This case shows the tendency for participatory projects to grow without much thought being given to formal evaluation and systems to deliver structured learning and that good monitoring needs to make monitoring and evaluation a shared and open process.

The recent implementation of Local Agenda 21 in Nuevo Chimbote has meant the beginning of highly participatory processes striving to generate sustainable human development and the reinforcement of democratic transition at a local level. In these processes, a key role has been played by the creation of alliances and support brought by a private–public, inter-institutional network called the Cities for Life Forum. The Forum has ushered in the development of a self-diagnosis that has resulted in a shared socio-economic and environmental vision. A series of activities with children, young people, women and public and private institutions were developed in order to validate this shared vision of the future, which was subsequently approved and signed by local actors.

The Cities for Life Forum is an unprecedented initiative in Peru. It works for the promotion of democratic civic practices and unites efforts and local resources in order to design a new logic of sustainable development that:

• incorporates top-down and bottom-up actions;
• integrates social development, economic development and environmental management;
• promotes a planning culture with long-term perspective and practical short-term actions;
• channels state and private sector funds on the basis of participatory budgeting and applies the principle of shared responsibility among public and private actors.

In order to achieve all this, the Cities for Life Forum promotes and strengthens:

• coordination among public actors and civil society;
• consensus-building among municipalities;
• the value of local spaces as the stage for development planning and management;
• connectivity between areas within the region;
• an inter-institutional forum;
• a cross-disciplinary and cross-sector approach.