tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/local-communities-26804/articleslocal communities – The Conversation2023-11-21T16:54:06Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2160342023-11-21T16:54:06Z2023-11-21T16:54:06ZHigh-street regeneration has to start with community trust and care<p>When British discount retailer Wilko shut its remaining 68 stores in October 2023, people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/08/wilko-staff-mourn-final-weekend">mourned</a> what they took these closures to signal: the demise of the high street. </p>
<p>The potential or actual <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-street-strategy-recovery-will-take-more-than-street-parties-and-more-bins-164729#:%7E:text=The%20markers%20the%20government%20has,and%20activities%20%E2%80%93%20are%20not%20new.">decline</a> of England’s town and city centres has <a href="https://www.retailresearch.org/retail-crisis.html">long</a> preoccupied community groups, government officials and even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/08/how-the-uks-dying-high-streets-are-being-given-new-life-by-pop-up-shops-and-galleries">artist collectives</a>.</p>
<p>In the 1970s and 1980s, traditional high streets were seen to be struggling to compete with out-of-town shopping centres. More recently, <a href="https://theconversation.com/future-of-high-streets-how-to-prevent-our-city-centres-from-turning-into-ghost-towns-154108">online retail</a> has been blamed. One quarter of UK retail spending <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/timeseries/j4mc/drsi">now happens online</a>. </p>
<p>The government has devised several policies in response – from the “vital and viable town centres” <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view/405499">initiative</a> of 1994 to the “future of our high streets” <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-portas-review-the-future-of-our-high-streets">Portas review</a> of 2011 and, more recently, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-high-streets-fund">Future High Streets Fund</a>, launched in 2018.</p>
<p>The Power to Change charity exists to distribute a £150 million endowment from the National Lottery Community Fund. In 2020, it proposed to fund <a href="https://www.powertochange.org.uk/research/community-improvement-districts-discussion-paper/">community improvement districts</a>. These high-street regeneration plans involve community representatives – voluntary organisations, local residents, high street traders and businesses, and public services. </p>
<p>Between 2022 and 2023, we tracked the progress of the first seven community improvement projects. We facilitated eventsand interviewed project leaders and key partners in their local areas. Our report <a href="https://www.powertochange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/FINAL-PTC-CID-report092023.pdf">shows</a> trust-building is crucial and that too often, communities feel that regeneration projects are imposed on them, for the benefit of councils and developers. </p>
<h2>England’s first seven community improvement districts</h2>
<p>Five of the pilots we studied were in Skelmersdale, Lancashire; Hendon, Sunderland; Stretford, Greater Manchester; Wolverton, Milton Keynes, and Ipswich. They each received £20,000 from Power to Change. Two further projects in Kilburn High Road and Wood Green High Road, two busy thoroughfares in North London received an additional £20,000 each from the Greater London Authority. </p>
<p>Some projects, including those in Skelmersdale and Kilburn, were new initiatives. Others, such as Hendon and Wolverton, built on decades of previous activity. The idea was that each would be undertaken with some form of local partnership and that local people would be consulted, through events and meetings, to find out what they wanted in their local high street. </p>
<p>We found that the pilot projects worked best when they managed to encourage this kind of conversation. Members of the public, community-based organisations such as charities and faith groups, local traders and property owners talked to each other and found common ground.</p>
<p>In Kilburn, the London Borough of Camden, which was coordinating the <a href="https://onekilburn.commonplace.is">One Kilburn</a> project, employed local residents as so-called “community activators”, to bring local people together. Through these informal conversations, the project team discovered that a particular local concern was the lack of public toilets on Kilburn High Road. They organised a “toilet hackathon”, involving local residents and landowners, including Transport for London, discussing potential solutions.</p>
<p>In Milton Keynes, the project organiser, Future Wolverton (a well established community benefit society), aims to revitalise the town centre alongside a separate scheme to redevelop the site of a demolished 1970s shopping mall. When it had the opportunity to take over the premises of a former charity shop, it used the space to ask residents what they wanted for the town. It also offered opportunities to businesses which couldn’t afford commercial space. </p>
<p>One of the most popular activities it implemented was a repair cafe, where residents could get things fixed and learn how to mend clothes or electrical items. This would not have happened without local people being trusted to come up with ideas.</p>
<p>In Sunderland, meanwhile, the <a href="https://backonthemap.org">Back on the Map</a> charity – what is known as a “community anchor organisation” with a 20-year track record of local grassroots activity – worked with the council. The charity proposed to arrange for vouchers issued by the council to support people suffering hardship to be valid in local shops. This, it argued, would support local traders who were also struggling because of the cost-of-living crisis. </p>
<p>Here, the project focused on Villette Road, in Hendon: a neighbourhood high street that had a reputation for crime and was blighted with shuttered shops. One of the initiatives, that wasn’t expensive but sent a strong signal to the community, was to installation the street’s first Christmas tree for almost a century. The charity also put up signs branding the street as the “<a href="https://backonthemap.org/heart-of-hendon/">heart of Hendon</a>”. As one member of the project team* put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Having the street branded and have somebody care about the street again, it made the traders come together as a collective with a shared vision rather than just having individual conversations where it was just moaning about things, it turned it around to a more positive conversation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Research <a href="https://www.shu.ac.uk/news/all-articles/latest-news/community-ownership-levelling-up-high-streets-research">shows</a> regeneration needs to respect and build on people’s attachments to the places they live and work in. Local people need to have the sense that decision-makers are listening to their concerns.</p>
<p>Expensive capital and real estate-led projects often fail to do this. Instead, they tend to rely on private developers, who invest in places in return for profit and do not yield the regeneration they promise. This has been demonstrated by the <a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/hackney-walk-how-david-adjayes-fashion-mecca-ended-up-a-ghost-town">reported</a> debacle of the Hackney Walk fashion hub in east London. Here, the £100m luxury redevelopment of a suite of railway arches saw local businesses evicted to make way for big-name fashion brands, which, in the absence of the promised footfall that brought them there, have all since closed down. </p>
<p>Hackney Walk is, as journalist Simon Usborne <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/11/hackney-walk-east-london-regeneration-ghost-town">puts it</a>, an example of exactly “what not to do”. It is too early to know whether the seven projects we’ve worked on will yield better long-term economic and social impacts. What is clear, however, is that in involving communities on an equal basis, they are starting from a better place. People need to have their say in decisions made about where they live.</p>
<p>*<em>All our interviewees’ names are withheld for anonymity</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216034/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheffield Hallam University was funded by Power to Change to conduct the research on which this article is based. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara González receives funding from the United Kingdom Research Innovation and the European Commission and sits in the Steering Group of Foodwise, the Leeds Food Partnership</span></em></p>Capital-driven regeneration projects rarely deliver because they focus on profit, not local people’s needs.Julian Dobson, Senior Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam UniversitySara González, Professor in Human Critical Geography, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1699522021-10-15T07:00:49Z2021-10-15T07:00:49ZMunicipalities can play a key role in South Africa’s economic development. Here’s how<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426493/original/file-20211014-16-1ies09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Medium-sized towns like Mossel Bay have a key role to play in South Africa's development.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Local economic development and better municipal service delivery are vital if South Africa wants to broaden economic participation and reverse its <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02112ndQuarter2021.pdf#page=8">unemployment trend</a>.</p>
<p>To achieve these objectives, it is necessary to strengthen municipal finances and investment. Good municipal governance is a prerequisite. <a href="https://www.sacities.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IMC-Report-2021.pdf#page=12">Intermediate city municipalities</a> have an important role to play, because urban development is critical for growth and investment. It may also reduce the pressure caused by urbanisation to metros. </p>
<p>Municipalities should:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>provide democratic and accountable governance for local communities</p></li>
<li><p>ensure the provision of services in a sustainable way </p></li>
<li><p>promote social and economic development as well as a safe and healthy environment </p></li>
<li><p>encourage the involvement of communities in matters of local government. </p></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://www.agsa.co.za/Portals/0/Reports/MFMA/201920/Section%2001%20Executive%20Summary.pdf">Current outcomes</a> suggest that South Africa’s municipalities are failing in many of these respects.</p>
<p>The consequences for the country are dire and widespread. Municipal failure not only affects large businesses. It also has an impact on households, small, medium and micro-enterprises and other investors in local economies.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=14660">Economic growth</a>, job creation and local economic development initiatives depend on municipal finances. They become constrained when local governments don’t function well. Households directly suffer the consequences when basic service delivery is poor. But the problems extend beyond the household level. </p>
<p>Municipalities need to provide the infrastructure and basic services that support a favourable investment climate. Without this investment, deepening unemployment and poverty may follow. This has the further effect of eroding the local tax base, increasing municipal dependence on fiscal transfers and worsening South Africa’s already constrained fiscal environment. </p>
<h2>Ripple effects</h2>
<p>Two examples illustrate how municipal failure can have a direct negative impact on local economic development. </p>
<p>The first is Clover, the food and beverage company. It has announced that it’s <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/clover-closes-sas-biggest-cheese-factory-due-to-poor-service-delivery-by-north-west-town-d737612c-a00c-4e4b-92c8-b71137d7b3f9">closing its cheese processing facility</a> in Lichtenburg in the North West province. Production will be moved to an existing plant outside Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. </p>
<p>The company attributed the decision to ongoing problems with service delivery by the Ditsobotla Local Municipality. It specifically mentioned water and electricity outages as well as the poor quality of roads. The move is estimated to lead to 330 job losses in the Lichtenburg economy.</p>
