The implementation of an Environmental Management System in a North-African local public administration: the case of the City Council of Marrakech (Morocco)

This paper analyses the case of ISO 14001 certification in the City of Marrakech (Morocco). The case study defines the methods and approaches used in the implementation of the Environmental Management System (EMS), highlighting what were the main differences and the rationale and expected benefits of the certification process for the city. The paper aims to compare this experience with similar experiences of Western local authorities described in the literature by analysing drivers, motivations, benefits and barriers in EMS adoption. To achieve this goal, the paper reports, among other results, the outcome of a survey of the environmental perception of the City population carried out in the ISO 14001 implementation in order to identify how and if the attainment of ISO 14001 certification could be valorised by the City of Marrakech with regard to the citizens' perception. From this enquiry it emerges that a relevant sensibility of the population related to numerous environmental issues can be stimulated by ISO 14001 certification. The case study shows that an approach foreseeing a strong involvement of the stakeholders can be particularly effective as it responds to the specificities of non-EU contexts.