2005

In recent years, the main focus of territorial policy has been on sustaining growth, not only to address relative decline, but also to make regions more competitive. Putting this in practice is complicated because different regions have different characteristics (urban, intermediate, industrial, rural, etc.), which imply specific policy and inves ....

The PASCAL Observatory is a UK / Australian collaboration that shares research on social capital, learning regions and place management. The observatory recognises the necessity of partnerships for the successful implementation of policy. Three initiatives that illustrate ways in which governments can intervene to promote social ob ....

The continued productivity of urban economies depends upon the provision of urban infrastructure and social services. And, a large share of the service-provision role is conventionally assigned to local government as tastes and preferences vary among individuals and communities. This requires financing the public expenditures and, altho ....

This paper analyses recent health reform agenda in Canada. From 1988 until 1997, the first phase of reforms focused on service integration through regionalisation and a rebalancing of services from illness care to prevention and wellness. The second phase, which has been layered onto the ongoing first phase, is concerned with fisca ....

This paper presents the results of work undertaken to develop small area indexes of community capacity and need, and apply these indexes to identify those regions in Australia with a combination of reasonably high need and good levels of community capacity. These regions form possible suggested areas for the targeting of The Smith ....

Young people living in the Shire of Yarra Ranges experience many of the issues faced by young people across Victoria. However, for young people living on the urban fringe these issues are compounded by environmental and social factors unique to these areas. As a result of many factors impacting on young people living in the urban f ....

Richard Florida's theory of the 'creative class', new regionalism's emphasis on regional networks for innovation, and the business literature on the so-called 'new' or 'networked' economy, all point to the important link between creative thinking and economic success for regions. Out of this intellectual climate have come the curre ....

"I've set myself the modest task of trying to explain the broad pattern of human history, on all the continents, for the last 13,000 years. Why did history take such different evolutionary courses for peoples of different continents? This problem has fascinated me for a long time, but it's now ripe for a new synthesis because of recent advances i ....

A scoping study examining the best way to present material on the common hydro-geological systems where irrigation areas are situated and which hydro-geological systems should be represented concluded that there is potential and support for a project which increases awareness of the similarities and differences across irrigation re ....

This book examines the resurgence in Australia of locality-based social policy (concerned with the spatial dimensions of disadvantage), after the political failures of the market oriented approach to regional reform. The book proposes that these trends are leading to a new 'post-competition' policy regime in Australia that mirrors global policy t ....

Three communities, the small rural shire of Nebo Shire in Central Queensland, the remote area council of Lockhart River in Cape York and the large, urban Ipswich City Council in South East Queensland, used various strategies to engage councillors, council staff and the community. These case studies highlight the challenges of desig ....

Despite provision of funding to support the establishment of online communities, web sites and regional web portals in regional and rural communities, many projects fail or stall once the initial funding has been expended. This publication is intended for use by community groups to develop their own Internet communications strategy ....

Sport is often regarded as an important part of life in rural Australia, contributing to community identity, sense of place, social interaction and good health. The involvement of rural citizens in sport also has the potential to contribute to social capital. Understood in simple terms as norms of reciprocity and associational life, social capita ....

The Far North Queensland Citizen\'s Jury (FNQCJ) attempted to replicate the ideals of deliberative democracy in considering future management options for the Bloomfield Track, a controversial road between Cape Tribulation Qld and the Bloomfield River Qld. The FNQCJ consisted of 12 randomly selected citizens from the region who visited t ....