The role of research (academic and policy-related) in the monitoring of local sustainable development across Europe is key in providing the evidence-based policy making that local governments are increasingly required to deliver. Yet the opportunities and mechanisms for collaboration between policymakers and researchers at local level, within a multi-level governance structure, have to date been somewhat overlooked in both theoretical and empirical debates. This book provides an evaluation of the delivery of sustainable development policies, and governance processes to support these, in local governments across Europe, focusing particularly on European tools that have specifically been designed to monitor local sustainability progress. This is particularly timely given the forthcoming Rio 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and the key role of local governments in delivering sustainable development policies.
