BS 8904:2011 - Guidance for community sustainable development is a standard created by the British Standards Institution (BSI), which focuses on implementing sustainability at the community level. The standard provides guidance that assists community leaders in understanding and implementing sustainable development within their organisational structure and throughout the community itself. This helps them strengthen communities and promote lasting economic and social stability and reduce their environmental impacts.
BS 8904 explains in detail how to agree principles, get others involved, define key issues, identify community capabilities, create a plan and put it into action, and to measure, learn and improve. Through stakeholder engagement, communities and community groups can identify the most pressing sustainable development issues, set objectives and targets for improvement and implement a plan of action. By using this standard, communities embed sustainable development principles into daily activities. This creates a continually evolving body with the assistance of BS 8904’s innovative and comprehensive maturity matrix.