Inclusive leadership and governance

  • Language rights in local governance, South Africa

    This teaching case illustrates the importance of communities to engage the municipality in their own language and the tension and potential exclusion that arises when community members are forced to engage in a mainstream language. On the one hand, the municipal administration, working with limited resources, wants to limit the number of languages used, and…

  • Reducing the negative effects of climate change: Lessons from the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change in Budapest

    Reducing the negative effects of climate change: Lessons from the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change in Budapest

    In 2020 the City Council of Budapest invited locals to take part in the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change in order to develop a climate strategy that matched people’s lives and aspirations. This policy brief provides empirical evidence of how local governments can address the problems of climate change in cooperation with non-governmental organisations and…

  • Håbo, Livingstone and Victoria Falls – Zambia/Zimbabwe

    Håbo, Livingstone and Victoria Falls – Zambia/Zimbabwe

    Youth Rights Connect Håbo, Livingstone and Victoria Falls municipalities are carrying out an Inception to have the opportunity to jointly develop a project plan closely linked to human right topics youth rights to participation, education and well being and Agenda 2030, Goals: 1 No Poverty, 3 Good health and Well-being, 4 Quality Education and 5…

  • Falkenberg, Sundays river valley och Sarah Baartman district – South Africa

    Falkenberg, Sundays river valley och Sarah Baartman district – South Africa

    Building bridges The partners state that children and youth exclusion often is perpetuated by poverty and inequality, which limit access to resources and opportunities for young people to improve their social mobility and economic prospects. For the South African partners the objectives are to gain capability to: No interventions or activities for youth shall be…

  • Ekerö och Cape Agulhas, Sydafrika

    Ekerö och Cape Agulhas, Sydafrika

    Inclusion through developing dialogue and cooperation between civil society and the municipality The aim of the project is to investigate how to develop dialogue and cooperation between civil society (non-governmental organisations or networks and citizens) and the respective municipalities. A focus area for the cooperation will be identified, such as developing methods for citizen dialogue,…

  • Haparanda and Solwezi – Zambia

    Haparanda and Solwezi – Zambia

    Empowering of women and youth in local democracy and development work Haparanda and Solwezi are carrying out this Inception to have the opportunity to jointly develop a project plan closely linked to issues of inequality and empowering of women. The partners intend to find strengthening approaches to improve developmental inequalities through equitable service delivery without…

  • Valdemarsvik, Palapye and Central district – Botswana

    Valdemarsvik, Palapye and Central district – Botswana

    Ensuring youth participation The two municipalities cooperating with the district level in Botswana, though the involvement of Central district in the partnership, are committed to achieving Agenda 2030 through a rightsbased approach and aim to work more systematically with human rights at a local level. At this stage both partners have established a mutual challenge…

  • Incorporating immigrant voices? Formal access to participatory mechanisms in the city of Barcelona

    Incorporating immigrant voices? Formal access to participatory mechanisms in the city of Barcelona

    Democratic innovations to enhance the participation of city-zens in urban settings have advanced in the world in the last decades. Avenues such as citizens’ assemblies, deliberative polls, participatory budgeting, e-petitions and online consultations have become part of the repertoire of participation available to urban residents. However, a pending question is whether local authorities envision specific…

  • Closing or keeping open public schools during COVID-19 in Serbia: finding the middle way

    Closing or keeping open public schools during COVID-19 in Serbia: finding the middle way

    This policy brief offers a practical, feasible action plan for how to preserve and enhance the provision of public education in deprived suburban neighbourhoods during a pandemic. Based on critical insights collected in the past year at the urban periphery of Belgrade (Serbia), the brief suggests a shift in perceiving public schools in deprived suburban…

  • Public procurement reforms in rural local authorities in Zimbabwe

    Public procurement reforms in rural local authorities in Zimbabwe

    Prior to the introduction of the new procurement reforms in 2018, the public sector in Zimbabwe operated a centralised, corrupt, chaotic, and inefficient system which had a negative impact on good local governance and democracy. The ushering in of the new public procurement reforms in 2018 was a welcome development as it advocated for the…