A weekly compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.
Published on line since November 11, 2003.
1. Diaspora Report: Linking Pittsburghers far and wide - Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh, PA, USA
What, if anything, can be gained when Rust Belt (Tech Belt? Post-Industrial Belt? Midwestern Cooperative Corridor?) cities form alliances in cyberspace? It might be meaningful; it might spin a connective web; it might be smoke and ephemera.
The Great Lakes Urban Exchange wants to find out.
(First, does Pittsburgh even qualify for membership? Bubby Brister, a Steelers QB in the early 1990s, famously recalled the problems of winter play at Three Rivers Stadium with the wind blowing off the lake, and we have to presume he was talking about Lake Erie, so, yeah, we're solid.)
The Great Lakes Urban Exchange (or GLUE, gluespace.wordpress.com) met over the Groundhog Day weekend in Buffalo to "craft a new narrative for industrial cities of the Great Lakes region, [a] multiyear initiative that will use new media to build networks for change. GLUE will engage young urbanists in an effort to bolster regional identity, envision livable urban futures, and tell stories about the people creating them."
Fine. OK. How does identity-bolstering and future-envisioning help those regions in a concrete way -- today, tomorrow or two decades from now? And how can GLUE's pilot program help us reconnect the Pittsburgh Diaspora, the old and, especially, the young who have left town for greener pastures (read: available jobs)? Can it help us win back our lost sons?
Their ideas?
Their money?
Can anything?
Reality check: "The reality is that most regions export their talent. [Kevin Stolarick of the Martin Prosperity Institute] developed a measure called the Brain Drain/Gain Index that compares the percentage of an area's population in college to the fraction of college grads in its work force. The upshot: Ten percent of regions are brain gainers; nine in 10 experience brain drain, " writes Carnegie Mellon expatriate Richard Florida, whose new book "Who's Your City?"
...
2. European Cities & Regions of the Future 2007/08 - fDi Magazine – UK
The UK sweeps the board in this year’s European Cities & Regions of the Future, with London and Scotland leading the rankings. Charles Piggott reports on the results
London has maintained its lead over other European cities ranking at the top of fDi’s 2008 Cities of the Future shortlist, and Scotland ranks top of the Regions of the Future shortlist.
The UK’s double victory comes after fDi revised its Locations of the Future methodology to take into account 75 indicators of locations’ attractiveness for investment and potential for economic development (see criteria).
London is likely to remain Europe’s dominant city for the foreseeable future. PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts London’s 2020 GDP will be $708bn, more than 15% higher than that of Paris, its nearest competitor.
Good economic indicators, including low inflation and one of the most favourable business, tax and regulatory climates, gave all UK locations a good head start in fDi’s ranking. Despite some of the worst traffic speeds in Europe, UK locations generally scored well for health and quality of life. Personal income tax rates, although not the lowest in Europe, are modest. Top rate taxpayers will pay less tax in the UK than in most other European countries.
Research into citizens’ happiness ranks the UK behind countries such as Switzerland and Ireland, but other studies shows that the UK is still one of the most favoured locations for a foreign posting.
fDi’s top 50 Cities of the Future include 16 from the UK, six from Germany and four from the Netherlands. UK locations also account for five of the top 25 regions, while Switzerland and France each have four locations in the top 25.
…
Cities and regions provided information in five main areas. They were asked to describe their economic potential, including recent GDP growth, government economic initiatives …
PDF: fDi Report
3. Speaking regionalism to power - Philadelphia Center City Weekly Press - Philadelphia, PA, USA
When persons or groups band together, they are usually more powerful as a single body than they ever were individually. That’s the idea behind regionalism: treating municipalities in an area as a single region rather than a collection of independent cities and towns, each acting in its own interest.
Last week the Philadelphia District Council of the Urban Land Institute held a forum to explore that idea for the Delaware Valley.
...
David L. Cohen, former chief of staff to Mayor Ed Rendell, said of PPP’s and regionalism, "We have actually made it work here, but on a sporadic basis."
"Regionalism is in everybody’s interest, " said Cohen, who is also the executive vice president of Comcast Corporation and a member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
But currently, he added, there’s too much of a "what’s-in-it-for-me" attitude. "It’s more positive to work as a region than individually." Because, he added, "urban and suburban growth is symbiotic.
"We compete as a region...There is a collection of assets we share together that allow us to work as region. There’s more understanding of that today than there ever has been."
Kenneth Klothen, Deputy Secretary for Community Affairs and Development for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, played devil’s advocate and spoke on challenges to long-term success of regionalism and public/private partnerships in the area.
First, he said, statutory hurdles impede the race toward regionalism from the start. Many government bodies, he explained, are not designed to promote regionalism.
