Community Scale: Local is Whole; Regions are Whole - 1999

Note: An early expression of the thought in an email.

There is only one planet here - our local planet. It is whole - as are all levels of local. The local planet is divided into regions into regions to manage/conquer. There are seven continents - but the U.S. State Department divides the world into six regions. Penguin relations for Antarctica don't require an embassy or regional designation. Continents have become, over time, divided into nations. These political boundaries are cultural, political, arbitrary - each representing a local whole. Within the nations are any variety of states, provinces, counties, cities, town, villages - those with governors - governance - elected or not, represent yet another level of local - even down to the neighborhood, block or building. From higher levels, regions are used or manage/control the smaller geographic locals. What emerges is a local scale which ranges on one end from planet, to continent, to nation, to state, to province, to county, to either incorporated/unincorporated community, then to neighborhood or village (both unincorporated), to the parcel of land where a dwelling unit/or apartment building sit. The local scale does not end here - it goes to the family, the individual, the organs of the body, to the single cell - all local wholes.

Moving the other direction, this is the regional scale. Within the human body, physicians speak about a local or regional infection. The individual cell - a whole - is of course local - as too are the components of the cell. The smallest locals are the individual entities of atoms - which partner to become greater and greater local entities. So - land parcels become neighborhoods/villages - incorporated municipalities within chartered counties/within provinces/states/nations to encompass the six continents, much of the shore lines, and leaving the remainder to international law of the seas - to complete the puzzle of the local planet. Leave out any part and it is not the whole planet - the local planet.

Governmental boundaries are conditional, if not arbitrary. The true boundaries for humans are physical - to cross a land/water boundary you may swim, shedding clothes - or need a boat/or scuba gear, plus thermal protection to permit the human body to survive. Climbing above the tree line to cross a mountain, or going aloft in a balloon, airplane or space craft, again - the physical body needs climate control in order to live. Going into the molten earth is one where the gear may never be found, so there are even absolute boundaries for human presence.

What we are concerned with is human community - which considered as regional/local is entirely scaleable - local top and bottom. With the expansion of communications technology - the geographic and language barriers to global community are lowered - so individuals can directly experience their local world. Since the first satellites photographs in the 1970s, humans have been able to see a picture of our local planet.

The perspective of "Think globally, act locally," is more properly, "Think local planet, act regionally." A region is always a subset of a whole. c 1999 -

Regional Community Development News - April 11, 2007

A weekly compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.

Published on line since November 11, 2003.


1. Seven Principles for a New Pittsburgh - By globalburgh(globalburgh) – Blog

My plan is to try to incorporate into this blog the seven principles Mike Madison listed in the Manifesto for a New Pittsburgh. First, I thought I could come up with new tags, corresponding with each principle. But revisiting the Manifesto, I think I already have six tags that fit.

1. Connect and reconnect with the virtual Pittsburgh.

The main theme of the Manifesto is connectivity. Informing the Burgh Diaspora blog is the phenomenon of labor mobility, but connectivity is the subject of the majority of my posts. Fittingly, I think, the first principle stresses the importance of connectivity for Pittsburgh.

2. Bring new resources to the region.

The second principle is about an expanded concept of regional resources. Perhaps I'm trying too hard to make my current list of tags fit, but the posts about innovation seem to mesh well with this principle.

3. Energize Pittsburgh’s culture and community.

The term "diaspora" does a good job of capturing the idea of a global community. Pittsburgh exists in more places than just Southwestern Pennsylvania. If the second principle expands the concept of regional resources, the third principle expands the concept of community.

RC: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission

2. Regional collaboration is the future - Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia, PA, USA

It's 2015. Philadelphia has just been designated "America's Greatest Region." Philadelphia's outgoing mayor has appeared, along with regional county officials, on NBC's "Today Show" to explain how they did it:

'There was no silver bullet, " said the mayor. "When I took office, I realized that we had to work together if we were going to accomplish anything. So, when I visited with county officials and met with regional business leaders, we looked for areas where we could all benefit by collaborating. And you know what? They weren't hard to find.

"We settled on a simple agenda, built on a maxim of Ben Franklin's: We needed to focus on making the region healthy, wealthy and wise."

