tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/community-development-21169/articlescommunity development – The Conversation2023-09-20T02:03:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2128582023-09-20T02:03:09Z2023-09-20T02:03:09Z‘Government all over us like a rash’: the broken service delivery system in remote Aboriginal communities<p>Indigenous people in remote and very remote communities in Australia tend to <a href="https://ctgreport.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdf/closing-the-gap-report-2020.pdf">experience</a> poorer health, education and employment services and outcomes compared to the general population.</p>
<p>To find out more about why this is happening, we brought together the main players in Aboriginal service delivery in the remote communities of the Kimberley in Western Australia to identify problems and discuss opportunities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-in-the-kimberley-have-spent-decades-asking-for-basics-like-water-and-homes-will-the-voice-make-their-calls-more-compelling-202606">People in the Kimberley have spent decades asking for basics like water and homes. Will the Voice make their calls more compelling?</a>
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<h2>What we did</h2>
<p>In 2018 and 2019 we ran three workshops to discuss the roadblocks to Aboriginal development that service providers encounter in towns and remote communities of the Kimberley. </p>
<p>The first was with Aboriginal community organisation leaders, the second with public servants, and the final workshop with non-Aboriginal NGOs. </p>
<p>We decided to run separate workshops because we didn’t think it would be productive to put all sides in the same room together; we hypothesised the groups would be more likely to speak freely if they were separated. </p>
<p>By running each workshop separately, we found each sector enthusiastic to engage and discuss their aspirations as well as their frustrations. </p>
<p>We recorded each workshop and edited the transcripts down to the most insightful contributions, then arranged them under similar topics. </p>
<p>The result is <a href="https://doi.org/10.57981/c601-gd71">the book</a> Voices from the Frontline: Community leaders, government managers and NGO field staff talk about what’s wrong in Aboriginal development and what they are doing to fix it, published by the Nulungu Research Institute of the University of Notre Dame Australia.</p>
<p>We found all sides tended to identify the same systemic problems, rather than blame each other, when given the chance to discuss their work in a safe environment. </p>
<p>Some of their concerns included: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>excessive managerialism (having too many managers doing too much managing), reporting, and top-down direction</p></li>
<li><p>the inefficiencies and misdirection of resources through government’s creation of a false competitive market in Aboriginal services</p></li>
<li><p>the need to counter this by recognising the dedication of all local players to a shared goal</p></li>
<li><p>greater regional decision-making and cooperation. </p></li>
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<h2>‘Governed by a bureaucrat who hasn’t seen a Blackfella in their life’</h2>
<p>Most of the Aboriginal contributors had worked in the field of community development for about 40 years – all their adult lives. </p>
<p>They remembered a time before the introduction of a bureaucratic management style that focused heavily on outsourcing, competition for service delivery contracts, and intrusive reporting on targets determined by people who live nowhere near the community.</p>
<p>The other contributors, newer on the scene, tended to accept this as just the way business is done. </p>
<p>All sides said managerialism – which they saw as private sector methods and ideologies applied in the public sector – and control of projects by bureaucrats in faraway cities were the major impediments to effective outcomes in Aboriginal development.</p>
<p>As one Aboriginal contributor put it:</p>
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<p>My mother worked [in a state welfare department] and every day I had to go to work with her after school […] I can recall everybody being happy. I can recall a lot of social inclusion. I can recall a lot of discipline, respect. I can recall a lot of happy times growing up as a kid […] Today, for heaven’s sake, we can’t move. Government all over us like a rash. Today our lives are being governed by a bureaucrat who hasn’t seen a Blackfella in their life or haven’t spoken to one.</p>
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<h2>Cooperation should trump competition</h2>
<p>Competition for government contracts often provoked suspicion and antagonism from all sides involved in Aboriginal service development.</p>
<p>To counter it, all sides identified personal commitment as important. They saw personal commitment as going above and beyond, often directly counter to the direction they get from bureaucrats or NGO staff sitting in Perth and Canberra.</p>
<p>All sides believed greater regional cooperation – from design through to implementation of programmes – was an absolute necessity. </p>
<p>Worryingly, even the government middle managers felt there was no institutional support for this regional cooperation.</p>
<p>Encouragingly, participants said the formal relationship between First Nations peoples and settler Australians must be re-thought, re-stated and then reflected in government processes.</p>
<h2>No shortage of talent, good will and enthusiasm</h2>
<p>We gave our book the title <a href="https://doi.org/10.57981/c601-gd71">Voices from the Frontline</a> before the current debate over a constitutionally enshrined Voice got underway. </p>
<p>Yet the foreword by Elder and Yawuru man <a href="https://www.anu.edu.au/about/university-executive/professor-peter-yu-am">Peter Yu</a> shows how relevant it is to that debate. He writes: </p>
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<p>The referendum on a constitutionally enshrined First Nation Voice has brought national attention to the failure of Australia’s government system in addressing the appalling economic and social conditions experienced by First Nations people.</p>
<p>There is a nearly unanimous acknowledgement that the formal relationship between the Australian nation state and its First Nations people is faltering. </p>
<p>Through the voices of those directly involved, [<a href="https://doi.org/10.57981/c601-gd71">Voices from the Frontline</a>] presents a compelling case for change and serves as a call to action for all who wish to understand and address the pressing issues faced by First Nations communities in the Kimberley region and beyond.</p>
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<p>This is a sentiment all of the contributors would have agreed with, whether government managers, Aboriginal leaders or NGO managers and field staff. </p>
<p>Our research shows there is plenty of talent, good will and enthusiasm out there. It just needs to be harnessed more effectively.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/countless-reports-show-water-is-undrinkable-in-many-indigenous-communities-why-has-nothing-changed-194447">Countless reports show water is undrinkable in many Indigenous communities. Why has nothing changed?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Sullivan received funding from the Australian Research Council for the research in this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Thorburn received funding for this project from the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP160102250: Reciprocal Accountability and Public Value in Aboriginal Organisations.</span></em></p>One interviewee told us: ‘Today our lives are being governed by a bureaucrat who hasn’t seen a Blackfella in their life or haven’t spoken to one.’Patrick Sullivan, Professor, University of Notre Dame AustraliaKathryn Thorburn, Translational Fellow Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1928212022-11-06T11:49:00Z2022-11-06T11:49:00ZCommunity-based economic development is the key to a strong pandemic recovery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493345/original/file-20221103-33202-ir1sye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6048%2C3965&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Community isn’t just important for social recovery from the pandemic — it also provides an important framework for recovering economically.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we emerge from the pandemic, economic recovery is on everyone’s minds. Cities around the world are grappling with the intersecting challenges of <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-economist-explains-what-you-need-to-know-about-inflation-188959">inflation</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-report-half-the-world-is-facing-water-scarcity-floods-and-dirty-water-large-investments-are-needed-for-effective-solutions-175578">climate change</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-inequality-is-growing-in-the-us-and-around-the-world-191642">deep systemic inequities</a>.</p>
<p>Throughout the pandemic, there were calls for change. People across all sectors argued that we <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-back-to-normal-after-covid-19-health-care-should-shift-focus-from-treatment-to-prevention-143260">could not simply “go back” to how things were</a> — we needed to take the lessons learned and begin to reshape our communities. </p>
<p>While the staggering negative impacts of the pandemic should never be overlooked, there were moments of grace that emerged. We all became more <a href="https://theconversation.com/reopen-recreation-spaces-after-covid-19-for-the-good-of-the-public-not-the-individual-144344">aware and appreciative of public spaces</a>. <a href="https://parkpeople.ca/blog/covid-19-and-parks-highlights-from-our-national-surveys/">Parks were full</a>, libraries were never busier and streets were taken over by people and patios. There were <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/knowledge/customer-experience/how-shopping-and-eating-out-has-changed-during-pandemic">movements to shop and eat locally</a>. </p>
<p>We all became increasingly aware of our need to be connected with one another and found creative ways to sustain our relationships. The pandemic reminded us that community is important, that people are important and that places are important. But community isn’t just important for us socially. It’s also important for our economy.</p>
<h2>A community-centred approach</h2>
<p>As we begin our slow economic recovery, we need to bring the spirit of creative problem solving, local engagement and community building into our economic planning. <a href="https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2009/11/25/rethinking-economic-development.html">Traditional approaches to economic development</a> have focused on creating policies and programs to foster economic growth and job creation. This “smokestack chasing” approach prioritized relationships between businesses and governments, leaving communities vulnerable.</p>
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<img alt="Two women smiling at someone off-camera seated in a circle of other people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493349/original/file-20221103-33202-hov3ej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&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">Economic development approaches like community wealth building aim to keep wealth in communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>While municipal incentives to attract corporations into cities <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/governance-powers/economic-development/municipal-business-promotion">still exist in economic development practice</a>, emerging 21st century models of economic development have begun to consider the importance of improving the overall quality of life within communities. </p>
<p>The emergence of <a href="https://ccednet-rcdec.ca/resource/pathways-to-a-peoples-economy/">community or local economic development</a> has added new voices into economic planning and policy making. With community leaders, nonprofit groups and local residents at the table, ideas begin to emerge from the bottom up and work to create more inclusive, equitable and sustainable solutions to social, environmental and economic issues.</p>
<h2>A new approach to economic development</h2>
<p>In the early 2000s, <a href="https://democracycollaborative.org/blog/brief-history-community-wealth-building">community wealth building</a> emerged as a new approach to local economic development. With the goal of taking one-off approaches to local economic development and “supercharging” them, a community wealth building approach is concerned with keeping wealth in communities. </p>
<p>Community wealth building is a direct response to extractive policies that see wealth leaving communities and instead aims to build an economy on the principles of local ownership and control of assets. </p>
<p>The Democracy Collaborative, an American public policy think tank, offers a <a href="https://democracycollaborative.org/publications/new-era-community-wealth-building">five-pillar approach to building local economies</a>. These pillars include progressive procurement, locally rooted finance, inclusive and democratic enterprise, fair work and the just use of land. </p>
<p>From <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/cities-regions/community-wealth-building/">Scotland</a> to <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/3713186-chicago-scotland-take-a-community-wealth-building-approach-to-economic-development/">Chicago</a> to <a href="http://www.pnlt.ca/">Toronto</a>, places around the world are experimenting with this new model of economic development to “take back” their economies.</p>
<p>A community wealth building approach resonates with the perspectives advanced by economist Raghuram Rajan in his book, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566369/the-third-pillar-by-raghuram-rajan/"><em>The Third Pillar</em></a>. He argues that is only by creating balance across the three pillars of society — businesses, governments and our communities — that we can build a more just and equitable society. </p>
<h2>Building more resilient economies</h2>
<p>Even before the pandemic, <a href="https://www.evergreen.ca/tools-publications/2018-mid-sized-cities-research-series/">small and mid-sized cities were struggling to build resilient economies</a> in Ontario. With a smaller tax base, fewer knowledge workers and competition from larger urban centres, smaller cities face a number of challenges when it comes to creating sustainable economies. </p>
<p>There are a number of emerging projects that my research team at the University of Guelph is beginning to explore. Our goal is to understand how community wealth building projects can be created and scaled in mid-sized cities. </p>
<p>In partnership with the <a href="https://socialinnovation.org/about/who-we-are/">Centre for Social Innovation</a>, we have launched a multi-city case study (Guelph, Kingston, London and Windsor) to explore how Ontario’s mid-sized cities are transforming their economies through community-led initiatives.</p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://windsoressexcb.ca/our-history/">Community Benefits Coalition</a> began in Windsor-Essex, Ontario, in 2016 with the creation of a <a href="https://www.buysocialcanada.com/learn/community-benefit-agreement/">community benefits agreement with the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority</a> in response to the new bridge project. The community believed its members should directly benefit from the building of the Gordie Howe International Bridge — a multi-billion dollar project. </p>
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<img alt="A black-and-white photo of a smiling man sitting on a bridge beside a Canadian flag and a U.S. flag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493128/original/file-20221102-15-yzitz5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&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">A photo of hockey great Gordie Howe at the announcement that the Detroit River International Crossing will be named the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ont. in May 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley</span></span>
