Events
Click links below to view recent events:
- Tony Jackson - Policies for Economic Development: What Works?
- Professor Chris Skelcher - Seminar on Partnerships
- CLAIR Sydney Seminar
- Auckland Seminar on Metropolitan Governance
- 2007 Commonwealth Local Government Conference
- Commonwealth Colloquium and Seminar on Local Government Research
- Global Community and Local Government Agenda 21 for Culture
- Seminar on the New Environmental Governance
- Gauteng Conference on Global City Regions
- Strengthening Local Government: Ideas from New Zealand and the UK
- Innovations in UK Local Governance - Strategic Partnerships and the New Deal for Communities
- Trends in US Local Government: From Reinvention to Public Service
- Improving Strategic Management
- New Localism: Local Governance in the United Kingdom
- China-Australia Community Democracy Workshop
- Asia-Pacific Symposium on Local Government Service Partnerships
Policies for Economic Development
On Tuesday 29 April Tony Jackson from the University of Dundee, Scotland presented "Policies for Economic Development: What Works?" to an audience of experts on regional planning. His paper outlined the key issues that relate to a regional approach to metropolitan governance. Tony is a Senior Lecturer in Town and Country Planning.
Dowload options:
Seminar brochure [PDF]
Presentation (420KB) [PPT]
Presentation + text (36pp 450KB) [PDF]
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Partnerships Seminar with Professor Chris Skelcher
Professor Chris Skelcher
On Wednesday 19 March Professor Chris Skelcher delivered a seminar called "Partnerships and Performance - Crystal Stream or Muddy Puddle?" Partnerships promise a lot for public service performance, but do they deliver? Professor Skelcher used his extensive research into local government partnerships in the UK to explore both the potential and problems of partnership working. He suggested some frameworks for understanding different forms of partnership and identify challenges for policy makers and researchers working in this field.
The seminar was aimed at those involved with local and state governments, as well as the private and community sectors, who are looking at various forms of public-public and public-private partnerships as a means of improving program and service delivery.
Professor Skelcher is the Director of Research for the School of Public Policy and Professor of Public Governance at INLOGOV at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Seminar Flyer (PDF- 74KB)
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CLAIR Sydney Seminar
On Friday 15 February 2008 the Centre participated in the 2008 CLAIR Sydney Local Government Seminar, hosted by the Japan Local Government Centre. The theme of the seminar was Future Intergovernmental Relations - Ideas from Japan, with keynote speaker Mr Toshihiko Yokoo, Mayor of Taku City and member of the Japanese Prime Minister's Council to Promote Decentralization Reform.
The seminar was particularly timely in view of the new federal government's proposals to re-shape the Australian federation, and continuing moves by the NSW Local Government and Shires Associations to negotiate an inter-government agreement with the State government.
Robert Mellor, Program Manager at the Centre, chaired proceedings and also presented an overview of the state-of-play in inter-government relations in Australia, and how likely developments may affect local government, prepared by Centre Director Graham Sansom.
Other speakers included:
- Mr Kenji Ikeda, Director of JLGC, who provided an introduction to local government in Japan
- Councillor Robyn Kemmis, City of Sydney and formerly UTS Deputy Vice Chancellor
- Ross Woodward, Deputy Director General of the NSW Department of Local Government
- Councillor Robert Bell, Vice President of the NSW Local Government Association
- Stephen Blackadder, formerly General Manager of Warringah Council, representing Local Government Managers Australia.
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Auckland Seminar on Metropolitan Governance
On 4 February Centre Director Graham Sansom spoke at a seminar on metropolitan governance convened by the Local Government Centre of the Auckland University of Technology. This follows an initiative by the New Zealand government of establishing a Royal Commission to review current arrangements for governance of the Auckland metropolitan region, focussing upon the need to ensure that Auckland functions effectively as the powerhouse of the NZ economy and remains competitive with large cities around the world. The Royal Commission will consider among other things how infrastructure and services can best be delivered, how central and local governments can collaborate effectively, and whether changes to local government structures are required. Its findings will undoubtedly also have relevance for Australian metropolitan governance.
Graham Sansom made a short presentation suggesting some lessons that could be learned from recent Australian experience, contrasting Brisbane and Sydney.
Click here for a copy his presentation (PPT-272KB) or for more details contact Graham Sansom.