Healthy "The biggest challenge to the health of our citizens was the murder rate. It was clear that the region was hurt every time Philadelphia was in the news about crime. Working together, city and suburbs, we went to our lawmakers and got control of the situation. We passed sensible gun controls, reallocated funding to focus on effective strategies and found money to get kids off the street and into training or jobs. We cut the crime rate in half, and we all benefited."

Wealthy "If we wanted to be wealthy, ...

RC: Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission

3. 1960s transportation plan a model for today - Cherry Hill Courier Post - Cherry Hill, NJ, USA

The childish standoff at the Delaware River Port Authority over a proposal to deepen the Delaware River is a clear indication the bistate agency's organizational model is obsolete and has outlived its usefulness. This critical regional transportation organization, which should be designed to address the complex mobility challenges of the 21st century, requires a new paradigm.

Such a model exists. It was developed in 1969, at the request of the then-governors of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware who created a Committee On Regional Development (CORD) to explore the need for an air-related regional agency in the Delaware Valley. Combined effort

The membership was comprised of 33 of the leading government, civic, business and industrial leaders in the region. Financial support was provided by the departments of transportation in the three states, as well as the Ford Foundation and the Greater Philadelphia Movement.

In April 1971, the committee completed its work and sent its report to the three governors. Its conclusions and recommendations were visionary.

First, the committee recognized while its initial assignment was the region's airports, it became convinced the region's interstate transportation system must be considered as a whole. The relationship of the airport to the other modes of transportation, as well as the environment, was critical. It realized it could not be treated independently.

...

4. County switches over to new 911 system with no glitches - News Telegram - Hopkins County, TX, USA

At noon Thursday, Hopkins County Sheriff's Office began using a new $83, 000 emergency 911 system installed by Ark-Tex Council of Governments using funds allocated for that purpose.

Hopkins County Sheriff's Communications Supervisor Ron Lowrie tries out the new 911 call system on a test call Thursday at noon, when the new program was launched. The $83, 000 system was installed with funds allocated at the state level to Ark-Tex Council of Governments.

The installation process began in mid-March. Aside from a few glitches, the program was up and running Thursday with little difficulty.

In a nutshell, the "new system does everything the old system would do."

"It does the same thing but better, for a new generation of technology, " Embrey said. "We try to keep as up to date as possible."

ATCOG will also pay for maintaining the system annually, generally a rate between $60, 000 and $70, 000 a year for a system like the one installed at HCSO.

ATCOG is installing new 911 systems in the nine counties it serves. …

5. Cooperation both in, out of state needed in heavily used corridor
Patriot-News - Harrisburg, PA, USA

Attempting to build on previous efforts to link Pennsylvania counties along the Interstate 81 corridor, Cumberland County Commissioner Rick Rovegno is eyeing similar efforts among five states.

This is a daunting task. But it's a realistic and practical one, given that the corridor's myriad issues are the same from Tennessee to the Canadian border.

I-81 runs the length of Cumberland County, which is home to numerous warehouse and trucking facilities stemming from its proximity to this major north-south artery in the eastern United States. Rovegno and fellow Commissioners Gary Eichelberger and Bruce Barclay see and hear firsthand what all this means for nearby communities.

This in sight, like the resulting traffic safety, congestion, and environmental issues, doesn't stop at county or state lines. That's why the three last year helped kickstart efforts now under way to create a joint planning and advocacy coalition among the eight Pennsylvania counties along the I-81 corridor.

Rovegno is now taking that concept to a logical next step -- a similar approach by states hosting portions of the interstate's 824-mile route. In addition to Pennsylvania, that includes New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee.

Officials in all five states are reporting similar issues as those facing both the midstate and other Pennsylvania corridor counties. All are looking at ways to get vehicles off the road, whether by increased freight and passenger trains, buses or other means.

And they also all deal with the same host of quality-of-life problems created by the nearby interstate.

A multi-state coalition would not only look at planning, transportation and economic development from a broader perspective, it also would likely have much more clout in terms of lobbying for federal money and appropriate legislation and regulation.

6. Southeast communities explore a regional trash plan - Alaskajournal-com - Anchorage, AK, USA

A regional trash disposal plan, aimed at raising the efficiency and decreasing the cost of getting rid of garbage, is under discussion by communities of the Southeast Conference.

Jon Bolling, city manager of Craig and chairman of the Southeast Conference committee on the environment, said he sees merit in having the communities of Southeast Alaska work together on a disposal plan to achieve economies of scale.