"There are significant fiscal problems in all these municipalities. All governments are in fiscal distress" and therefore would not want to face the expense of creating such a change in system.
The worst news, Klothen said, is that "there are real forces with real influence whose focus is to work against regionalism.
...
RC: Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
4. Elected officials, business leaders brainstorm on development - Jackson Clarion Ledger - Jackson, MS, USA
If elected officials in the Pine Belt want to better serve their communities, it may be time to pool their resources in an effort to come up with better solutions.
This idea of "regionalism" was the theme of the Regional Leadership Alliance meeting hosted by the Area Development Partnership on Tuesday.
Elected officials were joined by business leaders at the Lake Terrace Convention Center to hear discussion of the ADP's Metropolitan Plan for the Greater Hattiesburg Area.
The plan calls for the development of a comprehensive model that will serve as the framework to identify regional needs and opportunities and how municipalities can meet those needs together rather than individually.
"This metropolitan plan concept is about creating a forum to discuss issues that relate to all (elected officials), " ADP President Angie Godwin said.
"We're just so excited our elected leaders are really so above the fray that they can lift their individual city and county issues and come together and really discuss common topics for them."
The meeting Tuesday developed into an open forum when Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree and members of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors vocally spelled out their shared dilemmas in obtaining funds to address their needs.
"It's up to us to determine if we're going to work together to better our community, " DuPree said. "Regionalism is not something new. If you want something to happen, you have to bring people together."
Forrest County supervisors petitioned for help generating funds to build a federally mandated county jail, an issue with a pressing deadline for the board.
...
RC: Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District
5. Regional crime lab would help towns crack cases - KeepMEcurrent.com - Scarborough, ME, USA
…
If all goes according to plan, the Portland Police Department lab will be transformed into a new, regional crime lab that will also serve seven surrounding towns, including Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland. The lab would be located in the department's gymnasium space at 109 Middle St. Scarborough's Town Council has approved entering into a cost-share agreement, and Cape Elizabeth's Town Council will discuss the agreement at its meeting on March 10. South Portland signed the agreement at its Feb. 4 meeting.
The regional lab would help towns to pool their resources and expedite local crime cases. Portland would pay for the total cost of lab's utilities, repair and upkeep. Portland would also be responsible for paying the initial cost of the design, construction and renovation of the facility. The towns sharing the lab would pay a portion of the $150, 000 needed for the lab's equipment and $1.5 million needed for the building of the facility, according to their population size.
Inside Portland's current lab, …
The new regional lab has plans for four examination rooms and …
…
"This is a great effort to combine resources among municipalities. It wouldn't be cost-efficient for these towns to take on this project individually, " said Neal Allen, director of the Greater Portland Council of Governments, an organization that supports regionalization in the Greater Portland area.
Portland City Councilor Jim Cohen, chairman of the Metro Regional Coalition, which helps to establish partnerships among towns to save money and improve the quality of municipal services, has been a long-time supporter of regionalization.
"We focused on the crime lab as really the first tangible and achievable project of the Metro Coalition. Our hope that the crime lab will serve as a blueprint for future regional projects, " Cohen said.
…
6. Who is Valley Forward? - Roanoke Times - Roanoke, VA, USA
…
Valley Forward is a relatively new organization with more than 100 members and is composed mostly of young professionals from the Roanoke Valley.
We are community volunteers with full-time jobs. Many have families, including young children. As volunteers, we receive no compensation and expect no financial reward for our efforts. Rather, what has brought us together is a true passion for positive change and helping the Roanoke Valley become the best it can be.
Early on, Valley Forward's founders discussed our community's civic climate and decided to be about solutions and new ideas and not dwell on the struggles our community has faced in the past. In short, we wanted to be for things, propose new ideas and look toward the future.
When I was asked to join two things immediately struck me: passion and action.
This group is passionate about Roanoke and making it even better.
This group is clearly about identifying solutions and working to implement these ideas. Valley Forward is focused on real results, not just commenting on issues or contemplating possibilities.
While Rockledge has been Valley Forward's most visible project, the group has already accomplished many things in only 13 months. Some highlights:
…
2. Forum for the Future: The 2007 forum was a high-energy, interactive event that gave citizens the opportunity to voice their opinions about dozens of community issues, to stimulate dialogue and action, and to connect community members and civic leaders to discuss a common future for our region. The event included a keynote address by Tiki Barber.
…
4. Community outreach: Valley Forward has participated in more than 50 meetings with various groups around the valley to discuss our initiatives and to listen to different perspectives on how to improve Roanoke. … Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, … NewVa Corridor Technology Council. …
RC: Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission
7. City in arrears to regional group - Richmond Times Dispatch, VA
Richmond is eight months behind on its payments to the Greater Richmond Partnership, a regional economic-development group for the city and Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties.