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Global Community and Local Government: Agenda 21 for Culture
Jordi Pascual Seminar
This seminar was held on 31 July and featured a presentation by Jordi Pascual, Convenor - Working Group on Culture, United Cities and Local Governments, Barcelona. It focused on the importance of cultural perspectives and relations in a globalising world, and the key role local government needs to play in addressing the cultural challenges facing our societies.
The Agenda 21 for Culture was adopted by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) in May 2004. UCLG is the global peak body for local government. It provides a framework for action by cities and local governments to pursue cultural strategies and policies as a force for social development and international harmony in a globalising world. Adoption of the Agenda 21 for Culture comes at a time when local governments are playing an increasingly important role in national and international governance, and are also facing growing cultural challenges. It explores the relationships between culture, democracy, citizenship, conviviality, participation and creativity, and seeks greater recognition by national governments and international institutions of importance of culture in local development.
Mr Pascual discussed to a number of documents available at www.agenda21culture.net.
These include:
- Agenda 21 for culture
- Advice on local implementation of the Agenda 21 for culture
- Cultural indicators and Agenda 21 for culture
- Local policies for cultural diversity
He also referred to the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity: see www.unesco.org, as well as a number of local cultural strategies available at www.bcn.es/plaestrategicdecultura
The seminar was arranged in conjunction with the Cultural Development Network of Victoria, NSW Local Government and Shires Associations and NSW Local Government Community Services Association
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Tony Jackson delivers his presentation
Seminar on the New Environmental Governance
A seminar on Environmental Assessment and the New Environmental Governance: Lessons from Europe was presented at the Centre on Thursday 26 April by Tony Jackson, Senior Lecturer in Town and Country Planning, University of Dundee, Scotland. Mainstreaming sustainable development in the European Union now requires public authorities to undertake strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of certain policies, plans and programs. In Scotland, the government has decided to use SEA explicitly as a tool of environmental governance, obliging its public sector policy-makers to test out all their proposals for their environmental implications in the public arena before they can be legally adopted. This approach could prove of particular relevance to the proposed requirement for all NSW councils to produce long term 'quadruple bottom line' strategic plans as part of the Department of Local Government's new integrated planning and reporting framework.
Download Tony Jackson's presentation.
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Gauteng Conference on Global Cities
Centre Director Graham Sansom made a presentation on Sydney at an international conference on Global City Regions held in Johannesburg on 20 April. The conference was organized by the Gauteng provincial government which covers Johannesburg, Pretoria and adjoining urban and rural areas with a total population of around 15 million.
The conference was held to inform the Gauteng government's moves to plan and promote the province as a global city region that plays a leading role in economic and social development across both South Africa and much of sub-Saharan Africa. It included presentations on the CENTROPE region of Europe, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, the Ruhr, New Delhi, Mexico City, Lagos, Madrid, Zurich and Chicago.
The conference was opened by the Gauteng local government minister, Ms Qedani Mahlangu. She explained that the Gauteng global city region entails a new way of thinking about development in the province. Under the plan, it is a joint objective of the three spheres of government in South Africa to build Gauteng as an integrated and globally competitive city-region. In this the province is supported by the Constitution, which embraces the concepts of co-operative governance and formalised intergovernmental relations including local government.
Copies of powerpoints are available from Graham Sansom.
Executive Mayors of Tshwane (Pretoria) and Johannesburg at the Gauteng Conference
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2007 Commonwealth Local Government Conference
The 2007 Commonwealth Local Government Conference was held in Auckland, New Zealand on 25-29 March, with the theme Delivering Development through Local Leadership. The Centre was represented by Director Graham Sansom and Research Officer Daniel Grafton. In total, over 600 delegates attended from more than 40 countries, and the conference adopted an 'Auckland Accord' on local leadership.
For further details check the conference website on www.clgc2007.org or go to www.clgf.org.uk.
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Colloquium and Seminar on Local Government Research
As part of the 2007 Conference a Local Government Research Colloquium and Seminar were held on 25-26 March. These were convened on behalf of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) by the UTS Centre for Local Government in conjunction with its counterpart at the Auckland University of Technology.
The two events were attended by over 50 participants representing 25 research institutes and associated organizations from 11 Commonwealth countries. This was the largest gathering of researchers ever held under the auspice of CLGF.