<p>Another example is <a href="https://www.astralfoods.com/">Astral Foods</a>, one of South Africa’s largest poultry producers. The company owns a processing plant in Standerton in the Lekwa municipality. Astral took legal action against the municipality due to severe supply disruptions caused by disintegrating infrastructure. Power cuts and water shortages reportedly <a href="https://www.astralfoods.com/assets/Documents/News/News/2020/Astral%20Final%20Results%20Press%20Release%20for%20the%20year%20ended%2030%20September%202020.pdf#page=2">cost the company around R62 million</a> in its latest financial year. </p>
<p>A court ordered the municipality to submit a long-term plan to repair and improve the infrastructure.</p>
<p>But this didn’t improve outcomes. Earlier this year <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/companies/standerton-chicken-producer-gets-court-order-to-force-govt-to-supply-town-with-water-electricity-20210413">a new court order</a> was issued. This required national government and the treasury to intervene and prepare a financial recovery plan. </p>
<h2>The scale of the problem</h2>
<p>We set out to better understand the degree of municipal failure across different types of municipalities. In <a href="https://www.ber.ac.za/BER%20Documents/BER-Research-Notes/?doctypeid=1070#15007">our research note</a> we drew a comparison between metros, <a href="https://www.sacities.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/IMC-Report-2021.pdf#page=9">intermediate city municipalities</a>, and other local municipalities.</p>
<p>The population density, potential economic activity and resource base of intermediate city municipalities suggest that good local government could unlock substantial economic opportunities in these hubs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426442/original/file-20211014-27-z3wshs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426442/original/file-20211014-27-z3wshs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426442/original/file-20211014-27-z3wshs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426442/original/file-20211014-27-z3wshs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=642&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426442/original/file-20211014-27-z3wshs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426442/original/file-20211014-27-z3wshs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426442/original/file-20211014-27-z3wshs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=807&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Overview of different spheres of local government.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bureau for Economic Research/The State of South African Cities, 2016</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Creating economic opportunities in intermediate city municipalities may also reduce some of the service delivery pressure caused by <a href="https://pmg.org.za/page/Urbanisation">urbanisation</a> to metros. It may help create a less skewed spatial distribution of economic activity and opportunities. </p>
<p>It is important to remember that municipalities have varying blends of service delivery responsibilities across rural and urban zones. They face different opportunities in terms of access to revenue. Hence, not all face an equal set of challenges. </p>
<p>In addition, municipalities form part of the broader architecture of government. They are therefore interdependent on national, provincial and district government functions. They also need entities such as the power utility <a href="https://www.eskom.co.za/Pages/Landing.aspx">Eskom</a> and the water boards to function properly. Municipalities cannot influence local economic development in isolation from these agents. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ber.ac.za/BER%20Documents/BER-Research-Notes/?doctypeid=1070#15007">Our research note</a> identifies several cross-cutting problems within South Africa’s local government sphere.</p>
<p>We look at service delivery and explain how issues in supply chain management and the audit process can cause poor or non-delivery of basic services. We also highlight some financial performance metrics that contribute to poor outcomes. Examples include low expenditure on repairs and maintenance and inadequate debt collection rates.</p>
<p>Finally, personnel vacancy rates are high. And there is a lack of competencies. Political influence and interference in the appointment of managers and other municipal executives contribute to the problem. </p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<p>It is important to ensure that professionals have the necessary qualifications. </p>
<p>It may help if municipal managers are required to register with professional bodies. What may also assist is ensuring that appointments are merit-based and made without undue political influence. This is particularly important within the administrative arm of local municipalities.</p>
<p>Also, a mechanism that sanctions or removes municipal officials from their positions if they are consistently underperforming might contribute to better outcomes.</p>
<p>Supply chain management and audit processes need to prevent fraud and corruption. But they shouldn’t hamper spending. Nor should they shift the focus away from core municipal functions. The need to find a less cumbersome supply chain management process is critical. This should have a stronger focus on strengthening financial management and responsibility for service delivery. It wouldn’t simply focus on the minutiae of compliance and <a href="https://www.agsa.co.za/Portals/0/MFMA%202014-15/Section%201-9%20MFMA%202014-2015/FINAL%20MEDIA%20RELEASE%20(MFMA%202016)%20FN.pdf">post-facto audit interrogations</a>. </p>
<p>The regulatory system should enhance rather than paralyse service delivery. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ber.ac.za/BER%20Documents/BER-Research-Notes/?doctypeid=1070#15007">complex developmental problems</a> that South Africa faces cannot be solved with local municipalities operating in isolation.</p>
<p>There is a need for better management of inter-jurisdictional collaboration between the players. They include municipalities, water boards, provinces, Eskom and national departments. </p>
<p>Public-private partnerships may also provide valuable opportunities. These could, for example, help improve the management, expansion, maintenance and operation of select revenue-generating components of service delivery. Water, sewerage and sanitation and solid waste management come to mind. </p>
<p>But not all municipalities have the skills to manage such projects. Many may need technical support. These initiatives should be planned well and should not be the consequence of inadequate capacity or skills within municipalities. These considerations could contribute to better outcomes and improved service delivery.</p>
<p>The important developmental role that intermediate city municipalities can play in creating employment and stimulating economic growth suggest that these areas in particular should be prioritised.</p>
<p><em>This article is an extract from <a href="https://www.ber.ac.za/BER%20Documents/BER-Research-Notes/?doctypeid=1070#15007">South Africa’s municipal challenges and their impact on local economic development</a>, a research note published by the Bureau for Economic Research at the University of Stellenbosch.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169952/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The important developmental role that intermediate city municipalities can play in creating employment and stimulating growth suggests they should be prioritised.Johann Kirsten, Director of the Bureau for Economic Research, Stellenbosch UniversityHelanya Fourie, Senior Economist, Bureau for Economic Research, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1647292021-08-03T15:59:42Z2021-08-03T15:59:42ZHigh-street strategy: recovery will take more than street parties and more bins<p>For <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcomloc/1010/report-summary.html">politicians</a> and <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2018/07/crumbling-britain-slow-death-high-street">pundits</a>, the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681376.2015.1016098">death of the British high street</a> has long been a refrain. The pandemic has <a href="https://www.economicsobservatory.com/how-coronavirus-affecting-uks-retail-sector">accelerated the existing trend</a> towards <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/timeseries/j4mc/drsi">online shopping</a>.</p>
<p>In its recently published <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-actually-is-levelling-up-what-we-know-about-boris-johnsons-agenda-and-what-we-dont-16488">“levelling-up” plan</a> for post-pandemic recovery, the UK government sets the context for its new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/build-back-better-high-streets">high-street strategy</a> for England. The big question is: will it work?</p>
<p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/31823/11-1402-understanding-high-street-performance.pdf">The markers</a> the government has used to determine declining high-street performance – falling sales, <a href="https://theconversation.com/saving-the-high-street-what-to-do-with-empty-department-stores-and-shopping-centres-154327">vacant retail units</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/future-of-high-streets-how-to-prevent-our-city-centres-from-turning-into-ghost-towns-154108">fewer shoppers</a>, attractions and activities – are not new. In 2010, when the government appointed retailer and broadcaster Mary Portas to <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6292/2081646.pdf">solve the high street problem</a>, in the wake of the global recession, she focused on supporting retailers.</p>
<p>But retail is only part of it. As Scotland’s 2012-13 <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/community-and-enterprise-in-scotlands-town-centres/">national review of town centres</a> showed, high streets are places embedded in, and reflective of, local communities. The health of the high street mirrors the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of the people it serves. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413524/original/file-20210728-17-1dzhica.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413524/original/file-20210728-17-1dzhica.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413524/original/file-20210728-17-1dzhica.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413524/original/file-20210728-17-1dzhica.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413524/original/file-20210728-17-1dzhica.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413524/original/file-20210728-17-1dzhica.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413524/original/file-20210728-17-1dzhica.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Internet sales as a percentage of total retail sales Great Britain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: Office for National Statistics</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pandemic impact</h2>
<p>While COVID has seen a dramatic rise in online sales, <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-is-giving-us-a-new-appreciation-for-physical-shops-154525">local stores</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/23/uk-local-grocery-shopping-could-last-beyond-pandemic-poll-small-stores-food-drink">gained sales too</a> during lockdown as consumers explored their local areas. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/932350/Grocery_Purchasing_Report.pdf">Food retail</a>, in particular, mopped up trade from the closed hospitality sector.</p>
<p>Non-essential retail, however, <a href="https://www.retaileconomics.co.uk/white-papers/the-retail-cash-crunch-the-impact-of-covid-19-on-major-non-food-uk-retailers">was badly hit</a>. This negatively affected high streets and town centres.</p>
<p>With restrictions easing, the trends have <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/bulletins/retailsales/june2021">begun to reverse</a>. High streets have opened up once again and consumer spending <a href="https://www.placemanagement.org/uk-footfall-daily-index/">is on the rise</a>. However, and despite what <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58007313">the headlines</a> might suggest, the <a href="https://www.centreforcities.org/data/high-streets-recovery-tracker/">high-street picture</a> is just as patchy as it was <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a44270">before the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>Since Portas, there have been numerous reports on high street health, <a href="http://www.vanishinghighstreet.com/">arguing</a> variously for a more <a href="https://theconversation.com/shopping-anxiety-after-covid-a-simple-piece-of-tech-could-help-lure-customers-back-to-high-streets-155077">digital approach</a> and greater <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-high-street-report">financial support</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/future-high-streets-fund">Major</a> government <a href="https://www.highstreetstaskforce.org.uk/">investment</a> has been channelled into English high streets, but not without controversy. The <a href="https://www.lgcplus.com/finance/outrage-over-political-bias-in-picking-towns-fund-and-levelling-up-winners-04-03-2021/">perceived politicisation</a> of the allocations has led to accusations that the funding has been directed to Conservative constituency towns and not based on identified need. </p>
