Smart growth and its discontents : an examination of american and european approaches to local and regional sustainable development

Increasingly concepts of sustainable development are finding their way into local and regional development strategies. This is also true in the USA, though not through the Local Agenda 21 process, as is the case in much of the rest of the world. The approach to 'sustainable development' in the USA is a set of policy approaches collectively referred to as 'smart growth'. Smart growth is sometimes referred to as a uniquely 'American' variant of sustainable development. In contrast to Local Agenda 21, smart growth has captured the imagination of American policy makers, at all spatial scales. Smart growth is most attractive as a local and regional development strategy. In this paper I explore compare Local Agenda 21 and Smart Growth in the context of the USA and Europe using secondary data sources and analysis as well as a case study from Massachusetts, USA.El concepte del desenvolupament sostenible s'obre camí cada vegada més en les estratègies de desenvolupament local i regional. Aquesta tendència també succeix als EUA, encara que en aquest país no pren el nom d'Agenda 21 Local, com és el cas en gran part de la resta del món. L'enfocament de «desenvolupament sostenible» als EUA es pot considerar com un conjunt de polítiques que, col·lectivament, es coneixen amb el nom de «creixement intel·ligent» (smart growth). El creixement intel·ligent es considera a vegades com una variant exclusivament «americana» de desenvolupament sostenible. Al contrary del que ha passat amb l'Agenda 21, aquest concepte de creixement intel·ligent ha aconseguit captar l'interès dels respnsables polítics locals als EUA: En aquest article es compara l'Agenda 21 Local i creixement intel ligent en el context dels EUA i Europa, utilitzant fonts secundàries de dades i anàlisi, així com un estudi de cas de Massachusetts, EUA.El concepto del desarrollo sostenible se abre camino cada vez más en las estrategias de desarrollo local y regional. Esta tendencia también ocurre en EE.UU., aunque en este país no toma el nombre de Agenda 21 Local, como es el caso en gran parte del resto del mundo. EDl enfoque del desarrollo sostenible local en los EE.UU. puede considerarse como un conjunto de políticas que, colectivamente, se conocen con el nombre de «crecimiento inteligente» (smart growth). Así, el crecimiento inteligente se considera a veces como una variante exclusivamente americana de desarrollo sostenible. Al contrario de lo ocurrido con la Agenda 21, este concepto de crecimiento inteligente ha logrado captar el interés de los responsables políticos locales en los EE.UU.: En este artículo se compara la Agenda 21 Local y crecimiento inteligente en el contexto de los EE.UU. y Europa, utilizando fuentes secundarias de datos y análisis, así como un estudio de caso de Massachusetts, Estados Unidos.Le concept de développement durable est utilisé de plus en plus dans les stratégies de développement local et régional. Cette tendance se trouve aussi aux États-Unis, bien que dans ce pays le nom de l'Agenda 21 local, commun dans une grande partie du monde, est remplacé par l'expression « Croissance intelligente ». Ainsi, la croissance intelligente est parfois considéré comme une variante exclusivement américaine du développement durable. Contrairement à ce qui s'est passé avec le programme Action 21 local, le concept de croissance intelligente a réussi à capter l'intérêt des politiciens locaux des États-Unis: Cet article compare le programme Action 21 local et le concept de croissance intelligente contexte des États-Unis et en Europe, en utilisant des sources secondaires de données et d'analyse ainsi que d'une étude de cas du Massachusetts, États-Unis

Creative writing, literary studies and global thinkers

There has been growing interest in how to make tertiary education more global and international not only in context but, also, in approach and methodology. One area of the education sector that has come under specific focus is the higher education sector curriculum and its design. This paper addresses the process of ‘internationalising’ the curriculum through the specific example of designing a new literary unit for undergraduate students, mainly literary studies and creative writing students. The literary unit entitled: Imagining the Americas: Contemporary American Literature and Culture, has the added complexity of being a unit about national fiction. This paper explores the practical problems and obstacles encountered in setting up this unit while using a framework of internationalisation. The case study examines the practicalities in implementing strategies that reflect the overall objective of creating global thinkers within a tertiary environment

Indicators of gendered control over agricultural resources: a guide for agricultural policy and research