The city has not made payments billed by the partnership since last July and owes about $293, 000 for three fiscal quarters, including the current quarter of January through March.
City officials provided no reason why the payments have not been made, but Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder has tried unsuccessfully for three years to end the city's annual $390, 000 contribution to the partnership, saying he believes the city has come up short on corporate relocations.
Wilder would not say when, or whether, the city would make its payments. "It's in the budget. We're looking at everything -- what we can afford, what we can't afford, " he said Tuesday.
City Council President William J. Pantele, who serves on the Greater Richmond Partnership's board of directors, called it "embarrassing" that the city's payments are behind.
"I think it is most regrettable, and it sends the wrong message for sure, " he said, adding that the city benefits from the partnership because it provides marketing for the entire region that localities could not afford on their own.
…
Gregory H. Wingfield, the partnership's president and chief executive officer, said the other localities are up to date on their payments, and he believes the city will make its payments, too. "We know that we are in the [city] budget, and we have been told by the administration that we will be paid this year, " he said. "It is just a timing issue."
Local governments pay $97, 500 per quarter to the partnership, or $390, 000 per year. Half of the partnership's funding comes from private business contributions through a nonprofit foundation of the Greater Richmond Chamber.
…
8. Plans for Gateway urban center aim high - The Arizona Republic
… East Valley Partnership asked the Urban Land Institute in 2006 to assess the Gateway area's potential. Amid a sea of raw statistics (65, 000 students at buildout; 5, 000 new hotel rooms; seven new golf courses), ULI called Gateway "a project of extraordinary proportion and potential regional and super-regional impact."
ULI compared Gateway to areas such as Irvine, Calif., Reston, Va., and other recent master-planned developments in the United States.
Others are thinking bigger than that. John Kasarda, a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, is credited with creating the term "aerotropolis, " denoting a new type of 21st-century city whose airport is an integral and all but undistinguishable part of the urban core.
Airports, he believes, are becoming more important to cities than traditional downtowns and have begun to serve as destinations in their own right, not merely points of arrival and departure.
Speaking to a large crowd in downtown Mesa in October, Kasarda said Gateway might eventually have more in common with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands than with any new developments in the United States.
Can Mesa pull it off?
Mesa only lately joined the ranks of the nation's largest cities. The latest census figures put Mesa at No. 38 nationally, bigger than St. Louis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Miami.
Mesa also traditionally has been one of the most conservative cities in Arizona.
A study now under way will recommend ways for Mesa to pay for the massive, complex infrastructure and other costs of Gateway development. But Mesa City Manager Chris Brady openly worried about that during a recent City Council meeting.
He noted that without a municipal property tax (voters rejected one in 2006), Mesa relies on sales taxes and state aid for most of its budget. …
RC: Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG)
9. SPAIN – Official Travel Guide
If you are coming to Spain for the first time, be warned: this is a country that fast becomes an addiction. You might intend to come just for a beach holiday, or a tour of the major cities, but before you know it you'll find yourself hooked by something quite different - by the celebration of some local fiesta, perhaps, or the amazing nightlife in Madrid, by the Moorish monuments of Andalucia, by Basque cooking, or the wild landscapes and birds of prey of Estremadura. And by then, of course, you will have noticed that there is not just one Spain but many. Indeed, Spaniards often speak of Las Españas (the Spains) and they even talk of the capital in the plural - Los Madriles , the Madrids.
This regionalism is an obsession and perhaps the most significant change to the country over recent decades has been the creation of seventeen autonomías - autonomous regions - with their own governments, budgets and cultural ministries. The old days of a unified nation, governed with a firm hand from Madrid, seem to have gone forever, as the separate kingdoms which made up the original Spanish state reassert themselves. And the differences are evident wherever you look: in language, culture and artistic traditions, in landscapes and cityscapes, and attitudes and politics.