<h2>Recovery strategy</h2>
<p>The government’s new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/build-back-better-high-streets">“build back better” high street</a> strategy lays out five priorities: breathe new life into empty buildings, support high street businesses, improve the public realm, create safe and clean spaces, and celebrate pride in local communities. </p>
<p>It is hard to discern what is new in all this and what the government’s real commitments are. For a strategy aimed at, as it states on page three, “clearing away pointless red tape”, it is heavy on reviews to be undertaken and guidelines, codes and manuals to be adhered to. Requesting local communities come together on what it calls a National High Streets Day to “clean up their high street” seems unlikely to be widely embraced.</p>
<p>The strategy does contain some welcome elements. It focuses on tackling empty buildings and freeing up space on pavements and roads for cafes and restaurants to add vibrancy. It highlights the need for more green space and increased investment in historic buildings.</p>
<p>Conversely, it has very little to say on the fundamental issues consistently highlighted since the Portas review: business rates and operational costs; the inequality of car parking charges between town centres and out-of-town developments; the costs related to other modes of transport and access. </p>
<p>It does not address ownership models for retail spaces, or the wider costs and logistics of operating on the high street. And it does not mention support for the local, independent businesses <a href="http://www.vanishinghighstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/AgainstAllOdds-REVIEW-16th-July-optimised.pdf">hit</a> by the pandemic.</p>
<p>Instead, it lays out controversial ways in which the government is relaxing (and seeking to further relax) planning and building-use regulations. This risks encouraging <a href="https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/converting-offices-post-covid-could-lead-to-surge-in-sub-standard-home-conversions-lga-warns-70736">substandard</a>, <a href="https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/permitted-development-wrongs-the-problems-with-the-pms-planning-deregulation-drive-67066">purely profit-driven developments</a> and <a href="https://www.tcpa.org.uk/2021-pdr-research">squeezing out</a> smaller businesses.</p>
<h2>Will it work?</h2>
<p>The strategy gives little detail about how its recommendations should be implemented. Providing money to local authorities does not <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137521521">necessarily empower communities</a>. Beyond noting the need for an emotional connection between people and place, however, the plan is silent about how to include and engage those communities. </p>
<p>Research has highlighted several crucial needs: <a href="https://cles.org.uk/the-community-wealth-building-centre-of-excellence/">focused spending</a> on local businesses; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269094216640472">tackling problematic behaviour</a> by corporations and absentee landlords; a rethink of how development and operational and fiscal systems might encourage – and not penalise – high-street activity. </p>
<p>By not considering the retail high street in the context of the people it serves, and in omitting these crucial needs, this strategy appears mostly a cosmetic one. It revolves around short-term lets for buildings, cleaner spaces (more bins) and street parties. We know recovery – and a sustainable high street future – requires <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/new-future-scotlands-town-centres/documents/">much more than that</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leigh Sparks is the Chair of Scotland's Towns Partnership, part-funded by the Scottish Government to deliver change in Scotland's towns. In 2020 he Chaired for the Scottish Government, the Review of the Town Centre Action Plan (published in February 2021 as A New Future for Scotland's Towns). </span></em></p>Since the 2010s boosting retail has been the government’s primary remedy for better high street health. Without centering the community these street serve, though, plans are likely to fail.Leigh Sparks, Professor of Retail Studies and Deputy Principal, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1160662019-05-22T19:47:40Z2019-05-22T19:47:40ZRethinking tourism so the locals actually benefit from hosting visitors<p>Tourism today has a problem and needs an entire rethink. Pundits are debating <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-might-be-at-risk-of-overtourism-99213">overtourism</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/were-in-the-era-of-overtourism-but-there-is-a-more-sustainable-way-forward-108906">peak tourism</a> and <a href="https://medium.com/@BComuGlobal/they-call-it-tourism-phobia-but-that-s-not-what-s-happening-in-barcelona-cb56b02da97b">tourismphobia</a>. Cities such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-stop-city-breaks-killing-our-cities-79132">Barcelona</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/06/venice-losing-fight-with-tourism-and-flooding">Venice</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/dubrovnik-cruise-ship-cap-croatia-overtourism-two-dock-a8565166.html">Dubrovnik</a> are witnessing a backlash against imposed forms of tourism. </p>
<p>In response, new tactics have been tried, ranging from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/14/venice-stewards-stop-antisocial-behaviour--sandwich-poilice">tourist “police”</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/edinburgh-city-tourist-tax-scotland-holiday-city-break-a8769141.html?fbclid=IwAR2q6q9woKiC226mLbvYkhJcFF5dr-7T2BjsGU9NXAgwn9vsz3uerfPyRlM">tourist taxes</a> to entry fees and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/sep/06/mass-tourism-environmental-damage">crowd control</a>. Cities are having to rethink their engagement with tourism if they want to keep the locals from <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/30/sinking-city-how-venice-is-managing-europes-worst-tourism-crisis?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Twitter&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR1DvMXEHG0OFcWeLmuxzd7OBxPbFEGIlO5VDH2Oo--ZhHepL6q3gwVM0-8">rioting</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tourists-behaving-badly-are-a-threat-to-global-tourism-and-the-industry-is-partly-to-blame-112398">Tourists behaving badly are a threat to global tourism, and the industry is partly to blame</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Fundamental concerns are being raised. If tourism is to have a sustainable future, we need to reorient our focus and put the well-being and interests of local residents at the forefront.</p>
<h2>Understanding tourism</h2>
<p>Tourism is typically understood from two angles. On the one hand, the focus is on the tourists and the nature of their motivations and demand, in the hope of enticing more. On the other is the business side, focused on developing products and services to provide to tourists. </p>
<p>The industry seeks to grow tourism for profits. Governments support the industry for the jobs and revenues it provides. The result has been a relentless growth in tourism in forms that locals have often not appreciated. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275363/original/file-20190520-69199-iy76sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=512&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Hong Kong, locals have protested about the unregulated numbers of tourists from the Chinese mainland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Hofford/EPA/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Developments like Airbnb are placing tourists <a href="http://www.traveller.com.au/barcelona-tourism-overtourism-and-bad-behaviour-driving-locals-to-despair-h13vqy">in the heart of local neighbourhoods</a>, disrupting the rhythms of daily life. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517717301784">Events are imposed on communities</a>, driving out locals or blighting their quality of life. A case in point is the Newcastle 500 Supercars event, which <a href="https://wrongtracknsw.com/">some locals claim</a> has harmed local businesses and disrupted residents’ lives. </p>
<p>Public assets like the <a href="http://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/current-issues/">Adelaide Parklands</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-light-for-tasmanian-wilderness-tourism-development-defied-expert-advice-104854">Australian national parks and World Heritage areas</a> are being commercialised and privatised for tourism developments. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-kangaroo-island-to-the-great-barrier-reef-the-paradox-that-is-luxury-ecotourism-113044">From Kangaroo Island to the Great Barrier Reef, the paradox that is luxury ecotourism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Shifting the focus to the local community</h2>
<p>We could create a different future for tourism if it was reoriented to be centred on the local community. <a href="https://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669582.2019.1601732">Our recently published research paper</a> redefined tourism as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The process of local communities inviting, receiving and hosting visitors in their local community, for a limited time duration, with the intention of receiving benefits from such actions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such forms of tourism may be offered by commercial businesses or made possible by non-profit organisations. But in this restructure of tourism, tourism operators would be allowed access to the local community’s assets only under their authorisation and stewardship. </p>
<p>The seeds of such a transition to more sustainable forms of tourism are already growing.</p>
<h2>Respect and fairness go a long way</h2>
<p>Venice provides a good example. In 2017, the authorities launched a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-enjoyrespectvenezia-tourism-campaign-paola-mar-travel-campaign-litter-swim-canals-bridges-a7861321.html">#EnjoyRespectVenezia</a> campaign to overcome problems of poor tourist behaviour. </p>
<p>In 2019, Venetian authorities have gone even further by <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/venice-biennale-city-access-fee-1535137">introducing an entry fee</a> this year and, later, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/venice-booking-system-entry-fee-reserve-overcrowding-overtourism-a8765456.html">a booking system</a>. Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We intend to guarantee a better liveability for citizens and, above all, for the residents.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275358/original/file-20190520-69174-1qqk2ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The use of metal turnstiles to limit admissions of tourists is controversial in Venice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-aus-apr-13-2014traffic-on-190693613?src=GrTW563Ailb5qdXCbnuG1Q-1-8">Andrea Merola/EPA/AAP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cruise-lines-promise-big-payouts-but-the-tourist-money-stays-at-sea-66350">Cruise lines promise big payouts, but the tourist money stays at sea</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But local communities and organisations are not waiting for authorities to act. Community activists are organising to take control of tourism for themselves.</p>
<p>A grassroots initiative from Amsterdam and Venice has resulted in <a href="https://fairbnb.coop/">Fairbnb</a>. It’s a social cooperative designed to challenge the damaging and disruptive model of Airbnb. The new platform “provides a community-centred alternative to current vacation rental platforms that prioritises people over profit and offers the potential for authentic, sustainable and intimate travel experiences”. </p>