“I would not characterize it as something easily done, but if communities see merit in going this route, there will be good momentum for communities to work together to try to get an authority formed, ” he said.

Bolling and other representatives of Southeast communities are studying a report on municipal solid waste disposal alternatives, prepared by Smith Bayliss LeResche Inc., a Juneau engineering and environmental consulting firm.

When the group met March 27 to determine just how interested each community is in forming a regional entity to deal with the trash, five cities within the Southeast Conference, including Juneau, said they wanted to pursue the regional facility and wanted Southeast Conference to take the leadership role, said Murray Walsh, executive director of Southeast Conference. Walsh said April 3 that each city within the conference would be asked to name someone to the steering committee, and commit to paying that individual's travel expenses.

7. A strong, clear vision - Arizona Daily Star - Tucson, AZ, USA

Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc., or TREO, installed a door of opportunity late last month. It is up to our community to open it and walk through.

About 500 people who were eager, perhaps anxious, for a glimpse of the community's economic future gathered March 28 at the Fox Theatre Downtown. The crowd enthusiastically grasped the design concept of "Securing Our Future Now: An Economic Blueprint for the Tucson Region." The vision is a community with high-paying jobs, plenty of opportunities for fresh college graduates and young professionals, improved education and a vital urban center.

A lack of specific steps

The word "blueprint" in the title must be viewed in a broad sense, as a guide or plan of action, not a detailed technical drawing.

The blueprint process began in September, directed by a 46-member steering committee that was headed by local attorney Larry Hecker. Jim McGraw of KMK Consulting Co., an Ohio-based consultant who's worked with more than 20 cities, evaluated Tucson's economic status and recommended strategies. The blueprint was funded by a $250, 000 donation from Tucson Electric Power Co.

The centerpiece of the TREO plan is five interlocking cogwheels in an economic machine: high-skilled, high-wage jobs; educational excellence; urban renaissance; livable communities; and collaborative governance. ...

Collaboration, not consensus

The TREO blueprint puts into writing what our community has been talking about for decades. In an Oct. 30, 1977, Star editorial discussing IBM's move to Tucson and our community's move into the "big leagues" of attracting industry, we said, "This requires a plan for land use, transportation and necessary facilities."

Sounds similar to what's mentioned in the TREO blueprint. We say this to emphasize that our community needs to seize this opportunity finally and to get it right.

...

RC: Pima Association of Governments

8. County wants economic group to help it be ‘industry ready’ - Washington Daily News - Washington, NC, USA

Beaufort County commissioners are developing a pitch to get a regional economic-development engine to finance “industry ready” buildings in the counties it serves.

The proposal is directed toward the former Northeast Partnership, which became the Northeastern North Carolina Regional Economic Development Commission after a state audit last spring found the group had mishandled money in the millions.

Revamped and reorganized, the Northeast Partnership no longer exists. The commissioners’ proposal terms the group only “Northeast Region, ” but asks that the group stay true to its original mission — investing in the region to make it stronger.

“Except for grant writing, we’ve not received anything from them, ” said Commissioner Al Klemm. “They really need to get a purpose.”

Commissioners want the Northeast Region to ante up on some of the buildings that are being constructed in Beaufort County to attract industry and, in turn, jobs. Their proposal asks the organization to pay interest incurred during construction of “industry ready” buildings and also asks the group to promote their availability.

...

RCs: Albemarle Commission - PO Box 646 Hertford, NC 27944-0646

Mid-East Commission

9. WVU-P to get items from Sequelle - Marietta Times - Marietta, OH, USA

Wood County commissioners approved transfer of furnishings and equipment purchased for the now-defunct Sequelle Communications Alliance Inc. to West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

The items primarily will be used in the college’s technology division.

Back in October, commissioners authorized disbursement of the office furniture and equipment purchased with Small Cities Block Grant funds for Sequelle. The county was the pass through entity for the grant funding. Commissioners had authorized the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council to purchase the office items. The items were then leased to Sequelle. After the project failed, the equipment and furnishings were recovered and placed in storage.

A public hearing was conducted Thursday regarding the transfer of the items.

Fred Rader, with the regional council, said the grant had been approved in August 2002, originally the grant was for $600, 000.