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<p>The community benefits agreement has been a game-changer for Windsor-Essex. In addition to new jobs and training, a $10 million fund was created to develop projects in Windsor-Essex that were designed by the community to mitigate the impacts of construction. </p>
<p>Through their experience over the last six years, the coalition has published a <a href="https://windsoressexcb.ca/mid-sized-cities-community-benefits-report/">community wealth report designed to help small and mid-sized cities</a> develop their own community benefits agreements around new infrastructure projects. </p>
<h2>A new way forward</h2>
<p>As communities across the world look to revitalize their economies, a community wealth building approach to local economic development can help point a new way forward as we begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>By scaling up and coordinating local economic development projects and expanding collaborations across the three pillars — businesses, governments and communities — we can rebuild an economy that prioritizes sustainability, resilience and equity. </p>
<p>A community wealth building approach includes more co-operatives and locally owned businesses, using the buying power of key institutions like hospitals, universities and municipalities to invest in communities, and preserving land for affordable housing.</p>
<p>We need to build communities that put people first, and community wealth building offers a way for us to accomplish this.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192821/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Audrey Jamal receives funding from Mitacs.</span></em></p>Community wealth building is a direct response to extractive policies and aims to build an economy on the principles of local ownership and control of assets.Audrey Jamal, Assistant Dean, Strategic Partnerships and Societal Impact, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1813972022-09-08T12:31:30Z2022-09-08T12:31:30ZBuilding something better: How community organizing helps people thrive in challenging times<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483291/original/file-20220907-9329-1d1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C0%2C5184%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Forward Marching Band perform at a HONK! Festival in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Oct. 7, 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-forward-marching-band-perform-at-honk-news-photo/859831476">Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Americans don’t agree on much these days, but many feel that <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3609791-record-percentage-says-us-headed-in-wrong-direction-nbc-poll/">the U.S. is on the wrong track</a> and the future is bleak. In a time of <a href="https://www.ap.org/explore/divided-america/">unprecedented division</a>, <a href="https://equitablegrowth.org/the-u-s-economy-is-in-its-fourth-decade-of-rising-inequality-amid-the-need-for-more-accurate-data-on-its-consequences/">rising inequality</a> and intensifying <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/">climate change</a>, it’s easy to feel that progress is impossible. </p>
<p>In fact, models exist all around us for building safer and more equitable spaces where people can thrive. </p>
<p>We are sociologists who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=blnDgfIAAAAJ&hl=en">organizational systems</a>, political and economic institutions and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9cA_KYAAAAAJ&hl=en">environmental justice</a>. In our new book, “<a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/bucknell/building-something-better/9781978823686">Building Something Better: Environmental Crises and the Promise of Community Change</a>,” we explore how people adapt to crises and thrive in challenging times by working together.</p>
<p>The organizations that we profile are small, but they make big impacts by crafting alternatives to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot">neoliberal capitalism</a> – an approach to governing that uses austere economic ideas to organize society. Neoliberalism aims to put government in service of corporations through measures such as deregulating markets, privatizing industries and reducing public services.</p>
<p>Here are three groups we see building something better. </p>
<h2>Humans being, not humans buying</h2>
<p>Some groups build better systems by rejecting neoliberalism’s hyperindividualism. Individualistic logic tells people that they can make the biggest changes by <a href="https://medium.com/@parismarx/a-dollar-is-not-a-vote-53a194ebde44">voting with their dollars</a>. </p>
<p>But when people instead see how they can create real political changes as part of communities and collective systems, amazing things can happen. One example is the <a href="https://www.thundervalley.org/">Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation</a>, a nonprofit on the <a href="http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pwna_native_reservations_pineridge">Pine Ridge Reservation</a> in South Dakota, one of the poorest areas in the U.S. </p>
<p>This organization is led by and serves Lakota people who, like other Native nations, contend with <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/decolonize/2018/04/03/white-allies-lets-be-honest-about-decolonization">devastating structural inequalities</a> such as racism and poverty. These challenges are rooted in <a href="https://theconversation.com/settler-colonialism-helps-explain-current-events-in-xinjiang-and-ukraine-and-the-history-of-australia-and-us-too-176975">settler colonialism</a>, especially the Lakotas’ <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051146572/forced-relocation-native-american-tribes-vulnerable-climate-change-risks">loss of their tribal lands and displacement into less secure locations</a>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation leaders describe how they are drawing on their people’s history and legacy to build a strong and healthy community .</span></figcaption>
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<p>Thunder Valley focuses on healing from daily traumas, such as poverty and high suicide rates. Its goals include <a href="https://www.thundervalley.org/initiatives/lakota-language-education">teaching the Lakota language</a> across generations, <a href="https://www.thundervalley.org/initiatives/youth-leadership">empowering young people</a> to become community leaders and promoting <a href="https://www.thundervalley.org/initiatives/food-sovereignty">food sovereignty</a> by raising food for the community in greenhouses and gardens. </p>
<p>Thunder Valley’s other programs are designed to create community and security in ways that lift up Lakota approaches. For example, its <a href="https://www.thundervalley.org/initiatives/housing-and-home-ownership">housing initiative</a> works to increase access to affordable housing and provides financial coaching. Homes are built and neighborhoods are designed according to Lakota traditions. The organization views home ownership as a way to strengthen community connections rather than simply building individual wealth. </p>
<p>Thunder Valley’s programs also include a demonstration farm and a <a href="https://www.thundervalley.org/initiatives/lakota-language-education">Lakota immersion Montessori school</a>. In 2015, President Barack Obama recognized the organization’s work to heal and build a multigenerational community as a <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2015/04/28/obama-administration-announces-eight-additional-promise-zones-build">Promise Zone</a> – a place building innovative collaborative spaces for community development. </p>
<h2>Claiming space by making music</h2>
<p>Brass and percussion street bands play for free in many U.S. communities. They form mainly in cities and are deeply linked to contemporary urban justice issues. </p>
<p>Acoustic and mobile, these bands play without stages to elevate them or sound systems separating musicians from audience. They invite crowds to join the fun. They may play alongside unions and grassroots groups at political protests, or in parades or community events. </p>
<p>The common factor is that they always perform in public spaces, where everyone can participate. Street bands create bridges across social divides and democratize spaces, while inviting play and camaraderie amid huge social challenges. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Band leader and composer Jon Batiste leads a peaceful protest music march through the streets of New York on June 12, 2020, following the death of George Floyd while being detained by police in Minneapolis.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In the 19th century, brass bands flourished all over the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S. South, street bands emerged from benevolent societies – social organizations that helped free and enslaved Black Americans cope with financial hardships. These groups eventually morphed into “<a href="https://musicrising.tulane.edu/discover/themes/social-aids-pleasure-clubs/">social aid and pleasure clubs</a>,” the forces behind New Orleans’ famous parades.</p>
<p>Today, the brass band movement convenes yearly through the <a href="https://honkfest.org/">HONK! Festival</a> in cities across the country such as Boston; Providence, Rhode Island; and <a href="http://honktx.org/">Austin, Texas</a>. Drawing on a <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/10/05/honk-fests-activist-roots">tradition of protest</a>, HONK! events are designed to assert that performers and ordinary people have a right to occupy public space, as well as to disrupt state or corporate events. </p>
<h2>Affordable community-based energy</h2>
<p>Other groups find ways to build economic systems that serve communities rather than private companies or industries. </p>
<p>That’s the goal of the <a href="https://indigenized.energy/">Indigenized Energy Initiative</a>, a community-owned, nonprofit solar cooperative in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. The organization was founded following protests on the Standing Rock Reservation against the <a href="https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/plains-treaties/dapl">Dakota Access Pipeline</a>, which carries oil from the Bakken formation in North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.standingrock.org">Standing Rock Sioux Tribe</a> and its supporters opposed the pipeline, which crossed its ancestral lands and vital waterways, arguing that it violated treaties and <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/3/13/14854096/dakota-access-pipeline-tribal-sovereignty">tribal sovereignty</a>. The project was built, but opponents hope to shut it down through a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/22/us-supreme-court-dakota-access-pipeline">pending environmental review</a>.</p>
<p>Indigenized Energy’s executive director, Cody Two Bears, emerged from Standing Rock protests aiming to build the <a href="https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/pv_solar/north-dakota-20190820">first solar farm in oil-dependent North Dakota</a>. The organization aims to provide low-cost solar energy for all community members, promoting energy independence. </p>
<p>Today, the Cannon Ball Community Solar Farm has 1,100 solar panels and a 300-kilowatt generating capacity – enough to power all of Cannon Ball’s homes. The farm sells its power into the state grid, earning enough to offset the electricity bills of the community’s veteran and youth centers. </p>
<p>Longer-term goals include building tribally owned transmission lines, installing solar panels on tribal homes and community buildings and expanding support for solar power in North Dakota. </p>
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<h2>Building better systems</h2>
<p>We see similarities among these organizations and others in our book. Initiatives like commmunity-owned solar cooperatives and collective models for home ownership and neighborhood planning aim to build economic systems that meet community needs and treat people equitably. Instead of finding answers in individual consumption or lifestyle changes, they build collective solutions. </p>
<p>At the same time, communities across the U.S. have different views of what constitutes a good life. In our view, acknowledging different experiences, goals and values is part of the work of building a shared future. </p>
<p>In recent years, many scholars have pointed out ways in which neoliberalism has failed to produce effective solutions to <a href="https://theconversation.com/neoliberalisms-failure-means-we-need-a-new-narrative-to-guide-global-economy-69096">economic</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-was-not-prepared-for-a-pandemic-free-market-capitalism-and-government-deregulation-may-be-to-blame-165295">health</a>, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-environment-beyond-neoliberalism-delivering-sustainable-growth/">environmental</a> and other challenges. These critiques invite a deeper question: Are people capable of remaking the world to prioritize relationships with one another and with the planet, instead of relationships to wealth? We believe the cases in our book show clearly that the answer is yes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181397/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Malin has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Colorado Water Center, the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (a branch of NIH), the Rural Sociological Society, and CSU School of Global Environmental Sustainability.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan Elizabeth Kallman is a Democrat representing District 15 (Pawtucket, North Providence) in the Rhode Island Senate. She is a co-founder of Conceivable Future, a women-led network of Americans bringing awareness to the threat climate change poses to reproductive justice and demanding an end to US fossil fuel subsidies.</span></em></p>Organizers across the US are finding innovative grassroots strategies for helping people thrive. Many of these ventures emphasize working together as part of communities and collective systems.Stephanie Malin, Associate Professor of Sociology; Co-Founder, Center for Environmental Justice at CSU, Colorado State UniversityMeghan Elizabeth Kallman, Assistant Professor of International Development, UMass BostonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1506802021-01-05T05:04:22Z2021-01-05T05:04:22ZCollective action around common resources could help vulnerable communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374767/original/file-20201214-21-1p709lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some of the practices of microfinance institutions have been shown to increase indebtedness as well as economic and social vulnerabilities</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two separate <a href="https://www.newframe.com/south-africas-continuing-economic-pandemic/">economic studies</a> point to a grim current economic reality in South Africa. Close to 3 million jobs lost due to the COVID-19 lockdown in April were not recovered again by June 2020. Also by June, one in every two households living in shack settlements did not have enough money to buy food at the end of the month.</p>
<p>As the financial situation worsens around the country and the government battles to reignite the economy, the time has come to look at other ways of stimulating development and assisting communities most at risk.</p>
<p>One area that is showing promise is collective action and entrepreneurial activity involving common resources. These resources are called the <a href="http://www.bollier.org/new-to-the-commons">commons</a>. They refer to shared, accessible and collectively owned assets. The concept of commons has a long history and has enjoyed renewed interest lately. Many common-pool resources already exist – like water and land. But there are more that can be pooled and shared collectively, like open-source software and energy production.</p>