<p>Like Airbnb, Fairbnb offers a platform to book vacation rentals. The difference is that 50% of revenues will be directed to local community projects. It also has a “one host, one home” policy – only one property on the market for each host – to limit negative impacts on local residential housing markets.</p>
<h2>Meanwhile in Australia …</h2>
<p>Australia does not have the same level of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-might-be-at-risk-of-overtourism-99213">overtourism</a> that places in Europe are suffering. But pressures are building right around the country from Byron Bay and the Great Ocean Road to our bigger cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Locals are complaining about housing affordability, congested roads and badly behaved tourists. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-might-be-at-risk-of-overtourism-99213">Why Australia might be at risk of 'overtourism'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia would benefit from strategies to reorient tourism to local well-being and control. Some promising examples already exist. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.lirrwitourism.com.au/">Lirrwi Tourism</a> in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, stands out. The Yolngu Aboriginal operators have embraced tourism access but only under a visionary set of <a href="https://www.lirrwitourism.com.au/guiding-principles">guiding principles</a>. These declare “Yolngu have a responsibility to care for country” and “Tourism should never control what happens on country”. It’s an example of tourism on the local community’s terms.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275362/original/file-20190520-69213-1s7m2s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melbourne’s laneways strategy has produced benefits for both locals and tourists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-aus-apr-13-2014traffic-on-190693613?src=GrTW563Ailb5qdXCbnuG1Q-1-8">ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.theurbanist.org/2015/09/16/melbourne-a-case-study-in-the-revitalization-of-city-laneways-part-1/">Melbourne’s laneways strategy</a> has demonstrated one way CBD revitalisation, resident well-being and visitor experiences can be brought together for great outcomes.</p>
<p>Tourists can play their part by meeting local communities halfway. In a resource-constrained world the pleasures of tourism must be balanced with some basic responsibilities. </p>
<p>Tourists must gain some basic understanding of local living conditions and shape their travel plans accordingly. The focus must be to give locals the maximum benefits from the visit with the minimum negative impacts. The recent campaign <a href="https://www.kathmandu.com.au/helpful-or-harmful">“Helpful or harmful: what sort of traveller are you?”</a> provides a place to start.</p>
<p>The long-term sustainability of tourism depends on ensuring visitors do not wear out their welcome. Reorienting tourism to enhance local well-being is the way forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Freya Higgins-Desbiolles has received grant funding in the past from a number of organisations, including the Cooperative Research Council for Sustainable Tourism, Le Cordon Bleu Australia, the Toda Peace Institute and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She has declared no conflict of interest arising from such funding affecting the content or the views expressed in this article. Freya is affiliated with a number of scholarly and advocacy bodies concerned with tourism, including the Tourism Alert and Action Forum.
She acknowledges her co-authors of the "Degrowing tourism: Rethinking tourism research paper, Dr Sandro Carnicelli of the University of Western Scotland, Dr Chris Krolikowski of the University of South Australia, Dr Gayathri Wijesinghe of the University of South Australia and Dr Karla Boluk of the University of Waterloo.</span></em></p>The future of tourism depends on ensuring visitors do not wear out their welcome. Giving locals more of a say in tourism can help ensure they share in the benefits and minimise the costs.Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1013512018-09-13T10:49:30Z2018-09-13T10:49:30ZClimate change: we need to start moving people away from some coastal areas, warns scientist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236179/original/file-20180913-177938-1o9i6st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/red-house-under-water-malmo-sweden-140345863?src=JOljfEPAmkohrgIqFB7XsA-3-73">Jaroslav Moravcik/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are all too familiar with images of flooding in low lying areas after heavy rainfall or houses destroyed by coastal erosion after a storm. For an increasing number of people, coastal flooding and erosion is a real threat to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-43472150">property</a>, the local economy and, in some cases, <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/01/europe.storms/index.html">life</a>. Hurricane Florence, for example, is forcing more than <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45499234">a million people</a> on the US East Coast to flee from their homes.</p>
<p>Coasts support important industries (such as ports and tourism) and their populations are growing faster than inland areas. But coastal areas are also particularly sensitive to <a href="https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-coastal-areas_.html">impacts of climate change</a>, which are likely to increase the extent, intensity and frequency of coastal flooding and erosion.</p>
<p>So not only have we occupied <a href="https://theconversation.com/building-housing-on-flood-plains-another-sign-of-growing-inequality-101552">areas that naturally flood</a> and erode from time to time, we have changed the environment in ways that increase coastal flooding and erosion risk. And we <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/27/homes-and-companies-should-be-built-on-flood-plains-despite-risks-says-panel">continue to do so</a>, sometimes with <a href="https://www.french-property.com/news/french_property/xynthia_vendee_mayor_sentenced/">serious legal consequences</a>. Meanwhile, public policies have not been very effective in <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-change-how-and-where-we-build-to-be-ready-for-a-future-of-more-extreme-weather-41713">managing this predicament</a>. </p>
<p>Traditional hard engineering approaches of coastal protection (such as <a href="http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Groynes">groynes</a>, <a href="http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Revetments">revetments</a> and <a href="http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Seawalls">seawalls</a>) are known to cause detrimental effects, which in the longer term can aggravate the problem they were supposed to solve. The impact of <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-new-orleans-safer-today-than-when-katrina-hit-10-years-ago/">Hurricane Katrina</a> in New Orleans was a stark reminder that engineering structures are not effective against all events at all times. They are built based on <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-flood-defences-fail-52017">trade-offs</a> between the level of protection needed and the costs of construction and maintenance. </p>
<p>Soft engineering, such as beach nourishment (where sediment, usually sand, is added to the shore), can offer a level of protection and beach amenity – but these <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20150309_The_Jersey_Shore_s_unquenchable_thirst_for_sand.html">reduce through time</a>, as erosion continues. Meanwhile, “protection” gives a false sense of safety and enables <a href="https://theconversation.com/far-sighted-adaptation-to-rising-seas-is-blocked-by-just-fixing-eroded-beaches-96503">occupation of risk areas</a>, increasing the number of people and assets in risk areas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235984/original/file-20180912-133880-8ioji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235984/original/file-20180912-133880-8ioji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235984/original/file-20180912-133880-8ioji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235984/original/file-20180912-133880-8ioji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235984/original/file-20180912-133880-8ioji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235984/original/file-20180912-133880-8ioji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235984/original/file-20180912-133880-8ioji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Attractive but dangerous locations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/agios-nikolaos-picturesque-coastal-town-colorful-605808161?src=QkbtxGdIy1kz5Ht1-ze4QA-1-2">Georgios Tsichlis/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A serious conundrum</h2>
<p>Climate change has forced a paradigm shift in the way coastal flooding and erosion risks are managed. In areas of lower risk, adaptation plans are being devised, often with provisions to make properties and infrastructure more resilient. Adaptation may involve requiring <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/03/01/589634980/norfolk-requires-developers-to-do-more-against-flooding">raised foundations</a> in flood-prone areas or the installation of mitigating measures, such as <a href="http://www.netregs.org.uk/environmental-topics/water/sustainable-drainage-systems-suds/">sustainable drainage systems</a>. Building codes may also be established to make structures <a href="https://theconversation.com/build-disaster-proof-homes-before-storms-strike-not-afterward-61947">more disaster-proof</a> and to control the types of constructions within risk zones. </p>
<p>But such adaptation options are often of limited use or unsuitable for high-risk areas. In such areas relocation is the only safe climate-proof response. </p>
<p>Planning for relocation is problematic. There are large uncertainties concerning the predictions of climate change impacts – and this makes planning a difficult task. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190641">Uncertainty</a> is not an easy concept to incorporate in planning and coastal management. In some places, effects of sea level rise are already evident, but it’s still difficult to be sure <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-04134-5">how fast and how much</a> it will rise. </p>
<p>Similarly, there is <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/31/17406078/hurricane-season-2018-what-to-expect">still great uncertainty</a> about when and where the next “super storm” will happen and how intense it will be. Inevitably, areas that have already been affected by flooding or erosion will be affected again – the question is when and how badly.</p>
<h2>Relocated</h2>
<p>Despite these issues, relocation is increasingly being adopted as a strategy. There have been some successes at the <a href="http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/abtcit/ne/pdf/pts-story.pdf">local level</a>. One such example is the <a href="http://projecttwinstreams.com/">Twin Streams project</a> in Auckland (New Zealand), where relocation (through the <a href="http://projecttwinstreams.com/about/achievements/key-facts-and-figures/">purchase of 81 properties</a>) has provided space to create community gardens and cycleways where 800,000 native vegetation plants were planted. This was made possible by engaging over 60,000 volunteer hours. </p>
<p>Although not on the coast, the town of <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/sweden-kiruna-relocation/index.html">Kiruna</a> in Sweden shows that, when risks are high, forward thinking and long-term planning can make large-scale relocation possible. Kiruna is at risk of ground collapse due to mining. Over a 20-year period, more than 18,000 residents will be relocated to a new city centre 3km away. The layout of the new city centre has been designed to be more sustainable, energy efficient and have better options for cultural activities and socialising. Local residents were engaged and helped identifying 21 heritage buildings they want relocated to the new area.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235989/original/file-20180912-133883-uim5vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235989/original/file-20180912-133883-uim5vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235989/original/file-20180912-133883-uim5vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235989/original/file-20180912-133883-uim5vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235989/original/file-20180912-133883-uim5vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235989/original/file-20180912-133883-uim5vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235989/original/file-20180912-133883-uim5vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kiruna, the northernmost town in Sweden.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-winter-view-kiruna-northernmost-town-1036431745?src=qDUe0xXJERwR4eqx8-vpiw-1-2">Tsuguliev/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://webissimo.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/sngitc_pg2017-2019_web_cle73e4c7.pdf">French</a>, meanwhile, have instigated the first ever national strategy focused on relocation from high-risk areas. French policy places a duty on local authorities to develop plans by 2020, identifying the areas at serious risk of coastal flooding or erosion, what needs to be relocated and how (including sources of funding). Five pilot areas have been selected to test how the strategy might be implemented at the local level. Two of these areas have contrasting approaches and outcomes.</p>
