The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007
United Nations, UN, New York, 2007.
The Millennium Declaration set 2015 as the target date for achieving most of the Goals. As we approach the midway point of this 15-year period, data are now becoming available that provide an indication of progress during the first third of this 15-year period. This report presents the most comprehensive global assessment of progress to date, based on a set of data prepared by a large number of international organizations within and outside the United Nations system.
Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis
This report argues that the deepening global water crisis threatens prospects for human development. Each year, almost 2 million children die for want of clean water and adequate sanitation, and millions of women and young girls forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities and their choices. This report investigates the underlying causes and consequences of the water crisis, argues for a concerted drive to achieve water and sanitation for all, examines the social and economic forces that are driving water shortages and marginalizing the poor in agriculture, and looks at the scope for international cooperation to resolve cross-border tensions in water management.
A Guide to Local Planning Processes within the Framework of ART GOLD Programs
ART Initiative, 2005.
This document describes ART GOLD Programmes and their methodology to provide support to local strategic planning processes to promote territorial development. These programmes of international co-operation arise from the idea that local development is the most effective means of achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and of combating the effects and causes of poverty and social exclusion. The Programmes have a two-pronged strategic objective: on the one hand, they support Governments interested in promoting local development as a national strategy for the achievement of the MDG. On the other hand, they aim to make a concrete and innovative contribution to the ongoing debate regarding the efficiency of international co-operation, by promoting co-operation as a system.
Barefoot College
The Barefoot College of India describes itself as a place of learning and unlearning: a place where the teacher is the learner and the learner is the teacher. The College gives no degrees or certificates - as it believes that in development there can be no 'experts'. It acknowledges no hierarchy in the realm of knowledge production. Built entirely by Barefoot Architects, it is solar-electrified, and serves a population of 125,000 people through locations spread all over rural India.
Communicating Sustainability
This guidebook on sustainable consumption and production contains a compendium of 16 innovative public campaigns to change attitudes and lifestyle choices to protect the environment. It includes an “Environment Train” exhibition criss-crossing Algeria, a radio series on pesticide pollution in Vietnam and a campaign on reducing damage to the ozone layer in Costa Rica.
Experiences of Technical Assessment in downtown Mexico City
The following document upholds the view of the technical assessors involved in housing projects in central areas within the City of Mexico. These projects have been promoted by grassroots groups and social organizations, in general, but in particular groups that are indigenous to the city.
Historical Archives on Water - Mexico
The Historical Archives on Water is a collaborative initiative of the National Water Commission (CNA) and the Centre for Research and Postgraduate Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS) in Mexico. This is the project's website, which is intended to create a space where the social history of water usage in Mexico is studied and researched. It provides a vast amount of historical material - spanning over a century. It is aimed at academic institutions, research centres, public and private institutions, and the general public.
History of the Mayagna Indigenous Peoples since the Cacique times: Mayagna women's participation
This paper is a translation of Mayagna oral history into Spanish as told by Mayagna women artisans, members of a cooperative that promotes their collective work in the North Atlantic Region of Nicaragua. The authors present the demands and role Mayagna women have played in their struggle for self-determination, indigenous and collective rights and the rights of indigenous women around
territorial issues.
How international cooperation can support existing local development processes: The experience of the Historical Centre in Havana
This book presents the author's experiences in managing the historical restoration of Old Havana. The book analyzes how international cooperation can enhance and support, rather than displace or contravene, already existing processes of local development. A critical tool with which it does so is participatory planning at the local level, which is used to articulate and identify priorities for international cooperation; finally, it also discusses the value of international cooperation as a potential framework within which local capacities and opportunities can be catalyzed.
World Resources 2005: The Wealth of the Poor. Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty
The goal of this report is to highlight the vital role of ecosystems and their governance – of nature and power – in poverty reduction. The thesis of World Resources 2005 is that income from ecosystems – environmental income – can act as a fundamental stepping stone in the economic empowerment of the rural poor. This requires that the poor manage ecosystems so that they support stable productivity over time. Productive ecosystems are the basis of a sustainable income stream from nature.
A geographical focus on the global vulnerability of the urban habitat for hillside exposed to natural threats. The Andean case of Manizales, Colombia.
This study establishes a comprehensive method for analyzing a hillside urban habitat. It does so through qualitative and quantitative analyses that determine - at a communal level, their influence over vulnerability, physical, natural and socio-economic factors. All of these factors are integrated within a global vulnerability map. The main objective is to determine which sectors are more vulnerable and which are more of a priority. It highlights the increasing levels of global vulnerability of those places in which the socioeconomic factors supersede physical and natural ones.
