Lessons from a Stakeholder Engagement Process for Penang, Malaysia
– Author: Minal Pathak • MIT-UTM Malaysia Sustainable Cities Program 2017
– Commentary by Eric Britton, Professor of Sustainable Development, Institut Supérieur de Gestion Paris
Category Archives: Governance
Governance, in our read of the evidence, refers to the fine art of directing public policy to specific ends, Governance can be bad as all too often can be the case, and indeed it is important to be aware of the conditions and pitfalls which lead to bad governance. Good governance, really creative and positive action in the public interest over time, is rare but absolutely essential for the transition to sustainable cities and sustainable lives. Good governance is the firm backbone of government, referring to the actions and processes by which stable practices and organizations arise and persist. Equity, resilience and continuity are key elements of good governance.
In World Streets we give continuous attention day after day to bringing to our readers’ attention examples of good governance — and we look for and at them at the three main levels of government: international, national and local. Because the great majority of all decisions concerning transportation and public space are led (or at least should be) by local government, as the principal of subsidiarity wisely suggests, that is where we direct the greater part of our efforts and attention.
SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY’S BITTER PILL (And why most politicians do not want to swallow it)
Maybe it will take care of itself.
An even dozen hard facts that politicians, administrators, accountants and engineers are finding it very hard to accept – but without which they will never be able to lead the transition to sustainable mobility and a sustainable city.
THANK YOU FINLAND ON YOUR HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE AND EXEMPLARITY: Efficiency, equity, education, democracy, environment, accomplishment, modesty and fresh ideas . . . (You’d be singing too)
Part I: Flashmob in Helsinki
A flashmob choral intrusion that took place on one more winter day in the main train station of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. But what are they singling about?
(A flash mob (just to recall and in case you were out shopping at the time) is an unannounced event involving, by all appearance,s an unrelated group of people who suddenly emerge from the shadows and assemble in a public place, perform an unusual and unexplained act for a brief time, then quickly disperse and continue on their ways. As you can just see here.)
Part II. A Finnish story
A bit of context in case you your Finnish history needs a reminder. Here you have a brief introductory text (quickly translate, apologies) to an excellent one hour documentary that has just appeared on Arte, the French/German public television. (Sadly not yet available in English, so you can test your French, German, Finnish and the striking images which tell a story of their own.)
The New Circular Economy: Vision, Strategy, Policy, Practice – An Introduction
– Eric Britton, ISG, Paris, 15 November 2017.
An Open Collaborative Policy Research Program
Making some progress in exploring the Circular Economy/Public Policy interface, in the context of our master classes and advisory program on Sustainable Development, Economy and Democracy. Here is how things are starting to shape up at this still early point.
“Transport Refugees” – Victims of Unjust Transport Policies (From our 2009 archives and worthy of your attention today)
The term “refugee” if used in the context of transportation would normally be understood to mean “the movement of refugees”. But what we fail to comprehend is that for various reasons it is our own transport systems, and the values and decisions that shape them, that are making many of us “refugees” in our own cities? It does not have to be this way.
Taiwan East/West New Mobility Innovation Challenge 2017. Events: Getting ready for Taiwan 2017 Collaborative Mission
Events: Getting ready for Taiwan 2017 Collaborative Mission
This year’s program combines site visits, brainstorming sessions, conferences, presentations and vigorous questioning, looking, listening and co-learning with my esteemed long time Taiwanese friends and colleagues.from 22 September to 4 October. Among the main events and presentations:
Battles of Ideas
This section is intended to be developed into an international reference set to be useful for researchers, students, the media and for concerned citizens and activists on the lookout for ideas and strategies which can be put to work in their own cities.
The goal is to give our readers a chance to weigh and appreciate the very wide range of ways of thinking, questioning, planning and executing when it comes to how transport in cities is being organized and delivered in different parts of the world. The references you find here are for the most part organized into countries, with the exception of the African continent which is included in its totality as a region that desperately requires more attention because the needs there are so enormous — and the fact that the fit with frugal, sustainable transport strategies simply could not be better.
