"Sustainable development through co-operative planning" project, co-financed by the European Commission has been started. It concentrated on the development of a 515 square kilometre sparsely populated rural area at the fringe area of the city. 
The main challenge for planners was that dispersed development can lead to environmental problems. For instance, wastewater problems increase the burden on lakes, wetlands and ground waters. A dispersed structure fragments the road network, the network of technical and municipal service. Long distances increase the amount of traffic, which results in emissions and noise. The area of natural environment and valuable landscapes diminishes and fragments. Collection, sorting and recycling of waste in a sparsely populated area require special arrangements. Most of these problems can be avoided or reduced by appropriate planning and information. Another core objective was to get the local inhabitants to participate in the development of their home environment. 
The project brought different aspects of planning together. The views and observations of officials, researchers and citizens were expressed in various project meetings. Inhabitants contributed with local knowledge. Researchers provided a survey and observations on what sustainable development comprises. Officials supplied the values of administration, legislation, planning and technical management. Open interaction was the bridge builder between the different views. 
Learning by doing was characteristic of the project. The new planning models have been applied according to the principles of sustainability to develop the sparsely populated area. The bridge towards the future is built on cooperation. The best feedback for a planning professional came from the local people: The officials are no longer faceless. Once we know each other, we can build a better future together.

Towards sustainability 
Sustainable development as a new concept in international development was extensively recognised in 1972 at the UN Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm. It challenged the idea of maximising GNP growth as the previous self-evident measure of development. 
The Club of Rome published the "Limits to growth" - report the same year. The dramatic message was that limited natural resources and ecological problems cast a shadow of doubt on all future development.

The Tammerkoski rapids flow through Tampere

Fifteen years later, in 1987, the General Secretary of the UN assigned Gro Harlem Bruntland, then Prime Minister of Norway, to prepare a global reform programme. The Bruntland Report concluded that the current development could not continue. Sustainable development was adopted as the new way forward. 
The United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 signalled the next phase. The sustainable development action plan, which was adopted at the conference, was called Agenda 21. The countries signing the action plan announced their commitment to sustainable development. 
The idea of sustainable development has become part of community planning through international agreements. The objective of community planning is a community of sustainable development. In May 1994, following the European Conference on Sustainable Towns in Aalborg, Denmark, a number of European 

cities signed a joint declaration, the Aalborg Charter, that was based on Agenda 21, committing them to take concerted measures to promote sustainability 
At first, sustainable development referred primarily to ecological sustainability. Over the years, the concept has gained more dimensions. A community of sustainable development can be characterised by minimised energy consumption, recycling, use of renewable sources of energy, conservation of nature and preservation of natural diversity, conservation of cultural and historical values, promotion of responsibility, initiative and community, securing of healthy, equal and safe life. 
The objectives emphases the diversity of sustainable development. The properties of a community of sustainable development or an ecological city cannot only be measured by ecological measures, or just by observing the physical environment. Among others, the following two criteria have been proposed: 1. The design of an ecological city needs to take general moral and ethical considerations into account. 2. For sustainable development to become reality instead of just words and objectives, citizens need to participate in the development. 
The city of Tampere in Finland is one of the twenty-four cities to have signed the Aalborg Charter. The city has drawn up an environmental programme, where it commits to sustainable development. The objective of the environmental programme is that all planning and development will be based on environmentally conscious cooperative planning. Planners and researchers shall meet at the same table. The citizens shall participate as soon as the planning starts, because, in the end, the practical outcome of the plans depends on the citizens' response.
LIFE-project of Tampere 
To promote the environmental programme of Tampere and to develop the planning methods, the