<p>Commons can be managed and used by social entrepreneurs to generate income to boost local development and create jobs. The aim is not necessarily to make a profit, but to help all members of a community share a resource equally and equitably.</p>
<p>The creation of commons is increasingly being adopted by social entrepreneurs as a way of contributing to community development and putting value into economic activities. Yet little research has been done on the entrepreneurial processes involved. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0883902619301429">recently published paper</a>, I compared the different approaches to five community banks in Brazil. The insights from this article are particularly useful to the situation in South Africa because they reveal the potential of communities to self-organise to address problems of poverty and socio-economic exclusion. </p>
<p>Communities and their local entrepreneurs redefine economic activities to transform financial resources for the collective benefit of the many rather than promoting capital accumulation and concentration by the few. In this way, community entrepreneurs promote collective autonomy and do not wait for governments or corporations to improve local living conditions.</p>
<h2>Community banks</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.institutobancopalmas.org/o-que-e-um-banco-comunitario/">Community banks</a> emerged in Brazil in the late 1990s. They promoted an alternative economic system through common ownership. Members of the community collectively “own” the community bank. They are able to influence the promotion of economic activities in that area.</p>
<p>In 2011, around 50% of Brazilians had no bank account and were effectively excluded from financial services. This made it difficult to pay bills, borrow money to set up a business, or transfer money. In 10 years, the number of community banks increased from one to 103. </p>
<p>Community banks serve members of a particular community. Typically, they lend money at interest rates fixed by the community, assist in setting up local businesses and sometimes hand out credit that can be spent on businesses in that area. </p>
<p>Community banks are run by community leaders or trustees elected by the community and contribute to social change in two ways. Firstly, they foster democracy through participation in – and reflection about – economic activities. For example, before setting up a community bank, community members discuss local economic activities and how to support these. Secondly, they promote access to finance through removing some barriers. In particular, they bring financial services to remote and marginalised communities and low-income populations.</p>
<h2>Commercialisation without commodification</h2>
<p>For some time, scholars have argued that it’s possible for enterprises run by collectives and communities to be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883902618304440?casa_token=T372SPmn47MAAAAA:igBnCikqE9cET7rhCSZOVh5JyrgfZVNjoyLEhUp9j9qSUfWFqMfTqYmF8uU95m66U_7xjAKVBV8#f0005">agents for social change</a>. But there have been <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amj.2011.0405">lingering concerns</a> about the relationship between the social and commercial objectives. </p>
<p>There is also a risk of losing legitimacy. This is particularly true if there is a focus on commercialisation and profit. These become more important than the social objectives. This is a process known as commodification.</p>
<p>In some extreme cases, social enterprises make matters worse. This has happened in projects that seek to alleviate poverty. It’s a phenomenon sometimes called the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0018726716640865">“business of poverty reduction”</a>.</p>
<p>One example often cited is the microfinance industry. Some practices have been shown to increase indebtedness and <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2016/02/04/book-review-the-crises-of-microcredit-edited-by-isabelle-guerin-marc-labie-and-jean-michel-servet/">worsen economic and social vulnerability</a>.</p>
<p>To de-commodify goods and services, they need to be sold for their value of use and not their value of exchange so that they can be considered as socio-economic goods. This is, of course, easier said than done. </p>
<p>Nobel prize-winning American <a href="https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Ostrom.html">economist Elinor Ostrom</a> has set out possible solutions. These involve putting in place collective governance structures of the commons and mechanisms of social control facilitated by the social entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>This was the prism through which I explored the Brazilian community banks. The research set out to understand how the mechanisms of such enterprises work.</p>
<h2>Organising principles</h2>
<p>My research found that the banks that were the most successful in avoiding the commodification trap did two things.</p>
<p>Firstly, they included community members in decision-making for the governance and management of the bank and its financial resources. This principle of self-organisation is put into practice by inviting local citizens and community leaders to discuss the venture and how it can benefit the community. In community forums and the boards of directors, leaders and members bring and select community demands to embed the bank in the territory and guarantee that financial resources are adapted to local needs. </p>
<p>Secondly, with the objective of promoting financial inclusion, community banks enacted the principle of the right to access finance. Considering that access to financial services should be a right for a fulfilling economic life, community banks offer financial services where traditional banks do not operate, making them accessible to excluded populations. Entrepreneurs and bank employees also use a language that is easy to understand for community members and offer financial education programmes.</p>
<p>Thirdly, social entrepreneurs in community banks promoted the autonomy of the community and expressed solidarity towards community members. By mobilising community members to establish the venture, entrepreneurs educate their peers and make it possible for members to serve on boards and committees. Feeling a moral responsibility towards a community, they also show personal commitment to address community demands and consider the human aspect of clients. </p>
<h2>Building on renewed interest in the commons</h2>
<p>There are significant opportunities to build on ideas to promote collective action and commercialisation without commodification on a larger scale. </p>
<p>South Africa is a country primed for such initiatives. With some support, entrepreneurial schemes that have the scope to assist many could be expanded and made more accessible to more people. </p>
<p>Assisting communities to organise themselves for their own benefit has the added value of boosting self-esteem and building community pride.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>To conduct this research, Camille Meyer received funding from the FRESH Belgian Fund for Scientific Research – FRS.FNRS, and the Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi). Part of this research was conducted while he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CSSI) at the Peter B.Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria,Canada. CSSI receives funding from Newmont Goldcorp Inc.</span></em></p>The creation of resources that are shared, accessible, and collectively owned and managed by communities has become a way for social entrepreneurs to contribute to community development.Camille Meyer, Senior lecturer, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1395322020-06-16T17:52:56Z2020-06-16T17:52:56ZAs city life is restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic, new residents find creative ways to manage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341418/original/file-20200612-38691-4gue34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5742%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New residents learn from and contribute to the character of a city.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over time, every city develops its own distinct identity, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X2017000054B007">a collectively shared city character or ethos</a>. Cities provide meaning to the lives of its residents: they shape and are shaped by their inhabitants. </p>
<p>Cities also provide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8753-4_1">physical and social environments for human interactions</a>. This city character is easily recognized by its locals, yet how do newcomers — especially migrants — learn about the city that is to become their new home? What happens when this discovery process is interrupted by new pandemic response rules governing public urban life?</p>
<h2>Learning the city</h2>
<p>For newcomers looking to re-establish lives and careers, adjusting to a new urban environment can be overwhelming. Migrants seeking to permanently settle in the city may experience some disorientation or discontinuity as they navigate the local city. To gain comfort and feel safe and secure in the new city, migrants must acquire “city know-how”; that is, they establish new spatial and social connections and create new meanings.</p>
<p>While adapting to the new city may not be an easy task, cities with large immigrant populations, like Toronto or Vancouver, provide good examples of successful migrant infrastructure. These include social services and settlement resources that are meant to ease adaptation and integration. </p>
<p>Some cities have even designated themselves as <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/what-is-a-sanctuary-city-anyway">sanctuary cities</a> or safe cities by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12308">adopting formal policies that allow everyone — even undocumented migrants — access to city services</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341416/original/file-20200612-38729-440wg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toronto is a sanctuary city, meaning that anyone can access its services — even without documentation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cities are meant to do much more than just meet the basic needs of their inhabitants. That is, we not only functionally bond to its artifacts — both concrete and abstract city resources and objects such as houses, parks, public spaces, work and social opportunities — but these city artifacts also allow us to build emotional attachments and influence our sense of belonging.</p>
<h2>Integrating into the city</h2>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://canadianimmigrant.ca/living/community/study-points-to-social-integration-as-key-for-immigrant-success">study of skilled migrant resilience</a>, we explored <a href="https://carcon2020.exordo.com/programme/presentation/61">the important role that specific city artifacts can have in migrant integration journeys</a>.</p>
<p>Migrants initially sought to gain intimate knowledge of their new urban environments by familiarizing themselves and discovering connectedness with the social and external realities of the city. Their connection with the city was based on evaluating and comparing experiences of their new cities to memories they had of cities they had previously lived in.</p>
<p>Thus, as migrants explore the new city, they seek to create new relationships and assign new meanings and “identities” to those objects they encounter locally. For example, certain city elements such as corporate headquarters located among the high city skyscrapers, traditionally seen as symbols of power and influence, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9787.2009.00627.x">may be associated with better career opportunities for newcomers</a>. </p>
<h2>Identifying resources</h2>
<p>In the same way, libraries, local business offices or newspapers may be identified as sources of human and social capital and offer potential employment information.</p>
<p>As migrants explore their new urban context, they are engaged in constant comparisons between their home and host city, and experiences in other cities serve as guiding principles for their experiences in new urban environments. Learning this new city know-how becomes a matter of great relevance and urgency for the newly arrived, especially in the context of seeking to re-establish productive work lives.</p>
<p>Interacting with the city artifacts, sometimes familiar and other times completely new and unique, facilitates learning and collaboration of different groups in the city. Our connection to the city is therefore much broader than just allowing us to conduct daily duties.</p>
<h2>Contributing artifacts</h2>
<p>Over time, as migrants interact with the new city, they start using its resources and creating social connections, helping them to achieve a degree of familiarity with the arrival city and establish a sense of belonging.</p>
<p>In creating new attachments to the local city, migrants are found to not only explore and interact with local artifacts, but many migrants are inspired to create new artifacts. This is one of most important and unique activities of migrants: creating new urban artifacts such as directories, guides, unique educational programs, new policies or not-for-profit organizations’ activities. Many of these are geared towards easing integration of other migrants, but they also increase connectedness and interaction for all city inhabitants. From being somewhat more passive recipients of the city know-how, migrants over time become active participants in changing and shaping their new city.</p>
<h2>Creative action responses</h2>
<p>What happens now, when cities have become affected by the pandemic? What remains for those in need of access to artifacts to re-establish lives and careers in the city?</p>
<p>How can migrants continue to relate to the local city, when rules of engagement are changing continuously? Even accessing resources like libraries, cultural centres or public spaces are limited or only partly accessible.</p>
<p>Based on our work on <a href="https://canadianimmigrant.ca/living/community/study-points-to-social-integration-as-key-for-immigrant-success">the careers and resilience of migrants</a>, we expect migrants to continue to cope and find creative ways of connecting to the city and its objects. Specifically, migrants may have increased desire to solve problems of access by creating new objects and finding new pathways in the city. In this way, migrants can be part of the solution in generously contributing to the changing city landscape. Migrants have great sense of purpose when they identify with the local city and needs of its inhabitants. </p>
<p>In the current context, when cities may become more inaccessible than ever before, migrants may have an even bigger role to play <a href="https://www.glomhi.org/home/community-event-on-migrant-collective-action-in-toronto-november-2">in addressing this situation</a>. </p>
<p>From their ongoing experiences of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0950017013491449">resilience and coping with life in the new city</a>, skilled migrants are especially well-positioned for creating solutions, like new resources, policies and support groups, that not only serve other migrants, but all of the arrival city’s inhabitants. Their well-established scripts of coping and settlement will allow migrants to continue to reinvent ways of relating and contributing to the local context.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139532/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the Migration and Resilience in Urban Canada - Immigration et résilience en milieu urbaine (BMRC-IMRU partnership funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, SSHRC#896-2016-1004
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions or opinions of the BMRC-IRMU partnership.