Characteristics of ecologically sustainable agriculture: comparison of indigenous and conventional management
Paper presented during the V Central American Anthropology Congress (Managua, February 23-27, 2004). Conventional management of agricultural production has created extensive global ecological damage, where conventional science and scientists are unable to resolve these problems, let alone propose solutions within the context of sustainability.
Control and socio-environmental management of Indigenous territories in Central America
Paper presented at the session on "Constructing Identities" during the V Central American Anthropology Congress (Managua, February 23-27, 2004). This paper outlines why indigenous peoples should manage their own culturally appropriate, environmentally sustainable, financially feasible "human-centred development". Such development will most likely coincide with the region's biodiversity, promote peaceful intercultural living and strengthen gender equity.
Defending communal garínagu land and agrarian reform in Honduras
Bonilla, Amado; Sico Paulaya, Parroquia, V Central American Anthropology Congres, 2004.
Paper presented during the V Central American Anthropology Congress in Managua, from February 23-27, 2004. The research presented discusses the sociopolitical conflict among the Garínagu in their fight to defend and retake their communal lands, as well as the agrarian reforms supported by the Honduran national government. A theoretical perspective present in the study is the meaning and significance of common property and the common use of the land among members of the Garínagu community.
Development cases, projects and results in Playa Grande, Ixcán. Feasibility of Ethnodevelopment as a community approach
Chaclán, Jorge; Garzaro, Mónica; Zepeda, Ricardo, V Central American Anthropology Congress, Guatemala, 2004.
Paper presented at the session on "Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Management" during the V Central American Anthropology Congress (Managua, February 23-27, 2004.) The aim of the study is illustrate the cases, projects and approaches to development in Playa Grande, Ixcán. It attempts to link the theory of Ethnodevelopment (or Indigenous Self-Development) to the perception of development and its relationship to ethnic identity, acknowledging the indigenous comunity involved as well as government sectors.
Development Discourse for the Government of Nicaragua. A view from anthropology
Gómez Rivera, Jimmy J., Equipo Nicaraguense de Investigación y Acción en Antropología Social, V Central American Anthropology Congress, 2004.
Paper presented at the session on "Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Management", during the V Central American Anthropology Congress (Managua, February 23-27, 2004). The author analyzes the government's position on development issues in Nicaragua, starting from a discussion on the discoursive meaning of development, as coined in the “National Development Strategy” (END) and of the “National Development Plan” (PND).
Disaster Prevention and Citizen Participation: A Key Theme for the Dominican Republic
This document illustrates the reasons behind the need to strengthen a "National System for Disaster Prevention and Care". The strengthening should occur in an interinstitutional manner, and carry out technical, scientific, planning, emergency preparedness with community participation in order to instill a tradition of risk prevention for the social and economic development of the Dominican Republic.
Ecological Forest Farms
IDEASS aims to strengthen the effectiveness of local development processes through the increased used of local innovations for human development and decent working conditions. This brochure details the purpose of the Holistic Forestry Farms, recognized by the UNDP as one of the top 25 most successful projects of the entire planet. These entities represent a viable alternative to guarantee food security, reforestation and forest management in rural communities.
Education And Training: A Key Component To Change Attitudes About Communities Facing Emergency or Disaster Situations.
Ignorance, neglect, and lack of preparedness amongst communities about how to proceed during and after disaster situations seem to worsen the overall experiences. Carla la Serna discusses INDECI, a central coordinating body that directs and manages the national civil defense system in charge of organizing the masses, planning and controlling all defense activities in Peru.
Elements within risk management necessary for preventing natural disasters: Cuba
This report discusses the natural risks and how local communities react to emergency situations in Cuba. Without a doubt, in the context of developing countries, the actions implemented have not been enough to slow down the magnitude of vulnerabilities that have resulted in human and material losses. Lack of resources, increasing poverty in various community sectors, and the disorganized manner in which the population has utilized their territories and the spatial location of their habitats add to the impact felt in particular communities. Thus, risk management becomes a group of actions used to confront natural threats, decrease vulnerability and increase their mitigation, develop a prevention strategy and facilitate reconstruction in the event of a disaster.
Generating Scenarios for evaluating urban seismic risk
This work develops a methodology for evaluating urban seismic risk which is applied to the area of Gran San Juan. GIS is used for support data and as an effective tool for space analyses. A model simulating urban reality has been created that allows damage assessment and the determination of the collateral losses (specifically - the wounded, seriously injured and deceased).
Habitat, vulnerabilities and disasters: the case of the 2004 floods in Brazil
This article synthesizes the "most objective" data about the damage caused by the torrential rains during the first three months of 2004. It analyses damage to its infrastructure and housing, and finally presents the course of action taken to attend to the disaster.
