The past year has certainly been a particularly difficult one for the strength and cohesion of the European Union. The outcomes of local and national elections in many countries unveiled not only the emergence of new populist and nationalist movements and governments all across the Union, but also a growing disbelief in the European project and institutions. In an … [Read more...]
Re-thinking local development policies in times of polarisation
This book, Regional and Local Development in Times of Polarisation, edited by Thilo Lang and Franziska Görmar, contains contributions from 32 academics on “re-thinking spatial policies in Europe”. It is part of the New Geographies of Europe series published by Palgrave. The book takes its starting point by considering a threefold polarisation within the EU: an increasing … [Read more...]
Local knowledge-based development
In this paper Professor Ilona Pálné Kovács outlines the theoretical frameworks of knowledge-based governance and development, examines the role of local governments as important actors in local development, and examines the scope for place-based development in a centralised governance context. To read the full paper, including abstract and literature, click … [Read more...]
Fernando Barreiro (1949-2018)
We are very saddened at the news of the death of Fernando Barreiro, a long-standing friend and colleague in the field of local development, one of the founders of LDnet and member of its board. Fernando was born in Uruguay, moved to Spain in the 1970s as a refugee during the time of the Uruguayan Dictatorship and lived in Barcelona. His professional work from the 1980s … [Read more...]
Towards an inclusive and sustainable CLLD: lessons from neighbourhood management in Berlin
CLLD is more often associated with a rural or fisheries context. In this paper by Pietro Verga deals with ‘urban CLLD’, which builds on experiences, particularly, from the URBAN Initiatives and the LEADER programme. His research is based in Berlin and is within the policy context of the German Soziale Stadt programme (Socially Integrative City, SIC). Fostering both physical … [Read more...]
European Rural Parliament and the “Venhorst Declaration”
The 3rd European Rural Parliament took place on 18-21 October 2017 in Venhorst in the Netherlands. The European Rural Parliament is a long-term campaign to express the voice of rural people in Europe; and to promote self-help and action by the rural people, in partnership with civil society and governments. During these four days, around 250 participants from over 40 … [Read more...]
LDnet | Sustainment of integrative neighbourhood development in North Rhine Westphalia
Despite the unfortunate use of the word sustainment (let's hope that one does not catch on), this is a useful account by the North Rhine Westphalia government of their Social Cities approach to disadvantaged neighbourhoods. In German on facing pages. http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/Reg_Gov/outputs_media/Handbook_Sustainment.pdf … [Read more...]
Pactes Locaux
Une volonté d’intelligence collective entre promoteurs d’expériences locales ou régionales d’organisation des solidarités. Parti en 1996 d’un diagnostic partagé, nourri d’une cinquantaine d’expériences locales, le Collectif des Pactes Locaux se constitue en 1998, avec le soutien de la Fondation pour le Progrès de l’Homme. Son existence a progressivement ouvert un espace … [Read more...]