<a href="https://bmrc-irmu.info.yorku.ca/">https://bmrc-irmu.info.yorku.ca/</a>
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>
This research was supported by the Migration and Resilience in Urban Canada - Immigration et résilience en milieu urbaine (BMRC-IMRU partnership funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, SSHRC#896-2016-1004 The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions or opinions of the BMRC-IRMU partnership. <a href="https://bmrc-irmu.info.yorku.ca/">https://bmrc-irmu.info.yorku.ca/</a> </span></em></p>People moving to new cities build new connections and develop resources to meet their needs. But the pandemic has cut off access to the spaces and facilities that enable this.Jelena Zikic, Associate Professor, School of Human Resource Management, York University, CanadaViktoriya Voloshyna, Ph.D. candidate, School of Human Resource Management, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1318342020-03-08T12:52:33Z2020-03-08T12:52:33ZUniversities can squeeze out low-income residents in cities like Montréal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319362/original/file-20200309-118897-1cyl8zp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=59%2C2%2C938%2C652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parc-Extension in Montreal is a neighbourhood in transition with dire consequences for low-income families.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrés Salas</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Montréal, Canada’s second largest city, a new university campus focused on the pursuit of artificial intelligence technology opened last fall to much fanfare. The inauguration of the <a href="https://campusmil.umontreal.ca/le-mil/">Université de Montréal’s MIL campus (MIL stands for “middle ground”)</a> also drew <a href="https://comitedactionparcex.org/?p=1221">critical protests</a> by tenant rights groups impacted by its gleaming presence and its role <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/sep/26/trudeaus-poorest-constituents-pushed-out-by-montreal-building-project">in the gentrification of surrounding neighbourhoods, particularly Parc-Extension</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/number-of-families-facing-eviction-from-apartments-soars-in-parc-extension?fbclid=IwAR3G30EVto4t9bcyMcdImtB0l3w4JhmiqmJ6dcy9jFRc4tfh5kYeTTGOEbc">Parc-Extension (Parc-Ex)</a> is a neighbourhood that lies to the north of MIL campus and is among <a href="https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/ncs/2019-n22-ncs04813/91547ac/">Canada’s poorest and most densely populated: 43 per cent of residents live below the poverty line</a>. It is also one of Canada’s most diverse communities, <a href="https://www.centraide-mtl.org/documents/79412/upload/documents/Villeray-St-Michel_and_Parc-Extension.pdf">home to the largest immigrant and racialized population of any Montréal neighbourhood</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318448/original/file-20200303-66099-njqkvd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parc-Ex is a neighbourhood in the city of Montréal, Qué. It is located in the borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Park+Extension,+Montreal,+QC/@45.5285711,-73.6502733,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x4cc91904e30c12cd:0xa4aacd5e32164745!8m2!3d45.5279493!4d-73.6303792">(Google)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/number-of-families-facing-eviction-from-apartments-soars-in-parc-extension">Landlords are taking advantage</a> of the arrival of new students and employees wishing to live near the campus <a href="https://ricochet.media/en/2677/for-a-july-1-that-leaves-no-one-behind">by evicting residents and increasing rents</a>.</p>
<p>But research shows that the impact of a university on low-income communities need not be detrimental. Universities can leverage their academic, economic and social resources to soften the blow of gentrification. But to do this, they must acknowledge the university’s impact. Universities around the world are putting together inspiring social responsibility projects. Their efforts seek to broaden academia’s role, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.660">beyond educating students and producing knowledge</a>. </p>
<p>What happened in Montréal?</p>
<h2>When universities drive gentrification: Montréal</h2>
<p>The Université de Montréal has, so far, not addressed its negative impact. And it seems they did not plan for it either.</p>
<p>Two reports by the Montréal Public Consultation Office, <a href="https://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/pdf/P16/rapport_campus_outremont.pdf">one from 2007</a> and <a href="https://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/pdf/P69/rapport-pdues-marconialexandra.pdf">the other from 2013</a>, noted the university’s lack of involvement in creating a housing strategy for the surrounding neighbourhoods in its early plans. </p>
<p>The Université de Montréal told the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/sep/26/trudeaus-poorest-constituents-pushed-out-by-montreal-building-project"><em>Guardian</em></a> in 2019 that it was careful to plan for negative impacts the MIL campus may have. The city requires all new residential projects with 200 or more dwellings to set aside 15 per cent of the units as affordable housing and 15 per cent as social housing (this number will soon be 20 per cent per category). But as the <em>Guardian</em> reports, none of the housing is reserved for current Parc-Ex residents. </p>
<p>The new buildings will be ready after most vulnerable people have lost their homes. Also, the definition of affordable housing “<a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/city-presents-housing-bylaw">consists of units priced at or below the market rate</a>,” which usually leads to rents that are significantly higher than social housing.</p>
<p>In reaction to this tense situation, we have been studying evictions and housing instability in Parc-Extension this past year. We used <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3b78/ecfe0b4a0a7591d2ea068c71e8ea320ff451.pdf">community-based</a> <a href="http://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1f1165j">research methods</a>, which involve a close collaboration between researchers and nonacademic key informants and stakeholders. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318679/original/file-20200304-66052-1lwnqyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318679/original/file-20200304-66052-1lwnqyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318679/original/file-20200304-66052-1lwnqyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318679/original/file-20200304-66052-1lwnqyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318679/original/file-20200304-66052-1lwnqyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318679/original/file-20200304-66052-1lwnqyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318679/original/file-20200304-66052-1lwnqyc.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parc-Ex is a multi-ethnic, multi-generational neighbourhood in Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/syrduav/35843745462/in/photolist-WBoyKq-VAgBLq-57LMKQ-VAivjU-WBovnJ-WBovSS-D1EoAd-DVQTk1-WBoyaN-MKXfUC-cFmmum-qBD8p3-Vn3uZ3-NoyfqK-k3ZCF-Vn3uah-SQxKZs-seMYDV-ytD8mU-rqQdDb-qS2hEV-bJVVQz-oiVz4-sZawMx-2hstoEa-cFhXkb-2hsx5su-cFn5HU-2hstpz6-2hstpzb-2hsw6m9-2hsx5sV-cFmFBu-fciXSG-qCgnff-kN4AH8-cFh5vU-cFmUhC-bJVVQv-cFmrm3-cFhyry-cFmWSW-cFfZr9-cFiQad-cFmRG7-tehWTY-tgC8P4-tgmDuA-seEZjC-2hstpgF">(Stéphanie Vaudry/Flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So far, we have documented residential dynamics in the neighbourhood. We have seen a rise of residential precarity with <a href="https://ricochet.media/en/2677/for-a-july-1-that-leaves-no-one-behind">many detrimental outcomes for low-income residents lined to forced mobility</a> such as psychological stress and increased material hardship. </p>
<h2>Low-income residents struggle to keep up</h2>
<p>Universities play an increasingly important role in urban affairs. They invest in city redevelopment, consult on municipal issues and shape policy through research and lobbying. </p>
<p>For example, Columbia University and New York University are <a href="https://www.residentmar.io/2016/05/27/biggest-landowners-nyc.html">the private entities that own the most properties in New York City</a>. The University of Chicago owns <a href="https://southsideweekly.com/the-fight-over-chicagos-largest-private-police-force-university-of-chicago-ucpd/">one of the largest private police forces in the United States</a> with a jurisdiction that extends to 65,000 residents and a large part of the south side of Chicago.</p>
<p>Universities have been recognized as <a href="https://www.insightintodiversity.com/private-universities-bring-new-growth-but-gentrification-can-sideline-existing-residents/">accelerators of gentrification</a>. The development of new university campuses often leads neighbourhoods with little previous investment by the government or developers to be coveted by real estate promoters and a wealthier class. </p>
<p>Low-income residents <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674599222">cannot keep up</a> with the rising rents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132519830511">and they are most often forcibly displaced</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318682/original/file-20200304-66056-q1y9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318682/original/file-20200304-66056-q1y9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318682/original/file-20200304-66056-q1y9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318682/original/file-20200304-66056-q1y9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318682/original/file-20200304-66056-q1y9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318682/original/file-20200304-66056-q1y9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318682/original/file-20200304-66056-q1y9m5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parc-Ex is rapidly being gentrified.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michelgagnon/7665238956/in/photolist-WBoyKq-VAgBLq-57LMKQ-VAivjU-WBovnJ-WBovSS-D1EoAd-DVQTk1-WBoyaN-MKXfUC-cFmmum-qBD8p3-Vn3uZ3-NoyfqK-k3ZCF-Vn3uah-SQxKZs-seMYDV-ytD8mU-rqQdDb-qS2hEV-bJVVQz-oiVz4-sZawMx-2hstoEa-cFhXkb-2hsx5su-cFn5HU-2hstpz6-2hstpzb-2hsw6m9-2hsx5sV-cFmFBu-fciXSG-qCgnff-kN4AH8-cFh5vU-cFmUhC-bJVVQv-cFmrm3-cFhyry-cFmWSW-cFfZr9-cFiQad-cFmRG7-tehWTY-tgC8P4-tgmDuA-seEZjC-2hstpgF/">(Michel Gagnon/Flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Examples of this include the University of Southern California, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Columbia University — all institutions that contributed to the displacement of low-income residents and their communities in surrounding neighbourhoods: <a href="https://www.saje.net/south-la-coalition-celebrates-community-struggle-around-university-village-development-usc-continues-fight-displacement-neighborhood/">South Central Los Angeles</a>, <a href="https://philly.curbed.com/2013/7/11/10221368/the-long-and-troubling-history-of-penntrification-in-west-philly">West</a> and <a href="https://www.theodysseyonline.com/temple-gentrification">North Philadelphia</a>, <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/columbia-u-tries-to-welcome-the-neighborsat-arms-length.html">West Harlem</a>. </p>
<p>Gentrification leads to various displacement pressures for low-income residents including evictions, the displacement of neighbourhood resources, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12164">changing neighbourhood services and an increasing “out-of-placeness” for existing residents</a>. If genuine residential social mix is to be achieved, it requires a special attention to longtime residents’ needs in historically under-resourced neighbourhoods.</p>
<h2>A social responsibility model</h2>
<p>To recognize its own responsibility to society, universities can encourage their students’ community involvement in concert with needs defined by low-income communities. </p>
<p>One inspiring example is a project led by Swarthmore College in North Philadelphia. Environmental studies professor Giovanna Di Chiro, together with community activists and residents, created <a href="http://www.serenitysoular.org/our-story">Serenity Soular</a>, a solar energy cooperative owned by local workers and contributing to the goal of sustainability for surrounding communities.</p>
<p>Occidental College in Los Angeles has started a <a href="https://www.oxy.edu/about-oxy/community-engagement/npp">neighbourhood partnership program</a> where 100 students help local youth with tutoring and workshops each year. A <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_zoha9tPsxIkLoXPdQCwh2VhDEK_r-4quX_nhjEz3r839wQ/viewform">community benefit agreement</a> was developed with neighbouring communities to define its guiding principles and goals. The <a href="https://www.northeastern.edu/communityservice/for-students/programs/nuaces/overview/">NU|ACES program</a> at Northeastern University’s Center of Community Service helps student engage with the surrounding Boston community. </p>
<p>Similar efforts exist in Canada: the <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/continuing-studies/programs/community-capacity-building-certificate/why-this-program.html">Community Capacity Building Certificate</a> offered by Simon Fraser University’s School of Continuing Studies works with community leaders to engage students with city issues.</p>
