EARTH SUMMIT+5 Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 New York, 23-27 June 1997 SUCCESS STORIES FROM FINLAND

	Lahti Environmental Forum and Green Triangle Finland
	Location	Lahti, Finland
	Responsible organization	Responsible: A diverse group of different sectors of society, coordinated by the City of Lathi Organization: Lahti Environmental Protection Office. Later, an environmental networking organisation Green Triangle Finland, working within a private company Neopoli Ltd. Environmental Technology Centre.
	Description	Lahti Environmental Forum (LEF) was established in the end of 1993. LEF means a common approach of different parts of society in order to essentially promote sustainable development according to the Rio Process in the Lahti area and to meet the challenge of Local Agenda 21. LEF is an initiative of the City of Lahti which also welcomes the communities, organizations, companies, and people of the Greater Lahti Area to join the initiative. Green Triangle Finland (GTF) combines the environmental know-how of enterprises, local and regional authorities and experts to promote eco-business and sustainable development.
	Issues addressed	Lahti Environmental Forum dealt firstly with attaining commitment in the region to Local Agenda 21 within the time-frame agreed on in Rio, recognising that any experiences obtained in the process should be shared with other town, cities and regions to realistically address the goals of UNCED. Along with the next phase, having set up a Local Agenda 21, going on to tackle real problem areas, the need for a more commercially-based organization, independent of regional administration was recognized and GTF was established in late 1995. GTF was able to concentrate on marketing environmental expertise of the area, including the experiences of LEF with Local Agenda 21 and promoting both good environmental practise and the environmental technology industry.
	Objectives	The ultimate objective is to contribute towards sustainable development, but in Lahti this is being done by tackling concrete rather than idealistic issues.
	Results achieved	Since the setting up of Lahti Environmental Forum and Green Triangle Finland, both of which demonstrated pioneering environmental activities, a national and international reputation of Lahti as an exemplary centre of good environmental practise has been built up. Lahti was awarded a certificate of distinction for 1996 by the European Cities and Towns Campaign. Lahti and GTF have been invited to represent Finland in different European environmental initiatives such as the European Academy of the Environment
	Lessons learned	In LEF the working group demonstrated some inefficiencies, as the development of new activities. It was found to be a positive thing that these groups did not consist too much of representatives of the city administration, in this way new sectors of society were allowed to raise their voices. GTF dealt with the suspicion of some cooperating partners, especially companies, of cooperating with an organization in which their competitors were also involved.
	Financing	Lahti Environmental Forum is financed by the City of Lahti Environmental Protection Office. Green Triangle Finland is financed by a combination of the City of Lahti, the Regional Council, by membership fees of its cooperating partners, and for various specific activities by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment and the European Community.
	Contact	Mr. Kari Porra, Project Manager, Green Triangle Finland, Neopoli Oy, Niemenkatu 73, 15210 Lahti Tel. + 358 3 8114 256 Fax. + 358 3 8114 333 e-mail kari.porra@neopoli.fi or green.triangle.finland@neopoli.fi Or Ms.Tarja Laitinen, Head of Environmental Protection, City of Lahti, Niemenkatu 73c, 15210 Lahti. Tel +358 3 8165121. Fax +358 3 8165100 e-mail tarja.laitinen@lahti.fi