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Randal Smith from theCommonwealth Local Government Forum presenting at the Research Colloquium
The purpose of the events was:
- To exchange information and ideas on key directions for local government research across the Commonwealth
- To assist CLGF define research priorities for the next 5-10 years
- To explore opportunities for collaborative efforts to address those priorities.
Specific issues for discussion included:
- Scope for collaborative research related to the theme of the 2007 Conference: Delivering development through local leadership as well as other key CLGF initiatives such as the Aberdeen Agenda and its work on Local Government Service Partnerships
- How best to strengthen the role of the Research Advisory Group within CLGF and more broadly generate a stronger community of researchers working on local government across the Commonwealth (possibly by establishing an on-line journal for Commonwealth local government research).
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Outcomes
The meetings agreed to recommend the following steps to strengthen the Research Advisory Group:
- Convening a biennial research colloquium as a component of each Commonwealth Local Government Conference, and including a number of researchers from developing countries as sponsored conference delegates
- Allocating one or two 'breakout' sessions at each conference to discuss recent research findings relevant to practitioners and to the conference theme
- Establishing a Commonwealth e-journal on Local Governance and Development (UTS has offered to host this journal on behalf of CLGF, and the Commonwealth Secretariat has indicated that it may be able to sponsor the first few issues)
- Compiling a web-based directory of current and potential research linked to CLGF priorities, and inviting participating institutes to enter into collaborative arrangements
- Ongoing exchanges of information and research findings through an email list-serve
- A drive for additional Associate Members of CLGF.
(These proposals have since been endorsed by the CLGF Board.)
The meetings also welcomed the proposal to include a representative of the Research Advisory Group on a new CLGF Policy and Resources Committee. (UTS Centre Director Graham Sansom was subsequently appointed to this position).
Monday Research Seminar led by Peter McKinlay, Director, Centre for Local Government, AUT
Principles for further research
The meetings agreed that further CLGF-related research should:
- Reflect an agreed and realistic position on the expected benefits of good local governance and the capacity of local government to deliver: there are dangers in over-selling both
- Seek to integrate economic, social and environmental objectives and assess performance against those objectives
- Be comparative and grounded in the differing contexts of Commonwealth countries
- Engage local government practitioners alongside academic researchers
- Foster mutual learning and knowledge transfer.
Priority areas for research
- A provisional list of priority areas for ongoing research was compiled as follows (but not necessarily in this order):
- Concepts of local democracy, citizenship and community participation/empowerment
- Strategic leadership and planning
- Traditional leadership and local government
- Improving local governance (better systems, efficiency, effectiveness, ethics etc)
- Decentralisation and re-centralisation
- Inter-government relations
- Municipal finance and capacity (including aid management)
- Global issues and local government: climate change, health, economic transformation, urbanisation etc
- Social inclusion (including gender equity and poverty alleviation)
- Performance measurement and management.
Monday Research Seminar Programme and Abstracts
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Strengthening Local Government: Ideas from New Zealand and the UK
This seminar was held on 2 November 2006 and featured presentations by Peter McKinlay, Executive Director of McKinlay Douglas Ltd and Director of the Local Government Centre at Auckland University of Technology; and Professor Gerry Stoker, head of the Institute for Political and Economic Governance at Manchester University.
The NSW Local Government and Shires Associations have established a Strengthening Local Government Task Force to consider the implications of the recent Independent Inquiry into the Sustainability of Local Government. The seminar considered what lessons can be learned from current developments in New Zealand and the UK.
Download presentations by Peter McKinlay and Gerry Stoker.
Peter McKinlay, Gerry Stoker and Graham Sansom - Centre Director (from l to r)
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Innovations in UK Local Governance - Strategic Partnerships and the New Deal for Communities
Thursday 28 September, 5pm-7pm, Level 6, UTS Building 10, 235 Jones St, Ultimo
Professor Mike Geddes of the Local Government Centre at Warwick University, England, visited the Centre on 28-29 September. During his visit he presented a seminar on two recent innovations: Local Strategic Partnerships and the New Deal for Communities.
Local Strategic Partnerships are a major recent innovation in the pattern of local governance in England, and are part of New Labour's broader agenda to modernise local government and public services generally. They are non-statutory organisations that bring together public sector agencies as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors to prepare and implement a community strategy for the local area. Alongside LSPs, Local Public Service Agreements and Local Area Agreements are negotiated between central and local government to tackle key priorities.