Implementation Strategy for multimedia schools “!Alerta sismo!”: The case of Fray Mamerto Esquiú School
"Alerta SISMO" is a multimedia teaching technique that resulted from the research project "Building New Tools to Prevent Earthquakes", developed by the Urban Research Branch of the Regional and Habitat Planning Institute of the Universidad Nacional de San Juan. This multimedia tool makes text compatible with video, sounds and animation in order to teach about Seismic Prevention.
Land & Development In Latin America: Issues and Openings for Policy Research
This book suggests that Latin America may not be poised for a radical shift in land policy and administration, and that it is home to some worrisome trends and a rich array of initiatives on land issues. Researchers have a crucial role to play in illuminating policy alternatives and monitoring outcomes. The book also discusses how these lines of research could feed into policy debates in countries like Bolivia, Brazil, and Guatemala, as well as at the regional level and in the global sphere. It will be of interest to those working in the areas of rural development, land policy, and gender equality.
Land and Identity in the living memory: Case of the q'eqchi' in Guatemala
Paper presented at the session on "Identity and Power in Guatemala and Chiapas", during the V Central American Anthropology Congress in Managua, from February 23-27, 2004. This paper analyzes some elements and characteristics manifest in some oral accounts of the maya q'eqchi' of Guatemala, to narrate how the q'eqchi'define themselves and the world in which they live. More specifically, it is an attempt to understand how the community perceives the earth and themselves as part of it, through the use of oral narrative.
Local Vision and Historical Heritage in Suchitoto
Paper presented at the session "Social Uses of Heritage", during the V Central American Anthropology Congress (Managua, February 23-27, 2004). The paper details a five-month research in Suchitoto, to clarify how the community itself perceives the restoration efforts carried out by national entities, such as the Alcaldía Municipal, el Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y el Arte (CONCULTURA) y la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI). This presentation also describes the research process, locality and community involved, highlighting what the inhabitants feel and desire for the development of the city.
Measuring Sustainable Development. Integrated Economic, Environmental And Social Frameworks
This volume contains a wide range of papers intended to help policy makers and statisticians to understand how to address the measurement of Sustainable Development and develop useful tools to support forward-looking decisions. It analyses and compares good national and international practices, in order to contribute to the international debate on comparable statistical tools for Sustainable Development. Several case studies on environmental and social accountability from all over the world are presented.
Monitoring and follow-up of difficult events in the municipality of La Paz
This article discusses how to monitor and follow-up on the damage caused by rain precipitation in various regions of La Paz from December to April. During this period, La Paz is quite vulnerable because of its topographic, geological and hydrological conditions. A series of emergency events and disasters - floods, landslides and structural decay are worsened by the constant rain. Therefore, this article discusses how these variables can be used to determine the values that will serve as the indicators for the different warning levels that will be implemented in the Primary Flood Alert System in La Paz.
Participation in Urban and Architectural Design in the Social Production of Habitat
The contents of this book were elaborated by a working group comprised of technicians and practitioners from diverse disciplines and nationalities. They propose a transciplinary theoretical approach to understand processes of space production and propose alternatives of intervention and evaluation of technicians and practitioners involved. The working group attempts to offer a variety of methods and techniques of participatory urban architectural design that allows for the intervention of diverse actions and actors. The working group also attempts to provide tools that allow for different options and to present knowledge about distinct methods and techniques and their possible use to different contexts.
Click on different chapters to read (in Spanish).
Participatory integrative technological systems for risk management in the habitat of the poor through local governments
The first question that emerges is whether risk in habitat are only considered exclusively in moments of emergency or if it should be considered as part of an acute phase of a structural process? The perception held by actors involved with risk management is very different from politicians and technicians and other actors than previously understood. The common phrase among people that inhabit around creeks and rivers that overflow and flood their precarious housing is “the river gives me more than it takes.” This expression summarizes the situation of structural poverty and opportunity that is seen by these habitats despite the risks that come with potential flooding. The principal problem with these sectors is that they are forgotten and excluded by society.
Political and economic instruments for the reduction of vulnerability caused by natural phenomena and human settlements
Throughout the last few years instruments used to combat disasters caused by natural phenomena were and continue to be vertically elaborated. Interventions seeking to reduce vulnerability did not encourage an effective participation among those affected who possessed valuable information about prevention and alleviation. Nevertheless, their participation in the elaboration of these instruments has been limited or non-existent. The reduction of vulnerability in the disasters brought about natural and human induced phenomena are produced by two interrelated fronts: diminish the degree of exposure to threat and to create protection. The Territorial Ordering tool is the principal instrument that touches upon these fronts. For a Territorial Ordering to be efficient it has to have the following characteristics: be local, be integral and participatory.
