations – who are or could be involved in developing and implementing a multi-sectoral strategy on environment and development at the national or provincial level.

The handbook describes how to use multi-sectoral strategies to integrate environmental, economic and social concerns in national development processes. It aims to help improve the usefulness and effectiveness of all such strategies: national sustainable development strategies (NSDSs), national conservation strategies (NCSs), national environmental action plans (NEAPs), and others.

The handbook suggests ways of developing and implementing an NSDS, either by building on an existing strategy or, if none exist, from scratch. Difficulties have been encountered with existing strategies because their scope is broad and they involve many different sectors and interests. Strategies are complex processes, and managing them is logistically demanding. Although similar to existing strategies in many ways, NSDS processes are likely to be even more challenging. Their scope is wider, and their task of combining economic, environmental and social concerns will increase their technical complexity, the extent of participation required, and hence their political profile.

At the same time, the development and implementation of strategies whose focus is largely environmental – such as most NCSs and NEAPs – will continue to be important. The handbook’s discussion of how to organize and manage strategies applies to these strategies as well as to the more ambitious NSDSs.

The handbook is based on an analysis of past and current practice, drawing directly from the experience of practitioners of many strategic approaches. It is a distillation of lessons learned from more than 60 national  and provincial conservation strategies, environmental action plans, development plans and other multi-sectoral strategies in 50 upper- and lower-income countries since 1980. Case studies of some of these strategies have been published in IUCN’s series of Regional Reviews of Strategies for Sustainability.

Many practitioners have contributed to the handbook by sharing their experience in workshops in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. In so doing, they have helped develop the concept of strategies, raise standards, and propose ways of expanding their scope towards strategies for sustainable development.

Many of the methods described have been used successfully in current strategies. However, experience with strategies is evolving rapidly, and appropriate methods for some strategy elements have yet to be fully developed or tested. Some practices – for example, participatory inquiry – have been used successfully in other contexts and seem to hold promise for strategies as well. Other methods – for example, certain techniques of monitoring and evaluation – have not been tested, but are intended to
meet needs recognized by a wide range of practitioners. Every strategy is to some extent experimental, and needs to be accompanied by research and monitoring.

Each country’s strategy will be very different and will need to suit the nation’s individual set of geographical, ecological, socio-cultural, economic and political conditions. Any form of straitjacket imposed by external agencies or conditions is inappropriate. This handbook does not suggest conformation to a single model: each strategy should be designed and run by the government and citizens of the country concerned.

How to use the handbook

The handbook presents principles and ideas on process and methods, and suggests how they can be used. It is not an instruction manual for a ‘model’ strategy for constant reference during the strategy process. Users are recommended to study the handbook, to consider its relevance and implications for their own circumstances, and then to design an approach suitable for local purposes, conditions and available resources.

We recommend reading every chapter in sequence for users who have not yet been involved in developing a strategy, are in the early stages of preparing a new strategy, or are considering revising an existing strategy to cover a more ambitious remit (for example, an NSDS). Other users may wish to concentrate on particular elements of the strategy process.

The handbook describes the main kinds of multi-sectoral national strategies. It suggests how to start a new strategy, as well as different ways to build on an existing strategy. It sets out essential conditions for an effective multi-sectoral strategy, ways of developing the required conditions, and alternative approaches if conditions remain unfavourable.

The handbook then provides guidance on the design and management of the strategy process, and on its main elements: participation, information assembly and analysis, policy formulation, action planning, implementation and capacity-building, communication, and monitoring and evaluation. This is the heart of the hand-book, and should be useful for anyone who is actively engaged in planning, managing, or reviewing a national strategy process.

We strongly encourage implementation of existing multi-sectoral strategies. They may be narrower in scope and less ambitious than an NSDS, but any improvements needed can be introduced concurrently with implementation. It would be a mistake to postpone implementation by starting another process or preparing another document. The intention of this handbook is not to undermine any existing strategic process, but to show ways in which it can be strengthened and made more effective.