The New Deal for Communities is the UK government's flagship program to regenerate those neighbourhoods suffering most disadvantage. NDC comprises 39 neighbourhood-based projects, each managed by a Partnership Board, with a strategy and a delivery plan based around five key outcome areas: crime, employment, education, health, housing and physical environment.
Dr Mike Geddes has recently played a major role in reviews of both Local Strategic Partnerships and the New Deal for Communities. He is also director of a research and development program on Local Authorities and Social Exclusion in the UK and five other EU member countries, and chairs the Warwickshire Sustainability Commission. Mike has contributed to OECD publications on Local Partnerships for Better Governance (2001) and New Forms of Governance for Economic Development (2004).
Download a copy of Prof Geddes presentation here.
To request a copy of his detailed paper, please contact Daniel Grafton.
Trends in US Local Government: From Reinvention to Public Service
July 24 2006
Professor Mildred Warner Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University, New York
Professor Mildred Warner made a brief visit to Sydney after delivering a keynote address at the Local Government New Zealand conference. Last year she spoke at the Future of Local Government Summit in Melbourne hosted by the Municipal Association of Victoria. Warner's research interests focus on devolution and privatization in local, state, and national policy and their impacts on community and economic development. She is a recognised expert on the privatization of local government service delivery in the United States and is a key collaborator with the International City County Management Association, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the National Association of Counties. Her work shows there is potential for market based solutions in public service delivery but also raises concerns about the uneven impacts of privatization and devolution in both metropolitan and rural areas.
Warner directs the Restructuring Local Government project at Cornell University, which aims to provide local governments with information on restructuring trends and innovations in public sector service provision, public-private partnerships, privatization, inter-municipal cooperation and contracting back-in. For further information go to http://government.cce.cornell.edu
A copy of Professor Warner's presentation is available for download.
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Professor Mildred Warner Seminar.
Improving Strategic Management
June 1 2006
Both the Hawker report on cost shifting and the recent Allan inquiry into the financial sustainability of NSW councils highlighted the need for better strategic management in local government - long term planning, financial governance, asset management and so on. The NSW Department of Local Government is also actively pursuing this theme through its Better Practice reviews and moves towards an integrated corporate planning and reporting framework.
This seminar canvassed the issues involved. It featured a presentation by Martin Horton of the UK Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA - a national body owned by local government with a mission to improve council management and performance).
Presentations included:
- Setting the Scene: How do we need to improve? (Peter Cranko)
- Towards Integrated Planning and Reporting (Ross Woodward)
- UK Perspectives (Martin Horton)
Martin Horton was in Australia as the guest of LGMA. He is Director of Services for northern England and was previously Director of Knowledge and Learning. Martin has a special interest in senior-level strategic leadership and public service improvement.
Peter Cranko is a public policy and management consultant who has worked with local government in both South Africa and Australia. He was a member of the team for the recent inquiry into the financial sustainability of NSW councils.
Ross Woodward is Deputy Director General of the NSW Department of Local Government. He has extensive senior management experience in both planning and public housing, and is driving current efforts to establish an integrated corporate and strategic planning framework for councils.
Copies of presentations will be available on this website soon.
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New Localism: Local Governance in the United Kingdom
June 2 2005
Professor Gerry Stoker, co-Director of the Institute for Political and Economic Governance at the University of Manchester, presented a seminar on recent UK experience in exploring the 'New Localism' - new approaches to community governance, the role of local government and central-local relations. A copy of his presentation is available for download.
China-Australia Community Democracy Workshop
The Centre was invited by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to make a presentation at the China-Australia Community Democracy Workshop held in Wuxi in mid-September. This formed part of the China-Australia Human Rights Technical Cooperation Program. The Workshop is linked to Chinese initiatives in 'community construction': the creation of small-scale democratic structures within China's dense and expanding cities able to represent the rights and interests of community members and deliver a broad range of social services.
Simone Schwarz represented the Centre and was one of only 4 Australian presenters.
Click here to read the Workshop Report.
Simone Schwarz chairing the session on Harmonious Community Construction
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Symposium on Local Government Service Partnerships
The Centre helped CLGF arrange an Asia-Pacific symposium on Local Government Innovation and Partnerships held in Kuala Lumpur in July 2005. A number of papers are now available (see program below for further details).