Position of the Rey Curré Indigenous Community to the Boruca Hydroelectrical Project
Paper presented by Hugo Lázaro Estrada, President of the Board of Directors, Association for the Development of Yimba Cajc (Rey Curré) Indigenous Territory, during the Forum "Environment, Culture and Indigenous Rights, on April 16, 2004 in Rey Curré, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica. The paper presents the historical background between the Curre community and the Costa Rican Hydroelectric Institute within the framework of the Boruca Hydroelectrical Project, its environmental and cultural implications in relation to Indigenous Rights.
Poverty and the Environment - A Role for UNEP
Concept paper written for UNEP in preparation of Guidelines on Poverty and the Environment. The author gives a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the two main initiatives in the field of poverty and the environment. It also provides a conceptual framework that UNEP can adopt to address the poverty-environment nexus. The framework builds on the strengths of existing frameworks while addressing some key concerns not addressed by current initiatives. It also presents a methodology to operationalize the conceptual framework and provides a road map to transform the conceptual framework into a set of operational guidelines.
Precarious Settlements in the Municipality of Guatemala
This article considers how migration into the city of Guatemala because of employment sources being centralized here affects where the migrant population resides. Due to the lack of accessible housing, these communities are forced to live in precarious areas of the city. The author presents this complex and diverse issue of precarious settlements in Guatemala and argues that they are a reflection of the socio-economic marginality this population suffers and adds another problem, which is disaster risk.
Preliminary Report on the Vulnerability of Health Institutions
The objective behind studies of vulnerability is to guarantee the protection of life, proper functioning and investment in health institutions. A latent preoccupation is that our hospital services can be temporarily or permanently interrupted when they are affected by natural phenomena of great magnitude especially with damages to its infrastructure. The loss in its operation is not only in terms of investment, but it also constitutes a grave negative impact on the well-being and social and economic development of the population and the country.
Public housing dwellings and environmental risk: some appropriate technologies.
Since the 1980' “Natural disasters” have caused 3 million deaths directly or indirectly affecting more than 800 million people. This has resulted in economic losses of more than 30 to 50 million dollars each year. But these events cannot be attributed to natural phenomena alone – they are also socio-economic. This article analyzes the complex causes of these urban disasters with the goal of unmasking the myth that these are "natural" by positing that they are human-induced. Lastly, the author illustrates how some appropriate technologies represent a good alternative to those with a high environmental impact, which are often the culprits of various disasters. These technologies resist quakes (bamboo and adobe structures), hurricanes (Mayan architecture) and landslides (vetiver).
Restoration of Historical Sites and their Integral Development
The IDEASS (Innovations for Development and North-South Cooperation) objective is to reinforce local development processes through the increased use of innovations in the field of human development and decent work. The Restoration of Historical Centres is an example of how IDEASS recognizes the strategic importance of social and economic rehabilitation, closely related to heritage preservation.
Risk Management in Panama: A Vision for the Future
This work hopes to contribute facts about the urgency and current necessity in Panama for a mentality to envision the future with risk management before natural disasters. The primary objects of this report are to provide an overview of Panama's current preparedness before disasters and to highlight the importance of risk management for a country. These include benefits that preparedness offers and also the study signals some of the principal actors that are necessary for the success of these strategies.
The community of "El Solar"
This document discusses how the rehabilitation Project of El Tambo de Bronce has impacted the local community. It details its role in increasing public confidence in public administration, as well as the self-esteem of local residents. It also showed the possibility of improving urban housing with the participation of the community. An example is the community of El Solar and its involvement with private sector, with positive results affecting the physical, economic, social and cultural fabric of the community.
The Study of Risk in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara Through an Electronic Atlas
In this group study we embark upon an issue of national security which affects cities like Guadalajara on a daily basis. The study of risk of the metropolitan Guadalajara was conducted by a digital atlas and with the assistance of Geographical Information Technologies. The objective of this study is to promote territorial development. The first phase of this research is to promote city planning and urban development in the municipalities of Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque, Zapopan and Tonala.
The Transformation of a Habitat at Risk: ARAS Project - the Malpaisillo Experiences After Hurricane Mitch
This document describes the project Self-Sustaining Rural Settlement Project (ARAS) in Maplasillo. This is an initiative of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (ACEI) and the Nicaraguan Housing Bank (BAVINIC).
Towards a methodology for risk management in marginalized communities
Disasters used to be defined as "unexpected" situations that impact greatly on the population. This older terminology has caused great confusion between "natural phenomenon" and "natural disaster". Risk Management entails the participation of the local sector. This work focuses on El Salvador and specifically on a community of experts (local dwellers, professionals and institutions) for the creation of Global Plans to prevent disaster and confront its consequent emergencies.