<p>In Montréal, too, other universities are leading the way. <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/about/community/office.html">Concordia University’s Office of Community Engagement</a> applies the university’s commitments to community-campus reciprocity through a wide range of innovative activities. Crucially, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) invested $1.8 million in a student housing project <a href="http://quartierlibre.ca/des-logements-etudiants-abordables-pour-contrer-lembourgeoisement/">as part of a broader anti-gentrification strategy</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318686/original/file-20200304-66099-1vpokf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318686/original/file-20200304-66099-1vpokf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318686/original/file-20200304-66099-1vpokf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318686/original/file-20200304-66099-1vpokf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318686/original/file-20200304-66099-1vpokf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318686/original/file-20200304-66099-1vpokf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318686/original/file-20200304-66099-1vpokf6.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">Parc-Extension on a winter morning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Flickr)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are inter-university networks across North America dedicated to social responsibility: The Anchor Dashboard Learning Cohort works to “<a href="https://democracycollaborative.org/learn/publication/higher-educations-anchor-mission-measuring-place-based-engagement">to mutually benefit the long-term well-being” of the campus and the community</a>, and the University Social Responsibility Network (USRN) integrates <a href="http://www.usrnetwork.org/about-usrn/background">social responsibility into institutional management, teaching and research</a>. </p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>These examples show that an expansion of universities’ activities beyond their traditional role is not only feasible, but increasingly perceived as necessary. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318701/original/file-20200304-66112-pnrz71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318701/original/file-20200304-66112-pnrz71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318701/original/file-20200304-66112-pnrz71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318701/original/file-20200304-66112-pnrz71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318701/original/file-20200304-66112-pnrz71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318701/original/file-20200304-66112-pnrz71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318701/original/file-20200304-66112-pnrz71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man stands next to a sign in Parc-Ex, Aug. 31, 2019, during a community event where people expressed their concerns regarding the gentrification of the multicultural borough.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/homelessness-hardship-and-public-action-gentrifying-areas-case-park-extension-montreal">An open letter written by academics and community activists based in Parc-Ex</a> argues for the need for MIL campus to implement a robust campus-community strategy and to hold <a href="https://ricochet.media/fr/2731/ouverture-du-campus-mil-rien-a-celebrer-a-parc-extension">a genuine dialogue between the university and the community </a> to mitigate its impact on low-income residents.</p>
<p>If the Université de Montréal continues to fail to work together with surrounding communities they will continue to be responsible for the displacement of many of the city’s most vulnerable residents. These are communities who rely on affordable housing, viable public transportation to get to work, historical sites of prayer and essential community services based in Parc-Extension.</p>
<p><em>The authors belong to a research collective that includes: Shazma Abdulla, Jenny Cartwright, Simone Chen, Kiley Goyette, Karine Saboui and Andrés Salas.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emanuel Guay is affiliated with the Comité d'action de Parc-Extension (CAPE) as a volunteer. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron Vansintjan, Alessandra Renzi, Tamara Vukov, and Vijay Kolinjivadi 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>Gentrification often leads to the eviction of poor and largely racialized populations. When a university campus drives the change, they can choose to do something about it.Alessandra Renzi, Associate professor of Communications, Concordia UniversityAaron Vansintjan, PhD Candidate, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, Birkbeck, University of LondonEmanuel Guay, PhD candidate in sociology, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Tamara Vukov, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Université de MontréalVijay Kolinjivadi, Postdoctoral researcher, Institute of Development Policy, University of AntwerpLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1286382020-01-08T13:46:13Z2020-01-08T13:46:13ZGhana’s mining communities are still not getting their just dues<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307090/original/file-20191216-123987-1bk0cxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Obuasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana has a long history with mining companies</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ghana has gold, diamonds, bauxite, manganese, salt, limestone, granite and oil. Its mining and quarrying sector contributes significantly to its <a href="https://ghanachamberofmines.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Performance-of-the-Industry-2017.pdf">economy</a>. It is the second-largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa and the tenth-largest producer in the <a href="http://www.hkiga.com/uploads/file/20180813/20180813181645787.pdf">world</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://ghanachamberofmines.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Performance-of-the-Industry-2017.pdf">Two years ago</a>, gold, the flagship mineral, contributed 96% of mineral export revenues (excluding oil and gas). In total, the mining sector contributed <a href="https://ghanachamberofmines.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Performance-of-the-Industry-2017.pdf">43% of export revenues</a> in 2017.</p>
<p>But mining communities in Ghana are generally poor. Mining imposes socio-economic costs on host communities through land acquisitions, environmental degradation, pollution and a high cost of <a href="https://www.journalhealthpollution.org/doi/full/10.5696/2156-9614-8.17.43">living</a>. Although the host communities are entitled to different types of compensation and mineral royalty transfers, they are still among the poorest communities in the country. One important reason is the local authorities’ capture of mineral royalties transferred back to the mining areas.</p>
<p>In 1993 the government of Ghana established the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02646811.2013.11435326">Minerals Development Fund</a> to, among other things, fund and implement development projects in communities affected by mining. The aim was also to transfer mineral royalties to local authorities. In Ghana, mining companies must pay up to 5% of their total revenues as royalties to the state, and of that, the government transfers 20% to the Minerals Development Fund. </p>
<p>The fund was to keep half of what it received to fund research and development in the mining sector and to transfer the remaining to the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands. This office is a national institution mandated by Ghana’s Constitution and the <a href="https://opencontentghana.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/office-of-the-administrator-of-stools-lands-act-1994-act-481.pdf">Stool Lands Act</a> to collect and distribute customary land revenues. The office was to retain 10% of what it received and transfer 20% of what remained to paramount chiefs, 25% to traditional councils and 55% to the district assemblies of the mining company’s operation area. The local authorities were supposed to use the mineral royalties to develop mining communities.</p>
<p>Despite the establishment of the Minerals Development Fund, mining communities remained saddled with social, economic and ecological challenges. This was partly because transferred royalties were captured by local elites. And there were issues around prompt payments to the fund, its legal status and its mandate. </p>
<p>To address these issues, and to establish a mining community development scheme, a new law, the <a href="http://mlnr.gov.gh/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Mineral-Development-Fund-Act-2016-Act-912-1.pdf">Minerals Development Fund Act</a> was passed three years ago. The scheme is to receive 20% of the fund’s share (which equals 4% of the total royalties paid by the mining companies to the state, or 0.2% of the mining companies’ total revenue). The scheme is to facilitate development in mining-affected communities. In each mining community, a local management committee is to administer the scheme. </p>
<p>Despite its potential, the act has not been able to address the multiple challenges of mining communities. The reasons for this are myriad. But enough time has passed for the weaknesses in the system to be identified. It’s time the government took steps to fix these once and for all.</p>
<h2>Weaknesses</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02646811.2019.1686250">five reasons</a> why the act will not drive rapid development in mining communities. </p>
<p>First, it does not stipulate how the share going to paramount chiefs and district assemblies should be spent. This means that the act has not been able to minimise misappropriation of mineral royalties at the local level. </p>
<p>Second, the way the local management committee members are selected disenfranchises local people in the mining communities as people are not allowed to elect their own representatives. This can lead to privileged people being appointed to the committees. It can mean that the voices of the community members are not heard when the committees decide how royalties are spent. </p>
<p>Third, the act fails to sufficiently increase the total amount of mineral royalties assigned to the development of mining communities. Even with the new scheme, the royalty transfers to develop mining communities are woefully inadequate. According to the <a href="https://ghanachamberofmines.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Performance-of-the-Mining-Industry-in-2016.pdf">Ghana Chamber of Mines</a>, mining communities would need to get at least 30% of total mineral royalties to address the challenges related to mining and ensure development. </p>
<p>Fourth, the act has no provisions to force the government to transfer mineral royalties in a timely way to the fund. Unsurprisingly, there are still delays in the payment of mineral royalties. </p>
<p>Finally, the act doesn’t ensure transparency beyond publishing the amount of disbursements and spending of mineral royalties by the fund in a national newspaper. There is no information available for citizens to know how much their communities should receive through mineral royalty transfers and the new scheme, or how these revenues are spent in their area. It’s therefore almost impossible to ensure accountability in how the money is spent. </p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>To address these challenges and ensure rapid development in host communities, the act should be amended in the following ways:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The mining community development scheme should be assigned at least 20% of the total mineral royalties.</p></li>
<li><p>Local people should be mandated to elect members to the local committees.</p></li>
<li><p>It should be clear what local authorities can spend mineral royalties on.</p></li>
<li><p>The Ghana Revenue Authority should be mandated to disburse mineral royalties directly to the fund.</p></li>
<li><p>Information on how much the fund, the office of stool lands and local authorities receive in mineral royalties, and how they spent them, should be made publicly available. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>If these recommendations were considered, they would promote participatory development and accountability in mining communities as local people would have a greater say in how mineral royalty transfers were spent in their area. </p>
<p>In addition, there would be more funds to promote alternative livelihoods and sustainable development, address environmental degradation and provide social amenities in mining communities.</p>
<p><em>This paper was co-authored by John Narh of the Department of Geography, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Norway.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128638/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Päivi Lujala receives funding from the Academy of Finland. </span></em></p>The law missed the opportunity to address misuse of mineral royalties and increase transparency as well as accountability in mineral royalty management.Päivi Lujala, Professor in Human Geography, University of OuluLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1228202019-09-18T13:16:47Z2019-09-18T13:16:47ZQuality higher education means more than learning how to work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292760/original/file-20190917-19068-nouo3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Quality higher education is more than just securing a job.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When people talk about quality education, they’re often referring to the kind of education that gives students the knowledge and skills they need for the job market. But there’s a <a href="http://www.guninetwork.org/articles/contributions-human-development-approach-re-visioning-quality-universities">view</a> that quality education has wider benefits: it develops individuals in ways that help develop society more broadly.</p>
<p>In Zimbabwe, for example, the higher education policy <a href="https://ww5.msu.ac.zw/blog/2019/07/23/our-education-must-work-for-us-prof-murwira/">emphasises</a> student employability and the alleviation of labour shortages. But, as my <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Quality-in-Higher-Education-as-a-Tool-for-Human-Development%20Enhancing/Mukwambo/p/book/9781138590717">research</a> found, this isn’t happening in practice. </p>
<p>University education needs to do more than produce a graduate who can get a job. It should also give graduates a sense of right and wrong. And it should instil graduates with an appreciation for other people’s development. </p>
<p>Tertiary education should also give students opportunities, choices and a voice when it comes to work safety, job satisfaction, security, growth and dignity. Higher education is a space where they can learn to be critical. It must prepare them for participating in the economy and broader society. </p>
