In 1995 Barcelona City Council (Spain) signed the Aalborg Charter, committing it to working in accordance with sustainable development principles. Signing the document was the first step in building a Local Agenda 21 roadmap. Following an extensive consultation process, Barcelona defined its own Agenda 21 in Citizen Commitment to Sustainability 2002-2012, a broadly supported document which involved over 800 organisations - among them schools, associations, businesses, universities, trade unions etc - and defined principles, objectives and lines of action to move towards a better city.

The city has now produced an updated version for the period 2012 – 2022, renewing citizen commitment for the coming decade. Citizen Commitment to Sustainability 2012-2022 has been developed and jointly agreed on through many different contributions. All civic organisations have been invited to get involved and contribute. The document has been shaped by signatory conventions and associated participatory processes, working groups created specifically within the Municipal Council for Environment and Sustainability, international reference documents - particularly the strategies of ICLEI -, the Rio+20 outcomes and more.

The development of the new document was also informed by the tremendous progress made in the city over the last ten years. During this time, Barcelona fine-tuned ideas about what is good for the city and how to achieve it, initiated collaborative projects, and had its work recognised internationally by UN-HABITAT and other institutions. The current socioeconomic situation and the shift in citizen values that has also taken place in Barcelona have been key in achieving a transversal and an ambitious commitment that incorporates all emerging local and global issues relevant for the next 10 years.

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