"We need to dispose of the furnishings and equipment within SCBG regulations so we can close out the grant file on this project, ” Rader said. …

10. U.S. regional communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles. Highlighted words are Google search terms. In this and the following section, links to websites of organizations are added to the news excerpt when this is the first time an organization has been found. A goal of this newsletter is to find every regional council in the U.S. in a news story. In most cases, where a full name is present a Google search will quickly get one to that organization.

.10 Reports say a lack of regionalism hurts Pa.
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia, PA, USA
Because local government is so fragmented, "It's been difficult for communities to get their arms around the impacts of development, to deal with regional growth, and reduce the impact of sprawl, " ...

.11 Ambitious transit and road plans released
Deseret News - Salt Lake City, UT, USA
The three studies are called Draft Regional Transportation Plans and were done by UDOT, the Regional Council and Mountainland Association of Governments. ...

.12 Highlands building chill in air
Mt. Olive Chronicle - Mt. Olive, NJ, USA
... said the moratorium is necessary to stop a stampede of developers trying to build before the state enacts a Highlands regional development plan. ...

.13 Highlands plan awash in ambiguity
NorthJersey.com - Hackensack, NJ, USA
... Morris County's planner, told the Highlands Council this month that when municipal officials ask him what the regional plan means for their community, ...

.14 Cape agency flexes muscle
By Industrial Wind Action Group(Industrial Wind Action Group)
But the plan to build 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound still faces a significant local hurdle: a review by the Cape Cod Commission, Barnstable County's regional planning agency. Opponents of the turbines say the commission, known for its tough-minded approach to large development projects, could prove a serious obstacle to the project - and possibly even kill it....

.15 Regionally significant ecological areas: Minnesota DNR
To complement this ecological assessment, the DNR will complete a regional-scale aesthetic assessment, and DNR Fisheries and the Met Council may complete an ...

.16 JCJC holds first regional WIRED briefing
Laurel Leader Call - Laurel, MS, USA
In this meeting we are identifying assets, getting feedback from you, and then we’ll attend a Super-Regional meeting with community leaders throughout the ...

.17 Study To Look at Northern Virginia's Future Water Supply
WJLA - Washington, DC, USA
… analysis by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission is scheduled to be finished in 2011 … Virginia legislature mandated the analysis following severe drought conditions in the region from 1999 to 2002. …

.18 Dry conditions call for regional 'water emergency'
Bradenton Herald - Bradenton, FL, USA
MANATEE - Parched conditions across the region have prompted the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority to declare a water shortage emergency. ...

.19 Report Finds Solution To County Water Woes Is Regional System
The Dispatch - Ocean City, MD, USA
“I recommend we draw up the regional concept, ” Escher told the commissioners. Regionalizing the water supply would solve capacity problems, with excess capacity spread out across the region, and provide redundancy in the case of breakdowns. It would also allow for scheduled maintenance and repairs to take place without impeding the water supply....

.20 County Council Says "No" To Council Of Governments
WMDT - Salisbury, MD, USA
The Wicomico County Council will not participate in the Council of Governments. None of the members of the council voted to approve participation on Tuesday ...

.21 New council sees need for regional cooperation
The Coloradoan - Fort Collins, CO, USA
One day after Tuesday's election, Fort Collins' new City Council cited the need for cooperation with other regional municipalities and retail developers as the city moves forward on issues surrounding economic redevelopment and transportation....

.22 Wasatch Front Leaders Want Your Input on Future of Transportation
KSL-TV - Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Darrell Cook with the Mountainland Association of Governments says the plan is "a long range look after the year 2030, for highway, transit, trails, ...

.23 Chamber president answers criticism
Youngstown Vindicator - Youngstown, OH, USA
The president of the Regional Chamber said he should have informed area school officials of the chamber's intent to work on a school consolidation plan before the plans became public. ...

.24 Collaboration lacking among DHS Watch Centers: GAO
Washington Technology - Washington, DC, USA
The Homeland Security Department’s gaggle of 25 national and regional operations centers that run around the clock every day of the year suffer from poor collaboration and coordination, …

.25 Airport growing with regional economy
Burlington Times News - Burlington, NC, USA

The Burlington-Alamance Regional Airport is the key to the future of the local economy, says Burlington Mayor Stephen Ross. Ross calls the airport “an economic engine for Burlington” …

.26 County to update waste plan
Chester News - Chester, SC, USA
Chester County Council agreed to pay the Catawba Regional Council of Governments to update its waste management plan. County Supervisor Carlisle Roddey said ...

