Local Development Strategies Inclusive Or Exclusive Approaches

* An essential resource for all development agencies seeking to include people with disabilities* User-friendly tools and practical advice from experienced practitionersThere are four hundred million people with disabilities living in developing countries today. All too often they live in poverty and isolation. If development is to truly address the needs of the poor and marginalized, the inclusion of people with disabilities is crucial. Building an Inclusive Development Community is a toolkit for development agencies and others concerned with the participation of people with disabilities at all levels and in all areas of the international development process. The manual is organized into issues and includes helpful worksheets, best practice examples, resources and much more.

Talent management (TM) and talent development (TD) are of the most important areas of focus for organizational leaders and scholars around the world (Machado, 2015). Geographic boundaries have become increasingly permeable, with talent considerations being a key factor in the decision of where organizations locate their operations (Farndale, Scullion, & Sparrow, 2010). These changes in global market conditions have lead organizations to develop robust global talent management and development strategies that help organizations attract and retain the best talent (Nilsson & Ellström, 2012). Still, most international TM and TD initiatives can be described as ad hoc, non-strategic, or based on exported models from the West (Machado, 2015) From an operational perspective, although there is a surge in research on TM and TD practices across different regions, most of what we know about these topics is based on government and practitioners’ reports. Nowadays, organizations are operating in diverse environments catalyzed by globalization, economic openness, and governmental smart visions and practical policies. Governments and organizations alike, are aspiring to become talent magnet destination, attracting expatriates from all over the world. The question we try to answer in this book is whether entities are able to continue their growth through current TM and TD practices or whether a more strategic approach is needed in order to address the current TM and TD challenges and to meet the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments. In particular, in this book we provide different perspectives of current status of TM and TD practices in select countries across the world. Our aim is to provide scholars and practitioners interested in the topic with a better understanding of TM and TD practices, and an overview of factors that affect these practices. Once we understand the different challenges, practitioners and leaders can use TM and TD as a source of power, or a strategy, that can lead people and organizations into success.

This book project highlights creative approaches to planning and local development. The dynamic complexity, diversity and fluidity which characterize contemporary society represent challenges for planning and development endeavours. While research and policy work has extensively focused on large cities and on metropolitan regions, there has been relatively little work on ‘smaller places’. This book shows that if these new challenges affect all places and regions, small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs) are suffering many specific problems that call imperatively for the design and implementation of very imaginative, creative approaches to planning and local development. What could enhance creativity in local development and planning? Is it possible to talk about creative capacity building at the level of a town that might release imaginative and innovative activities? Under what local and non-local conditions is creativity being initiated and flourishing? What are the major obstacles and in what way can these be contained in order to safeguard pockets of creative action? Interdisciplinary and with case studies from France, Norway and other European countries, this volume presents a wide range of approaches and territorial contexts of small cities and towns in which spatial dynamics and the consequences of the city-region for urban planning theory and practice in Europe are highlighted, with a special focus on the challenges for - and understanding of - planning and development of SMSTs. It provides a significant body of critical, comparative and contextual perspectives on the quest for urban sustainability and resilience in SMSTs, therefore emphasizing collaborative and potentially innovative approaches that can be detected, but also the shortcomings, pitfalls and 'traps' that can lie behind the approaches aimed at concerting ecological, economic, and socio-cultural concerns, and the discourses promoting them.

The numerous and varied indicators of environmental risks point toward the likelihood of a systemic and catastrophic ecological failure at some point during this century. Political inaction and cultural resistance, meanwhile, are even preventing the implementation of already available technical solutions, which has led many experts to conclude that averting a global environmental catastrophe is, foremost, a socio-political, rather than a technical, challenge. The World Science Union (ICSU) has recognized that knowledge of the social sciences is indispensable for facilitating the major socio-cultural transformations now required, and, together with the International Social Science Council (ISSC), called for a mainstreaming of environmental research in the social sciences at the Rio+20 Earth Summit. The two major international organizations in anthropology, IUAES and WCAA, responded to this call by co-sponsoring a symposium on environmental change at the Manchester World Anthropology Congress, and by creating a scientific Commission for Anthropology and Environment, which then hosted a second symposium in Chiba City, Tokyo, in May 2014. This volume is a selection of the many papers presented by a truly international group of experts at the two symposia. It identifies and provides case study examples in six major research areas where anthropology and local and indigenous people’s knowledge can make a significant contribution: Environmental Vulnerability and Risk Perceptions; Sustainable Urban Environments; Sustainable Rural Environments and Food Security; Indigenous People and Nature Conservation; Environmental Justice and Corporate Social Responsibility; and Sustainable Resource Management. Contributors represent nine different national anthropologies across all continents. The volume thus also enacts a new ‘world anthropologies’ paradigm, first proposed by the World Anthropologies Network (WAN), which aspires to unify and globalize the discipline in a spirit of equality and mutual respect among scholars across all national traditions and language barriers. Furthermore, the volume will also support teaching and promote further research in the anthropology of the environment.

The LEADER programme, initiated in 1991, aims to improve the development potential of rural areas in the European Union by drawing on local initiatives and skills. Highlighting this unique policy approach, this book presents up-to-date research results on LEADER’s achievements and restrictions at the local level in a comparative way in order to discuss its merits and problems. What makes LEADER important is not only that it has a major role in rural development efforts, but also that it has a pioneering role in the new type of governance, participatory democracy. Asking whether LEADER strengthens local democracy or not, this book also looks at how it affects the power balance among stakeholders, between national and local actors and between genders. It questions whether LEADER projects are genuinely grass-root level activities, reflecting local needs and ideals; and if the approach brings local know-how back onto the development agenda in innovations and development activities. Finally, the authors examine the success of dissemination of knowledge within the LEADER programme to other regions.

Despite its crucial role in economic growth and societal development, infrastructure projects often fail to reach their full potential. In many cases, the benefits of infrastructure development do not trickle down to the most vulnerable populations, exacerbating inequalities and limiting overall impact. Additionally, the design and implementation of infrastructure reforms can sometimes worsen environmental pressures and spatial insecurity, highlighting the need for strategic approaches to infrastructure development. Infrastructure Development Strategies for Empowerment and Inclusion offers a comprehensive solution to these challenges. By delving into a broad range of ideas, strategies, and case studies, this book provides valuable insights for academics, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. It examines how infrastructure projects can be designed and implemented to empower marginalized groups, foster inclusivity, and stimulate equitable economic growth, thus maximizing their impact.

The African Economic Outlook 2015 analyses Africa’s growing role in the world economy and predicts the continent’s two-year prospects in crucial areas: macroeconomics, financing, trade policies and regional integration, human development, and governance.

This Combat Poverty research study examines the role of local partnerships in promoting social inclusion in Ireland. Ireland is among the EU countries who have a strong model of local partnership. The book assesses the application of the partnership model in tackling social exclusion, canvasses the views of various stakeholders as to its policy impact, and makes recommendations for the continued operation of local partnerships as an instrument of social inclusion.

The impact of COVID-19 on local jobs and workers dwarfs those of the 2008 global financial crisis. The 2020 edition of Job Creation and Local Economic Development considers the short-term impacts on local labour markets as well as the longer-term implications for local development.