Climate change is expected to lead to an increase in the number and strength of natural hazards produced by climatic events. This paper presents some examples of the experiences of community‐based ...organisations (CBOs) and non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) of variations in climate, and looks at how they have incorporated their findings into the design and implementation of local adaptation strategies. Local organisations integrate climate change and climatic hazards into the design and development of their projects as a means of adapting to their new climatic situation. Projects designed to boost the resilience of local livelihoods are good examples of local adaptation strategies. To upscale these adaptation initiatives, there is a need to improve information exchange between CBOs, NGOs and academia. Moreover, there is a need to bridge the gap between scientific and local knowledge in order to create projects capable of withstanding stronger natural hazards.
Rural broadband is assumed to be a solution to a variety of rural issues, yet the delivery of broadband to rural areas remains problematic. On the basis of a database of 75 rural broadband ...initiatives in the Netherlands and the information gathered by studying two initiatives in-depth for a number of years, the authors discuss how citizens instigate and run initiatives to improve internet connectivity. The authors present an eight-stage model that demonstrates that citizens, governments and market players have impact on the completion of each of these stages, highlighting the neo-endogenous character of rural broadband. In this neo-endogenous context both established market players and governments find it difficult to relinquish their usual approaches. Market players attempt to frustrate initiatives with rigid policies in order to prevent their share of the market being threatened. On paper governments stress the importance of local action, but in practice they come up with wavering or generic policies, neglecting local organizational differences and frustrating the progress. The broadband initiatives are in a constant learning curve and require perseverance as well as social, intellectual and financial capital. The current conditions under which the local initiatives operate endanger the realization of broadband in rural areas in the Netherlands.
Community renewable energy projects have captured significant attention due to their potential to tackle climate change by socially and economically empowering local societies. Recently, however, ...various difficulties in the continuity of such projects over extended periods of time have been reported. As a case study, this article explores a woody biomass project, planned and put into practice by local people, which has lasted for over 10 years. The article first examines the process of collective decision-making among members who have diverse motivations. It then focuses on how the project objectives have been interpreted by individual members, paying particular attention to each member’s practice. The article shows that decisions related to the project were based on the diverse and constant social interactions between members, which focused on their collaboration rather than overall quantitative goals. I argue, both theoretically and empirically, that this vagueness of the overall goals has enabled the project’s continuity. Based on their own practices, it has allowed each project member to interpret the project and to gain a sense of its success. Diversity of practices within a project leads to plural sets of values, which bring sustainability to a project running in an uncertain context.
The growth of Randamp;D in East Asia has triggered the notion of a new innovation geography, where Randamp;D is no longer a privilege of the traditional OECD countries. What does this mean for ...mid-sized emerging economies, without the scale advantages and bargaining power of India or China? This paper uses Turkey as a case to examine the continual unevenness of international Randamp;D investments. By analyzing opportunities and limitations for local initiatives in the telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries the paper finds that active private capital, a sufficient scale of production, and focused public policies are needed to attract international Randamp;D.
The article is devoted to the urgent problem – the development of cultural and educational tourism. The empiric basis of the research is represented by data of the expert survey of the senior ...officers of local authorities of municipal formations of the Russian Federation, the results of the population survey, data of the Federal Service of State Statistics, the results of the researches of the All-Russian Center of Studying Social Opinion (ARCSSO), “Social Opinion” Fund, etc. The article distinguishes the most essential factors that prevent the development of the cultural and educational tourism in the Russian Federation, and defines basic recommendations on forming the resourceful provision of management practices related to developing the tourism attractiveness of territories. Under the modern conditions, a special attention is paid to the formation of the financial basis, scientific and informational provision of the management activity, support for local creative initiatives, popularizing of the internal tourism, and actualization of the local tourism potential.
Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is the recommended treatment for patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Despite substantial evidence of its ...effectiveness, a 2007 study reported that only 40-45% of European STEMI patients were treated with PPCI, with large variations in treatment availability between countries. In 2008, the Stent for Life (SFL) initiative was launched by the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions and EuroPCR in partnership with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group on Acute Cardiac Care and country-specific national cardiac societies. The aim is to promote the prioritisation of percutaneous coronary intervention treatment towards those who will benefit most, namely STEMI patients. The following countries are currently participating: Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain and Turkey.
Since SFL was launched, several activities have been initiated in the participating countries. Preliminary reports suggest that major increases have been seen in the numbers of PPCI performed, with some countries reporting very significant increases in PPCI use from 2008-2010. Improvements in STEMI mortality rates have also been observed.
This report summarises the progress of the SFL initiative in the 10 target countries.
► We motivate the special issue on “Economic-financial Crisis and Sustainability Transition”. ► We summarize the six long contributions and the four short viewpoints in the special issue.
A brief ...introduction to the special issue on “Economic-financial Crisis and Sustainability Transition” is provided. The relevance of this theme is motivated and core questions are formulated. The editorial ends with a brief summary of the various contributions, which include six long articles and four short viewpoints.
In the past few decades governments in Western European countries have put increasing efforts into creating new green and forest areas in and around cities. At first sight, these centrally formulated ...plans seem to run counter to the current trend towards less central steering and more participation (and deliberation). However, closer scrutiny in two cases of green structure planning in the Netherlands and Flanders – Balij-Biesland forest and Park forest Ghent – reveals that we are facing a seemingly contradictory image of central steering on the one hand and openness to various actors and ideas on the other. This paper takes a closer look at this ambivalent situation using the two theoretical perspectives of deliberative governance and a discourse analysis. Although the green structure planning exercises did not intentionally have a deliberative character, we argue that such a perspective can and should be put on situations where new local coalitions challenge the centrally formulated plans, and try to start deliberations about their ideas In order to become more specific about the ‘deliberative incompleteness’ of the two Flemish and Dutch processes, a discourse-analytical focal point needs to be taken as well. Normatively, the paper first addresses the diversity of viewpoints and openness to preference shifts in the Dutch and the Flemish cases. It concludes that in the course of both processes, a high diversity of viewpoints surfaced, as well as a certain degree of openness to preference shifts. When the two processes are subjected to discourse analysis, it becomes evident however that the preference shifts occurring as a result of the input of a greater diversity of viewpoints did not bring about changes in some vital discursive practices that had been connected to the green structure planning and implementation processes. It was suggested, therefore, that combining the two theoretical perspectives gives a good insight into ‘deliberative incompleteness’ and highlights persistent institutional obstacles to come to more inclusive green structures in urbanized areas.
Participation in spatial planning has been studied extensively in the past decades, but many cases of spatial planning have nonetheless seen a gap between decision makers and local residents. This is ...why participation in spatial planning has become a classic research question of many urban planning–related sciences. The greatest focus has been on cases of participation that present some kind of reaction to plans or actions, whereas far less attention has been given to cases of participation based on initiatives and the search for new content for underused or decaying areas. Such cases usually start with initiatives for the new use of particular places and often result in physical changes to these places. This article defines various types of local initiatives, and it especially studies the distinction between reactionary and contributive local initiatives and relates them to the notion of community. The article is based on an analysis of two particular cases. The differences in these two cases represent a foundation for the article’s conclusions, which emphasises the potentials for stimulating contributive participation. The conclusion includes recommendations for the spatial planning system to become more open to participation in terms of revitalising underused spaces because such space has been increasing during the economic downturn. The complex and inefficient system of spatial planning is turning away many creative initiatives.
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