Urban Planning: a tool for preventing and addressing disasters
This document aims to reclaim the importance of Urban Planning as regards sustainable development in disaster prevention. It tries to demonstrate how Urban Planning can also become a valuable tool to effectively respond to emergencies. This suggestion becomes the rationale behind long-term decision-making processes. Its pertinence to sustainable development is the goal sought and therefore becomes a key element to attain sustainable development in cities such as Tokyo (Japan) and Bogota (Colombia).
Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture: Confronting the Livelihood and Environmental Realities
This book critically reviews experience worldwide in the use of wastewater for agriculture through a series of peer-reviewed papers defining and elaborating on the issues at the centre of the debate around wastewater use in agriculture. Particular emphasis is placed on untreated wastewater use by means of field-based case studies from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America that address the environmental and health impacts and risks. In a first step toward better understanding the global extent of wastewater use in agriculture, a methodology is developed and applied for selected countries to quantify the magnitude of wastewater use in agriculture. The chapters consider multiple aspects including the economic, health, agronomic, environmental, institutional, and policy dimensions and research needs. The editors conclude with a prognosis of future challenges and realities of wastewater use in agriculture.
Agriculture in the City: A Key to Sustainability in Havana, Cuba
This book presents the results of a 3-year research project on the history and state of urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba. A multidisciplinary team of 15 professionals, coordinated by the authors, assess the long-term potential for including urban agriculture in the social economies of two areas of Havana, as well as in city-wide environmental management programs. The results will be of particular interest to municipal, local, and community authorities considering how to convert emergency food-production measures into long-term support for urban agriculture, both for food self-reliance and for environmental enhancement (including park rehabilitation).
Constructed Wetlands
IDEASS (Innovation for Development and South-South Cooperation) aims to strengthen the effectiveness of local development processes through the increased used of local innovations for human development and decent working conditions. This brochure on Wetland Restoration is one example of their role as catalysts for the spread of social, economic and technological innovations that favour economic and social development in the protection of natural resources.
Devolution as a threat to democratic decision-making in forestry?: findings from three states in India
This paper looks at two interfacing trends shaping devolution of forest management in India: appropriation of space for forest management by diverse self-initiated community formations; and state-driven devolution where government policies define the scope of local authority in forest management and the protection of natural resources.
Governance and Territorial Development. System Actions for Local Authority
This volume presents three papers discussing new models of governance, system abilities and learning within the Territorial Integrated Design (PTI). In particular, the papers analyze: the evolution from Territorial Pacts to Territorial Integrated Pacts; territorial governance and integrated design; and local development and governance. They emphasize those significant innovations concerning these three areas which have proved to be decisive to engender and implement local development projects and to make public policies more effective to support cohesion and territorial competitiveness.
Raising the standards and benefits of sustainable tourism and ecotourism certification
This document reports on a two year feasibility study carried out to asses options for the establishment of a council. The sustainable tourism stewardship council (STSC), proposes to oversee certification and accreditation of sustainable tourism and ecotourism to ensure the protection of natural resources.
Sharing waters: Post-Rio international water management
This paper argues that despite that the international community has adopted conventions, declarations, and legal statements concerning the management of international waters, and basin communities have established numerous new basin institutions, significant vulnerabilities remain. In particular, the authors assert that many international basins still lack any type of joint management structure, but that an understanding of these weaknesses, however, offers an opportunity for both the international and basin communities to better respond to the specific institution-building needs of basin communities and thereby foster broader cooperation over the world's international water resources.
Tibet 2003: The State of the Environment
Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala, 2003.
TIBET 2003 State of the Environment is compiled as an objective analysis of China's latest policies on the environment and development of the Tibetan Plateau. This report offers alternative perspectives for addressing environment and development issues across the plateau. The report also draws attention to the latest evidence – from diverse sources – of unsustainable exploitation of Tibet's environmental heritage, especially its water resources, sacred lands, agricultural soil and mineral resources, while population densities escalate beyond the carrying capacity of the fragile plateau.
Complex Reality, Just Participation and Healthy Sustainability
This paper was presented during the International Workshop of the Anti-Poverty Partnerships Initiative Trust Fund: Fighting Urban Poverty, (Toronto, April 18-19, 2002) in the session on 'Local Sustainable Development Planning'. It looks at the experience of a full-scale community-based ecosystem health management project that occured between 1998-2001 in two urban wards of a Nepalese city.
Declaration of Rio 2002
The Declaration presents the observations and considerations of the World Climate & Energy Event, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 6-11, 2002 on issues of environmental sustainability.
Environment and development: Analysis of an on-going debate
Gisfredi, Paola, Franco Angeli Editore, Milano, 2002.
Based on the ecological awareness emerging from the past 30 years, the text (Courtesy of
Franco Angeli Editore) offers a critique of the traditional definition (technical and economic) of development and seeks new theoretical paradigms and open reforms to rethink sustainability issues.