The cities - above all - are compellingly individual. Barcelona, for many, has the edge: for Gaudí's splendid modernista architecture, the lively promenade of Las Ramblas, designer clubs par excellencem …
10. U.S. regional communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles. Bold font words are Google search terms. Bold italic words considered worth noting. In this and section 11, 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
.10 Bear Paw Development celebrates 40 years of success
The Havre Daily News - Havre, MT, USA
A crowd gathered in Havre Thursday to celebrate 40 years of success by the state’s first-established certified regional development corporation: Bear Paw Development Corp. John Rogers, economic development officer o f t h e U. S . Economic Development Administration in Montana, said that when he took his position in 1988, Bear Paw was the only economic development corporation in the state. …
.11 Regional police: Municipalities need to share police services
Salt Lake Tribune - United States
Regional police forces make sense because crime knows no bounds, and taxpayers get more bang for their buck. And the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, with its highly specialized police services, seems the most likely vehicle to make a large, regional police force happen. But it's not happening. …
.12 Federal funds to aid development in region
News-Leader.com - Springfield, MO, USA
… $250, 000 Regional Innovation Grant for Missouri to establish talent development strategies in the Quad States region — southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma. … establishment of the Quad States Regional Transformation leadership group, which will jointly develop strategies that position the area as a regional transportation and logistics hub. It will encompass approximately 40 counties in the four-state region. … grant, awarded to the Workforce Investment Board of the Southwest Region Inc.,
.13 Charlotte Leaders Take Next Step Toward North Commuter Rail Line
WSOCtv.com - Charlotte, NC, USA
Charlotte city councilman Anthony Foxx said, "This is an opportunity, I think, to place the rubber on the road, so to speak, for regionalism. ...
.14 Budget woes across RI spur talk of consolidation
Providence Business News - Providence, RI, USA
Faced with gaping budget deficits at the state level, state and local officials are making suggestions, recommendations and floating ideas about regionalization and consolidation that normally wouldn’t fly in communities accustomed to providing their own services, their own way. ...
.15 Road Map Needed For Two-Track DOT
Hartford Courant - United States
The Regional Plan Association has advocated for creating a transit agency in Connecticut. Nevertheless, there are certain questions that deserve discussion ...
.16 Colleges Teach 'Urban Development 101'
Wall Street Journal
Universities, increasingly, are extending their reach to off-campus development in an effort to give their surrounding areas and town centers a vibrant and modern feel. In the process, they are becoming major drivers of economic development after concluding that their fortunes are directly tied to those of their cities. ...
.17 Get real on regionalism
Albany Times Union - Albany, NY, USA
What is it about regionalization that Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli fail to understand? Both leaders have put forth proposals that would undermine the very economies that regionalization is designed to achieve. ...
.18 Directors Differ On Regional Water Proposal
Fort Smith Times Record - Fort Smith, AR, USA
To grow as a city, there has to be regional cooperation At-Large Director Cole Goodman said. However, if the board ultimately supports the Breedlove ...
.19 Fosdick: Transcendent value of community
NorthJersey.com - Hackensack, NJ, USA
DISCUSSION about municipal consolidation, regionalization and shared services does not address the issue in terms that relate to actual property tax bills. ...
.20 BRIEF: Loans Offered Small Firms
Black Enterprise - New York, NY, USA
A new program for small and minority business owners, courtesy of the Tennessee General Assembly, ... Southeast Tennessee Development District in Chattanooga has been selected by the state to administer this program....
.21 Region 10 plans Montrose Enterprise Center
The Daily Planet - Telluride, CO, USA
Region 10 League for Economic Assistance and Planning will soon offer emerging small businesses the opportunity to take things to the next level at its ...
.22 Social entrepreneurs find their focus
Worcester Telegram - Worcester, MA, USA
… Community Builders, which is housed in the Center for Democracy and Humanity at Mount Wachusett Community College. … Its goal is to promote and build volunteerism within the region. Community Builders seeks to do this by educating, informing and inspiring community involvement through fellowships, training and volunteer opportunities. ...
.23 Grant helps assault prevention for developmentally disabled
Appleton Post Crescent - WI, USA
Developmentally disabled teens and young adults — because they are trusting, because they are vulnerable — are more likely to be victims of sexual assault. … agencies are collaborating to present a 13-session educational series funded in part by a $5, 000 grant from the SAC Developmental Disabilities Fund within the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. …
.24 Moore: Link up or pay up
Charlotte Sun-Herald - Charlotte Harbor, FL, USA
The Southwest Florida Water Management District does not want to create a "Tampa Bay-style" mega-utility in the lower Peace River basin, nor is it out to usurp local autonomy by manipulating regional agencies....
.25 Regional autism center planned for Richland site
The Tribune-Democrat - Johnstown, PA, USA
“We’d like to become the epicenter of information for the region we serve, ” Haschak said. Unlimited Care Providers is seeking $1.7 million in state Department of Welfare allocations to establish one of three ASERT centers ...
.26 Areas along Muskegon Lake shoreline may get cleanup
Examiner-com – Dallas, TX
The Muskegon Chronicle reports Sunday that CMS Energy Corp. subsidiary Consumers Energy and the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission want to transform the areas into clean shoreline habitats.
.27 RDC Board Supports Merger
By RomeNewswire
Coosa Valley Regional Development Center Director Bill Steiner says his Board of Directors is now on record in support of a plan that might merge the Coosa valley and North Georgia development districts. ...