<p>In Lacanau (a top surfing stop in the Bay of Biscay) coastal erosion threatens the tourism-based economy. Although public opposition was initially high, the development of a local plan has generally been positive, mainly due to the <a href="https://www.ademe.fr/sites/default/files/assets/documents/ademe-fiche-lacanau-uk-web.pdf">inclusive community involvement</a> in the project. A local committee was created to act as a consultation body and decisions were informed by open discussions based on clear communication of technical, legal, financial and sociological issues.</p>
<p>In Ault (northern France) the experience was less positive. the risk reduction plan identified a high-risk zone within 70 metres of the cliff edge. It was decided that no new construction would be allowed here and restrictions to improvements on the existing 240 houses were imposed. This would force relocation if the properties were damaged by flooding or erosion. In May 2018 a residents group won a court case which considered the plan <a href="http://www.courrier-picard.fr/109066/article/2018-05-10/le-plan-de-prevention-des-risques-littoraux-falaises-picardes-annule">illegal</a>, lifting the restrictions imposed on renovation of existing properties until a new plan is drafted.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235992/original/file-20180912-133898-xg0uz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235992/original/file-20180912-133898-xg0uz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235992/original/file-20180912-133898-xg0uz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235992/original/file-20180912-133898-xg0uz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235992/original/file-20180912-133898-xg0uz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235992/original/file-20180912-133898-xg0uz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235992/original/file-20180912-133898-xg0uz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The clifftops of Ault, France.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cliffs-ault-city-picardy-france-680856493?src=MC96Ht_KmAkIrG4JE_Id1g-1-9">Massimo Santi/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Engaging communities</h2>
<p>These examples demonstrate that engaging with local communities from the inception of any such project is essential. Unfortunately, people instinctively <a href="https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang">resist change</a> – and relocation is a complete shift from the centuries-old approach of fixing coastlines and fighting against coastal dynamics. Our current legal and management frameworks are too geared up for maintaining the status quo. Funding and legal aid to support purchase of properties and removal of infrastructure that are not imminently deemed inhabitable are limited.</p>
<p>But open and inclusive debate about the need for relocation and the consequences and benefits of it can change people’s perceptions. The “Nimby” (not in my backyard) attitude is strong in coastal communities, but can subside after <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420915300236?via%3Dihub">personal experiences of severe flooding or erosion</a>. The environment around us is changing and we cannot continue living the way we did in the past.</p>
<p>Prevention is always less costly and more effective than remediation, particularly when involving people’s safety. The earlier we accept the need to change, the less damaged is the legacy we leave to the next generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luciana Esteves currently receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Newton Funds/British Council. </span></em></p>Relocation from risky areas is the only safe response.Luciana Esteves, Associate Professor, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/790962017-06-26T01:07:57Z2017-06-26T01:07:57ZA pair of decades-old policies may change the way rural America gets local news<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175069/original/file-20170621-30190-w5sbc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What will be left of rural television stations?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWCIA_television_tower_Seymour_Illinois.jpg">Dual Freq</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While Americans were distracted by the very important public debates around an <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/technology/338471-pelosi-asks-fcc-chairman-to-hold-hearing-in-san-francisco-on-net-neutrality">open internet</a> and the proliferation of fake news online, the Federal Communications Commission quietly proposed reshaping a key way rural Americans stay informed – their <a href="https://www.poynter.org/2017/whats-america-really-watching-in-the-morning-local-news/459495/">local television news</a>.</p>
<p>Two decades-old rules – called by policymakers the “main studio rule” and the “UHF discount” – come from different eras of broadcasting, one when the only electronic media was radio and the other from the days before the dominance of cable television. They also come from a different era of government, when policymakers promoted <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08838159409364243">the principle of localism</a> – the belief that local broadcasters should serve their communities.</p>
<p>In my new book on <a href="http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/64kmn4yx9780252040726.html">local media policy in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada</a>, I note a withdrawal from localism in media policy and the chipping away at this <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-fcc-continues-to-redefine-the-public-interest-as-business-interests-75120">bedrock principle of American democracy</a>. The recent FCC moves join this trend, to the detriment of local voices, local people and local stories.</p>
<h2>Connecting with the community</h2>
<p><a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-308654A1.pdf">In 1939</a>, radio was dominant and television just an experiment. The power of electronic media was already becoming clear. As a result, the FCC required all radio stations to have their main offices and broadcast studios located in the community they served. This became called the “<a href="http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=fclj">main studio rule</a>.”</p>
<p>The FCC believed this rule would <a href="http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=fclj">encourage radio stations to be responsive to their communities</a>, in several ways. <a href="http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=fclj">First</a>, stations would likely employ people who lived in their coverage areas. Those people would be aware of issues facing the community and use the studio facilities to create and broadcast relevant programming.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=fclj">In addition</a>, listeners would not have to travel long distances to give input and feedback to station management. At those offices, stations had to maintain equipment for producing and airing local programming, keep records of what had been broadcast, and have <a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-88-235A1.txt">both management and staff regularly on hand</a>.</p>
<p>These requirements were based on the belief – central to telecommunications policy even today – that <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/public-and-broadcasting">the airwaves are a public resource</a>, managed by the government for the benefit of the public at large. In exchange for being allowed the exclusive use of specific frequencies, broadcasters had a <a href="http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/64kmn4yx9780252040726.html">duty to serve their communities</a>.</p>
<h2>Loosening the reins</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1279&context=fclj">By 1987</a>, it was clear that people didn’t often visit stations, but rather called or sent letters. As a result, the FCC allowed stations to locate their studios anywhere the station’s signal could be clearly received. </p>
<p>At the same time, the FCC also removed the rule requiring stations to <a href="http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0518/FCC-17-59A1.pdf">produce local programming</a> – though they remained able to do so, because they were still required to maintain production and transmission equipment in their studios. <a href="http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0518/FCC-17-59A1.pdf">In 1998</a>, the FCC let stations move even farther away from their audiences.</p>
<p><a href="http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0518/FCC-17-59A1.pdf">In April 2017</a>, the FCC proposed doing away with the rule altogether. In its proposal, the FCC noted telephones, email and social media mean listeners don’t need to be physically nearby to communicate with station management.</p>
<p>As a result, the FCC said, it was unnecessarily burdensome to force broadcasting companies to maintain local studios even somewhat near the communities they serve. This continues the ongoing policy <a href="http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0518/FCC-17-59A1.pdf">shift from a focus on connections to the local community</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-fcc-continues-to-redefine-the-public-interest-as-business-interests-75120">toward benefiting broadcasters’ business operations</a> and profit margins.</p>
<p>That can cause problems, and not just because small communities that used to have local newsrooms may become afterthoughts for reporters and editors in centralized regional hubs. A deadly example happened in January 2002: One person died and a thousand were injured when a freight train derailed, releasing clouds of poisonous gas over Minot, the fourth-largest city in North Dakota. The <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2007/01/what_really_happened_in_minot_nd.html">residents weren’t warned of the danger for hours</a>. Local authorities had technical problems with an automated emergency alert system, and there was no one at the designated radio station to simply cut into the broadcast on a studio microphone and tell listeners what was happening.</p>
<h2>Allowing even larger media mergers</h2>
<p>The second decades-old rule the FCC wants to repeal would complicate matters further by allowing media companies to own even more TV stations across the country.</p>
<p>Media consolidation is already a major problem today, with <a href="https://www.freepress.net/media-consolidation">critics claiming it leads to a lack of diversity</a> in programming, in journalism and in employment. When it comes to local television, <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/11/buying-spree-brings-more-local-tv-stations-to-fewer-big-companies/">Pew Research</a> recently reported that the five largest television ownership groups – Sinclair, Nexstar, Gray, Tegna and Tribune – own 37 percent of all full-power TV stations in the country. </p>
<p>Increasingly, these owners are also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/media/sinclair-broadcast-komo-conservative-media.html?_r=0">editorializing</a> on their local stations: The New York Times recently reported that Sinclair was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/media/sinclair-broadcast-komo-conservative-media.html?_r=0">forcing its stations to air conservative-leaning news segments</a>, for instance. </p>
<p>This situation does not prioritize giving local viewpoints to the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/11/buying-spree-brings-more-local-tv-stations-to-fewer-big-companies/">46 percent of Americans</a> who get their news from local TV, <a href="https://www.poynter.org/2017/whats-america-really-watching-in-the-morning-local-news/459495/">especially in the morning</a>. And the problem of uniform perspectives from far away may get worse. </p>
<h2>Defending diversity</h2>
