The literature on shrinking cities often portrays local initiatives in two contrasting ways: either as marginal, powerless, and somewhat backwards-oriented actors, or as human capital, a resource for ...development, and even as the hope for a more democratic development. However, there is a risk that scholarship unintentionally contributes to local initiatives being included in neoliberal development agendas. During our field research in two small, shrinking, and peripheralized towns in Finland and Germany, we discovered that both perspectives are misleading. They distract from the actual conditions of the initiatives' work, the causes of their financial or demographic precarity, and the self-responsibilization that is common among such initiatives. Scarcity motivates a DI(F)Y approach, organizing services and amenities on limited resources to enhance the quality of life in the area. This limited availability may seem like a natural result of population decline. By comparing the German and Finnish cases, we can see how state policies towards peripheral areas affect the work of local initiatives. This demonstrates that precarity in shrinking places is a result of policies rather than demographic development trajectory.
•Local initiatives in shrinking towns are neither powerless, backward-looking actors nor human capital for local development.•Peripheralization - shortage of resources, dependence and population loss - affects the modus operandi of local initiatives.•(Self-)responsibilization is a main feature of a Do-It_(For)Yourself attitude of initiatives stepping in for public services.•The comparison between Finland and Germany shows the significance of state policy toward peripheralized locations.•Neoliberal policies promoting centralisation, market solutions and (self-)responsibilization do naturalize peripheralization.
Universities are central players and important economic actors in many regions, and many of them are, in general, nationally and internationally active in respect of matters related to sustainable ...development. But there is a paucity of research which examines their contributions towards sustainability efforts at the local level, i.e. in the places they are situated. This paper addresses this need, by reporting on a qualitative study deploying a Matrix, which allows an analysis and reporting of regional sustainable development initiatives of a set of 22 universities in industrialised and developing countries. Recommendations to enhance their role are provided, including the importance of pursuing partnerships and joint initiatives, understanding the need of local communities, and making their know-how more widely available. The scientific value of this research is related to the understanding of how the interaction between universities and local communities happens and by shedding light to this topic, it supports universities to improve their own actions. Its implications are two-fold: it demonstrates the potential of universities as local players and outlines the range of activities they may engage with, and which may allow them to act as pillars to local sustainability initiatives.
•Universities are central players and important economic actors in many regions.•Their contributions towards sustainability efforts at the local level may be substantial.•An analysis and reporting of regional sustainable development initiatives shows some deficiencies.•Understanding the potential role that universities can play on sustainability could help address global challenges.
Achieving sustainability in the Anthropocene requires radical changes to how human societies operate. The Seeds of Good Anthropocenes (SOGA) project has identified a diverse set of existing ...initiatives, called “seeds,” that have the potential to catalyze transformations toward more sustainable pathways. However, the empirical investigation of factors and conditions that enable successful sustainability transformations across multiple cases has been scarce. Building on a review of existing theoretical and empirical research, we developed a theoretical framework for assessing three features identified as important to transformative potential of innovative social-ecological initiatives: (1) learning practices, (2) empowerment, and (3) networking. We applied this framework to a set of African-led and Africa-related initiatives that we selected from the SOGA database that were divided into initiatives with more or less transformative potential. We coded the presence or absence of features relating to the theoretical framework using secondary data, and then compared the initiatives using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). This analysis revealed that of the three features tested, Networking emerged as the most important feature for transformative potential when compared amongst cases. By developing and testing a framework for the comparison of cases we provide a basis for future comparative work to further identify and test properties of cases that enable transformation.
Slum areas are often seen in urban spatial policy gaps. The slum area becomes a dilemma, it portrays the unsuccessful management of a city area, on the other hand the reality of the city has the ...potential to become slum area tourism as an alternative attraction for tourism in urban areas. Efforts made by stakeholders in terms of city management tend to ignore slum areas as a city reality that has never touched a solution to the problem. Slum areas with social problems require real solutions. Through tourism in slum areas, residents innovate to represent and interpret their territory to find solutions for themselves. So far, studies on slum area tourism regarding how local residents represent and interpret their territory are still rare. Therefore, this study tries to look at the initiative to practice representation and interpretation of local residents in their area, and how stakeholders represent slum areas in their area through a qualitative study using a city tourism approach. Based on the results of data collection, a description of the situation of slum areas and their communities can practically represent themselve as the reality of the city and present themselve as part of the development of city tourism. By imaging the slum area, local people earn income from interacting with tourists who hope to get a complete experience of the city's tourist destinations they visit. On the other hand, local communities who are involved in the practice of representing slum area tourism indirectly criticize city management by displaying the contrast between slum area residents and tourists through digital media within the framework of local initiatives as a form of development participation.
The paper discusses whether local development is still a policy instrument in a globalized world. Territories throughout the world are experiencing greater international competition, and respond by ...using local resources in an innovative way. Their effectiveness faces important challenges, such as compatibility of goals, innovation, interaction of the forces of development, and strengthening of institutions. What can be learned from local experiences? How does the local actors’ participation in local development policies improve results? How can local productive systems compete within the global markets? The cornerstones are institutional change, agreement among the local actors, networks, innovation, entrepreneurship and resilience.
