A Cultural Tourism Strategy: Enriching Culture and Building Tourism in Buffalo Niagara

Their continued dedication to the region\u27s cultural, arts and heritage organizations and the development of cultural tourism has been, and will continue to be, essential to attaining the vision of “A Cultural Tourism Strategy”. The cultural tourism mission is to strengthen cultural, artistic and heritage organizations; expand individual opportunities for creativity and interpretation; help our regional economy grow; enhance the quality of life in our communities; advance the image and identity of the region; and build the region\u27s reputation as a world-class tourism destination. These benefits reinforce one another and can be achieved together

The Case for Community Colleges: Aligning Higher Education and Workforce Needs in Massachusetts

Reviews research on the need for middle-skilled workers with at least an associate's degree, Massachusetts' community college system, promising models for aligning community college curricula with workforce needs, and challenges. Makes recommendations

Policies Supporting Innovation In The European Union In The Context Of The Lisbon Strategy And The Europe 2020 Strategy

In the context of increasing globalization, global competition and rapid change the EU sees innovation and its commercialization as an effective way to build long-term global competitive advantage. Innovation policy is a link between research and technological development policy and industrial policy and makes it possible to create conditions conducive to bringing ideas to the market. It is also closely linked to other EU policies regarding e.g. employment, competitiveness, environment, industry and energy. This paper presents the evolution, conditions and objectives of the innovation policy of the European, and describes the main assumptions of the Lisbon and Europe 2020 strategies. Additionally it indicates possible ways of assessing the measures undertaken within the above-mentioned policies and of determining the tools necessary to implement the strategies

Working Paper 82 - Public Sector Management in Africa

Even though the public sector in African countries was expected to spearhead socioeconomicdevelopment to reduce poverty, it has proved largely ineffective in performingthis task. Some of the reasons for this ineffectiveness are excessive politicization, lack ofaccountability and representation, inability to promote the public interest andauthoritarian tendencies. The ineffectiveness has led to the call for a redefinition of therole of the public sector. As a contribution to the debate over the proper role of the publicsector and how it has coped with the New Public Management reforms, this paperassesses the state of public sector management in Africa by focusing specifically on thestrengths and challenges facing the state and its bureaucracy in relation to socioeconomicdevelopment and how the challenges can be addressed.Some of the issues the paper examines include:• the existing and/or evolving theoretical paradigms and their relevance to thepublic sector management;• the inability of the African state to promote development in comparison to theAsian “developmental” state;• various public sector reforms (civil service, decentralization, privatization,deregulation, co-production, public-private partnerships, judicial, tax) initiated toimprove state capacity and their outcomes;• the effectiveness of strategies implemented to promote accountability andminimize corruption; and• the issues and problems in aid management and coordination in Africa.In addition to these issues, the paper also highlights possible policy options for the futureand their relevance in addressing the challenges facing public sector management.

Local Economic Development Policies

This chapter seeks to provide useful advice for local government policy towards economic development programs. The chapter: reviews the size and scope of local economic development programs in the United States; critically analyzes the various rationales offered for these programs; makes recommendations for what local policy should do about business attraction and incentives, business retention, new business development, high technology development, brownfield development, distressed neighborhoods, and downtowns; and discusses how local economic development programs should be organized, managed, and evaluated.local, regional, economic, development, Bartik, Upjohn

A simulation model of reinforced concrete beam containing expanded polystyrene beads (EPS) and palm oil fueled ash (POFA) using finite element method

In this study, Expanded Polystyrene bead (EPS) and Palm Oil Fuelled Ash (POFA) will be used to replace several percents of cement and aggregate in reinforced concrete beam construction. EPS can produce lightweight concrete, and the use of POFA can produce high strength concrete and can also reduce waste disposal. The reinforced concrete beams were analysed using computer software called ABAQUS. The main reason Abaqus software is used as analytics software for this project is that the software is designed specifically for analyzing advanced structural and heat transfer. It is designed for both linear and nonlinear pressure analyses for both tiny and huge structures. This software can also be used to analyze the proposed reinforced concrete beam failure pattern of EPS and POFA. The percentage of EPS and POFA were 40% to 60% in concrete as replacement material. The information obtained from Abaqus is then used to verify the experimental results. The data also contains the appropriate percentage of EPS and POFA in the reinforced concrete beam where performance in terms of bending, pressure, and failure pattern is at maximum. The result shows decrease performance of RC beam containing 40-60% EPS and POFA