<p>To fight consolidation in the hopes it would encourage diversity of ownership and therefore of viewpoints being broadcast, the FCC limited the number of people any one broadcaster can reach. Companies cannot own so many stations that, when combined, their total potential audience reaches <a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-107A1.pdf">more than 39 percent of viewers nationwide</a>.</p>
<p>But the policy is not as straightforward as it might seem. When calculating how many viewers a station reaches, the FCC takes into account the physical properties of different parts of the broadcast spectrum. Some stations broadcast on VHF (very high frequency) channels (numbers 2 to 13 on TV controls), while others are UHF (ultra high frequency) stations, using channels 14 to 69. UHF channels don’t travel as far as VHF ones, so the FCC assumes that, when compared with VHF signals serving the same area, <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/reinstatement-uhf-discount">UHF stations reach fewer people</a>. This became called the “<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/reinstatement-uhf-discount">UHF discount</a>.”</p>
<p>In the days when over-the-air broadcasting was how most Americans got their TV, that meant a company could own more stations, even in the largest markets, so long as they were UHF broadcasters. It would take more UHF stations to serve enough viewers to hit the 39 percent audience threshold. </p>
<h2>Changing the rules</h2>
<p>In 2016, President Obama’s FCC <a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-116A1_Rcd.pdf">eliminated the UHF discount</a>, noting that digital broadcasting over the airwaves reduced the technical difference between VHF and UHF. (In fact, the <a href="http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/33407/vhf-now-everything-you-know-is-wrong">UHF band is actually better for digital television</a>.) Four companies that owned many UHF stations found their viewership calculations changed significantly, exceeding 39 percent of the population. These four, <a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-116A1_Rcd.pdf">ION, Univision, Tribune and Trinity</a>, were allowed to keep their stations.</p>
<p>In April, led by Ajit Pai, a Republican member of the FCC under Obama who was elevated by Trump to chair the agency, the <a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-116A1_Rcd.pdf">FCC restored the UHF discount</a>. The move was intended to be <a href="https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-16-116A1_Rcd.pdf">the first part of a full review</a> of the 39 percent audience cap. A federal lawsuit aimed to stop the rule change <a href="http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0601/DOC-345149A1.pdf">just recently failed</a>.</p>
<p>The timing of this rule change is important. On May 8, Sinclair, the nation’s largest owner of local television stations, announced that it planned to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/business/media/sinclair-tribune-media-sale.html">buy Tribune Media</a>, the country’s fourth-biggest local TV company. The US$3.9 billion deal would add Tribune’s 42 stations to Sinclair’s existing 173.</p>
<p>More important, from the perspective of ensuring diverse media ownership, is the question of how many viewers Sinclair would be able to reach. Without the UHF discount, Sinclair was already approaching the 39 percent threshold, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-07/sinclair-said-close-to-buying-tribune-for-about-45-a-share">reaching 37.7 percent of American TV viewers</a>, giving the company no room to expand. </p>
<p>But with the UHF discount back in place, the company’s reach would be just 23.8 percent of U.S. households. Adding Tribune would bring it up to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-07/sinclair-said-close-to-buying-tribune-for-about-45-a-share">over 42 percent</a>. That would force Sinclair to sell a few stations to get back under the cap – but the deal would still be a significant merger. It would be so big, in fact, that if the UHF discount didn’t exist, the merged Sinclair-Tribune would be considered to reach <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/business/media/sinclair-tribune-media-sale.html">more than 70 percent of American households</a>.</p>
<h2>Alas, local interests</h2>
<p>These two changes – eliminating rules about where stations’ main studios were located and restoring the UHF discount – strip away most of the remaining regulations protecting local influence over local news broadcasting. Companies like Sinclair can get even bigger, and can centralize the production of what should be local news broadcasts in faraway places. </p>
<p>Viewers in the major markets, like New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles, will always be able to find locally produced news reports on nearly any channel or platform. But rural residents served by Sinclair – like <a href="http://klewtv.com/">Lewiston, Idaho</a>; <a href="http://wwmt.com/">Grand Rapids, Michigan</a>; and <a href="http://wtov9.com/">Steubenville, Ohio</a> – would have a harder time finding their own communities represented in broadcast news.</p>
<p>Americans are <a href="http://www.journalism.org/2017/05/10/americans-attitudes-about-the-news-media-deeply-divided-along-partisan-lines/pj_2017-05-10_media-attitudes_a-05/">clamoring for better journalism</a>. The FCC should be protecting local TV news in small communities, not threatening this information lifeline for rural-dwelling Americans.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Ali does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Federal rules governing television stations were meant to keep them connected to the communities they serve. The Trump administration wants to weaken those rules, and those civic links.Christopher Ali, Assistant Professor, Department of Media Studies, University of VirginiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/787752017-06-12T14:52:22Z2017-06-12T14:52:22ZClimate change risks can be turned into an asset for communities left to cope on their own<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172429/original/file-20170606-3674-1vrxmnt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man navigates a dry riverbed in Bamako, Mali. Climate change is contributing to community upheavals. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">REUTERS/Joe Penney</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change has been blamed for many things, and it’s changing the world around us every day. Now a new, perhaps surprising, consequence of the planet’s changing climate is emerging: it’s opening the door to jihadist recruitment, particularly in fragile states.</p>
<p>Dr Colin Walch, a peace researcher from Uppsala University, <a href="https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2017/05/fertile-ground-climate-change-jihadism-mali/">recently argued</a> that “fertile ground” for jihadist recruitment was created when some communities in Mali were forced to deal with local challenges (including changing weather patterns) without government support.</p>
<p>Walch explains that local systems for addressing grievances over land, water and other resources have disappeared. This, he argues, has opened the door for Islamist armed groups to exploit local grievances for their own cause. In recent years climate change has amplified these grievances.</p>
<p>Similar studies about Lake Chad find comparable links. Katharina Nett and Lukas Rüttinger from the German think tank adelphi have <a href="https://www.adelphi.de/en/publication/insurgency-terrorism-and-organised-crime-warming-climate">asserted that</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>large-scale environmental and climatic change contributes to creating an environment in which [non-state armed groups] can thrive and opens spaces that facilitate the pursuit of their strategies.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These findings point to the complex security risks that result from climate change. They also confirm that climate change doesn’t act as a cause of violence, but as a meaningful threat multiplier. Generally conflicts are not caused by climate change. But climate change exacerbates the human cost of conflicts. </p>
<p>But, as I <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/15-years-environmental-peacemaking">recently argued</a>, we also need to move beyond a singular focus on risk. Researchers and practitioners have to put opportunity and peace back at the centre of research and practice. We have to stop just focusing on threats. We must strengthen our efforts to identify the potential of initiatives on climate change to overcome political fragility and improve people’s lives. </p>
<p>This requires both a better understanding of what works on the ground and clear global leadership.</p>
<h2>What works?</h2>
<p>So what builds peace? This was a core question at the recent Stockholm Forum <a href="https://youtu.be/VHePKn59p8s">on Peace and Development</a> during discussions on the Sustainable Development Goals <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">(SDGs)</a> and how they relate to peace and conflict. The answer from panellists was unanimous: include local communities in development processes.</p>
<p>There is substantial evidence in support of having significant local involvement in <a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/GLEP_a_00028#.WRhtFROGOu4">climate</a>, <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/gr/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/political-theory/governing-commons-evolution-institutions-collective-action-1?format=PB&isbn=9781107569782">development</a>, and <a href="http://www.daghammarskjold.se/publication/local-perspectives-on-inclusive-peacebuilding-a-four-country-case-study/">peacebuilding</a> projects. </p>
<p>The corollary is that the breakdown of local institutions contributes to a lack of development – and worse. </p>
<p>As Walch persuasively shows for Mali, the breaking down of local institutional structures has provided opportunities for jihadist recruitment. Walch finds that both actions of the state and more recently the inflow of Islamist insurgence have led to the breakdown. With the breakdown of these traditional conflict resolution systems came an increase in communal violence. This is often connected to an increasing variability of natural resources because of climate change. </p>
<p>In Mali, and many other cases, there is a need to address the effects of climate change and increasing political fragility. </p>
<p>And both seem possible, as shown in my research in <a href="https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2016/03/community-empowerment-vs-state-stability-lessons-nepals-peacebuilding-process/">Nepal</a> as well as in <a href="https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2015/08/benefits-redd-lessons-india-tanzania-mexico/">India, Tanzania, and Mexico</a> by Dr Prakash Kashwan, Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut (USA). </p>
<p>Our research shows that good climate change mitigation policies can also help build such institutions, or at least help in the emergence of new local governance structures. </p>
<h2>Positive examples</h2>
<p>In Nepal I tested if the provision of environmental services helps in facilitating the peace process <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14678802.2016.1136138">after civil war</a>. This research looked specifically at small hydropower projects designed to bring electricity to rural villages and mitigate climate change. </p>
<p>The findings showed substantial successes in, for example, the empowerment of women, better access to education, and increased economic opportunities. But it also showed that community cohesion increased while <a href="https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2016/03/community-empowerment-vs-state-stability-lessons-nepals-peacebuilding-process/">local governance structures were strengthened</a>.</p>
<p>The results indicate that climate policies can play an important role in facilitating the growth of local institutions and addressing peoples’ vulnerability and fragility – even if, as in this case, it was somewhat unintentional. They also led to other <a href="https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2016/03/community-empowerment-vs-state-stability-lessons-nepals-peacebuilding-process/">political issues being raised</a>.</p>
<p>Kashwan also shows in his recent book, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/democracy-in-the-woods-9780190637385?cc=se&lang=en&">Democracy in the Woods</a>, that programmes aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation <a href="https://www.forestcarbonpartnership.org/what-redd">(REDD+)</a> in India, Tanzania, and Mexico depend on local communities’ inclusion to be successful. </p>
