Local economic development, innovation and livelihoods

  • Responsive Local Governance Matters

    Responsive Local Governance Matters

    Insights for Strengthening Citizen Participation from wartime Ukraine This policy brief presents the most effective ways to promote citizen participation in local issues during wartime. War presents a unique environment characterized by significant physical danger, mental and physical fatigue for both citizens and officials, and geopolitical instability. As a result, the brief also explores how…

  • Responsive Local Governance Matters

    Responsive Local Governance Matters

    Insights for Strengthening Citizen Participation from wartime Ukraine This policy brief presents the most effective ways to promote citizen participation in local issues during wartime. War presents a unique environment characterized by significant physical danger, mental and physical fatigue for both citizens and officials, and geopolitical instability. As a result, the brief also explores how…

  • Unlocking Climate Finance for Local Goverments in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Unlocking Climate Finance for Local Goverments in Sub-Saharan Africa

    A practical guide for municipal and regional officials Local governments are on the frontline of climate change. Across sub-Saharan Africa, municipalities and regions are facing growing climate-related risks such as floods, droughts, extreme heat, and water stress, while often working with limited financial and institutional capacity. This toolbox has been developed as a practical guide…

  • Unlocking Climate Finance for Local Goverments in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Unlocking Climate Finance for Local Goverments in Sub-Saharan Africa

    A practical guide for municipal and regional officials Local governments are on the frontline of climate change. Across sub-Saharan Africa, municipalities and regions are facing growing climate-related risks such as floods, droughts, extreme heat, and water stress, while often working with limited financial and institutional capacity. This toolbox has been developed as a practical guide…

  • Towards a Just Transition in Plastic Governance: Grassroots Waste Pickers, Participatory Spaces, and Environmental Democracy in Kenya

    Towards a Just Transition in Plastic Governance: Grassroots Waste Pickers, Participatory Spaces, and Environmental Democracy in Kenya

    This study draws on the case of Mombasa county, Kenya, to examine the participatory spaces through which grassroots waste pickers engage local government and the implications for a just transition in plastic governance. Using environmental democracy and grassroots innovation frameworks, the analysis extends Gaventa’s typology of invited and created spaces by introducing co-created spaces emerging…

  • Towards a Just Transition in Plastic Governance: Grassroots Waste Pickers, Participatory Spaces, and Environmental Democracy in Kenya

    Towards a Just Transition in Plastic Governance: Grassroots Waste Pickers, Participatory Spaces, and Environmental Democracy in Kenya

    This study draws on the case of Mombasa county, Kenya, to examine the participatory spaces through which grassroots waste pickers engage local government and the implications for a just transition in plastic governance. Using environmental democracy and grassroots innovation frameworks, the analysis extends Gaventa’s typology of invited and created spaces by introducing co-created spaces emerging…

  • Voluntary Local Review (VLR) of Klapmuts & Kayamandi Townships: Stellenbosch Municipality, South Africa

    Voluntary Local Review (VLR) of Klapmuts & Kayamandi Townships: Stellenbosch Municipality, South Africa

    This report responds to the growing need for voluntary local reviews (VLRs) of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) progress at the municipal level. It presents the findings of a community-based assessment conducted in the informal townships of Klapmuts and Kayamandi, both located within the Stellenbosch Municipality of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. In line with…

  • Voluntary Local Review (VLR) of Klapmuts & Kayamandi Townships: Stellenbosch Municipality, South Africa

    Voluntary Local Review (VLR) of Klapmuts & Kayamandi Townships: Stellenbosch Municipality, South Africa

    This report responds to the growing need for voluntary local reviews (VLRs) of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) progress at the municipal level. It presents the findings of a community-based assessment conducted in the informal townships of Klapmuts and Kayamandi, both located within the Stellenbosch Municipality of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. In line with…

  • Advancing Democracy and Resilience through Industrial and Urban Symbiosis

    Advancing Democracy and Resilience through Industrial and Urban Symbiosis

    This learning case offers insights into how local governments can advance climate justice by embedding accountability, transparency, equity, and civic participation. It invites local governments who seek to actively promote circular economy to learn about a holistic approach to public-private partnerships and the “industry cluster” method. It illustrates how strengthening local democracy is, and should…

  • Advancing Democracy and Resilience through Industrial and Urban Symbiosis

    Advancing Democracy and Resilience through Industrial and Urban Symbiosis

    This learning case offers insights into how local governments can advance climate justice by embedding accountability, transparency, equity, and civic participation. It invites local governments who seek to actively promote circular economy to learn about a holistic approach to public-private partnerships and the “industry cluster” method. It illustrates how strengthening local democracy is, and should…