.28 Rep. Seth McKeel addresses regional leaders
The Ledger -
"Transportation is the number-one focus of the Tampa Bay Partnership, and my vision is for a reliable commuter rail system connecting and uniting Tampa and Orlando." ...
.29 Kansas' Kiegerl still intends to push for Funkhouser's regional light rail
Kansas City Star - MO, USA
One possible change between Funkhouser’s version of the legislation and Kiegerl’s would allow individual counties to opt-in to a new regional transportation district, instead of the current requirement that all five metro counties — Jackson, Johnson, Clay, Platte and Wyandotte — participate. ...
.30 Funding regionalism
Richmond Times Dispatch - Richmond, VA, USA
In the fund raising campaign, partnership has and chamber officials will argue that a regional approach to economic development worked well for the Richmond area. The groups also say localities can get more return on investment by pooling their money to support an 11-person staff at the partnership that devotes itself full time to recruiting national and international businesses, helping existing businesses expand and promoting the region through marketing and trade visits in the U.S. and abroad. ...
.31 Job, business growth trend continues
Community Press, KY
... Northern Kentucky Tri-ED, said the organization has attracted an average of 10 new companies and assisted 12 companies with expansions every year for the last 20 years. A primary firm is a company that conducts the majority of their business activity outside the region and brings new dollars into the local economy. ...
.32 Community separators are critical to our cities
The Coloradoan - Fort Collins, CO, USA
Now is the perfect time to show true comprehensive regional cooperation among the three communities in protecting our economic, environmental and aesthetic ...
.33 Chambliss Receives 2008 Congressional Partnership Award for Support of Community and Economic Development Efforts
Duluth Weekly - Duluth, GA, USA
U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., today was honored with a 2008 Congressional Partnership Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for outstanding leadership in promoting federal community, economic and infrastructure development programs. Members from the Chattahoochee-Flint, Georgia Mountains, South Georgia and Southwest Georgia Regional Development Centers joined NADO in presenting the award to Chambliss....
.34 Interior to integrate geospatial resources
GCN.com - Washington, DC, USA
DOI has recently established a formal governance structure that will coordinate geospatial activities across all its bureaus, Cason said. ...
11. Other regional community news for our Local Planet.
.10 The missing Indian
Merinews - New Delhi, India
Regionalism is another factor. The concept of ‘Sons of Soil’ is causing greater intolerance towards people who migrate from one state to another. ...
.11 Slovenian Government to resubmit the law establishing regions with partial amend
Portalino - Italy
“None of those saying there were too many regions had the courage to specify which of the regions should be deleted from the map, ” said the Prime Minister. ...
.12 TOURISM BAROMETER: Tourism strategy calls for new law
Sofia Echo - Bulgaria
Kroushkova has called for a working group within the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry to define new requirements for the density of ...
.13 Tailoring spatial development planning to foster local talent
European Parliament (press release) - EU
An integrated approach to regional and town planning is needed to enhance the ability of regions and cities to improve their adaptability to economic change. By harnessing local talent and assets to drive spatial development, this approach should help remedy problems such as rural depopulation, urban sprawl, and ...
.14 Caricom leaders to focus on security
Trinidad & Tobago Express - Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Regional security will be a key item on the agenda of the upcoming Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government conference in the Bahamas next month as ...
.15 Four boom regions ally to lobby European Union
Earthtimes - London, UK
Four European regions that see themselves as the economic powerhouses of their nations sealed a pact Friday jointly to lobby the European Union for their interests. Lombardy in Italy and Catalonia in Spain entered the alliance, along with the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the French region of Rhone-Alpes. …
St. Catharines Standard - St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
A week after one regional committee suggested studying different forms of council voting and representation, a different committee recommended axing the whole debate. …
.17 Unique Partnership Brings Phone System Upgrades to Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen
CivicInfo BC
A partnership between the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS), School District 67 and the City of Penticton has been formed to upgrade the RDOS phone system. A partnership like this is the first of its kind in BC, with a Regional District, City and School District all participating, sharing resources and benefiting. …
.18 Region's economy unstoppable
Waterloo Record - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
It may seem difficult for thousands of laid-off workers to believe, but Waterloo Region's economy is growing. The Bank of Montreal is the latest organization to suggest this, despite a recent spate of plant closings that have decimated the region's manufacturing sector ...
.19 Country may do more good than you thought
Telegraph-co-uk - United Kingdom
Covering the period from 1998-2003, it said that Scotland's rural regions have the highest levels of tertiary education attainment for predominantly rural regions in the OECD....
