Abstract
This paper describes how an integrated environmental plan was developed by the inhabitants of informal settlements on the edge of Lima, Peru – and how this formed the basis both for local action and for negotiating support from external agencies. It discusses the measures taken to ensure real community participation and to avoid the imposition of professionally-driven “solutions”. It describes the different internal and external groups that were involved and considers the limitations of most international donor funding for such Local Agenda 21s because such funding is too “project cycle” oriented and too concerned with “outputs” that have to be identified at the outset to be able to support such participatory processes.