<p>He <a href="https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2015/08/benefits-redd-lessons-india-tanzania-mexico/">argues that</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>when local people do not benefit, forest conservation efforts tend to be unsustainable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He points to the important role of what he terms “mechanisms of intermediation”. These help citizen groups, civil society organisations, and social movements engage in political and policy processes.</p>
<p>Kashwan’s work points to the importance of competitive politics in driving policies that conserve forests without violating the rights of people who depend on them for a livelihood. </p>
<p>This may seem somewhat intuitive, but it has important implications for local governance structures. Kashwan argues that state and non-state agencies, including international agencies, can foster and reinforce the responsiveness of government to the people. This can be done by strengthening the skills of community groups and civil society organisations at the local level. </p>
<p>As their capacity for organisation and advocacy improve, these entities are able to represent their concerns better. This includes during negotiations over natural resource rights, as in the case of inter-ethnic grievances in Mali.</p>
<h2>We need clear leadership at the highest level</h2>
<p>Kashwan’s research, and my own, shows that reducing emissions through small hydropower development or reforestation can do more than just mitigate the effects of climate change. It can have wider effects that deliver positive returns in all sorts of ways. This includes reducing the opportunity for terrorist groups to recruit vulnerable and marginalised people.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.sipri.org/publications/2017/other-publications/translating-climate-security-policy-practice">Malin Mobjörk and Dan Smith</a> from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute argue this requires clear leadership and explicit institutional change strategies at the highest levels. </p>
<p>This could, for example, entail providing an institutional home for climate security issues <a href="https://www.sipri.org/publications/2017/sipri-policy-briefs/resolution-peaceful-climate-opportunities-un-security-council">at the United Nations</a>.</p>
<p>At all levels, it’s imperative that we emphasise the positive potential of sustainable policies and move beyond risk assessments. This is particularly true in fragile states where there will always be risks, but great opportunity too. </p>
<p>The recently published Environment Strategy of the United Nations <a href="https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/publications/UNDFS_Environment_Strategy_ExecSum_vF.pdf">Department of Field Support</a> points in the right direction. It encourages UN peacekeeping operations</p>
<blockquote>
<p>to seek a positive long-term legacy through the development of specific environment-related projects that may benefit societies and ecosystems over the long term.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>This is an edited version of a <a href="https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2017/05/risk-opportunity-climate-fragility-terrorism-link/">blog</a> first published by the Wilson Center.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78775/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Florian Krampe is affiliated with Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). </span></em></p>Generally conflicts are not caused by climate change. But it can lead to complex security risks.Florian Krampe, Researcher at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI); Affiliated Researcher at Research School for International Water Cooperation, Uppsala UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/701802017-01-17T13:29:38Z2017-01-17T13:29:38ZA local view helps fight the effects of climate change on the ocean<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152440/original/image-20170111-4585-oaymcg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting warmer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/pic-553263562/stock-photo-sunny-waters-blue-paradise.html?src=omlSMhI5rY3Ms9AuipZ_BQ-1-49">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2011, <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6295/169.full?ijkey=Zs1xAzVGNVsAk&keytype=ref&siteid=sci">a marine heatwave hit the west coast of Australia</a> leading to ten days of above average sea temperatures. The area was already known as an ocean warming “hotspot”, but this particular period was a tipping point, causing dramatic changes to the marine ecosystem. Underwater kelp forests along the coast reduced in density by 43%, with some disappearing entirely. </p>
<p>The loss of kelp resulted in an ecological shift, which led to the growth of different kinds of algae as temperate water species were replaced by subtropical and tropical species. Five years later, <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6295/169.full?ijkey=Zs1xAzVGNVsAk&keytype=ref&siteid=sci">kelp forest recovery has still not been observed</a>. A few days of extreme heat resulted in apparently irreversible change.</p>
<p>The frequency and intensity of extreme events, like marine heatwaves, are only <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/1540-9295(2007)5%5b365:ANGOCE%5d2.0.CO%3b2/epdf">expected to increase</a>, and their consequences are hard to predict. But while some of these extreme events could be devastating, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Even though human-induced climate change is happening, local steps can be taken to help alleviate the impacts on our marine environments. And by focusing on a localised approach, we could make a positive difference on a global scale.</p>
<p>For example, in Australia, the government of Queensland spent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-22/great-barrier-reef-government-buys-cattle-station-protection-bid/7533216">AUS$7m on a 560 square kilometre cattle station</a> in a bid to protect the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site. This cattle station had been producing as much as 40% of the sediment running into the Normanby River system and ultimately the Great Barrier Reef. </p>
<p>The very existence of the Great Barrier Reef and its extraordinary biodiversity ultimately depends on the health of the corals. When they are covered by sediment, their ability to photosynthesise is dramatically reduced, resulting in less healthy coral. Unhealthy reefs are less able to deal with predators and other damaging events.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152441/original/image-20170111-4585-klr1d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/152441/original/image-20170111-4585-klr1d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152441/original/image-20170111-4585-klr1d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152441/original/image-20170111-4585-klr1d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152441/original/image-20170111-4585-klr1d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152441/original/image-20170111-4585-klr1d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/152441/original/image-20170111-4585-klr1d2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protecting the Barrier Reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In buying the cattle station the government is able to stem the sediment runoff away from the Great Barrier Reef and provide a healthier environment in which the coral can thrive. This is just one example of <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/forecast-ocean-variability-1.20934">scientists using local knowledge</a> successfully to inform ministers to make decisions on the local scale that alleviate the problems faced by marine ecosystems of climate change, over fishing and pollution.</p>
<p>To apply such processes in more places in the world, organising climate information and action must move from a global to a regional scale. Overfishing and pollution can be much more effectively dealt with by focusing on local responses. </p>
<p>The Pacific Islands for example, rely heavily on the tuna fish industry. But they have faced major problems of over fishing and reducing stocks – from both small vessels and industrialised ships from other countries. Only a united front would enable control over stocks and a future for the industry. </p>
<p>So in 1982, a collective of islands focused on the conservation and management of tuna in the pacific set up <a href="https://www.iucn.org/content/parties-nauru-agreement-pna-interview-maurice-brownjon">the Naura agreement</a>. Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Naura, the federated states of Micronesia and Palau, and more recently Tokelau, all signed up to the Vessel Day Scheme for Pacific tuna, which limits the amount of days available for fishing to maintain tuna populations. In the last five years the collective has received global recognition for its sustainable management methods – and an increase in revenue from <a href="https://www.iucn.org/content/parties-nauru-agreement-pna-interview-maurice-brownjon">US$60m to US$360m</a>.</p>
<p>Over in the Caribbean, meanwhile, Antigua has some of the most degraded coral reefs in the region. Overfishing is thought to be a main reason for this as it has reduced the amount of herbivorous fish, resulting in the proliferation of seaweed – a main competitor of the corals. </p>
<h2>A sea change</h2>
<p>To improve the health of the reef, marine protected areas – and specifically a <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/pre-prints/content-bms_9230">“no take zone”</a> – were created in 2014 in conjunction with the local fishermen. Within a year, this change in local management led to significant increases in the biomass of target fish species. This allowed herbivore fishes to actively graze on the seaweed biomass, enabling respite and providing recovery time for the corals. </p>
<p>In Fiji, mangrove trees are being planted to combat coastal erosion caused by rising sea levels and increasing storm surges. While a direct benefit to Fiji’s inhabitants against potential harm from the ocean, this action also creates a habitat and a site of refuge for many juvenile marine species that will also be affected by future climate change.</p>
<p>Lessons can be learned from all of these local strategies which could be replicated in similar environments facing similar problems. But developing these initiatives will depend on our understanding of key organisms and their interactions with each other. These are some of the areas suggested by professors <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/earthsciences/people/daniela-n-schmidt/">Daniela Schmidt</a> and <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/profiles/staff/imas/philip-boyd">Philip Boyd</a>, in a <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/forecast-ocean-variability-1.20934">commentary</a> on what ocean scientists should consider when informing policymakers. </p>
<p>Small island nations will feel the impact of global changes on the ocean first, so they are leading the way in adaption and mitigation techniques in retaliation to changing climates. With the additional threat of <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/09/politics/obama-climate-change-science-coal/index.html">America no longer being a part</a> of the international agreements on global warming, tackling climate change on a local and regional scale may be our only hope.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leanne Melbourne receives funding from Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Natural History Museum (NHM) London. </span></em></p>Regional solutions can spread across the planet.Leanne Melbourne, PhD candidate, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/566732016-04-26T20:12:17Z2016-04-26T20:12:17ZYouth unemployment: local communities essential for helping young people find work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119405/original/image-20160420-25595-iqn48y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Education and training alone are enough to tackle youth unemployment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world of work has become an increasingly difficult environment for young people. Youth unemployment in Australia is persistently higher than for other age groups. </p>
<p>In response, our governments have delivered one-size-fits-all policies that focus on national targets encouraging education programs to make unemployed young people more “work ready”. </p>
<p>These approaches assume that, with the right education or training, a young person will be able to get a job. However, this is not the case, especially for young people who live in areas of high youth unemployment. </p>