Environmental Assessment for the Communities of Santa Isabel la Isla, El Rosalito, Secolay II, Setzimaaj
The theme of the Report is how the lack of sufficient or available resources for important projects prevails, especially as they relate to their infrastructure, lack of knowledge of the real environmental problems and the implications of the misuse of natural resources.
Johannesburg 2002: National Implementation of Agenda 21: A summary
Johannesburg 2002: National Implementation of Agenda 21 (summary) provides an analysis of the implementation of only two issues: combating economic hardship and health at national, regional and global levels.
Lessons from Old Havana: The Planning of Local Sustainable Development
This paper, presented at the International Workshop of the Anti-Poverty Partnership Initiatives Trust Fund (APPI Trust Fund): Fighting Urban Poverty (Toronto, April 18-19, 2002), examines the lessons learned from recuperation and local development initiatives in Old Havana, Cuba. It argues that there must be a balance between decentralisation at the local and central level where national policies are being drafted; there must must be compromise amongst all participants in the process from inception to finish; and local community participation is a necessity.
Water - Key to Sustainable Development. The International Freshwater Conference in Bonn
Water will be one of the central issues at the Rio+10 conference in Johannesburg. It was the only natural resource issue on which a special preparatory conference was held involving all the stakeholders from governments, international organisations, and major groups of civil society. The Freshwater Conference in Bonn developed a catalogue of Recommendations for Action which will be a major input for the summit in Johannesburg.
Water: Local-level Management
This publication summarizes the results of three decades of IDRC-supported research on water supply. It demonstrates that some of the most powerful responses to water scarcities have been mounted at the community or local level — in households, farmers' fields, villages, and city neighbourhoods. With a focus on research findings, and failures, this book presents solidly grounded propositions for decision-makers and for researchers. It goes on to form a series of clear and pointed recommendations for policy design and future research efforts, and concludes with an eye to the future of water supply and a presentation of some of the key resources in the field.
World Development Report 2003: sustainable development in a dynamic world.
This report asks how can productive work and a good quality of life be provided for the 2.5-3 billion people living today on less than $2 a day? How can we ensure that these solutions are also environmentally and socially sustainable. Looking at the reasons leads to a discussion on where, how and why opportunities and challenges may rise in local development initiatives, while at the same time providing possible solutions for different contexts, scales and geographic areas.
Changing Regional Images: Are regional marketing campaigns successful?
An important element in the urban and regional development strategy of many local and regional governments is geographical marketing. A marketing campaign was launched by the Northern Dutch province of Groningen. Before the start of the campaign, a study of the public image of Groningen was commenced. Similar studies were conducted every two years over a period of twelve years, providing an opportunity to examine the development of regional images over time. This paper analyses the pace and nature of the change in image, specifically addressing the influence of the marketing campaign on the image of Groningen.
Housing Cooperativism in Chile
This is the summary of a presentation that addresses the decade between 1950 and 1960, when Cooperative Housing reached its peak. In general terms, it addresses the benefits gained from these Cooperatives, such as: to efficiently organize housing demands; to carry out the necessary tasks to request housing subsidies on behalf of members; to foster a systematic way to invest on the members; to ensure improved housing standards; and to deliver other required services to members.
Innovation and Networks of Cooperation for Local Development
Méndez, Ricardo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Revista Internacional de Desenvolvimento Local, Brazil, 2001.
In the context of the economic, technological and political-institutional changes of the last decades, innovation is of strategic importance. To promote innovation, the characteristics of each territory, the presence of the local actors and the creation of formal and informal networks of cooperation are essential, as they are capable of stimulating the processes of sustainable territorial development. Based on the innovator environment theory, the text analyzes the possibilities and obstacles of promoting innovation in peripheral territories dominated by the presence of small companies and traditional activities, taking into account considerations from empirical studies carried out in Spain.
No Chance for Participation: Dam-Building on the Mekong River
Siebert, Rüdiger, Deutsche Stiftung für internationale Entwicklung, D+C Development and Cooperation, (DSE) , Frankfurt, Germany, 2001.
The Mekong in Indochina forms one of the mightiest river systems - a lifeline for the people in the region. Riparian states like Thailand, Laos and China are trying to harness the water for irrigation and electricity production, but the following report shows that the needs of the local people and natural resource protection are not sufficiently taken into consideration.
OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century
This Strategy represents an important building block for the OECD-wide sustainable development initiatives. It is intended to provide clear directions for environmentally sustainable policies in OECD Member countries, offering guidelines the OECD's environmental work until 2010. It contains also the “OECD Environmental Performance Reviews” the “environmental indicators programme” which are used for monitoring its progress. Among the issues addressed are: natural resource management; governance and co-operation; separating environmental pressure from economic growth; social and environmental interrelationships.
Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development: Implications for the Management of Natural Capital
This paper reviews the literature on sustainable development and its focus on the role of natural capital to see what implications it has for poverty alleviation, based on a workshop aimed to see how ideas of sustainable development fit into the vision for development articulated by Stiglitz in his Prebish lecture at UNCTAD in 1998. It also examines the ideas for economic development outlined by Stiglitz to our own individual conclusions in terms of implications for sustainable development and natural capital management. The final section of the paper relate to the Stiglitz paper and the guiding principles of sustainable development.
Report on the Initial Validation and Socialization of the Environmental Question in the Micro-Regions of the Municipalities of Chicaman, Cunen and Uspatan
This is a Report on the workshops delivered in these municipalities and illustrate the ecological, technical, social and economic impacts the communities of the municipalities of Chicaman, Cunen and Uspatan face in order to take decisions regarding the planification of their development. Therefore, this Report is the product of an approximation to the communities in which the information had been previously validated and socialized about information on environmental degradation.
The Struggle for Water: Shared Basins and International Rights
In many regions of the world there are shared fluvial basins among various countries. Actually, there is an attempt to regulate the rights to access to this water and natural resources through bilateral or multilateral agreements. This is a task of major importance since in few decades today's wealthy countries will experience water shortages. A model convention was approved in 1997 within the framework of the United Nations, however until now has not been enforced. Conflicting interest continue to impede consensus in critical issues.
Tools to Support the Implementation of Social Housing Programs between Actors SEGP
This article is a contribution to the development of strategies and tools to promote the "effective" participation of those involved in cooperative projects with planning and management foci related to habitat. The experience is centered on the use of SEGP - the Supervisory Participatory Assessment System for local management and administration.
Biotechnology and genetically modified organisms
This paper was originally written to support Selling Suicide - farming, false promises and genetic engineering in developing countries by Andrew Simms. Policy Briefings offer succinct summaries of important current policy issues relevant to the work of Christian Aid and its partners. They also offer a position on the issue and are designed to both inform and provoke discussion. They are produced by the International Policy Team. There is widespread concern that, despite the benefits promised by the companies which are promoting biotechnology, including the claim that GMOs will be necessary to feed the world, there could be major harmful effects, particularly on natural resources and on health.
Chapter 6 of the Report of the World Commission on Dams: Decision-Making, Planning and Compliance
World Commission on Dams, Report of the World Commission on Dams, 2000.
This is an excerpt from the Report: Dams and Development, which set out to distil more than two years of intense study, dialogue and reflection by the World Commission on Dams (WCD), the WCD Secretariat, the WCD Stakeholders' Forum and literally hundreds of individual experts and affected people on every aspect of the dams debate. It contains all the significant findings that result from this work and expresses everything that the Commission believes is important to communicate to those involved in decision-making and planning-- governments, the private sector, civil society actors, as well as those affected peoples in the dams debate.
Community Participation in Water Management. Experiences from Zimbabwe
Community participation is one of the most essential principles in development cooperation. What is meant by this term is that the people have a say in the conception of projects and accept it as their own effort. The following article attempts to explore some of the issues surrounding local participation in the development of a community based natural resource management, in this case a water programme in the Zambezi valley, Zimbabwe.
Environmental Assessment in three municipalities of El Quiché
The aim of this study is to provide the communities living in the three municipalities of El Quiché information about the condition of the natural resources in their communities as well as details of the environmental problems facing the municipalities. It is envisioned this information will prompt the communities to decide a course of action to tackle the problems identified in the analysis of the study.
Gender, Development and the Environment: Focus and initiatives in El Salvador
Understanding the relationship between gender, the environment and development is important because women, along with men, are carriers of knowledge and practices in respect to the management of natural resources. This knowledge is key and has to be taken into account for viable and sustainable development initiatives. This report focuses on women and the environment, gender and sustainable development and ecofeminism to show how these realities are experienced in El Salvador.
Gender, property and empowerment: Land, State and the Market in Latin America
This publication explores women's inequalities in relation to property. Although civic codes dictate equality between the sexes when it comes to land and property, cultural, economic and political factors negate women's legal rights. The publication focuses primarily on rural women in different Latin American countries that depend on the land for their livelihoods.
Access to full publication pending.
Group Functioning and Community Forestry in South Asia: A Gender Analysis and Conceptual Framework
This paper examines group functioning in the management of common pool resources, such as forests. It contemplates the recent rise of community forest groups in South Asia and looks at how participative and equitable they are in praxis. It argues that although many have done well in terms of regenerating previously degraded lands, further examination is needed to see who reaps the full potential of their efforts and whether they will endure, while analysing the distribution of resources between rich and poor households and between women and men.
