The role of Imagine Durban is to inspire the eThekwini community to implement the Municipality’s long-term plan. In order to achieve the goals of the plan, everyone from businesses and government departments to schools, NGOs and individuals—must do their part by following through on the actions outlined in the plan. At Imagine Durban, we are tasked with inspiring and securing the stakeholder commitment on which successful action must be based.

We do this by engaging with key stakeholder groups to communicate the importance of long-term planning and the urgency of changing our unsustainable practices. We work to inspire business leaders, principals, government officials, community organizations and individuals to adopt a spirit of sustainability by implementing the action items detailed in the long-term plan.

These actions are organized and assigned among five key stakeholder groups, who are responsible for implementing the actions outlined in Imagine Durban’s consultative document, the long-term plan. The stakeholder groups are:

1. Individuals

2. Civil Society (Non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, schools, faith-based organizations and tertiary institutions)

3. Businesses

4. Local Government

5. Provincial and National Government.

For the complete framework of themes, goals, targets, strategies, actions, and stakeholder assignments associated with each of the six thematic areas, please see the full long-term plan.

How do we Change Mindsets?

There are many ways to tackle the challenge of changing mindsets. Imagine Durban’s approach is to find ways to demonstrate that sustainable living is an achievable goal. We do this in three primary ways:

• Demonstration projects that test new and innovative ideas to our long-term problems via small-scale examples of what is possible.
• Open forums, public seminars and workshops bring in “expert” individuals from a variety fields to share knowledge and best practices on topics of sustainability, followed by a dynamic dialogue among participants.
• Presentations with key stakeholders are organized to communicate the goals of the long-term plan and secure buy-in from organizations and individuals who represent drivers of policy, planning and philosophy in their communities and fields.