Multi-jurisdictional
intentional regional communities are, in all cases, “Greater Communities” where
“community motive” is at work at a more than a local scale. This newsletter
provides a scan of regional community, cooperation and collaboration activity
as reported in news media and blogs. More articles are at delicious.com.
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Top 10 Stories
… Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) introduced
legislation to reform the San Francisco Bay Area’s regional governance system
for the first time since the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) was
created in 1970. This bill would create the Bay Area Regional Commission to
coordinate regional planning and policy decisions dealing with transportation,
housing, air quality, sustainable community strategies, economic development,
and other regional issues.
“The Bay Area needs a directly-elected regional
governance agency to have accountable, transparent, and responsible decision
making,” said Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord). “We need regional planning that is
efficient, effective, and that looks into the future. This commission would
start with developing a reorganization plan intended to reduce costs of
overhead and integrate planning requirements into a comprehensive regional
plan.”
…Currently, the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) coordinates
the regional planning efforts …
Regionalism, from merging police departments to forging
multicounty economic development agreements, is a painful exercise. Northeast
Ohio is no stranger to the frustrations…
Yet pushing ahead may be the only option for major metropolitan
areas.
…
But even the pressure of rapid economic change, much of
it forced by automation and globalization, has just started to get Northeast
Ohio moving in the right direction, embracing economic growth through joint
efforts and long-term planning, with a large role for the public sector.
The good news is that as major institutions find common
ground, they can build on each other's strengths to grow new companies and
expand old ones, not compete against each other.
Still, there is no getting around the negatives…
Whether it is a state university system working to
reorganize itself in more efficient and effective ways, or local governments
and businesses charting a new course, the point is the same: Don't count on
help from the state and federal governments.
…
For several months now, local governmental officials
have been looking for new ways to coordinate investments and strategies in the
central Upper Peninsula, in hopes of boosting the region's economic prosperity.
…
"When you start looking at this based on geography,
we're probably, if you're thinking even on a straight line basis, the wealth of
natural resources we have, the number of people we have, we're probably not,
for some reason, optimizing our ability to grow the economy," said
Marquette City Manager Bill Vajda. "Part of this, of course, is basic
economic geography. It's available resources, it's people, it's density, part
of it is how you organize it, what kind of investments are you making to help
change the statistics around to try to help grow more economically."
… issue is the countless number of independent
organizations in the region working independently on economic development.
Other areas, including Green Bay and Ann Arbor, have one entity coordinating
that work. …
In the wake of the 2008 “great recession,” the Oak Park
area was facing an unprecedented housing foreclosure crisis that threatened the
region economically and socially.
In 2009, Oak Park and four neighboring suburbs — Berwyn,
Forest Park, Maywood and Bellwood — came together in a “sub-regional
collaboration” to craft methods for addressing those challenges.
…a three-year effort by the West Cook County Housing
Collaborative to stabilize housing stock in each village and plan proactively
on housing and zoning issues.
…regional planning agency collaborative issued…report,
“Homes for a Changing Region.”
…written by the West Cook Collaborative along with three
regional agencies: the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and the Metropolitan Planning Council.
The report subhead, “Implementing balanced change at the
local level” reflects the need for communities with common interests and
challenges to work together on solutions. …
For the first time anyone can remember, county
commissioners, conservationists, energy officials and a number of user groups
sat down last week at one table, in one room, to discuss public lands and the
many opinions surrounding their use.
…
"There's a lot of public land issues we need to
discuss," …Park County commissioner. "We've been shooting each other
in the newspapers now for quite some time. Maybe in the future we won't be in
such an adversarial position.
"The relationship between county officials and the
state's conservation groups has been strained in recent years and little has
been accomplished on either side as a result.
…Greater Yellowstone Coalition, believe that such
face-to-face talks can create a new tone of openness and help identify areas of
agreement.
…
Opinions…were frank and far reaching, from the
importance of public lands to the region's extractive industries, to preserving
the basin's unique landscapes, both alpine and desert.
Stewardship emerged as a common theme…
The political boundary dividing Sarasota and Manatee
counties did not get erased…but it may have become a bit fainter.
The two county commissions vowed to step up their
collaborative efforts in almost every respect — such as lobbying legislators,
applying for grants and possibly even merging some services, such as the bus
systems.
"Regionalism," Manatee Commissioner… summing
up more than three hours of conversation in one word.
The counties have already achieved some common goals.
