Regional Networking Meets Local Actions A case study on the Lake of Constance- Agenda 21 to examine the diffusion of knowledge to local actors

Abstract: In daily politics the concept of sustainable development is one topic beside others. And in times of economic bottlenecks it may be not the most important topic. Local and regional Agenda 21- processes have to deal with mayor demands of the concept of sustainable development coming along with a minor political pertinence. To assess their effects it is necessary to know more about the political agenda- setting and the constraints and scope for development connected with. The paper analyses the results of the seven years working period of the Lake of Constance- Agenda 21 from an internal point of view1 referring to different theories, approaches and methods on regional governance, public opinion and empirical studies on LA21- processes. The Lake of Constance- Agenda 21 was promoted by the INTERREG- programmes of the Euro-pean Union 2000- 2006. In this time a working structure was established (chapter 1) and a lot of activities have been done to promote the concept of sustainable development and to support LA21-Processes within the Lake of Constance- region. Such kind of regional Agenda 21- process has to fulfil specific tasks, mostly connected with co-ordination and networking and with the exchange of best practices and tools (chapter 2). How these activities influence the regional development can be assessed with respect to concepts of regional governance and change management (chapter 3). But what is the added value for the implementation of the concept of sustainable development in the region? To assess these effects of Agenda 21- processes it is necessary to know more about the political agenda- setting and the mechanism of public opinion as described by Luhmann (1971) from a systemic point of view (chapter 4). It is obvious that an Agenda 21- process can't reach its goals in a short time For this we have according to Luhmann to ask whether it was successful to establish the process by institutionalising its structures. To analyse the degree of institutionalisation the paper refers to some empirical studies on regional development and Local Agenda 21- processe