Background and objectives
Opening plenary session
National policy frameworks and the role of support agencies
Perspectives on local government service partnerships in the Asia-Pacific context
Case study workshops
Key themes and issues
Symposium recommendations
Background paper: Improving local government delivery through innovation and partnerships
Financing local government infrastructure: the Australian experience
Lessons from the New Zealand experience
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Symposium Programme
TUESDAY 12 JULY
::::: 9.00-10.00 Session: Official Opening :::::
Chair: Dato' Lokman Hikim bin Mohd Jasan, Secretary General,
Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Malaysia
- Welcome remarks:Mr Carl Wright, Secretary-General CLGF Cllr John Otekat, CLGF Chairperson Dr Srinivas Sampath, PPP Adviser, Governance and Institutional Development Department, Commonwealth Secretariat
- Keynote address: Hon Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting, Minister of Housing and Local Government, Malaysia
::::: 10.30-12.00: Session Opening Plenary :::::
Chair: Mr Adrian Beresford-Wylie, Assistant Secretary - Local Government,
Department of Transport and Regional Services, Australia
- Improving local government delivery through innovation and partnerships: Associate Professor Graham Sansom, Director, Centre for Local Government, University of Technology, Sydney
- Driving force in local government delivery: Professor Phang Siew Nooi, University of Malaya
::::: 13.30-15.00: Plenary :::::
National policy frameworks and the role of support agencies
Chair: Mr Lokesh Chandra, Commissioner, Nagpur Municipal Corporation, India
- The Indian experience: Mr Shyam Kapoor, Deputy Secretary. Ministry for Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation, India
- The Australian experience: Mr Adrian Beresford-Wylie, Assistant Secretary - Local Government, Department of Transport and Regional Services, Australia
- A Commonwealth comparison: Dr Srinivas Sampath, PPP Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat
::::: 15.30-17.00: Panel Discussion :::::
Perspectives on Local Government Service Partnerships in the Asia-Pacific context
Chair: Mayor M I Mohamed Ariff, Galle Municipal Council, Sri Lanka
- Mr Batdelger Luuzan, PPP Policy Specialist, UNDP Public-Private Partnerships for the Urban Environment (PPPUE)
- Mr Subash Chandra, Under Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation, India
- Mr Jese Sikivou, Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Islands Broadcasting Association
- Mr Lokesh Chandra, Commissioner, Nagpur Municipal Corporation, India
::::: 18.30: Welcome Reception - Hosted by the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur :::::
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WEDNESDAY 13 JULY
::::: 9.00-10.30: Case study workshops·:::::
- Safe City initiatives: towards safer communities and the use of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design: Mr Lawrence Chan, Chairman, Safe Cities Initiative Committee, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation
- The New Zealand experience of alternative models for service delivery and financing: Mr Peter McKinlay, Auckland University of Technology
- Community waste management in Dhaka, Bangladesh: a public-private-NGO partnership: Mr Iftekhar Enayetullah, Director, Waste Concern
- The "I-Community Project" Kuppam, India, a public-private finance partnership: Mr S Saravanan, Infrastructure Finance Development Corporation
::::: 11.00-15.00: Study visits showcasing recent Malaysian initiatives :::::
- Local Agenda 21 - Petaling Jaya Community Centre
- Urban Transportation Management - City of Kuala Lumpur
- SMART Tunnel Project - Department of Drainage and Irrigation, Malaysia
:: 11.00-13.00: Parallel session (for Malaysian delegates: discussion with international resource persons) ::
::::: 17.00: Tour of Putrajaya and presentation by Putrajaya Corporation :::::
::::: 20:00: Symposium Dinner :::::
Hosted by the Hon. Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting, Minister of Housing and Local Government, Malaysia
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THURSDAY 14 JULY
::::: 9:00-10:00: Plenary: Summary of proceedings and key issues -
Chair: Mr Carl Wright, Secretary-General, CLGF :::::
::::: 10:00-12.30: Parallel discussion groups :::::
- What capacity gaps exist in the different sectors that stop LGSPs being taken up more frequently?
- How to build the necessary capacity to enable different sectors to explore the LGSP option with confidence?
- How can regional networks be strengthened to provide greater support in the field of LGSP implementation?
::::: 1.30-2.30: Plenary: Reports on discussion groups and formulation of Symposium recommendations :::::
Chair: Dato' Lokman Hikim bin Mohd Jasan, Secretary General,
Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Malaysia
::::: 15.45-16.00: Closing remarks :::::
Mr Carl Wright, Secretary-General, CLGF
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