.27 Southeast communities explore a regional trash plan
Alaskajournal-com - Anchorage, AK, USA
When the group met March 27 to determine just how interested each community is in forming a regional entity to deal with the trash, five cities within the ...

.28 Michigan should take it to the mat to save economy
MLive.com - MI, USA
A study done for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, a Detroit-based planning agency, suggests raising the education level of the work force to ...

.29 Don't demonize bedrooms
York Dispatch - York, PA, USA
That can be difficult to define, but regionalization does come to mind. When does the county's tendency to become more of a bedroom community outweigh the ...

.30 EDITORIAL: Regionalism pays off
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal - Tupelo, MS, USA

… The greater long-term savings to Mantachie comes from seeking a regional solution. The water supply district means Mantachie won't have to scramble for money …

.32 An Obese United States
CattleNetwork.com - Stanley, KS, USA
Regionally, the South was found to be the “Biggest Belt.” The South had nine of the 10 states with the highest rates of obesity. The southern region is also ...

.33 New Midwest Dairy Consortium Formed
Wisconsin Ag Connection - Marshfield, WI, USA
A multi-state, multi-disciplinary research and education program for the Midwest dairy industry has been launched by 10 Midwestern land-grant universities. ...

11. Other in the news: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

.10 Regional Strategies on Tiger Conservation in Offing
Himalayan Times - Kathmandu, Nepal

A new national action plan for conservation of tigers is going to develop regional strategies for controlling illegal trade in wildlife along the borders with India and China. The Tiger Conservation Action Plan for Nepal (2007-2011) will focus on trans-boundary cooperation "for combating illegal trade in wildlife, maintaining ecological integrity in the tiger landscapes and promoting tiger tourism". …

.11 The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation

Council on Foreign Relations

The truth is, acts of terror cannot always be prevented, and nature continues to show its fury in frighteningly unpredictable ways. Resiliency, argues Flynn, must now become our national motto. With chilling frankness and clarity, Flynn paints an all-too-real scenario of the threats we face within our own borders. (Audio of February 21, 2007 presentation.)

.12 New era in health care for region
Cambridge Times - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

The Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (WWLHIN), as well as the other 13 LHINs across Ontario, last week assumed full responsibility for planning, funding and integrating local health services. …

.13 Step toward a fitter region
Victoria Times Colonist - Victoria, BC, Canada
The Highway to Health is a map of Vancouver Island (www.fitinfitness.ca) that allows you to convert your daily physical activity into "steps" and then chart ...

.14 Why doesn't Harvard love me?
Los Angeles Times - CA, USA
"Before the rankings systems, [the process] was much more regionalized, " Brenzel said. Now because of the rankings, "... You have perfectly wonderful students, but they're all trying to get into the same handful of schools." ... ... we've been fed the gospel of the ranking system for nearly 25 years, and redefining "a good college" will be a lot like cult deprogramming. ...

.15 For effective regional trading
The New Nation - Bangladesh
... The member countries of the SAARC have to interact with each other and adopt joint measures for resolving the economic effects of inadequate bilateral and regional trade. ...

.16 Regional CSR strategy launched
Sunday Times-lk - Columbo, Sri Lanka
The Business for Peace Alliance (BPA), a network of regional business chambers throughout Sri Lanka fostering peace and reconciliation through business, ...

Note: Article refers to CSR which elsewhere in the newspaper is defined as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Ed.

.17 Commentary: The Greater Caribbean This Week: Trade intelligence as a business support tool
Caribbean Net News - Georgetown, Cayman Islands
Furthermore, the continuous consultations being held among sub-groups, at both the sub-regional and bilateral levels, have led to a proliferation of FTA's ...

.18 IN-DEPTH: Balkans Struggles to Grasp its International Potential
BIRN - Pristina, Kosovo, Serbia
They concur that regional cooperation is the only way to make real progress and that a firmer commitment to this is needed at the highest political level if ...

.19 Millions of kilos of food thrown away in capital area each year
Helsingin Sanomat - Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
... translate to millions of kilograms of potential food gone to waste in the capital area alone, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) calculates. ...

.20 Bringing Some Orders Back To Investment
The Moscow Times - Moscow, Russia
In the opinion of analysts, this model for regional development is unlikely to be a successful one -- investment is only effective in case where there are ...