<p>To reduce youth unemployment, education and labour market policies must go beyond a focus on individual young people to offer solutions at a community level.</p>
<h2>Rural and regional areas hit hardest</h2>
<p>Youth unemployment has been a feature of developed economies since the 1980s. As the Australian economy continues to open to global competitive pressures, the decline in the availability of manufacturing work and the growth of the services sector have changed the nature of work.</p>
<p>However, as <a href="http://library.bsl.org.au/jspui/bitstream/1/9004/1/BSL_Aust_youth_unemployment_hotspots_Mar2016.pdf">recent research has highlighted</a>, youth unemployment rates vary in different places and local communities. </p>
<p>Rural and regional areas are among the hardest hit by these changes. Places such as outback Queensland and the New South Wales Hunter Valley have youth unemployment rates of 28% and 22% respectively. </p>
<p>These levels of youth unemployment reflect these regions’ reliance on industries that are changing rapidly and may no longer provide reliable local employment.</p>
<p>These powerful shifts are not adequately recognised at a policy level. </p>
<p>Policies targeted at youth currently encourage the development of individual human capital. This takes place through a one-size-fits-all approach focused on increasing levels of educational qualification, with the promise that young people will find professional work. </p>
<p>This kind of future is not available to all young people, no matter how “work ready” they may be, especially for those in areas with high youth unemployment. </p>
<p>Again, these policies ignore the reality of the forms of work available in different local communities.</p>
<p>Does this matter in a world where young people are encouraged to be as mobile as possible in search of work and a fulfilling future? </p>
<p>The answer to this question is a resounding yes, for reasons connected with the role of local communities in shaping young people’s identities and pathways through work.</p>
<h2>The critical role of local communities</h2>
<p>Australian and international research has shown the critical role that processes of identity construction play both in young people’s engagement with work and in the strategies they use to survive unemployment. </p>
<p>Rural and regional young people are key examples of this process. <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13676261.2014.901495">Research</a> has demonstrated the importance of local community connections for young people’s orientation towards their future in work. This applies even to those whose imagined futures take them beyond the boundaries of their local communities. </p>
<p>In one example from this research, a young man who imagines a future as a teacher described his plans in terms of existing family connections to the profession and the availability of accommodation with family members who lived close to the nearest regional university.</p>
<p>This process, in which young people imagine futures around established community connections and ways of life, is common in regional areas. While schools encourage young people to plan their own individual futures, the lives of relatives and other community members continue to shape their desires and perceptions of what is possible for them.</p>
<h2>Community support in tough times</h2>
<p>These communities may also be zones of high youth unemployment. Research <a href="http://soc.sagepub.com/content/39/5/873.short">conducted</a> in former manufacturing centres of the UK with high unemployment shows that local community relationships provide critical support when times are tough. These local networks may also provide access to casual employment. </p>
<p>However, these communities operate as both resources and limits to young people’s biographies. The resources they offer may not provide opportunities beyond their local place, and young people may be personally invested in forms of work that reflect the history of their community. For example, young men may aspire to futures in manufacturing that are no longer locally available.</p>
<p>Similar <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781403939326">results</a> have been found in rural Australia, where established expectations about suitable work may not reflect actually existing opportunities available to local youth. </p>
<p>As a consequence, people must re-evaluate who they are and who they can become. This re-negotiation of personal identity is a key aspect of navigating changing labour markets in areas of high youth unemployment.</p>
<h2>A complex policy issue</h2>
<p>Youth unemployment is a complex policy issue with no silver-bullet solutions. Simple approaches based on individual employability are destined to fail. </p>
<p>Local communities and young people themselves are grappling with rapid economic change. </p>
<p>To be successful, education and training programs must work with local communities alongside investment in regional economies aimed at creating new employment opportunities when established industries leave. </p>
<p>Only in this way can education and employment policies support young people to navigate regional Australia’s changing labour markets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56673/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Farrugia receives funding from the Australian Research Council, and is part of research teams that receive funding from the NSW Government. </span></em></p>The government assumes that with the right education and training, a young person will be able to get work. But this is not the case, especially for young people who live in rural and regional areas.David Farrugia, Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/580972016-04-25T09:31:27Z2016-04-25T09:31:27ZParkrun is an important movement – and should remain free for participants<p>There has been a huge public response to the <a href="http://www.parkrun.org.uk/news/2016/04/13/little-stoke-parkrun-update/">recent decision</a> by Stoke Gifford parish council in South Gloucestershire, England, to charge parkrun for providing free running events in local parks.</p>
<p>Parkrunners have taken to social media to mobilise support. Over 56,000 people have signed a <a href="https://www.change.org/p/stoke-gifford-parish-council-keep-little-stoke-parkrun-in-little-stoke-park">petition</a> in protest. The Little Stoke parkrun team subsequently cancelled the event citing concerns about safety and the impact on the park if large numbers of people turned up for a protest run. Little Stoke parkrun now intends to appeal the decision, however, and is looking into the <a href="http://www.parkrun.org.uk/news/2016/04/13/little-stoke-parkrun-update/">legal basis</a> for doing so. </p>
<h2>Not a sports club</h2>
<p>By charging fees, the parish council is treating parkrun in the same way as local sports organisations that pay to use the park and generate their own funds from fees and grants. Despite the fact that Sport England held up parkrun as a <a href="http://www.sportengland.org/news-and-features/news/2016/january/28/help-us-shape-sport-englands-future/">model of community sport</a>, however, it receives no government funding. </p>
<p>Parkrun is different from traditional sports organisations in a number of ways: there are no membership fees and, with only a small paid staff, growth is driven by volunteers across the country who run weekly events. As a new kind of hybrid organisation, parkrun differs from sports clubs or commercial fitness groups. It is a not-for-profit that relies on sponsorship and corporate branding, with central boards of governance and local event management. </p>
<p>At the heart of the parkrun ethos is the desire to create opportunities for participation – free, socially oriented, open to all. But does a free event automatically mean that it is actually inclusive? Our research highlights the complex challenge of creating a “parkrun family” in which the aims of health promotion, sport and social connection co-exist.</p>
<h2>There’s no typical parkrunner</h2>
<p><a href="https://runresearch.wordpress.com/author/runresearch/">Our research</a> has sought to understand why <a href="http://www.parkrun.com/">parkrun</a> is so successful and how it engages with groups who are less likely to be active. </p>
<p>Through interviews and surveys across four different UK parkrun sites, we found that people who take part have many different motivations for doing so, including meeting people, competing, getting fit and improving mental health. Parkrun offers an experience of running together that both reflects and challenges traditional notions of running as being primarily about competition. </p>
<p>Skill and ability are not the basis of involvement. In interviews, parkrunners spoke of belonging to something bigger than themselves, of sharing the pain and pleasure of running with people who have vastly different athletic abilities. Body size, age and disability aren’t factors in who can take part – adults and children are able to participate at their own pace. The inclusive format enables people to walk, wheel or run together. Even pets are welcome. </p>
<p>Parkrunners also spoke of the importance of social diversity. Different participants commented on how they valued the “social interaction with others that I would not meet at other times” and the “community spirit, belonging, it becomes part of your life”.</p>
<p>Parkrun has a high rate of female membership (about 50%) which stands in stark contrast to many other sports in the UK. Framing parkrun as “a run not a race” invites the participation of women and others who don’t identify with stereotypical views of running. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119855/original/image-20160422-17405-1k51u9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119855/original/image-20160422-17405-1k51u9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119855/original/image-20160422-17405-1k51u9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119855/original/image-20160422-17405-1k51u9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119855/original/image-20160422-17405-1k51u9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119855/original/image-20160422-17405-1k51u9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/119855/original/image-20160422-17405-1k51u9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Parkrun: looking to go beyond this stereotype.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=KGALwh0M3pKjjsbL1irg2A&searchterm=jogging%20man&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=251032747">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Not perfect, but trying</h2>
<p>Nevetheless, while parkrun is free and seeks to be inclusive, challenges remain. Our research identified fewer parkrunners from non-white British backgrounds, for example, even in areas of high ethnic diversity. However, parkrun volunteers are developing strategies to address this issue.</p>
<p>In an effort to be more inclusive, parkrun volunteers are building relationships with residents in council estates, offering volunteer guides for parkrunners with visual impairments, translating parkrun information into other languages and selecting more diverse images to use in social media promotion. These local activities can feed into broader parkrun strategies to strengthen the focus on free and inclusive events.</p>
<p>The value of parkrun is not just about health or the <a href="https://profmikeweed.wordpress.com/">economic benefit</a> of running, but also the creation of new social relationships that connect people in public places. Charging fees threatens to undermine the efforts of parkrun to be inclusive. Funding issues arise at the local level because local councils are not required by law to prioritise the funding of public parks and leisure services despite <a href="http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/improving-publics-health/access-green-and-open-spaces-and-role-leisure-services">research</a> that identifies the importance of access for all. </p>
<p>Little Stoke parkrun may seem like a local issue, but it’s actually an important test case for English local governments which have a responsibility to support equitable public health and community well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simone Fullagar has undertaken research that has been approved by the parkrun research board and funded independently by Cancer Research UK @run_research. She is a parkrun member. </span></em></p>A parish council’s decision to charge parkrunners for using their parks may seem like a storm in a tea cup – but it’s an important test case.Simone Fullagar, Professor, Sport and Physical Cultural Studies, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.