The Challenge of African Youth Unemployment

This Occasional Paper submits that Africa’s youth unemployment requires long-term, deliberate, well-targeted, and coordinated interventions. Addressing it requires integrated, comprehensive, and long-term approaches to rural development that provide an enabling legal framework, stem rural-urban migration, and ensure that educational systems provide marketable skills

Participatory Water Resource Management: Advancing Engagement in Disadvantaged Communities across the Santa Ana River Watershed

Santa Ana River Watershed, California, Proposition 1 Integrated Regional Water Management, Disadvantaged Community Involvement Program The Santa Ana River (SAR) Watershed is the largest, most populated and fastest urbanizing watershed in Southern California, draining an estimated 2,700 square miles of diverse landscape and hydrological features. Headwater streams of the SAR Watershed are located in the San Bernardino National Forest near Big Bear Lake, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the San Jacinto Mountains. These streams traverse the coastal sage habitat through numerous water infrastructure features in the Inland Empire before terminating into the Pacific Ocean at the City of Huntington Beach. Groundwater resources, seasonal rains, and snowmelt provide a small fraction of the water resources needed to sustain the estimated 5.9 million residents living in the watershed. To augment limited local water supply, the SAR Watershed imports water into the region from Northern California and the Colorado River. With recent drought conditions and a growing population, community stakeholders and the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA), a leading regional water agency, are exploring innovative ways to manage water resources that support both human and ecological activities

An evaluation of the environmental internship programme (2005- 2013) and it’s prospects for improved graduate employability: the case of interns in the city of Cape town

Magister Artium - MAThis study evaluates the extent to which the Environmental Internship Programme has impacted upon graduate employability in the City of Cape Town. Graduate unemployment crisis has been categorized as one of the socio-economic issues affecting the nation of South Africa with graduates struggling to find jobs in the areas which they graduated from. On the other hand, organisations are suffering from a lack of skills in different spheres. In order for this gap to be bridged, human resource development strategies have been put in place for graduates such as; internships, training and learnership programmes. In 2005, the Environmental Resource Management Department (ERMD) launched a programme called the Environmental Internship Programme (EIP) to address the needs of graduates in the environmental management field. The programme is a yearlong internship aimed at bridging the gap between academic learning and the first steps of a professional career. The aim of the ERMD is to create a pool of skilled professionals to be absorbed into the city as well as provincial, national government and the private sector by making the interns better employable by the time they leave the EIP. It is against this background that this study evaluates the impact of the programme on graduate employability. Within the investigation, the researcher looked at the appropriate legislations, and policies that govern a programme of this nature. The study utilizes primary and secondary research information based on interviews and open-ended questionnaires

ESSENCE OF AND A MODEL FOR REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNIATION

A transformative approach to Integrated Development Communication framework is driving the development of and innovation in student learning with promises to significantly impact local communities. A case study concerning a themed – MBA Programme (Development Management) of a Multi-faculty State Private University in India is used to illustrate how self-learning, actionlearning and technology-enabled learning can be dynamically combined for sustainable community development. Content and topic are effectively negotiated with communities, facilitating the creation of a supportive learning and development ambience, and providing opportunities to apply new skills. The three philosophies of learning influence the program design and practice. Integrated Development Communication is introduced as an integrative construct that facilitates critical thinking, community interaction, problem solving and crossdomain learning. Learning is driven by the need to solve a problem. The paper aims to present the vision and evidences of responsible involvement in real problems to promote positive attitudes and behaviours. The paper also reflects on the essence and impact of theory of learning on integrated development communication model where Learning = Programmed Knowledge of the Past + Questioning Insight + Implementation

The role of training and organizational support in strengthening GIS interns’ (‘incubants’) participation in workplace occupations: a case study of the Groen Sebenza internship project

The cases in this study are embedded within a multi-layered, nested case study design. An in-depth exploration of each case is provided with a view to understand the ways in which the internship training in the incubation model strengthens the learning, experience, knowledge, skills and interest of the university graduate interns/incubants to prepare them for full participation in their communities of practice in workplaces. The case study of Groen Sebenza internship project works across more than 40 partnering organisations. It is using incubation model for the first time in the biodiversity sector which is why its training needs to be investigated. To examine this question “In what way can training and the organizational support, of the incubation model strengthen the learning, experience, knowledge, skills and interest of interns/incubants to prepare them towards full participation in workplace roles and responsibilities in biodiversity occupations?” the research was undertaken in the context of university graduate incubants/interns in the Geographic Information System (GIS) field from three host-organizations; Limpopo Economic Development Environment and Tourism (LEDET), Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) and South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). The participants of the study were purposefully selected. Data was collected twice (i.e. after the first seven months and then a follow-up interview was conducted after a further five months) during the first twelve months of the project in the form of interviews and observations. There was also ongoing data collected in the form of documents which focused on their participation in workplaces and training. Data was analysed using different layers of qualitative content analysis and examination of documents at different stages of the study. Through immersion with the data and literature insights were developed regarding the enablers and constraints of the training in the incubation model related to the GIS interns. These included:- 1. The twelve months period spent by the GIS incubants in the Groen Sebenza internship project was not enough to prepare them towards full participation in workplace roles and responsibilities in biodiversity occupations. 2. Internship training is not just a ‘passing insignificant episode of the lives of the incubants/newcomers’ [specifically those from disadvantaged communities] but is a ‘real source of hope’. 3. The investigated institutions (and their members) need to make a real effort to improve if they want to stay relevant and useful in the Groen Sebenza internship project. 4. The incubants and mentors need to make the process of reflexivity real and practical. 5. The 2.5 years incubation model has high potential to work if the institutions, the mentors and the mentees involved in GIS improve the challenges mentioned in the study. Drawing from the data and literature I have discussed and recommended a model which could assist in improving the internship programmes specifically for the university students who are from underprivileged communities

Bridging the Innovation Divide: An Agenda for Disseminating Technology Innovations within the Nonprofit Sector

Examines technology practices -- such as neighborhood information systems, electronic advocacy, Internet-based micro enterprise support, and digital inclusion initiatives -- that strengthen the capacity of nonprofits and community organizations

OECD reviews of higher education in regional and city development, State of Victoria, Australia

With more than 5.3 million inhabitants Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Once a manufacturing economy, Victoria is now transforming itself into a service and innovation-based economy. Currently, the largest sectors are education services and tourism. In terms of social structure, Victoria is characterised by a large migrant population, 24% of population were born overseas and 44% were either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas. About 70% of the population resides in Melbourne. Victoria faces a number of challenges, ranging from an ageing population and skills shortages to drought and climate change and increased risk of natural disasters. Rapid population growth, 2% annually, has implications for service delivery and uneven development as well as regional disparities. There are barriers to connectivity in terms of transport and infrastructure, and a high degree of inter-institutional competition in tertiary education sector. The business structure in Victoria includes some highly innovative activities such as in biotechnology, but other sectors, especially those with high number of small and medium-sized enterprises, are lagging behind. Most of the larger manufacturing enterprises are externally controlled and there is uncertainty over the long term investments they will make in the state, as well as the place of Victoria in the global production networks

IWMI Strategic plan 2009-2013: water for a food-secure world

Strategy planning / Research institutes / Institutional development / Research priorities / Water resource management / Water governance

Directions in Educational Planning: International Experiences and Perspectives

Fulltext in: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002137/213735e.pd