Further progress has been made in implementation of LA 21 in Gdansk since the last update was published last year. In 1998 several meetings with citizens were organised in six city districts. During these meetings the idea of sustainable development, Agenda 21 and aspects of Local Agenda 21 in Gdansk were presented.

The citizens also received information about the quality of the environment in the city and in their districts. The main problems and future investments in the districts and possible impacts were also discussed. There were approx. 80 _ 120 people attending each of the meetings and these participants can be divided into two groups. One group includes citizens who are very interested in the development of the city or the area they are living in. The second group showed less involvement in the presented topics. For them the meetings were utilized to present their personal problems or express their feelings directly to city authorities.

The candidates for LA 21 Forum have been chosen from among the citizens who took active part in the meetings and showed involvement in the problems of the city. Those who accepted this new role were invited to be a member of the Forum which began operating in October and started its activity in the first `round table' meeting November 1998.

The representatives of local administration, NGOs, scientists, industry and business and citizens were called upon to form the Forum. The Forum met two times in 1998 and once on 6 January 1999. The first meeting held in November focused on procedure and future co-operation, during the second meeting in December the Resolution of the City Council on ecological policy dated July, 1993 was evaluated in order to revise it and make it suitable for the present time. During the third meeting a report on activities carried out following the Resolution was presented. Meetings are presently held monthly.