<p>This isn’t happening in Zimbabwe. Graduate unemployment is high and employers and policy makers are <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/graduates-lack-skills-says-professor-moyo/">blaming</a> this largely on the mismatch between graduate skills and market requirements. </p>
<h2>Investigating Zimbabwe’s universities</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2019.1596075">research</a> sought to examine how a human development lens could add to what was valued as higher education, and the kind of graduate outcomes produced in Zimbabwe. I investigated 10 of the universities in Zimbabwe (there were 15 at the time of the research). Four were private and six public. </p>
<p>I reviewed policy documents, interviewed representatives of institutions and held discussions with students. Members of Zimbabwe’s higher education quality assurance body and university teaching staff were also included. </p>
<p>I found that in practice, higher education in Zimbabwe was influenced by the country’s socio-political and economic climate. Decisions and appointments of key university administrators in public universities and the minister of higher education were largely political. </p>
<p>In addition, resources were limited and staff turnover was high. Universities just couldn’t finance themselves through <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190820092133207">tuition fees</a>. </p>
<p>Different players in the higher education system – employers, the government, academics, students and their families – have different ideas about what “quality” means in higher education. The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education understands quality as meeting set standards and benchmarks that emphasise the graduates’ knowledge and skills.</p>
<p>To some extent, academics and university administrators see quality as teaching and learning that gives students a mixture of skills and values such as social responsibility. </p>
<p>But lecturers must comply with the largely top-down approach to quality. They tend to do whatever will enhance students’ prospects of getting employment in a particular market.</p>
<p>The educators and students I interviewed acknowledged that developing the ability to work and to think critically were both central to higher education. But they admitted that these goals were hard to attain. This was because of the country’s constrained socio-political and economic environment. Academics and students felt that they couldn’t express themselves freely and <a href="http://www.icnl.org/news/2019/Higher%20Ed%20Restrictions%20Report%20vf.pdf">critical thinking</a> was suppressed. </p>
<h2>Stuck on a road to nowhere</h2>
<p>The study illustrates how an over-emphasis on creating human capital – skilled and knowledgeable graduates – limits higher education’s potential to foster broader human and social development. </p>
<p>University education should do more, especially in developing countries such as Zimbabwe that face not just economic, but also socio-political challenges. Before building more universities and enrolling more students, authorities and citizens should consider what quality education means in relation to the kind of society they want.</p>
<p>It’s possible to take a broader view of development, quality and the role of higher education. This broader approach – one that appreciates social justice – can equip graduates to address the country’s problems. </p>
<h2>The road ahead</h2>
<p>Universities can’t change a society on their own. But their teaching and learning practices can make an important difference.</p>
<p>Because quality teaching and learning means different things to different people, people need to talk about it <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2019.1596075">democratically</a>. Institutional and national policies must be informed by broad consultations to identify the knowledge, skills and values they want graduates to have. </p>
<p>University teaching and learning should emphasise freedom of expression and participation so that students can think and act critically beyond university. </p>
<p>Also, academics don’t automatically know how to teach just because they have a PhD. Universities should therefore ensure that academics learn how to teach and communicate their knowledge. Curriculum design, student assessment and feedback, as well as training of lecturers should all support this goal of human development. </p>
<p>When universities see quality in terms of human development, their role becomes more than production of workers in an economy. It gives them a mandate to nurture ethically responsible graduates. These more rounded graduates are better equipped to imagine an alternative future in pursuit of a better society, economically, politically and socially.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patience Mukwambo received funding from the University of the Free State and the National Research Fund through the SARCHi chair in Higher Education and Human Development (SARChI Chair/NRF funding, grant number 86540)..</span></em></p>Higher education needs to do more than produce graduates who can get a job. It should also give students opportunities and a voice when it comes to participating in the economy and broader society.Patience Mukwambo, Researcher, University of the Free StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1180932019-07-16T11:21:40Z2019-07-16T11:21:40ZWhen migrants go home, they bring back money, skills and ideas that can change a country<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284126/original/file-20190715-173355-f32jhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Between 1990 to 2015, nearly half of all migrants worldwide went back to their country of birth, whether by choice or by force.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/376411762?src=TlTS6yMNp_oevIHbyu0gTg-1-4&studio=1&size=vector_eps">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Escaping violence, war, poverty and environmental disaster, more people than ever are <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/12/18/international-migrants-and-remittances-continue-to-grow-as-people-search-for-better-opportunities-new-report-finds">migrating worldwide</a>. Some <a href="https://www.iom.int/global-migration-trends">258 million people</a> – 3.4% of the global population – live outside their country of birth. </p>
<p>In 1970, <a href="https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/wmr_2018_en.pdf">about 2% of the world’s 3.7 billion people</a> lived abroad. Historically, those immigrants would have settled where they landed, raised families and joined a new society. </p>
<p>Today, however, more migrants are <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/1/116">returning home</a>, whether by choice or by force. Between 1990 to 2015, nearly half of all migrants worldwide <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/1/116">went back to their country of birth</a>. </p>
<p>Migrants come home different than when they left, studies show. They are <a href="http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/171/17122051006.pdf">wealthier</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353851/">multilingual</a> and <a href="https://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeedeveco/v_3a95_3ay_3a2011_3ai_3a1_3ap_3a58-67.htm">more educated</a> than most in their local community. Migrants also have more <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9442.00158">work experience</a> than people who have never lived abroad, as well as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5353851/">bigger social networks and novel technical abilities</a> acquired in foreign schools and jobs.</p>
<p>As a result, their homecomings are a kind of “brain gain” that benefit not just a migrant’s family but also the community – even their country.</p>
<h2>Agents of change</h2>
<p>After lengthy stays in Western European and North America, for example, migrants from Mali have been shown to bring back <a href="https://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeejcecon/v_3a42_3ay_3a2014_3ai_3a3_3ap_3a630-651.htm">democratic political norms</a> that contribute to higher electoral participation. They also demand more integrity from government officials, which encourages political accountability. </p>
<p>Researchers in Cape Verde have documented similar <a href="https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1093/wber/lhr009">improvements in political accountability and transparency</a> in communities with relatively more return migrants. </p>
<p>Migration doesn’t always engender positive changes. Filipinos returning from stints in the Middle East, for example, <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/ejea/8/2/article-p245_6.xml?lang=en">are frequently less supportive of democracy when they get home</a>. And the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ms-13-is-a-street-gang-not-a-drug-cartel-and-the-difference-matters-92702">Los Angeles street gang MS-13</a> took root in Central America <a href="https://theconversation.com/central-american-gangs-like-ms-13-were-born-out-of-failed-anti-crime-policies-76554">after the U.S. deported hundreds of its members</a> to El Salvador in the early 2000s.</p>
<p>Along with economists José Bucheli and Matías Fontenla, I have studied the impact of return migration on Mexico. Today, <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-mexicans-are-leaving-the-us-than-coming-across-the-border-51296">more Mexicans are leaving the U.S. than going to it</a>.</p>
<p>Our research builds on a <a href="http://www.redalyc.org/pdf/171/17122051006.pdf">2011 study</a> that Mexican households with at one least return migrant reported higher access to disposable income and funds for investment, as well as better access to clean water, dependable electricity, better-quality housing and education.</p>
<p>With data analysis and in-person interviews in Guanajuato state, we determined that migrants returning to Mexico actually improve <a href="http://www.benjaminjameswaddell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Waddell-The-Mexican-Dream.pdf">living conditions for many others in their communities</a>, too. Return migrants tap into the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/return-migration">new skills</a> they’ve acquired abroad – like fluent English – to <a href="https://usmex-today-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/return-migration-and-economic-developme-e9TXQGtc">promote local economic development</a>, creating jobs, increasing wealth and demanding more government accountability. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284120/original/file-20190715-173342-1ozlayc.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">Many call centers in Latin America, like the Firstkontact Center in Tijuana, employ U.S. deportees who can provide English-language customer service for American companies, Aug. 13, 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mexico-Dialing-Deportees/50f0fe4b80cd4562ace0c536c1eed1d8/11/0">AP Photo/Alex Cossio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One return migrant I met in 2011 said he tried to run his tortilla stand “like my bosses ran their businesses back in the U.S.” </p>
<p>“I open every day at the same time, I pay attention to quality control and I always make the customer my priority,” he said.</p>
<p>Several other Mexicans who’d lived in the U.S. told me they now expected more of public officials. They expressed disgust, for example, at the <a href="https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/mexico/">corruption of the Mexican police</a>, who can be bribed out of ticketing drivers.</p>
<p>“I’ve seen how things can work differently and I’m now determined to contribute to a better Mexico,” one man told me.</p>
<p>The presence of return migrants actually <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X18304443">reduces the likelihood of violence</a> in Mexico, our research shows. There, when migrants come home, they inject their hometowns with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/30/world/americas/mexico-inequality-violence-security.html">much-needed social and human capital</a>. That creates a kind of local revival that leads crime to drop.</p>
<h2>Juan Aguilar: The entrepreneurial deportee</h2>
<p>The next phase of my research on return migration is focused on Nicaragua. </p>
<p>Between the Somoza dictatorship of the 1970s, the revolution that ousted his regime, the civil war of the 1980s and, most recently, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/nicaragua-protests-threaten-an-authoritarian-regime-that-looked-like-it-might-never-fall-95776">political strife of Daniel Ortega’s presidency</a>, waves of people from all social classes have <a href="https://theconversation.com/bloody-uprising-in-nicaragua-could-trigger-the-next-central-american-refugee-crisis-99924">fled Nicaragua</a> in recent decades. </p>
<p>I have interviewed more than 70 Nicaraguans who’ve since returned home. Their personal stories are varied, but they share a common denominator: Drawing on their experiences abroad, they are changing Nicaragua.</p>
<p>“I grew up in LA. And now I live here, in a country I never knew,” Juan Aguilar, an imposing man with a fading teardrop tattoo near his left eye and the letters “L.A.” inked under his baseball cap, told me in unaccented English. </p>
<p>Aguilar was carried into the U.S. on foot by his mom at the age of 2. In 2010, he was deported for dealing drugs and gang activity. </p>
<p>“I was devastated at first. I wanted to go back,” he said over cappuccino at Managua’s Casa del Café in March 2018. “But I’m happy here now. I wouldn’t go back even if I had the chance.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284152/original/file-20190715-173329-1jokke0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284152/original/file-20190715-173329-1jokke0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284152/original/file-20190715-173329-1jokke0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284152/original/file-20190715-173329-1jokke0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284152/original/file-20190715-173329-1jokke0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284152/original/file-20190715-173329-1jokke0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284152/original/file-20190715-173329-1jokke0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=769&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Juan Aguilar in Managua, shortly after being deported.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Juan Aguilar</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Juan and his partner, Sarah, own five call centers in Managua that provide customer service for U.S. health care providers, student loan companies and other lucrative businesses. </p>
