Designing for Inclusion
A Municipal Accessibility Toolbox Editors: Felicia Wede and Irena Lakobrija Delić This toolbox is based on the Guidelines for Accessibility and Universal Design for Cities and Municipalities, developed by Vračar Municipality in partnership with Borås City, Sweden. It translates these guidelines into practical support for municipalities to plan and deliver accessible services, emphasising the need…
ICLD Annual Report 2025
ICLD’s Annual Report 2025 provides an overview of the organisation’s activities and achievements during the year. The first section highlights selected activities and results from 2025, illustrated with photographs and key figures. The second section contains the Directors’ Report, which provides a more detailed account of the organisation’s operations. It also includes the Income Statement…
Just Transition in Plastic Governance
Guide for local and national decision-makers This brief provides practical guidance for authorities seeking to improve plastic regulation and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) implementation. Based on evidence from Mombasa, Kenya, it shows how governance arrangements that engage waste pickers can reduce plastic leakage, improve environmental and health outcomes, and strengthen the cost-effectiveness of public action,…
Brand Audits
A tool for local governments to foster a just and plastic-free transition County governments carry the costs of plastic pollution but lack the tools to enforce producer accountability. Brand audits provide a cost-effective, citizen-led method to support EPR enforcement. Participatory audits strengthen local democracy, transparency, and inclusion of waste pickers. Institutionalizing brand audits can advance…
Designing participation for better health outcomes
What Local Governments Can Learn from Participatory Budgeting in Kenya Participatory budgeting is widely promoted as a way to strengthen local democracy, but evidence on its effects on concrete development outcomes – especially health – remains limited. This policy brief summarises findings from a randomised controlled trial in rural Kenya that tested three forms of…
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…
Developing Youth Councils
This toolbox has been compiled to help local government officials and politicians who want to start, improve, and maintain their own youth councils. It provides both inspiration and a step-by-step guide for setting up and managing these councils. It also explores the questions and challenges youth councils often face and shares some of the lessons…
Human Rights-Based Approach for local goverments
Why, What and How? The purpose of this introduction to Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) is to give you, as a local government employee or elected local government politician, an understanding of why local governments should apply HRBA, what HRBA is, and how HRBA is used by local governments in everyday policy and practice. This introduction…
Using Digital Tools to Improve ServiceDelivery: Pemba Town Council, Zambia
Digital transformation has emerged as a new way of doing business using technology. Many national governments have adopted the use of digital tools, but its adoption by local governments, particularly in developing countries, presents some challenges. This research was aimed at helping Pemba Town Council in Zambia to explore how it can improve service delivery…
Designing Local Democracy for Health: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial on Public Participation in Kenya
Participatory governance mechanisms, particularly participatory budgeting (PB), aim to give citizens a direct role in public spending decisions. While celebrated globally, evidence of their real-world impact, especially in low-income settings is limited. Study Design We conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, assigning 200 villages to one of three PB formats: consultation,…
