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To a great extent, CED has emerged as a passionate critique of the way governments have taken part in economic development. CED professionals and academics have come down hard on government for neglecting or interfering with community-based initiative, instead of learning from it and assisting it like a true partner. Yet most will also assert that government plays a critical role in CED. The following items from The CED Digital Bookshop explore the ins and outs, rights and wrongs of the relationship between CED and all three levels of government. A click on any title will forward you to the Bookshop to place your order. (Most items cost under $10. Many are free.) Nothing here that fits the bill? There's plenty more. Drop us a line to let us know just what you're after. 1. Team Players: Good News from Nova Scotia about the Role of Government in CED What will it be like when government officials respond to CED initiatives not with detachment but eagerly, as committed partners? It's been happening in Nova Scotia. There, a few determined civil servants are showing what can happen when public resources are made part of the local solution. 2. The Ecology of Success: The Problem of Scaling Up What Works in CED In the world mainstream agencies and institutions, community-based initiatives are essentially "alien life forms." The work of Lisbeth Schorr (author of Common Purpose) documents what has to happen to the policy environment if effective local initiatives are to thrive. 3. The Challenge in Designing Government Programs for CED Government's record in the design of community economic development programs is mixed, at best. This article looks at some CED program successes to discern the fundamentals of CED program design: equipping local people with real authority to create, direct, and customize programs that involve long-term, multidimensional action. 4. Common Ground: CED & Social Economy What does community economic development have to do with the social economy? Plenty. To stem the flight of wealth, people, and power from a town, CED strategies embrace an array of initiatives that touch on the lives of residents socially and economically. Social economy empowers people by fostering enterprises rooted in democracy, solidarity, and citizenship. (Aussi disponible en français.) 5. Down with Dysfunctional Measurement! Public policy and programs affecting local development generally share one big weakness: they want to assess program effectiveness piecemeal, and without regard to the Big Picture - the realization of vital, self-reliant communities. Here are two frameworks, both rooted in Aboriginal Canada, that will connect our public investments to real progress in the revitalization and empowerment of distressed towns and neighbourhoods. 6. What Really Works: Friedman's Research on Results & Performance To judge the effectiveness of a project or program fairly, says Mark Friedman of the Fiscal Policy Studies Institute, distinguish between its performance and the results which it and other initiatives are intended to realize. It is also essential that evaluation emphasize the quality of outputs (the hardest to measure) as opposed to the quantity of inputs (the easiest). 7. The Good News from Manitoba - A Leader in CED Policy & Programming The history of CED programming in the Province of Manitoba is a long one. Critical to its current success is the presence of government officials and staff convinced of the importance of CED and committed to its practical application. They form a point of connection for community champions with the personal commitment and energy to drive the CED agenda forward. 8. Public Institution? or Public Nuisance? Human Resources & Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has gone off the deep end. Since the so-called "Billion Dollar Boondoggle" back in 2000-01, the Ministry has introduced policies and procedures that are supposed to make it more publicly accountable. In fact, they make it a pest, rather than a partner, to the community sector contractors who carry out so much of HRSDC's mandate. It's tragic, for the nonprofits doing the work and for many HRSDC staff who are obliged to enforce the new rules. Never before has it been so important for women's organizations to be able to make a clear, persuasive case about the impact their work makes on women's lives. The Sustainable Livelihoods model offers a new way of thinking about the role of organizations in supporting women to engage in the economy and in society. It moves beyond a focus on enterprise development results to comprehend the notion that CED is intended to build livelihoods. Check out these other Hotlists! |
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