<p>The call centers employ more than 100 people, more than half of whom are U.S. deportees who speak English, the most <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/which-languages-are-most-widely-spoken/">widely spoken language in the world</a>.</p>
<p>“We try to give people the benefit of the doubt,” he said of their brushes with the law. </p>
<p>Even doctors work at Juan and Sarah’s call centers. There, they can make up to US$1,000 a month – twice what <a href="https://www.laprensa.com.ni/2010/01/29/nacionales/14629-maestros-y-medicos-en-alianza-por-salario">they’d make in Nicaragua’s crumbling public hospitals</a>. </p>
<p>I asked Juan what explained his seemingly unlikely success story as an entrepreneur.</p>
<p>“English,” he said. “And the fact that I know how to run a business. Those are things I learned in the States.”</p>
<h2>Piero Bergman, the CEO</h2>
<p>Piero Bergman and his family left <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19735631">civil war in Nicaragua</a> during the 1980s for Boca Raton, Florida. As upper-class Nicaraguans, they arrived to the United States with visas in hand.</p>
<p>When Bergman returned to Nicaragua in the late 1990s after decades in the telecommunications industry, he came back with a business idea: cyber cafes.</p>
<p>“I was traveling a lot, 60-something countries a year,” he told me. “I used to go to internet cafes frequently, particularly in Argentina.” </p>
<p>In Buenos Aires, internet cafes dotted the streets. Managua, Bergman’s hometown, had none.</p>
<p>Bergman launched a chain of cybercafes in Managua, bringing publicly accessible internet to the Central American country.</p>
<p>“The thing took off, and we put them up nationwide,” he said. Eventually, Bergman’s company was providing IP services to over 1,500 internet cafes across the country. </p>
<p>After in-home internet undercut Piero’s businesses, he shifted his focus to digital security. Today, Piero is the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/piero-bergman-78b78790">president of Intelligent Solutions</a>, a Nicaraguan electronic security company with more than 100 employees. </p>
<p>Bergman attributes his success to the time he spent living and traveling abroad. </p>
<p>“I came down here with a different mindset and ideas about how to do things,” he said.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Waddell 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>Deportees and other migrants return home wealthier, more educated and with more work experience than people who never left. This ‘brain gain’ benefits the whole community, financially and politically.Benjamin Waddell, Associate Professor of Sociology, Fort Lewis CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/557502016-03-07T23:22:59Z2016-03-07T23:22:59ZHow negative-gearing changes can bring life back to eerily quiet suburbs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113840/original/image-20160304-17759-1m27mlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mandurah is an example of built density without intensity: five-to-ten-storey buildings with generous public space but a population density less than your average suburb.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Dovey</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With debate raging over who wins and who loses with proposed <a href="https://theconversation.com/sacred-cow-no-more-what-proposed-changes-to-negative-gearing-really-mean-54737">major changes to negative gearing</a>, attention also falls on which Australian suburbs are most likely to suffer. </p>
<p>The Australian Financial Review recently discussed the “<a href="http://www.afr.com/news/economy/top-10-suburbs-set-to-suffer-under-negative-gearing-plan-20160216-gmv5m1#http://www.afr.com/news/economy/top-10-suburbs-set-to-suffer-under-negative-gearing-plan-20160216-gmv5m1">Top 10 suburbs set to suffer under negative gearing plan</a>”. The Australian <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/treasury/labors-negative-gearing-plans-could-hit-nearly-400-suburbs/news-story/8a78d5a30fd8291cb851174bbe2b31b3">soon joined</a> this scare campaign. Mandurah in Western Australia, where I spent a recent weekend, is on the AFR’s list. </p>
<p>When I grew up this was a lazy holiday town at the entry to an inlet. It’s now one of Australia’s fastest-growing suburbs with a 50-minute train connection to central Perth. Within walking distance of the town centre is a cluster of relatively recent medium-density mixed-use developments on or near the waterfront. The dolphins and crabs are prolific and opportunities for swimming, boating and kayaking are at everyone’s doorstep.</p>
<p>Unlike most outer suburban developments, the housing is relatively dense – mostly about four to five storeys high, with a couple of blocks up to ten storeys. This is a highly walkable neighbourhood with generous public space. Shops and cafes line much of the ground floor.</p>
<h2>Built density but lacking intensity</h2>
<p>This is not far from the kind of urban development we need a lot more of in Australian cities – places that encourage people to walk to work, shopping and recreation; where densities are high enough to support a good range of shopping and public transport. </p>
<p>The main problem here is that while the built density is relatively high, the population density is less than your average suburb. </p>
<p>The AFR article suggests this is the kind of place that is “set to suffer”, yet these parts of Mandurah already suffer from an occupancy rate that locals estimate at 20%. The empty housing has <a href="http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/mandurah-city-of-broken-dreams/story-e6frg2ru-1226381291918">had a spillover effect</a> into empty shops and offices, empty streets and parks, and poor public transport. </p>
<p>The public space is bereft of vitality (and the safety that comes with it); beaches, parks and walkways are largely empty even on a warm February weekend. While there is lots of built density, there is little intensity of public life. The streets are lined with empty shops used as billboards for real estate and financial services. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113832/original/image-20160304-20111-v38nz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beneath empty housing and balconies, the streets are lined with empty shops are used as billboards for real estate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Dovey</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While much of this is holiday housing, it is within commuting distance of a major city. How much of it is going to waste simply because those who own it can profit from making a loss under the current negative-gearing rules?</p>
<h2>Bringing empty housing onto the market</h2>
<p>While curbing negative gearing would ease house prices in the short term, in the longer term suburbs like this are set to benefit because it will surely bring much of this empty housing onto the market. Then the synergies of higher-density mixed-use development within reach of good public transport will begin to come into play. </p>
<p>As more residents live within walking distance, more amenities will become viable. The more people walk or cycle, the better the health and transport outcomes. </p>
<p>Ultimately, this is the kind of vibrant walkable city we need to build more of to achieve serious reductions in CO<sub>2</sub> emissions – places where we can live great and healthy lives with less reliance on cars.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=631&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=631&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=631&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113835/original/image-20160304-20137-po46k8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Despite the allure of its waterfront, Mandurah’s public spaces are strangely bereft of people and activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Dovey</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is impossible to say how much this production of empty architecture is a function of negative gearing since it also goes hand-in-hand with neoliberal markets and high disparities of wealth. However, the curbing of negative gearing will have a significant impact in getting empty housing onto the market. </p>
<p>This in turn could go some way to reversing this cycle of emptiness – bringing life to the shops, offices, streets, parks and public transport. </p>
<h2>‘Positive gearing’ across Australia</h2>
<p>This is not just a benefit to places like inner Mandurah. It also applies to other empty suburbs and even high-density inner-city neighbourhoods. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-09/melbourne-develops-the-city-centre-with-dire-consequences/6080146">Southbank</a> and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/melbourne-vic/foreign-buyers-behind-melbournes-hidden-housing-vacancies/news-story/26490dfcf186b70c017b23e85346dd47">Docklands</a> in Melbourne come to mind as places that produce largely empty buildings – density without intensity.</p>
<p>Negative gearing produces an underutilisation of urban space. The imperative to curb it has important implications for the future of Australian cities.</p>
<p>And this raises a further question – why stop there? If we are looking for new tax revenues that will help to balance the budget, curb CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and increase the productivity and vitality of cities, then why not tax the underuse of urban space? Perhaps we could call it “positive gearing”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55750/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim Dovey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Curbing negative gearing will help get empty housing onto the market. This could go some way to bringing life back to relatively dense urban centres that are oddly lacking intensity of public life.Kim Dovey, Professor, Architecture and Urban Design, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/508982015-12-07T03:24:09Z2015-12-07T03:24:09ZHow do we create liveable cities? First, we must work out the key ingredients<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103390/original/image-20151126-28306-5nwq60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Good access to people, services and other essential ingredients of wellbeing is a defining feature of liveable communities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usdagov/7740419238/in/photolist-cMZEY7-aq3od3-4MZrFs-4TpvNo-6TFjv4-acYbcf-6TFdUX-5echJs-f6SNA-oNevtZ-fKgdBp-agBMia-gNr2nt-8qZ3A-2CpWc1-6TUU25-a9n6M9-oQVrGa-oNdYFQ-6TNs4i-5CSFNP-mbRodV-p3FJa3-p5HJ4z-au52LL-6WfhfU-6TSsXH-8iKkLq-594amC-6Wwjo3-dMs5fS-dMs5y7-bBkXCf-8Mcyzx-7aaCAs-8HFBqT-8HFBit-8HFBn6-8HJJNh-bBm26N-8McDCv-8McGcD-ckcR6E-aevQue-4MVfqn-4MZrzb-4MZrAw-4MVfnT-4MZrC1-4MZry7">flickr/US Department of Agriculture</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Liveable communities and resilient cities are buzzwords of the moment. But exactly how do you define a “liveable” community or city? Our research focuses on this exact question. </p>
<p>In an extensive review of liveability definitions used in academic and grey literature in Australia and internationally, we found some consistent factors. <a href="http://www.communityindicators.net.au/files/docs/Liveability%20Indicators%20report.pdf">Critical factors</a> for liveable communities are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>residents feeling safe, socially connected and included;</p></li>
<li><p>environmental sustainability; and</p></li>
<li><p>access to affordable and diverse housing options linked via public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure to employment, education, local shops, public open space and parks, health and community services, leisure and culture.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These are the essential ingredients for a liveable community. They are needed to promote health and wellbeing in individuals, build communities and support a sustainable society. </p>
<p>The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services agrees with our definition. It has been adopted in the recently released <a href="http://www.health.vic.gov.au/prevention/download/vphwp-final.pdf">Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2015-2019</a>. This plan provides the overarching framework to support and improve the health and wellbeing of all Victorians.</p>
<h2>Liveability requires broad wellbeing</h2>
<p>We live in an urbanising world. Cities are increasing in prominence as major social and economic hubs. For such cities, liveability rankings and awards can provide welcome global recognition and marketing tools.</p>
<p>Such rankings can operate to attract (or detract) people to a community. For example, many people will know Melbourne has been <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-18/melbourne-named-worlds-most-liveable-city-again/6705274">repeatedly voted</a> the “world’s most liveable city”. A key question is: liveable for whom?</p>
<p>While helpful at the broadest level, these rankings focus on the inner city, remuneration packages and economic productivity. The rankings mask intra-city inequities. </p>
<p>To overcome this, our definition of liveability considers the underlying conditions that support health. Our definition focuses on equity and recognition that where you live can predict health outcomes and life expectancy. </p>