.20 Finding ideal funder is an art
nebusiness-co-uk - UK
… the regional development agency is helping firms find finance. … The Proof of Concept (POC) Fund, run by North Star Equity Investors (NSEI) and supported by European Development Fund (ERDF) funding, provides investment at the earliest stages of business creation …
.21 Research and development the key to Atlantic self-sufficieny: Cartmill
The Amherst Daily - Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada
Atlantic Canada can become self-sufficient economically, but it’s going to take a lot more research and development by local firms and less reliance on outside influences creating jobs in the region. …
.22 Cornish Pasty to protect its name
PRWeek UK
The Cornish Pasty Association is planning a national campaign to prevent its name being used on pasties made outside the region.
.23 Grant aims to protect and create regional jobs
News Guardian - North Tyneside, England, UK
The regional development agency administers the DTI's Selective Finance for Investment (SFI) grants – and last year awarded more than 110 companies £19.8m ...
.24 MacKay: ACOA solid as a rock
By By CLARE MELLOR Business Reporter
“Solid as a rock in the North Atlantic.” Thats how Peter MacKay, minister in charge of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, describes the regional development programs future.
.25 Regional Rivalries Center on Kyrgyzstan
Diplomatic Traffic - Washington, DC, USA
The absence of regional cooperation can be seen in the other issue of what might be called trade routes, ie pipelines. Although there was speculation that ...
.26 Government subsidises economy in pivotal regions
Nhan Dan - Hanoi, Vietnam
The Government has decided to give subsidies and preferential policies to key regions from the north to the south in a bid to increase their annual economic ...
.27 Chief executives and promotion agencies applauded
African Press
The challenges of globalization are best responded to and mastered when efforts toward regional cooperation and integration are undertaken. The reason is simple. Regional integration assures better sharing of opportunities as well as ...
.28 US can attack Russia in 2012-2015 - Russian military analyst
Interfax Russia - Moscow, Russia
... nuclear forces by a non-nuclear preemptive strike, said Konstantin Sivkov, the first vice president of the Russian Academy of Geopolitical Problems. ...
.29 Bulgaria to become regional center for immaterial culture heritage under the auspice of UNESCO
Journey.bg
Bulgaria proposed itself to become regional center of immaterial culture heritage under the auspice of UNESCO, Bulgarian Ambassador to France Irina Bokova said. “ We would take the response on Southeastern Europe but not in the narrow. ...
.30 Call for regional funding for transport
Holyrood magazine – Edinburgh, Scotland
… HITRANS, the Highlands and Islands regional transport partnership, has told Holyrood that the partnership will approach the Scottish Government in response to the recent changes in the funding of RTPs that saw their funding transferred from central to local government, and being non-ring-fenced.
Duthie said that he sees three tiers of investment – the wholly national, the wholly local and the regional. …
.31 Observing sustainable tourism in Antarctica
Hindu - Chennai, India
He believes those lucky enough to experience it could become ambassadors for the region to help develop a ‘constituency’ of support for Antarctica, ...
.32 The Manchester Geek Scene
Manchester Evening News Blog - Manchester, UK
Whilst Government 'quangos' discuss a Northern super-city, some of us are out there ignoring county and regional boundaries already. ...
.33 Local health care concerns raised by advocacy group
Melfort Journal - Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
Degelman also stated in the brief that the “regional boundaries are artificial and we attract and serve people from a much larger area.”
.34 Government pledges to set up new creative hubs
Property Week News - London, England, UK
... Green paper ‘Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy' as part of a strategy to improve Britain’s global cultural status.... committed the government to set up regional development frameworks in the North West and South West ...
.35 New Research Shows Regionalized Malware Rising
Government Technology - Folsom, CA, USA
"Cybercrooks have become extremely deft at learning the nuances of the local regions and creating malware specific to each country. They're not skilled just at computer programming - they're skilled at psychology and linguistics, too." ...
.36 Millennials learn ropes of cooperation
Dallas Morning News - Dallas, TX, USA
"At that midpoint debrief, we usually find an 'aha' person who knows how to share just enough information – but not too much – to generate that collaborative effort, " Mr. Gustafson says. It's almost never a millennial. "But after the midpoint meeting, everyone gets the need for collaboration." ...
12. Blogs
.10 RICHMOND: Can this dysfunctional family ever get along?
By John Moeser
Does this kind of timid regionalism address the most serious issues of the region? Does it have any impact on transportation, affordable housing, land use, fiscal inequities, public education, the concentration of poverty? …
.11 Henrico, VA: 'There is no such place'
By H. Cornhill(H. Cornhill)
The system creates built-in tensions between cities & counties and even towns & counties, killing regional cooperation. While I do consider myself an Ashlander, not a Richmonder, I do recognize that we are part of the greater Richmond ...