Both transit systems now share a Tamiami Trail route extending from downtown
Palmetto to downtown Sarasota.
Both counties will use a traffic management center
recently installed at Manatee's public safety complex to monitor road
conditions and remotely control traffic lights.
… commissions agreed to see about using the same vendor
…radio networks used by their public safety officials…
The commissioners spent much of the session conferring
about how to boost the counties' shared economy and diversify the work force.
…
Seven United Ways throughout
the region announced…they will merge to form United Way of Greater Philadelphia
and Southern New Jersey - one organization committed to improving lives and
creating lasting community-level change across the region.
Collectively…will have the
unique capacity to engage more donors, advocates, and volunteers to address the
critical issues facing our local communities, including the focus areas for
United Ways across the country related to education, income, and health.
…
"By coming together and
sharing our talent, resources and best practices, we will be able to deliver
greater impact to those who need us most in local communities across the
region," said Michal. "While for profit mergers are often about
delivering shareholder value, non-profit mergers are about amplifying mission.
As an organization, United Way believes in the power of partnerships and
collaboration to solve problems because we know the whole truly is greater than
the sum of its parts.”
…
In order to attract more tourists to Niagara,
cooperation is needed from stakeholders across the region.
“It’s a really smart way to operate in our business,”
said Robin Garrett, chief executive of the Niagara Tourism Partnership, the
provincially funded Regional Tourism Organization for the peninsula.
Garrett was speaking at the launch event for the RTO’s
Niagara Canada branding initiative, which will target both domestic and
international visitors through two separate campaigns. The organization has
forged partnerships with other tourism groups such as the Canadian Tourism
Commission, the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation, and Tourism
Toronto.
“We want to become known as a premier quality
destination,” Garrett said.
There are two distinct strategies for the domestic and
international traveller, each with their own tagline.
For the Canadian traveller more familiar with the region
it’s about the “Getaway”, while to draw international and long-haul travellers,
...
Since the first Rio conference on sustainable
development 20 years ago, the world population has become majority urban.
Cities are the 21st century site of global economic
growth and job opportunities, and where billions of people will seek to improve
their quality of life. …
Given the slowness of national action, their
sub-national governments and institutions are forging ahead. Municipal leaders,
who must provide public services to growing populations, are developing
long-term sustainability plans as part of their economic development
strategies. Green growth - where economic growth is tied to sustainability
benchmarks - is a pillar for many sub-national regions and in cities.
Agglomeration benefits in urban areas stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship
in spite of many fiscal constraints. City leaders share success stories and
develop policy frameworks that allow other cities, sometimes in very different
regions under contrasting governance structures, to adopt the most promising
Representatives of river basin organisations and member
countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) have proposed that an
environmental tax be levied on the use of Mekong River resources as a mean for
the sustainable protection of the 7th longest Asian river.
…International
Conference on Transboundary River Basin Management…in Thailand… participating
parties discuss and share their knowledge on the protection of river basins
across the globe.
The regional participants also suggested that the
so-called 'ecotax' go to GMS member countries who would then determine their
shares of the tax revenue to be spent on their river basin conservation and
restoration projects, Thai news agency reported.
…
The Mekong River Commission (MRC) has, meanwhile, called
for more assessments of environmental and social impacts of hydroelectric power
dam projects in the Mekong River, recommending that revenues generated from the
projects be redistributed to affected countries.
…
Analysis of global debt and financial crisis by an
economist who saw the problem in 2003 and published a book that was ignored.
She also offers a strategy for correction of the problems.
… Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at the
University of Virginia…argues that people are fundamentally intuitive, not
rational. If you want to persuade others, you have to appeal to their
sentiments.…He and his colleagues have compiled a catalog of six fundamental
ideas that commonly undergird moral systems: care, fairness, liberty, loyalty,
authority and sanctity. Alongside these principles, he has found related themes
that carry moral weight: divinity, community, hierarchy, tradition, sin and
degradation. The worldviews Haidt discusses may differ from yours. They don’t
start with the individual. They start with the group or the cosmic order. They
exalt families, armies and communities. …
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Basic Geocodes -
0000 - Earth
0900 - Arctic Ocean
1000 - Europe
2000 - Africa
3000 - Atlantic Ocean
4000 - Antarctica
5000 - Americas
6000 - Pacific Ocean
7000 - Oceana
8000 - Asia
9000 - Indian Ocean
"Global Region-builder Geo-Code
Prototype" ©
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