<p>Location shapes life expectancy. The interactive <a href="http://www.californiamuseum.org/health-happens-here-california-museum">Health Happens Here</a> exhibition at the California Museum offers a great explanation of how many key factors beyond diet and exercise influence health.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6kk7ElhSJNg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Health Happens Here exhibit offers an interactive journey through all the ways and places that affect health.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are creating liveability indicators that are linked to urban, transport and infrastructure planning policy. This is guided by our understanding that health is influenced by individual personal factors, social and community supports and broader socioeconomic, cultural and environmental conditions. These <a href="http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/hhsifswps/2007_5f014.htm">conditions include</a> housing, education, workplaces and access to services.</p>
<p>Developing these liveability indicators is a key component of our research at the NHMRC <a href="http://mccaughey.unimelb.edu.au/programs/cre">Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Liveable Communities</a> led by the McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit at the University of Melbourne. The policy-focused research is governed by advisory groups in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland and links evidence to state-based policies and practice. </p>
<p>In Victoria, liveability indicators developed through our research are made freely available to all members of the community through <a href="http://www.communityindicators.net.au">Community Indicators Victoria</a>. This supports the democratisation of data, engagement and measuring progress in communities.</p>
<h2>Designing cities for good health</h2>
<p>We need to build cities based on a clear and consistent definition of liveability. The goal is that it can be objectively measured and tracked over time using indicators that provide an understanding of each city’s strengths and challenges. </p>
<p>Our definition is not values-free: it is guided by the view that cities must be designed to promote health. </p>
<p>A city built well is a healthy city that provides all residents (not just the fortunate few) with opportunities to live in areas with all the essential ingredients of a liveable community. It is a place that promotes healthy and happy people and community wellbeing – a place where people want to live.</p>
<p>A more liveable city is a great place to live. It is more resilient as well, with competitive social, economic and environmental advantages. Using our definition, a liveable city is also a healthy city, promoting health, wellbeing and equity.</p>
<p>This would be an excellent outcome for all Australians and all government ministries. Let’s hope our new federal <a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-policy-could-the-federal-government-finally-get-cities-47858">minister for cities</a> and the built environment is listening.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Davern receives funding from the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Badland receives funding from VicHealth, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centre of Excellence in Healthy Liveable Communities (#1061404), and The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre (#9100001) with funding provided by NHMRC, ACT Health, NSW Health, the Australian National Preventive Health Agency, the Hospitals Contribution Fund of Australia and the HCF Research Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Billie Giles-Corti and Carolyn Whitzman 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>Communities that rate highly for liveability share certain essential features. We can identify and build these key ingredients into our cities to create thriving places where people want to live.Melanie Davern, Senior Research Fellow, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT UniversityBillie Giles-Corti, Professor of Health Promotion & Director McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit, The University of MelbourneCarolyn Whitzman, Professor of Urban Planning, The University of MelbourneHannah Badland, Senior Research Fellow, McCaughey VicHealth Community Wellbeing Unit, Centre of Health Equity, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/484092015-10-06T04:04:32Z2015-10-06T04:04:32ZPower to the people: renewable energy projects must be a collaborative effort<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96959/original/image-20151001-23072-142qtha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Solar panels are installed at a project in South Africa's Northern Cape province.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://droogfonteinsolar.co.za/">Copyright Droogfontein Solar Power</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Renewable energy is finally a reality in South Africa’s electricity mix. The government’s renewable energy <a href="http://www.ipprenewables.co.za/">programme</a> has procured 92 solar, wind, hydro and biomass projects. Some of these are already feeding into the national grid. Others meanwhile are in various stages of development.</p>
<p>Community renewables are not unique to South Africa. It is the country’s policies and frameworks that are new. Provisions in the regulatory framework direct international investment towards community development. The companies that build renewable energy power plants must invest a specific amount of the project value in nearby communities. Over the next 20 <a href="https://www.ipp-projects.co.za/Home/Publications">years</a> all approved projects will have spent more than R39 billion on community benefits.</p>
<p>Each project must attend to the socio-economic needs of its surrounding communities. But the policy does not specify how this should be done. Companies are generally willing to comply, but this vague element means they struggle with implementation.</p>
<p>The key question is how to implement these regulatory requirements to produce the best possible outcome for everyone involved.</p>
<h2>Communities must benefit</h2>
<p>In November 2011 the South African government launched its programme to procure renewable energy. The Department of Energy invited competitive bids and the programme’s rules stipulated that bidding companies had to commit to seven economic development <a href="http://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/files/PPIAFReport.pdf">elements</a>.</p>
<p>There are four elements in the programme that require independent power producers to direct parts of their investment towards socio-economic development in local communities. This includes: </p>
<ol>
<li>Investing between 1% 1.5% of the project revenue on socio-economic development. </li>
<li>Spending up to 0.7% to support enterprise development. </li>
<li>Giving between 2.5 and 5% of the shareholding to a legal entity representing the local community. </li>
<li>Creating jobs locally.</li>
</ol>
<p>The programme defines local communities that are within a 50km radius of the project site. At the moment individual energy companies can specify which community will benefit. Some focus on only one village or town, others try to benefit the entire population in that 50km radius. The government is now rethinking this definition for future procurement <a href="http://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-tina-joemat-pettersson-briefing-expansion-and-acceleration-independent-power">rounds</a>. </p>
<p>A growing number of independent power producers across the <a href="http://energy.org.za/knowledge-tools/map-of-sites">country</a> are close to one another, so some areas have a 50km radii overlap. The programme does not require companies to collaborate, even if they are working within the same community. In practice, they have to. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/96961/original/image-20151001-23079-1xatflb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Overlaps of wind farm beneficiary areas in the coastal Eastern Cape region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Energyblog</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Development is a collaborative effort</h2>
<p>Internationally, community benefits are negotiated between communities and companies. Communities in Germany and Scotland drive the development of entire <a href="http://www.localenergyscotland.org/">projects</a>. They own shares and govern additional community funds. </p>
<p>In South Africa the procurement programme’s economic development requirements provide a unifying set of rules for community benefits. It may appear to be a tick-box exercise during the bidding phase, but quickly takes shape when construction starts. </p>
<p>Independent power producers must do three things: </p>
<ul>
<li>assess and recruit local employees </li>
<li>identify development actors in the surrounding communities such as local projects and organisations, and </li>
<li>allocate funding to them. </li>
</ul>
<p>Trustees are then selected for the community. Companies must report this to the national government’s independent power producers unit. </p>
<p>The emerging renewable industry in South Africa is learning fast. It is complying with the procurement rules and managing the expectations of communities within the 50km radius. Companies must spend a lot of time and effort to build lasting and trusted relationships with <a href="http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/16043IIED.pdf">communities</a>.</p>
<p>Companies have established a wide range of community relations and development practices since the start of the programme. Wind and solar energy associations have formed working groups to discuss experiences and practices. A growing number of informed and concerned organisations are working on various initiatives to support the sector. </p>
<h2>Community involvement needs to be stronger</h2>
<p>Renewable energy companies invite citizens to public meetings on environmental impact assessments. These allow residents to access information about projects and their suggested benefits. But very few people hear about these meetings. Even fewer attend them.</p>
<p>It is common for companies and service providers to assess community needs, fund interventions and monitor spending. Depending on the approach, communities participate to varying degrees in the planning and implementation of these investments. </p>
<p>Opportunities for strategic engagement need to be created. This allows local actors to deliberate the opportunities and risks associated with additional development funding in their area. Support is required to realise sustainable developmental impact.</p>
<h2>Where it’s working</h2>
<p>The Hopefield Wind Farm partners with the local community to address the community’s <a href="http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/66-mw-hopefield-wind-farm-enters-commercial-operations-2014-02-10">needs</a>. The wind farm is located in the Western Cape and spends its community development fund on a home improvement <a href="http://www.nersa.org.za/Admin/Document/Editor/file/Consultations/Electricity/Presentations/Hopefield%20Wind%20Farm.pdf">programme</a>. A non-profit <a href="http://www.southsouthnorth.org/">organisation</a> which has experience in these type of community capacity building projects helps the residents to implement the programme. </p>
<p>The community based company is responsible for the installation of solar water heaters, insulated ceilings, extended plumbing and safe wires in low-income houses. Unemployed local residents have received training and are doing the installations <a href="https://vimeo.com/125551738">themselves</a>. </p>
<h2>Ensuring communities benefit</h2>
<p>The task at hand is complex, meaningful and scary. To tackle this, a quadruple dose of Vitamin C is needed: <a href="http://awsassets.wwf.org.za/downloads/local_community_development_report_20150618.pdf">Capacity, creativity, communication and collaboration</a>. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Collaboration involving independent power producers, the government and communities - and, of course, the relevant citizens and community trusts.</p></li>
<li><p>Capacity support through training and mentoring is particularly important. An active learning process means the renewable industry has the opportunity to adopt transformative community engagement and development practices.</p></li>
<li><p>There must be better communication about the renewable projects, their achievements and associated community benefits.</p></li>
<li><p>Creativity through engaged scholarship is needed to coordinate and dedicate funding to long-term, sustainable development processes. These need to make sense to the people and organisations within the relevant 50km radii.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>South Africa’s community renewables projects are a golden opportunity for poverty stricken rural economies, peri-urban communities and across highly unequal urban settings.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48409/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Holle Linnea Wlokas is a PhD student at the Energy Research Centre at the University of Cape Town. Holle receives funding from the Volkswagen Foundation and the National Research Foundation. She consults to the Transformation Energy Trust (<a href="http://transformationenergy.org.za/">http://transformationenergy.org.za/</a>) and is affiliated with the South African Wind Energy Association and the South African Photo Voltaic Industry Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Britta Rennkamp is a researcher at the Energy Research Centre and fellow at the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town. The funding for the research on the renewable energy program and community development benefits comes from a research project on Climate Change Mitigation and Poverty Reduction CLIMIP from the program "Europe and Global Challenges" funded through the Volkswagen Foundation, Compagnia di San Paolo and Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. Britta directs the research on climate governance. </span></em></p>Renewable energy programmes in South Africa need stronger policies to ensure that communities benefit.Holle Linnea Wlokas, PhD Candidate, University of Cape TownBritta Rennkamp, Researcher in the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Group , University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.