CREATION OF LAND MARKETS IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INSTITUTIONS OF LAND ADMINISTRATION

This paper describes (1) the processes of privatization of land management in selected transition countries and (2) the post-privatization changes in land administration institutions which are being crafted to establish land markets. It begins with the proposition that there are similar land market institutional problems which most "transition" countries are facing, due largely to common experiences in creating command economies during the past 50-80 years and the almost simultaneous decisions of these countries to move toward market political economies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Each country has had unique historical experiences, but this paper proposes that there is enough similar institutional history among the transition countries to venture into comparative analysis. In this regard, the Albanian experience with land market institutional development is presented as being potentially relevant to experiences in other transition countries of Europe and the former Soviet Union. The broad question is: How can countries construct the institutions of immovable property markets once they have made the political-economic decision to "go market"?Land use--Government policy--Europe, Eastern, Land use--Economic aspects--Europe, Eastern, Land tenure--Government policy--Europe, Eastern, Land administration--Europe, Eastern, Land administration--Albania, Land markets--Europe, Eastern, Land markets--Albania, Privatization--Europe, Eastern, Post-communism, Land Economics/Use,

The UK workforce : realising our potential

for Business, a new UK-wide network of employer-led Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), supported and directed by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA). The purpose of Skills for Business is to bring employers more centre stage in articulating their skill needs and delivering skills-based productivity improvements that can enhance UK competitiveness and the effectiveness of public services. The remit of the SSDA includes establishing and progressing the network of SSCs, supporting the SSCs in the development of their own capacity and providing a range of core services. Additionally the SSDA has responsibility for representing sectors not covered by a SSC and co-ordinating action on cross cutting and generic skills issues. Research, and developing a sound evidence base, are central to the SSDA and to Skills for Business as a whole. It is crucial in: analysing productivity and skill needs; identifying priorities for action; and improving the evolving policy and skills agenda. It is vital that the SSDA research team works closely with partners already involved in skills and related research to generally drive up the quality o

IMMOVABLE PROPERTY MARKETS IN METROPOLITAN TIRANA, ALBANIA

This paper uses information from three empirical studies to describe, after seven years of privatization and real estate market transactions, how the physical space of the city of Tirana is presently organized, and how active real estate markets have been. The first empirical study, fielded in December 1997 (completed in January 1998), was based on an "area sample" of the city of Tirana. One-hectare grid squares were overlaid on the city's 3,060 hectares within the municipal boundary, and a random sample was taken of these grids. Eighteen grid squares within the ring roads (an area of 340 hectares) and 14 grid squares between the ring roads and the outer municipal boundary (an area of 2,720 hectares) were randomly selected. Within the selected grid squares of 1 hectare each, research teams visited each property and questioned the holders about its use, who owned it, when it was constructed, and other characteristics of the property. The sample values obtained from the questionnaires were then "expanded" by the sampling ratio to describe the physical space of Tirana within the city's municipal boundaries. The second study of the transactions recorded in the Hipoteka Office of Tirana was done in early 1998. All documents from 1993 through 1997 were classified according to type of property involved, and the number of transactions were tabulated. The third study of real estate prices from 1993 to 1997 was done based on the data of one real estate agency in February 1998. This database represents approximately 70 percent of all offerings of real estate for sale done through real estate agencies in Tirana.Real property--Prices--Albania--Tirana, Land use, Urban--Albania--Tirana, Land titles--Registration and transfer--Albania--Tirana, Real estate development--Albania--Tirana, Land markets--Albania--Tirana, Land tenure, Urban--Albania--Tirana, Land Economics/Use,