By displacedkanaka
Regionalization; Cape Cod’s new frontier, . that compared the combined 19 Barnstable County fire department/district costs to those of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The LA County Fire Department services. 4 million people ...
.13 Cleveland Diaspora Part II
By cvarley
And for those of us who consider media a part of the information and communications industry, the OSTN Film Festival could provide yet another catalyst for more regional cooperation. Jim Russell at Burg Diaspora certainly thinks so: ...
.14 STAYING CONNECTED KEY TO SURVIVAL (AND NOT JUST FOR THE HORNETS)
By Ken Trahan
We need more of this regional cooperation! We are now a metropolitan area ranked as the 55th television market in the country, with nearly 1.3 million residents, not a top 40 market as we were prior to Katrina. ... If we are to survive and thrive, we will have to, as the Beatles once shared, "Come Together." Otherwise, we can forget about the application of the terminology "Greater New Orleans." There will be no such thing, ...
.15 Got Drought?
By gregflynn
North Carolina is the only state in the country where every part of the state is in a designated Drought condition. ...
Because water doesn’t respect political boundaries many of the solutions to water woes will require regional cooperation at a level that does not currently exist in North Carolina. While some water systems have rudimentary connections ...
.16 The Tipping Point in Coalfield Appalachia
By admin
... The sheer number of inferences and negative connotations strewn throughout this modernistic definition of Appalachia’s “social and economic stratification” is both alarming and sobering. What person from outside the region reading this would not feel empathy for such a land and population and, more striking, what person from the outside reading this would want to come here to invest and become a stakeholder? ....
.17 Greening of the Great Lakes Web Site Launched
By Jon Harrison
Terry Link, director of campus sustainability at MSU, said, "'Greening the Great Lakes' holds real potential for helping citizens within the bioregion appreciate both the diversity and the shared experiences of those of us who reside ...
.18 Bringing it back to health care
By Emily(Emily)
Regional just makes more sense. He adds a bit about incorporating quality measures into the SCGR:. These quality tools could serve as a valuable resource for regions and systems of care to promote evidence-based, efficient care. ...
.19 The first OD practitioners
By Chris Corrigan
I guess you could say I am the “elected voice” of a microbial community. This is the way of life on our planet. It is all based on complex symbiotic relationships. It is interesting to think about the way we put boundaries around things ...
.20 Precipitating Dialogue on Travel, Disability, and Universal Design
Rolling Rains Report
Each Center of Excellence will participate in our international work to standardize the diversity of accessibility laws, disseminate minimum accessibility guidelines for hotels, train travel & hospitality industry staff, promote the education & hiring of PwD in the industry. At the local level we will work to make these three destinations accessible and train a core of PwD to be self-sustaining as advocates & experts in Inclusive Tourism for their region. …
.21 DRAFT - White Paper on Economic Development
By Deb Nielsen(Deb Nielsen)
Purdue University North Central is strategically placed to provide assistance and support to development agencies, the public and private sectors, and non-profit organizations within the region. This can be accomplished through the creation, expansion, nurturing and promotion of several critical programs central PNC’s mission of learning, discovery and engagement. ...
.22 Leaders Summit 2008
By e3alliance
The Blueprint for Change is the regional strategic plan that defines critical leverage points enabling systemic alignment of our education systems from early childhood to workforce prosperity, based on the strategic goals prioritized at ...
.23 Region, Religion, and IQ
By Ron Guhname(Ron Guhname)
Not many are even 10% of all Protestants in the region. There is extreme fragmentation here. Presbyterians didn't reach 10% in any region--8.9% in the Mid-Atlantic states was as numerous as they got. And the West is worse than every ...
.24 A Lesson in Health Care Innovation...from the Government?
By Niko Karvounis
Doctor salaries are determined by three criteria: a base pay level, matched to years of VA service; a regionally-based market pay, which fluctuates as-needed to keep VA salaries competitive in different areas; and performance pay, ...
.25 Nation Branding
Diplomatic Traffic
The notion that a nation is a brand, which needs to be differentiated from other nations and promoted internationally, is relatively new but gaining acceptance. A good nation brand can greatly assist the objectives of all nations: increased trade, investment and tourism, greater international standing amongst leaders, influencers and decision makers.
.26 EIF Week 44 - Transboundary protected areas
By maggie.surface
Peace Parks constitute but one type of transboundary protected area (TBPA), which in turn is defined as: “An area of land and/or sea that straddles one or more boundaries between states, sub-national units such as provinces and regions, autonomous areas and/or areas beyond the limits of national sovereignty or jurisdiction, whose constituent parts are especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed co-operatively through legal or other effective means.”