Culture and Urban Revitalization: A Harvest Document

Advocates have long argued that the economic benefits of the arts and culture provide a firm rationale for public support. Recent scholarship on the "creative class" and "creative economy" is simply the latest effort to link cultural expression to community prosperity. In contrast, the social benefits of cultural engagement have received relatively little attention, even though -- as we shall see -- they provide a stronger case.We need to avoid a simplistic either-or choice between the economic and social impacts of the arts. People who live in our cities, suburbs, and countryside are simultaneously consumers, workers, residents, citizens, and participants. Culture's role in promoting community capacity and civic engagement is central to its potential for generating vital cultural districts. To separate the economic and the social impacts of the arts makes each more difficult to understand.This document provides an overview of the state-of-the-art literature on culture and urban revitalization. In Part 2, we place the creative sector in contemporary context with a discussion of three social dynamics. The "new urban reality" has restructured our cities by increasing social diversity -- fueled by new residential patterns, the emergence of young adult districts, and immigration; expanding economic inequality; and changing urban form. Shifts in the economic and political environment have changed the structure of the creative sector. Finally, the changing balance of government, nonprofit, and for-profit institutions in social policy development -- the shift to transactional policymaking -- has profound implications for cultural policy and the creative sector broadly defined. These three forces -- the new urban reality, the changing structure of the creative sector, and the emergence of transactional policy-making -- define the context within which culture-based revitalization takes place

Economic Impacts of GO TO 2040

The economy of the Chicago metropolitan region has reached a critical juncture. On the one hand, Chicagoland is currently a highly successful global region with extraordinary assets and outputs. The region successfully made the transition in the 1980s and 1990s from a primarily industrial to a knowledge and service-based economy. It has high levels of human capital, with strong concentrations in information-sector industries and knowledge-based functional clusters -- a headquarters region with thriving finance, business services, law, IT and emerging bioscience, advanced manufacturing and similar high-growth sectors. It combines multiple deep areas of specialization, providing the resilience that comes from economic diversity. It is home to the abundant quality-of-life amenities that flow from business and household prosperity.On the other hand, beneath this static portrait of our strengths lie disturbing signs of a potential loss of momentum. Trends in the last decade reveal slowing rates, compared to other regions, of growth in productivity and gross metropolitan product. Trends in innovation, new firm creation and employment are comparably lagging. The region also faces emerging challenges with respect to both spatial efficiency and governance.In this context, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has just released GO TO 2040, its comprehensive, long-term plan for the Chicago metropolitan area. The plan contains recommendations aimed at shaping a wide range of regional characteristics over the next 30 years, during which time more than 2 million new residents are anticipated. Among the chief goals of GO TO 2040 are increasing the region's long-term economic prosperity, sustaining a high quality of life for the region's current and future residents and making the most effective use of public investments. To this end, the plan addresses a broad scope of interrelated issues which, in aggregate, will shape the long-term physical, economic, institutional and social character of the region.This report by RW Ventures, LLC is an independent assessment of the plan from a purely economic perspective, addressing the impacts that GO TO 2040's recommendations can be expected to have on the future of the regional economy. The assessment begins by describing how implementation of GO TO 2040's recommendations would affect the economic landscape of the region; reviews economic research and practice about the factors that influence regional economic growth; and, given both of these, articulates and illustrates the likely economic impacts that will flow from implementation of the plan. In the course of reviewing the economic implications of the plan, the assessment also provides recommendations of further steps, as the plan is implemented, for increasing its positive impact on economic growth