ALBANIAN LAND MARKET ACTION PLAN: PURPOSES, ACHIEVEMENTS, LESSONS

The transition in Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States from command to market-oriented economies requires new land market institutions and policies. Once privatization of land has moved far enough to permit and stimulate demand for market transactions, the question becomes one of establishing dynamic land markets (i.e., a growing volume of transactions) that also "work properly." Concerning the transition in the ownership and management of real property and the resultant efforts to create new land market institutions, the experience of Albania is instructive, and this paper outlines the establishment of an Albanian land market strategy. In the discussion of a market-oriented economy in Albania, the question was how to create the land market component of the transition following privatization of land. Four market characteristics were identified as goals: (1) the land market should be dynamic, that is, there should be numerous transactions; (2) acquisition of land through these transactions should be by people who make productive investments; (3) all sectors of the population should participate in the market as buyers and sellers of land rights; and (4) people's investments in land through these market transactions should result in sustainable uses of land so as to assure the environmental rights of future generations. This paper presents the effort to address these goals through the Land Market Action Plan, prepared by Albanian government with the assistance of the Land Tenure Center.Land titles--Registration and transfer--Albania, Land use--Government policy--Albania, Institution building --Albania--Evaluation, Technical assistance--Albania--Evaluation, Land administration--Albania, Project appraisal--Albania, Land markets--Albania, Land Economics/Use,

Social media in social work education. [Book Review]

Given the embryonic nature of social media in the field of social work, many of us have yet to develop confident expertise in its use and will appreciate the pragmatic and friendly encouragement offered by the editor. That established, the book is boldly introduced as one that will encourage readers to appreciate the value of social media in social work education, with some intelligent reflection on its challenges. In six chapters we are generously offered a range of social media “how-to” learning strategies with strong threads of theoretical and pedagogical rationale throughout

Positive Hermitian Curvature Flow on nilpotent and almost-abelian complex Lie groups

We study the positive Hermitian curvature flow on the space of left-invariant metrics on complex Lie groups. We show that in the nilpotent case, the flow exists for all positive times and subconverges in the Cheeger-Gromov sense to a soliton. We also show convergence to a soliton when the complex Lie group is almost abelian. That is, when its Lie algebra admits a (complex) co-dimension one abelian ideal. Finally, we study solitons in the almost-abelian setting. We prove uniqueness and completely classify all left-invariant, almost-abelian solitons, giving a method to construct examples in arbitrary dimensions, many of which admit co-compact lattices.Comment: 26 page

A Stranger in America : Queer Diasporic Writers and the American Politics of Exclusion

While the academic concept of queer diasporic studies is relatively new, the epistemic future of this interdisciplinary, intersectional, and inclusive field is already imperiled. Throughout recent years, bills seeking to expunge critical race and queer theory from not only the public education sector, but from the legally-defined “general public” as well, have been proposed by legislators throughout the United States. To combat this assault upon marginalized educators, scholars, and authors, one must first understand what is at stake; the rich site of contemporary, queer diasporic poetry provides one such example. By situating these poems within their complex cultural, political, and historical contexts, the proximity of today’s oppressive legislature to America’s colonialist, imperialist, and even fascist history become disturbingly clear

Social work kete: Designing social media use in Aotearoa New Zealand

Oral Presentation Submitter: Deb Stanfield, Te Kuratini o Waikato (Wintec), Aotearoa New Zealand The social work kete: Designing social media practice in Aotearoa New Zealand Kete is a Māori word used widely in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. For English speakers, it is translated to mean “basket” or “kit,” is traditionally flax woven, and symbolises a vessel containing knowledge, principles and practices to guide us in our lives and in our work. The social work kete represents the toolkit of the profession and is a metaphor commonly used by social workers in this country to describe that which informs their practice and reflects their identity as professionals. This presentation describes how participants in an ongoing mixed methods Aotearoa New Zealand study explored their social work kete to make sense of social media and its place in their practice. For example, the kete was described as a source of professional wisdom to guide ethical and competent social media use. It was also described as needing replenishment, lacking the technical and critical skills required in this digital age. Participants expressed fear about “shiny” new social media tools invading the kete, displacing core interpersonal skills so important to the profession. They were also enthusiastic about the potential of social media for the profession, for social justice and democracy, and considered how a modern social work kete might be woven to reflect social change while still retaining the core identity of the profession. Social media and other forms of internet technology have a profound and continuing impact on society. Social workers are grappling with its ethical and practice implications, are asking questions about its risk to vulnerable people, and its impact on equality. This presentation shares creative, cultural insights from social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand who participated in interviews and focus groups exploring their relationship with social media