This paper describes the development of Bioplan-Manizales, a local environmental action plan (LEAP) for the city of Manizales, and the different groups that contributed to its development; also, how this plan became integrated into the municipal development plan and the municipal budget. The measures taken to monitor and evaluate the social, economic and environmental effects of the environmental policy are also described and these include a series of urban environmental observatories. The paper also describes the broader national and international context for the innovations in Manizales – including the political, legislative and fiscal changes in Colombia that have encouraged local authorities to develop local environmental agendas. Manizales’ own historical development is described including the environmental changes that this development brought and the environmental problems that it precipitated.