Human Rights, Environment and Development: with Special Emphasis on Corporate Accountability
This paper is in two parts addressing interrelated topics. Part I focuses on the interrelationships between human rights, environmental sustainability and development. Part II of the paper focuses on corporations, sustainable development and accountability.The idea is that development can serve as a key vehicle for promoting realization of human rights and protecting the environment is marred by frequent unsustainable development practices that are often the main source of human rights violations and environmental degradation.
Participatory environmental management as an instrument for integrated human development: Tailoring approaches to the social, cultural and political context
This paper examines some of the challenges posed by the implementation of human development approaches, in the specific context of environmental management. The rationales for environmental management, as well as the basic principles which should guide such participatory processes are briefly presented.
The process of participative local planning within the decentralized co-operation framework
This is a thesis from an internship at the PDHL- Old Havana. It describes the efforts made by local, national and international actors in contributing to the elaboration of the Old Havana Guidelines. The first part of this work is an introduction explaining the meaning of local participatory planning; it then details the experience carried out in Old Havana. In the second part, it provides an opportunity to reflect on the achievements and challenges of the PDHL, through the use of graphics.
Background for Debate: Towards an Assessment of Public Housing in Iberoamerica
Red XIV. D “Alternativas y Políticas de Viviendas”, HABYTED & CYTED, 1999.
This report is the effort of the Thematic Network XIV D members which includes HABYTED and CYTED. The objective of this work is to systematize information on population and housing data of social interest to Iberoamerica. Chapter one summarized the data sets in different countries and allows for a mapping of the general situation. Chapter two displays the "characteristics of the housing situation in Iberoamerica" by country sections. Chapter three includes reviews of housing policy in each country, and the effective models to face the situation of scarcity. The last chapter features institutions that work around housing in the region.
View the table of contents and select the chapters to read (in Spanish). Community Needs & Resources Maps: A Guide
This is a guide to develop community needs and resource maps. The Report discusses four phases of resource mapping: getting people to voice their needs; drawing up a first list of needs and risks; field visits; and establishing a local committee and formulating the area plan. The authors emphasize the necessity to find ways of preserving the local cultural heritage as an important source of knowledge.
The debate on genetically modified organisms: relevance for the South
The debate over the future of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture has captured a wide audience. GMO foods are widely available on grocery shelves in many countries, but their use is such a politically sensitive issue that the restaurants of the House of Commons in the UK ban them. This Briefing Paper begins with a review of the nature of GMO technology, the major concerns with its development and effect in natural resources, and concludes with some observations on regulatory and research policy.
The habitat in Iberoamerica under review
This publication presents a collection of opinions and view points on themes surrounding public housing and other local development initiatives from the individuals responsible for coordinating and assessing HABYTED.
Tropical forest: new European Commission guidelines for cooperation with developing countries
The European Commission finalised new guidelines on forest sector development co-operation. The purpose of these guidelines is to contribute to the delivery of better quality tropical forest assistance to developing countries. Social impact analysis and natural resource appraisal are major elements of the new approach.
Public sector management, governance, and sustainable human development: a discussion paper
The major focus of this paper is public sector management and its linkages to other dimensions of governance. It also paper reviews cornerstones of development and considers some of the challenges of public management in developing countries.
Systemization of the use of earth in housing for public interest
The popularity of earth construction lies in its low cost, possibility of self-construction, easy access to materials and good insulation. The use and development of adobe and tapial construction techniques were based to a great extent on empirism whose results showed many deficiencies in their application, mainly vulnerability to humidity and insecurity in the seismic zones. The objective of this book is to study the aspects related to the normativity in adobe construction and to provide a series of recommendations for the elaboration of practical standards to construct adobe, tapial, bricks and floor-cement blocks, mainly based on the Peruvian Norms for Constructions of Adobe.
See the index to select sections of the book (in Spanish). Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
The report contains the accords achieved on the issue of environmental sustainability by the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 3-14, 1992.
Report of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - Rio de Janeiro, 1992
This report, emerging from the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, outlines principles for a global consensus on the management, conservation, and sustainable development of the global commons.
The production of community risk maps under the framework of the ART GOLD Programs
ART Initiative, 2006,
This document presents the methodology of a risk and resources map created and used by a specific community to solve problems considered of primary importance. The four essential stages of this methodology will be studied: the organization of the exchange of experiences; the conduction of the field research necessary to locate in the community map the identified risks and the available resources to confront them; the definition of the projects that will aim to solve these problems and reduce the risks and vulnerability of the community; the implementation of such projects with the support of the public sector and social actors, and , the search for the complementary resources that are lacking.
Full text - English