El artículo examina si el desarrollo local sigue siendo un instrumento político en un mundo globalizado. Los territorios de todo el mundo están experimentando una mayor competencia internacional, y responden utilizando los recursos locales de forma innovadora. Su eficacia se enfrenta a retos importantes, como la compatibilidad de los objetivos, la innovación, la interacción de las fuerzas del desarrollo y el fortalecimiento de las instituciones. ¿Qué se puede aprender de las experiencias locales? ¿Cómo mejora los resultados la participación de los actores locales en las políticas de desarrollo local? ¿Cómo pueden competir los sistemas productivos locales dentro de los mercados globales? Las piedras angulares son el cambio institucional, el acuerdo entre los actores locales, las redes, la innovación, el espíritu emprendedor empresarial y la resiliencia.
本稿では、グローバル化した世界において、地域開発が依然として政策として有用であるか否かを考察する。世界各地で国際競争が激化しており、地域の資源をイノベーティブな方法で利用して対応している。資源利用の有効性は、目標の適合性、イノベーション、開発力の相互作用、制度の強化などの重要な課題に直面している。地域の経験から学べることは何であろうか。地域のアクターが地域の開発政策に参加することにより、どのように成果は改善されるだろうか。地域の生産システムはどのようにしてグローバル市場において競争できるだろうか。その基礎となるのは、制度改革、地域のアクター間の合意、ネットワーク、イノベーション、アントレプレナーシップ、レジリエンスである。
The Anthropocene presents a set of interlinked sustainability challenges for humanity. The United Nations 2030 Agenda has identified 17 specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a way to ...confront these challenges. However, local initiatives have long been addressing issues connected to these goals in a myriad of diverse and innovative ways. We present a new approach to assess how local initiatives contribute to achieving the SDGs. We analyse how many, and how frequently, different SDGs and targets are addressed in a set of African initiatives. We consider goals and targets addressed by the same initiative as interacting between them. Then, we cluster the SDGs based on the combinations of goals and targets addressed by the initiatives and explore how SDGs differ in how local initiatives engage with them. We identify 5 main groups: SDGs addressed by broad-scope projects, SDGs addressed by specific projects, SDGs as means of implementation, cross-cutting SDGs and underrepresented SDGs. Goal 11 (sustainable cities & communities) is not clustered with any other goal. Finally, we explore the nuances of these groups and discuss the implications and relevance for the SDG framework to consider bottom-up approaches. Efforts to monitor the success on implementing the SDGs in local contexts should be reinforced and consider the different patterns initiatives follow to address the goals. Additionally, achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda will require diversity and alignment of bottom-up and top-down approaches.
The study is devoted to identifying the role of local initiatives and local communities in solving garbage problems in the cities of Apatity and Kirovsk in the Murmansk region. The cases of Apatity ...and Kirovsk show that the basis for the consolidation of the local community as a socio-territorial community is the place of residence and the use of existing social structures, in this case, localized neighboring communities, Internet communities and their communication channels. The interviews conducted at the field stage in the cities showed that thanks to local initiatives, in parallel to the actions of regional operators, there is a process of transformation of ecological thinking and the formation of a certain mentality. In each city, more and more people are involved in the process of cleaning the territory from garbage and separate collection of waste. In many ways, urban initiatives in Kirovsk and Apatity in the conditions of urban shrinkage exist not because of, but in spite of the socio-economic processes that are taking place there. Most of the citizens involved in the process note that it is very important for them to make their city better and feel like a part of something in common, to feel their need.
This paper uses research conducted in Swiss post-war high-rise estates to focus on policies and practices of community building in neighbourhoods with an increasingly diverse population. Initially, ...the estates were mainly populated by Swiss and Southern European lower to middle income families, but latterly the household structures have become very heterogeneous with residents coming from all over the world. The planning and development policies of the estates are based on specific ideas about creating a community, which are still evident in the building and management of community centres but also in various facilities for common use (playgrounds, football and sport fields, community rooms and kitchens, libraries, petting zoos, cafés, crafts rooms, etc.). The community centres, along with community work, are key to encouraging encounters, connecting people and activating cultural life in the neighbourhoods and have played a pioneering role far beyond the boundaries of their respective estates. However, individualisation and pluralisation processes, the aging of the facilities and built structures, and economic pressures pose challenges for the community centres. The current Covid-19 crisis reinforces these challenges by limiting and impeding cultural activities and direct (physical) social encounters. The paper analyses the potential and the challenges of community building in the context of growing diversity among residents, and acknowledges what we can learn from these experiences when thinking about creating and strengthening communities in a multi-faceted world today.
This article focuses on local initiatives and the agency of residents in the shrinking town of Puolanka in northern Finland. Structural opportunities and constraints shape individual and collective ...agency in the community, as they steer how people create and develop initiatives. We discuss how local initiatives impact the sense of place among those who would like to stay in their rural hometown. A group of local activists facetiously market Puolanka as the 'most pessimistic town' in the world, turning shrinkange, decay, and pessimism into the town's brand. Beyond the pessimism brand several other initiatives, which are either created by engaged local residents or are municipality-led, are revitalizing and enhancing the liveability of Puolanka. By applying ethnographic research methods, we aim to show how initiatives improve the well-being and contribute to the place perception of residents. Such initiatives create jobs, albeit usually in small numbers, improve the physical space, stabilize the sense of community and can bring hope to a place characterized by increasing abandonment, decay, and the loss of local services.
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