.27 Biofuels strategy could create 6000 jobs for region
By Grant
A spokesman for regional development agency One North- East said: "The strategy highlights the long-term potential for biorefining to be of huge value to the region and its economy, as part of the work to position North-East England as ...
.28 Policy Officer (Sustainable Development and Regions)
RSPB
The post-holder will develop and advocate the RSPB's views on sustainable development and regional policy in the UK and EU, and support RSPB staff working on those issues. Should have relevant experience in national, regional or local ...
.29 SAAF : The Vision and The Mission
Southeast Asian Animation Forum
The forum seeks to link small animation studios, animation schools and animation students and professionals within ASEAN Member States. This forum hopes that this small step will gradually snowball to a better regional cooperation that ...
.30 Online Research in Economics
By constantdream
Global Development Network (GDN) is “a global network of research and policy institutes working together to address the problems of national and regional development.” Founded in 1999, GDN organises conferences, gives development awards ...
.31 Tapping The Source: The Power Of The Oceans
By Big Gav
The company has other projects planned in Rhode Island, Hawaii and Namibia, and intends to participate in the South West of England Regional Development Agency's "Cornwall Wave Hub" in the UK. The Cornwall Wave Hub aims to create the ...
.32 The first app for crowdsourcing....
By Yorkali(Lalita)
kluster is a place to harness the power of community collaboration to get things done. everyone has ideas, we provide a platform to get them out of heads and into the world… where they belong.
.33 I told you so....
By James Bowie(James Bowie)
I just thought I'd note this, because I'm the guy who's been pushing regional development as THE SINGLE ISSUE for a long time: The single largest item in the 2008 federal budget - Hard-hit communities: $1.2 billion ...
.34 the evolution of hierarchy
By len
In Leadership Next Eddie Gibbs writes on the twilight of hierarchy.“The fragmentation of society into a multiplicity of subcultures and interest groups, and the widespread availability of information, has contributed to the current questioning of traditional authority… “ Further contributing to the breakdown of traditional boundaries is freedom of access to information, and the corresponding formation of new social networks. ...
.35 Free ESRI shapefiles and grids
By Claudia Engel
The Berkeley/Penn Urban & Environmental Modeler’s Datakit is being made available as part of the URBAN & ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT 2050 PROJECT at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) at the University of California, ...
13. Announcements and Regional Links
.10 HAMPTON ROADS - AMERICA'S FIRST REGION – Video – 4 min.
Web: http://www.americasfirstregion.com/ More regional video at icRegions. There a prefix tag "re:" is used meaning "region, regions, regional" with a subject tag to catalogue videos. This effort is just beginning.
.11 Regional Planning Foundation
The Regional Planning Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating means for making citizens more aware of how Regional Planning must become an every day, household effort to resolve the multiplying problems adversely impacting our urban regions. This must be done by promoting and perpetuating regional planning collaboration among each region's cities and local areas; and urban outreach through involvement and education of all the regional citizens which must be attracted to spearhead this effort.
Region Aroused, a novel/case study by Frank W. Osgood focuses on practical solutions to congestion, inadequate housing, poor education, and mounting health and environmental problems in Los Angeles. The Author based this fictionalized account on his own behind-the-scenes participation in political struggles among the region’s leaders.
.12 UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics library
Population, area and economy affected by a 1 m sea level rise (global and regional estimates, based on today's situation) Even for today’s socio-economic conditions, both regionally and globally, large numbers of people and significant economic activity are exposed to sea-level rise. The densely populated megadeltas are especially vulnerable to sea-level rise. ...
.13 Nation Branding - Diplomatic Traffic
The notion that a nation is a brand, which needs to be differentiated from other nations and promoted internationally, is relatively new but gaining acceptance. A good nation brand can greatly assist the objectives of all nations: increased trade, investment and tourism, greater international standing amongst leaders, influencers and decision makers.
.14 How to develop a Geotourism MapGuide – PDF – National Geographic Society
What is a Geotourism MapGuide?
• It is a two-sided map-brochure of superior quality, conveying geotourism information in both map and accompanying text blocks.
• It is co-branded with the destination and requires contributions from local communities.
• It is intended for wide distribution, preferably free.
• It is funded by the destination.
• If necessary, it can be supported by advertising, but without advertisers’ control of editorial content.
14. Custom search: region, regions, regional communities
To search on topics like those in Regional Community Development News use this custom search engine which utilizes regional related sites. Entering the term economic development brings 550 items, primarily regionally related; broadband 83 items. Please recommend links for inclusion.
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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Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?
Please e-mail the editor: Tom.Christoffel@gmail.com
Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP Making regions visible for Leaders and Problem-solvers. www.regionalintelligence.com
