Annual report 2020
“In a time when there is a real need for local democracy, the whole world has suffered a pandemic unparalleled in terms of infection and distribution. The Corona virus has shown, with all the clarity one could desire, that we are all part of a shared, global world. It has also shown that combatting infection…
Opportunities for Sustainable Water Governance in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
Many citizens in Ranchi, Jharkhand, suffer from the consequences of contaminated drinking water. The city’s water governance system therefore urgently needs to find ways to bring safe drinking water to its people. Prevalent models in water governance however do not provide effective guidance for the necessary transition process. They lack heuristics that facilitate an in-depth…
Local Democracy in Health Emergency
This paper analyzes how local governments along with local communities have responded to the health emergency during the pandemic COVID-19. We conducted both content analysis and in-depth interviews to gather data. While the government followed a regulatory approach to enforce lockdown and health measures, we found that an inclusive and resilient community model may be…
Climate change is not the cause, migration is not the problem: Local representation and precarious young farmers leaving Senegal
This project examines the role of local governments in generating or reducing the current trend in which vulnerable people are migrating out of areas where climate variability is viewed as a driver of outmigration. The project seeks to identify means to make policy and practical responses to climate change supportive of local democracy – to…
Organising grassroots initiatives for a more inclusive governance: constructing the city from below
With ever increasing numbers of people moving to urban areas, the world is facing increasing pressure on both ecological and human environments. Most of this growth is occurring in unplanned and underserved settlements in low- and middle-income countries. As the authors say, the resources and approaches needed to incorporate people and citizen-led initiatives into a…
Recentralisation? Interrogating the state of local democracy, good governance and development in Tanzania
This report investigates the extent to which Tanzanian Local Government Reform Programme has brought about more democratic decision-making processes. The main findings point to several positive changes. Good governance reforms, aiming to restructure central and local governments, have been undertaken and implemented. Parliament and the councils have been strengthened, as well as civil society organisations…
Global talk – Local walk, SDG#5 on Gender Equality
The aim of this study is to understand the processes of implementing Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality into policies and practices at the municipal level in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). Our research answers the following research questions: 1) What supportive policy frameworks exist at the federal, entity, canton and municipal level in BiH to support…
Child influence in local governments
This policy brief is based on the key lessons derived from a case study investigating how local governments can create conditions for child influence in decision making processes. The study was conducted by Christopher Owambla and Cornel Ogutu in 2019 who looked at municipal partnerships i three countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It is hoped…
Engagement of people with functional variation in the urban planning processes in Russia and Sweden
The inclusion of all people in local political and urban planning decision-making is one of the foundations of local democracy. This briefing paper examines a simple transferable methodology for assessing the usability of our city spaces for persons with functional variation. The focus is on the everyday experiences as people use the city in their…
Community Currencies as means of Local Economic Empowerment
Community currencies have emerged as a tool for building more inclusive local economic development and governance. Grassroots organisations in Nairobi and Mombasa (Kenya) have been experimenting with this form of local monies. Communities in informal settlements in Kisumu have shown interest in introducing their own community currency. Challenges remain concerning the best diffusion strategy of…
