Action 21 History
Action 21 was started as a social enterprise in 1996 in response to Agenda 21 of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. Action 21, along with many other Agenda 21 groups across the country, was set up to put sustainable development into practice working specifically at a local community level.
Projects were based around theme groups; groups of volunteers who organised projects to promote sustainability in the areas of food, energy, education, transport and recycling. Although we no longer run theme groups, our work is still focused around those five key areas.
In August 2010 Action 21 became a charity because we believe it would better enable us to fulfil out aims and objectives, and is therefore governed by a board of trustees who carry out their role unpaid, on a voluntary basis.
Funding comes from a range of sources including self-generated income, statutory funds, charitable trusts and membership fees. Surplus funds generated through our activities are ploughed back into projects to benefit the environment and local people, instead of being distributed to directors or shareholders.
Examples of previous projects can be found in our project archive.
You can also see the original theme group pages here: