Partnerships for urban environmental management: the roles of urban authorities, researchers and civil society

This paper discusses the different roles of researchers, urban authorities and civil society groups in developing partnerships that address both envir onmental management and development. It draws on discussions at a workshop which brought together teams from six countries involved in research on thi s theme. It begins by describing the Local Agenda 21 and stakeholder partne rships developed in Jinja, Uganda and then discusses the experiences of the different teams in developing partnerships. The paper highlights how much the local context and broader political settings influence the set of roles the research teams take on, and ends with recommendations directed at urba n authorities, researchers and civil society leaders.