About Us
Networking for a Green and Sustainable City
London 21 is a network of community groups, individuals and representatives who work in all parts of Greater London to help create a greener, healthier and more sustainable City. We have been operating since 2000.
London 21 is best known for the Love London, Love Your Planet festival (formerly London Sustainability Weeks). The festival, which was the largest of its kind in Europe, took place in June with three weeks of green events across Greater London, centred on World Environment Day.
London 21 also runs several projects including the Environmental Inequalities Project, the Black Minority and Ethnic Groups (BME) Project, Mapping Change for Sustainable Communities and the London Green Map which maps green activities, projects, businesses and organisations all over London. It now also maps Love London events.
We also seek to provide information, advice, capacity building and networking to the community and voluntary sector on sustainable development. We send out an E-Newsletter which is received by about 2,800 people and organisations. We also run several online discussion groups.
A Brief History
The need for a London network, which would link groups working on urban sustainability, arose in the 1990s when many London boroughs responded to the call from the 1992 UN Earth Summit for local councils to develop their own local version of the UN’s Agenda 21 action plan. The ‘Local Agenda 21’ programme led to close co-operation between many borough councils but relational links between the voluntary sector groups within those boroughs were in need of improving. A number of environmental networks in different boroughs held a meeting in April 1998 which was named ‘Gathering for Change’ out of which the London 21 Sustainability Network (London 21) was born.
London 21's first AGM was held in May 2000. Initial support came from the Sustainable London Trust. London 21 is now chiefly funded by Bridge House Trust and the Big Lottery Fund.
Our Mission Statement
“London 21 supports grassroots and disadvantaged communities in acting to create a sustainable Greater London. London 21 shares information and promotes good practice, raises awareness and recognises that Sustainable Development is a shared responsibility strengthened by collective action."