Communities around the country are leading the way in balancing sustainability with development needs at the grassroots level.

This week the community representatives are joining Government leaders and other experts for the second National Symposium for Community-led Initiatives on Environment Sustainability held in Suva.

WWF representative Alfred Ralifo states that this provides a platform to share and exchange valuable lessons with national decision makers, so the lessons can be scaled-up across Fiji and the region

He adds that the symposium connects success stories and lesson of how communities are contributing to national targets of addressing environment and sustainable development issues

Ralifo adds that initiatives inspired by SDGs can be used for other communities.

He says that this kind of initiatives are important as it allows us to be able to bring these communities in one place and share the stories of what is happening on the ground.

Ralifo states sometimes these stories can inspire other communities to realize and we can scaler it up to our community and vice versa.

The three day symposium will feature varied panel discussions and will be conclude with a trip to various sustainable development initiatives around the central area.