Bioregional and "ecological economics" theory describes the growth of
local economic linkages as vital to move post-industrial economies in the direction of
sustainability. This involves expanding local stewardship over environmental and
economic resources, so that progressively more production for local needs can be done
within the community. Far from existing solely in the realm of theory, this is a pattern
which is becoming more and more familiar in many parts of North America and Europe.
The blossoming initiatives to create local, community-centred economies can be
understood in light of the long history of environmental challenges faced by people living
in the industrialized North, and the double economic blows of recession and trade
liberalization/globalization exemplified by the passage of GATT and NAFTA and the
development of the EC in the 1990s.This paper discusses the dynamic relationship between globalization and local economic development in the North from both theoretical and practical viewpoints. It provides examples from Toronto, Canada of the synergy among environmental awareness, community organizing and "alternative" employment creation (e.g. in environmental remediation and energy conservation activities) which can accompany recession or trade-induced worker layoffs. The resulting local economic patterns tend to be "greener" and more socially sustainable than the globally-tied economic linkages they replace.This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canad
