Global environmental governance: the role of local governments

This repository item contains a single issue of Sustainable Development Insights, a series of short policy essays that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The series seeks to promote a broad interdisciplinary dialogue on how to accelerate sustainable development at all levels.Is there a role for cities in the Global Environmental Governance (GEG) system and, if so, what exactly should that role be? Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, the Director of ICLEI, argues that cities and local governments have played a leading role in developing programs to reduce greenhouse gases, and have much to offer in national and global efforts to address climate change and other major environmental issues. A new and improved GEG framework should include direct connections to and involvement by local and subnational governments as well as business, giving these important stakeholders input into important policies and decisions that ultimately affect them

Passion & Purpose: Raising the Fiscal Fitness Bar for Massachusetts Nonprofits

Presents data on and financial analyses of the state's nonprofit sector by organization type, budget, focus area, and location. Recommends better financial stewardship, restructuring, repositioning, and reinvestment to enhance nonprofits' sustainability

E-democracy: exploring the current stage of e-government

Governments around the world have been pressured to implement e-Government programs in order to improve the government-citizen dialogue. The authors of this article review prior literature on such efforts to find if they lead to increased democratic participation ("e-Democracy") for the affected citizens, with a focus on the key concepts of transparency, openness, and engagement. The authors find that such efforts are a starting point toward e-Democracy, but the journey is far from complete

Government as a social machine - the implications of government as a social machine for making and implementing market-based policy

This is the second of two reports from the Government as a Social Machine project. The first report gave an overview of the evolution of electronic/digital government, and explored the concept of 21st century government as a \u27social machine\u27. This report identifies seven social machines developed by governments in Australia and New Zealand. These social machines harness digital technologies in order to deliver more effective and efficient services, develop better business practices, and enable better accountability and transparency. The report gives an overview of each social machine in context, describing the social need that is being met and the community that has developed it, and begins to unravel some of the socio-political consequences that might arise from the use of these social machines within the public policy context. These reports are not intended to be comprehensive (further educational materials are being developed as part of the ANZSOG Case Library), but they are intended to begin a conversation amongst those studying or practicing in public policy as to how governments can better understand, manage and employ these evolving social machines for better governance and social benefit

The Non-profit Sector in Kenya: What We Know and What We Don't Know

The primary aim of this publication is to set the stage for deepening our knowledge of the non-profit sector in Kenya. It contains figures on the growth, scope of activities, revenue and expenditure patterns of NPOs

Illinois Nonprofit Economy Report

Donors Forum's Illinois Nonprofit Economy Report includes valuable information on the growing role that nonprofits play throughout Illinois. According to the report, last year Illinois nonprofits employed more then 427,000 workers -- providing almost as many jobs as the state's three largest Fortune 500 companies (Boeing, Walgreens, and State Farm) do together, worldwide