.21 Governance is all about trust
Stuff-co-nz - Wellington, New Zealand
Governance, at its essence, is all about the simple human quality of trust. One person entrusts another with assets of value to own and operate in ...

.22 City coup puts Norfolk on convention map
Norfolk Eastern Daily Press - Norfolk, England, UK
in domestic flights to Norwich International airport have made the region accessible to most of the UK and Europe." He added: "I was particularly struck by ...

.22 Improving The Purpose And Accountability Of The American Planning Association

Planetizen

... Its members – if that is even the right term – are customers who are to be informed, not peers to be engaged. Though many planners join to get the same benefits other professionals find in their trade organizations, the APA appears to focus more on selling them publications and workshops. ...

12. Blogs: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

.10 Divided America
By Creativity Group
...The rise of regionalism suggests that the roots of America's partisan divisions go deeper than the razor-thin victories of the last two presidential contests. Rather, the Blacks argue, the hyper-partisanship that we are enduring ...

.11 Sam Miller Throws Down the Gauntlet - Reform Cleveland Government
By Bradley(Bradley)
"'Regionalism', to me, doesn't mean a thing. What I'm talking about is 'Countyism.'" "Why should Cuyahoga County have 1500-some school buses for 31 separate school districts? Why should Cuyahoga County have 489 council members? ...

.12 A Case for Borough System in Sacramento
By M.E.S.(M.E.S.)
Regionalism –the Emperor’s New Clothes?Regionalism- the wildly popular catchphrase among planners and politicians today simply doesn’t work as well as they would have us believe. While regionalism is a good thing in theory it lacks the ...

.13 Pierce County's "Mega Project"
By Paul Ellis(Paul Ellis)
To do otherwise, some transportation leaders contend, would represent a de facto implementation of the flawed recommendations from the Regional Transportation Commission. Paul Ellis is lead staff for RAMP; an employee of the ...

RAMP Home Page

.14 High Hope for Regional Focus
By Mass Marrier(Mass Marrier)
One surprising solution would be, according to Pierce, getting newspapers and other MSM to call for regionalism, and to take governors and legislators to task when they fail to act with that in mind. Note: Cross-posted at Left Ahead! ...

.15 Regionalization - Fire & Ambulance
By Kevin N. Saisi(Kevin N. Saisi)

The area Fire Chiefs have stated that not much savings is to be had from a merger of fire departments. They have developed strong relationships through mutual aid compacts and mutual respect that assure our properties are well protected. One area that has been strained recently, however, is the cost of covering the mutual aid. …

.16 Which transportation plan is best for Weld County?
Greeley Tribune - Greeley, CO, USA
The champion of the two-county proposal for a regional transportation authority is the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization. ...

.17 What's Right With This Picture? Aligning Management Development
By Anne Knowles
As BC has reorganized regionally, its management development program has responded successfully, thanks to its emphasis on alignment. The session will show how certain alignment tools can help managers facilitate change by understanding ...

.18 State of Mind
By BoomtownUSA(BoomtownUSA)
This idea of regionalism is brilliant and a major wave of the future that I see developing throughout the USA. Most regionalism efforts stop at state borders because of natural rivalries, silo-thinking mentality and the hassles inherent ...

.19 10 Community News Ideas Receive New Voices Grants to Launch Sites
The awards will help "to launch news sites for under-covered communities, embed TV reporters in neighborhoods, network regional radio programs, and map the local impact of climate change."

.20 How Do You Envision the Future of the Trade Regime?
By dunoffj
Indeed, in sharp contrast to a UN High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change that held numerous regional consultations and issue workshops, the Consultative Board engaged in no formal outside consultation. ...

.21 Book: Mind Set! - by John Naisbitt
By Michael Krahn(Michael Krahn)
Mindset # 8 - Things that we expect to happen always happen more slowly “Almost all change is evolutionary, not revolutionary… expectations always travel at higher speeds.” Mindset # 9 - You don’t get results by solving problems but by ...

.22 Sammy searches for a metaphor in the snow
Cleveland Scene Weekly - Cleveland, OH, USA
Topic: After his 1328th column on regionalism last week, you probably figured Sammy would return to his roots – perhaps a heart-warming tale of an NBA ...

.23 Serra’s 21 Strategic Environmental Projects for São Paulo
By Keith R
Beginning in May 2007 and finishing by June 2008 licensing for water projects will be "regionalized" along basin lines. All projects with strictly local impacts will be devolved to municipalities, with the state helping municipalities ...