Although the importance of women’s contribution to the agricultural sector in developing countries is now widely acknowledged, there is little systematic evidence on how gender gaps in control over resources have changed over time in response to agricultural policy and technological interventions. In particular, few large-scale, national-level studies examine these effects for developing countries. This is surprising in light of the pervasive impact of agricultural technology and policy innovation on gender differences in control over productive resources for agriculture. Women are farmers and agricultural laborers in every part of the world. They are often responsible for the storage and processing of agricultural products. In some parts of the world, they play a key role in marketing crops. In almost all contexts, they play a central role in ensuring household food security, a goal that in turn affects crop choice and other agricultural decisions. Thus, every agricultural intervention is likely to impact women and, depending on the particular context of gender relations, impact them differently from men (Meinzen-Dick et al 2011)

(Global) Hip Hop Studies Bibliography

This bibliography documents Hip Hop scholarship outside of America, including scholarly works that may be US centric, yet expands its analysis to other parts of the world. Hip Hop Studies outside the boundaries of the United States stretches as far and wide as Hip Hop itself. This scholarship started in 1984, and the amount of scholarship beyond American boundaries has continued to grow up through present day. The first wave, before Mitchell\u27s Global Noise (2001), includes a wider range of scholarly works such as conference presentations and books written by journalists, in addition to traditional academic sources such as books and journal articles. I included the variety of scholarly works in the first wave that I do not include in the second wave because the earlier works can function as primary sources and document how the field has grown

A new approach to a changing global environment

Title VI National Resource Center Grant (P015A060066)unpublishednot peer reviewe

The McKinsey Global Institute Productivity Studies: Lessons for Canada

The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) is a think tank based in Washington, D.C. founded in 1990 with the objective of analyzing international productivity levels from both economic and management perspectives. MGI uses microeconomic analysis on a sector-by-sector level to study the effects that industry decisions ultimately have on national productivity. For the most part the productivity drivers identified by MGI can be grouped into three broad areas: competitive factors (concentration, trade protection, deregulation, minimum wages, work rules, and zoning laws); managerial factors (best practice, human capital, capital intensity, and information technology); and demand factors (average income, cyclical factors, and consumer preferences). This paper examines these factors in an attempt to shed light on the causes of Canada-U.S. productivity differences at the industry level. Competitive factors may explain the poor productivity performance of the Canadian financial and cultural service industries relative to their U.S. counterparts, and likewise may explain the high productivity levels of some natural resource industries in Canada relative to the United States. Managerial factors, especially the implementation of new technologies and related processes, may be important in explaining the poor productivity growth in Canada relative to the United States in service industries such as retail trade. Given the similarities between Canada and the United States, the findings of the MGI studies cannot be indiscriminately applied to Canada-U.S. productivity differences at the industry level. However, the MGI studies do put forward a number of useful working hypotheses for analyzing these differences.Productivity, Productivity Growth, Industry, Industry Studies, McKinsey Global Institute, MGI, Concentration, Competition, Retail Trade, Wal-Mart, Regulation, Banking, Airlines, Best Practice, Deregulation

A global low order spectral model designed for climate sensitivity studies

A two level, global, spectral model using pressure as a vertical coordinate is developed. The system of equations describing the model is nonlinear and quasi-geostrophic. A moisture budget is calculated in the lower layer only with moist convective adjustment between the two layers. The mechanical forcing of topography is introduced as a lower boundary vertical velocity. Solar forcing is specified assuming a daily mean zenith angle. On land and sea ice surfaces a steady state thermal energy equation is solved to calculate the surface temperature. Over the oceans the sea surface temperatures are prescribed from the climatological average of January. The model is integrated to simulate the January climate

Marine Protected Areas: Country Case Studies on Policy, Governance and Institutional Issues

This document presents case studies of the policy, governance and institutional issues of marine protected areas (MPAs) in South America (Northeastern)-Brazil; India, Palau and Senegal. It is the first of four in a global series of case studies on MPAs. An initial volume provides a synthesis and analysis of all the studies. The set of global MPA case studies was designed to close a deficit in information on the governance of MPAs and spatial management tools, within both fisheries management and biodiversity conservation contexts. The studies examine governance opportunities in and constraints on the use of spatial management measures at the national level. They were also designed to inform implementation of the FAO Technical Guidelines on marine protected areas (MPAs) and fisheries, which were developed to provide information and guidance on the use of MPAs in the context of fisheries