Religion, Resources and Representation: three narratives of engagement in British urban governance

Faith groups are increasingly regarded as important civil society participants in British urban governance. Faith engagement is linked to policies of social inclusion and “community cohesion,” particularly in the context of government concerns about radicalization along religious lines. Primary research is drawn upon in developing a critical and explicitly multifaith analysis of faith involvement. A narrative approach is used to contrast the different perspectives of national pol- icy makers, local stakeholders, and faith actors themselves. The narratives serve to illuminate not only this specific case but also the more general character of British urban governance as it takes on a more “decentered” form with greater blurring of boundaries between the public, private, and personal

Organisational design in housing

Includes bibliographical references. Title from coverAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:3363. 63332(1) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Assessing low demand risk

Includes bibliographical references. Title from coverAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:4201. 35065(no 7) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Enhancing employment services for people with severe mental illness: the challenge of the Australian service environment

Objectives:  Comparatively few people with severe mental illness are employed despite evidence that many people within this group wish to obtain, can obtain and sustain employment, and that employment can contribute to recovery. This investigation aimed to: (i) describe the current policy and service environment within which people with severe mental illness receive employment services; (ii) identify evidence-based practices that improve employment outcomes for people with severe mental illness; (iii) determine the extent to which the current Australian policy environment is consistent with the implementation of evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness; and (iv) identify methods and priorities for enhancing employment services for Australians with severe mental illness through implementation of evidence-based practices. Method:  Current Australian practices were identified, having reference to policy and legal documents, funding body requirements and anecdotal reports. Evidence-based employment services for people with severe mental illness were identified through examination of published reviews and the results of recent controlled trials. Results:  Current policy settings support the provision of employment services for people with severe mental illness separate from clinical services. Recent studies have identified integration of clinical and employment services as a major factor in the effectiveness of employment services. This is usually achieved through co-location of employment and mental health services. Conclusions:  Optimal evidence-based employment services are needed by Australians with severe mental illness. Providing optimal services is a challenge in the current policy environment. Service integration may be achieved through enhanced intersectoral links between employment and mental health service providers as well as by co-locating employment specialists within a mental health care setting

Bridging the gap: An attempt to reconcile strategic planning and very local community-based planning in Rural England

This paper reviews briefly the emergence of holistic governance at the strategic and very local levels in rural England before reporting a programme of action research designed to address the need to develop an effective 'bridge' between planning activity at those two levels. Attention is focused particularly upon the recent wave of parish and market town plans on the one hand and local strategic partnerships and community strategies on the other. Taking cognisance of relevant contextual literature relating to representative and participative democracy and to top-down and bottom-up planning, it draws conclusions about the challenge of developing a synergistic relationship between strategic and very local planning and about the prospects for reconciling some of the tensions pointed up in those theoretical debates

Exploring the regional politics of 'sustainability': making up sustainable communities in the South East of England

This paper sets to explore and clarify the nature of the politics associated with the institutional shift from government to governance, in the context of the rise of sustainability and sustainable communities as governance discourses. After critically considering the extent to which this represents a move to some sort of post-political settlement, it turns to reflect on the notion of assemblage as a means of interpreting emergent forms of politics and governance and exploring the ways in which different priorities may be negotiated in practice. It highlights the processes by which new political realities are assembled around particular concerns without necessarily ever being fully integrated into some overarching unified set of understandings. And it highlights continued tensions and divisions around sustainability and its implications, which undermine attempts to build a governing (or post-political) consensus. These issues are informed by a review of some aspects of the 'sustainable communities plan' and its implementation, with a particular focus on the South-East of England