.24 One War on Terrorism?
By Aaron(Aaron)
By classifying conflicts this local, rooted in resource competition, economics, tribalism, nationalism, and regionalism under the singular rubric of the War on Terrorism inherently makes America ineffective in dealing with them. ...

.25 DRAFT: THE 1992 DEFENSE PLANNING GUIDANCE
By Steve J.(Steve J.)
This is a dominant consideration underlying the new regional defense strategy and requires that we endeavor to prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under consolidated control, be sufficient to ...

.26 Groundbreaking:
By jo
There are established deductive understandings of interaction between the environment and society at a regional- and local-scale; how people use (and used) the landscape to support their daily lives, how landscapes are managed to ...

13. Announcements and Regional Links

.11 Regional Brownfields Initiative 'Paths to Redevelopment'

The Land-of-Sky Regional Council is hosting “Paths to Redevelopment: A Brownfields Conference” April 24-25 at the Asheville Renaissance Hotel. For more information on the conference or to register, please visit www.landofsky.org

.12 http://www.all-acronyms.com/

All-acronyms.com is a free website with more than 600,000 published abbreviations. Initially, the web site was developed, supported and privately used by a group of acronym enthusiasts. It was moved to public sector in 2005. These days with the support of its editors and users All-Acronyms.com covers more and more abbreviated terms. The main purpose of the site is to have a convenient lookup tool for those who need to quickly find an acronym definition.

Note: RC – Regional Council and COG - Council of Governments are not among the government acronyms defined. Ed.

14. Subscription

Economic development 101York News Times (subscription) - York, NE, USA

"Economic development" is at best a vague term. Those of us who work in the effort professionally know what it is. But many times the term is used broadly and in a loose fashion describing a variety of activities from a variety of perspectives. Many times we struggle to answer questions in a clear concise way that helps people to understand why economic development activity is important to our communities, to our region and to each citizen on an individual basis.

Economic development is the creation of income or the creation of wealth. Creating jobs and career options for all ages and education levels helps communities grow and provides opportunities for young people to remain in or move to our communities and our state. Creating quality, well paying jobs is the goal of economic development efforts.

This type of job creation is accomplished with the assistance of economic development organizations working in cooperation with private industry and through partnerships with local, state and federal government programs.

Q. Why do communities and states engage in economic development?

Because circumstances change and conditions shift some type of intervention is needed. Companies go out of business or change product lines, products themselves go out of use and new products come into use. Companies grow, expand and sometimes cease or move operations. Economic development is the effort to keep communities viable through the inevitable changes we face year to year and generation to generation. Many economic changes are generally out of our control; however, how we address and react to those changes is the process of economic development.

Q. What defines an economic development region?

Regions are usually defined by commuting patterns and retail markets resulting in a geographic profile of the micro-economic region. Groups of communities make up micro-economic regions. …


My name is Tom Christoffel. I've worked in the field of intergovernmental cooperation since 1973. As a consequence, "I see regions work." Regional Community Development News is published weekly based on news reports as of Wednesday.

Making visible analysis and actions at multi-jurisdictional regional scales is its purpose. "Think globally, act locally" was innovative in its time. Today the local scale is often too small to address today's needs and opportunities. "Think local planet, act regionally, " is my candidate paradigm. (No one said we're only allowed one paradigm.)

We can see that “regional communities” are organized locally and now act both to avoid tragedy in the commons and gain benefits. An effective multi-jurisdictional regional community has DNA: it is geographically Defined; has a common Name and its Alignment is inclusive of smaller communities and participatory in larger communities. So, by scanning this compilation, reading articles and checking organizations - you too will be able to see the regional communities that already exist.

News references are found using the Google News search service. Media article links are “fair use” to transform globally scattered reports to make regional approaches visible. Links go to the publisher and do not compete with it. Such publishers are likely to have related stories and thus be seen by new customers. “Regional” is an emerging news category. There is no charge for this service and no profit is made from its use, though any user can become more aware of the topic itself.

To read and search previous issues go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/

The term “Development” was added to the name in January, 2006.

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"Think Local Planet, Act Regionally."

This blog will be used to post Regional Community Development News and occasional thoughts relating to the greater community work that faces humanity today. Three years of publishing my newsletter has given me great confidence that working cooperatively across boundaries is being done all over the planet.

Tom