Location: Europe
Website: sidewalkinc.com
What, according to the Convention, does the term “landscape” cover? The landscape is part of the land, as perceived by local people or visitors, which evolves through time as a result of being acted upon by natural forces and human beings. "Landscape policy” reflects the public authorities' awareness of the need to frame and implement a policy on landscape. The public is encouraged to take an active part in its protection, conserving and maintaining the heritage value of a particular landscape, in its management, helping to steer changes brought about by economic, social or environmental necessity, and in its planning, particularly for those areas most radically affected by change, such as peri-urban, industrial and coastal areas.
The Convention sets great store by identifying and assessing landscapes through field research by professionals working in conjunction with local inhabitants. Each landscape forms a blend of components and structures types of territories, social perceptions and ever-changing natural, social and economic forces. Once this identification work has been completed and the landscape quality objectives set, the landscape can be protected, managed or developed.
One of the major innovations of the European Landscape Convention is the definition of “landscape quality objectives”, meaning, for a specific landscape, the formulation by the competent authorities of the aspirations of the public with regard to the landscape features of their surroundings. No longer the preserve of experts, landscape is now a policy area in its own right.
Management in line with landscape quality objectives also calls for education and training, including training for specialists, elected representatives and the technical staff of local, regional and national authorities, and school and university courses dealing with values attached to the landscape and its protection, management and planning.
Landscape has no borders.
Co-operation between Parties is designed to enhance the effectiveness of the measures taken in each state, provide mutual technical and scientific assistance and facilitate exchanges of landscape specialists and the sharing of information on all matters relating to the Convention. Trans-frontier cooperation is encouraged at local and regional level and, where necessary, can pave the way for the preparation and implementation of joint landscape programmes.
The Convention also established a Council of Europe Landscape Award, which the Council’s Committee of Ministers can award to a local or regional authority, or a group of such authorities (in one country or on a transfrontier basis) or a non-governmental organisation that has instituted a policy or measures to protect, manage and/or develop their landscape, which have proved lastingly effective and can thus serve as an example to other territorial authorities in Europe.
The European Landscape Convention introduced a Europe-wide concept centring on the quality of landscape protection, management and planning and covering the entire territory, not just outstanding landscapes. Through its ground-breaking approach and its broader scope, it complements the Council of Europe’s and UNESCO’s heritage conventions.
Showing posts with label Towns. Policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Towns. Policy. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2015
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Urban Institute
Location: Nationwide
Website: www.urban.org
The Urban Institute gathers data, conducts research, evaluates programs, offers technical assistance overseas, and educates Americans on social and economic issues — to foster sound public policy and effective government.
The Urban Institute builds knowledge about the nation’s social and fiscal challenges, practicing open-minded, evidence-based research to diagnose problems and figure out which policies and programs work best, for whom, and how.
- Explore the work of our ten targeted policy centers and discover the breadth of the Institute's impact.
- Review our research publications, most freely available to all,
In the mid-1960s, President Johnson saw the need for independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America's cities and their residents. The President created a blue-ribbon commission of civic leaders who recommended chartering a center to do that work. In 1968, the Urban Institute became that center.
Our Commitments:
- Use rigorous, state-of-the-art methods to analyze public policies and programs,
- Bring sound objective evidence to public policy decisions.
- Deepen public understanding of policy issues,
- Save government and communities time and money through research on effective and efficient programs,
- Work to make our Washington, D.C., metropolitan area a stronger community.
Website: www.urban.org
The Urban Institute gathers data, conducts research, evaluates programs, offers technical assistance overseas, and educates Americans on social and economic issues — to foster sound public policy and effective government.
The Urban Institute builds knowledge about the nation’s social and fiscal challenges, practicing open-minded, evidence-based research to diagnose problems and figure out which policies and programs work best, for whom, and how.
- Explore the work of our ten targeted policy centers and discover the breadth of the Institute's impact.
- Review our research publications, most freely available to all,
In the mid-1960s, President Johnson saw the need for independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America's cities and their residents. The President created a blue-ribbon commission of civic leaders who recommended chartering a center to do that work. In 1968, the Urban Institute became that center.
Our Commitments:
- Use rigorous, state-of-the-art methods to analyze public policies and programs,
- Deepen public understanding of policy issues,
- Save government and communities time and money through research on effective and efficient programs,
- Work to make our Washington, D.C., metropolitan area a stronger community.
Clean Water Action
Location: Colorado
Website: www.cleanwateraction.org
Clean Water Action is a one million member organization of diverse people and groups joined together to protect our environment, health, economic well-being and community quality of life.
Our goals include clean, safe and affordable water; prevention of health threatening pollution; creation of environmentally safe jobs and businesses; and empowerment of people to make democracy work.
Clean Water Action organizes strong grassroots groups and coalitions and campaigns to elect environmental candidates and solve environmental and community problems.
Website: www.cleanwateraction.org
Clean Water Action is a one million member organization of diverse people and groups joined together to protect our environment, health, economic well-being and community quality of life.
Our goals include clean, safe and affordable water; prevention of health threatening pollution; creation of environmentally safe jobs and businesses; and empowerment of people to make democracy work.
Clean Water Action organizes strong grassroots groups and coalitions and campaigns to elect environmental candidates and solve environmental and community problems.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Strong Towns
Location: Nationwide
Website: www.strongtowns.org
The American approach to growth is causing economic stagnation and decline along with land use practices that force a dependency on public subsidies.
The inefficiencies of the current approach have left American towns financially insolvent, unable to pay even the maintenance costs of their basic infrastructure.
A new approach that accounts for the full cost of growth is needed to make our towns strong again.
The Strong Towns approach ultimately requires a reorientation of emphasis and a renewed understanding of what it takes to build a town or a neighborhood.
The current approach to growth emphasizes investments in new infrastructure to serve or induce new development. This approach uses public dollars inefficiently, destructively subsidizes one type of development over another and leaves massive maintenance liabilities to future generations.
A Strong Town approach emphasizes obtaining a higher return on existing infrastructure investments. We can no longer simply disregard old investments in favor of new, but instead we need to focus on making better use of that which we are already committed to publicly maintain.
Building a Strong Town is a complex, long-term endeavor. Much as a successful family balances their short-term spending needs with their long-term savings and financial commitments, so too must a Strong Town work towards long-term, balanced objectives,
A Strong Town...
1. Must be near-term financially solvent.
Can your town meet its near-term financial obligations? Is your town deferring needed maintenance, bypassing key investments or dramatically raising revenue in order to balance its budget? Is your town seeking new growth as a way to pay for current financial imbalances?
2. Must have the tax base and resources to cover long-term financial commitments.
Have the public investments that have been made in your town's infrastructure resulted in private-sector investments that can financially sustain the maintenance of that infrastructure? Is your town reliant on government transfer payments or extreme amounts of debt to pay for maintenance of basic infrastructure systems? Does your town have a capital improvements plan that accounts for the maintenance and replacement of all infrastructure systems?
3. Must have sufficient age diversity so that population will be added at a rate greater than population is being lost.
Is your town positioned to sustain its population a generation into the future, especially if it is planning to borrow for major infrastructure with a long payback cycle? When looking a generation to the future, is your town positioned to grow leaders from within the community or will tomorrow's leaders need to be imported? Is your population too young to sustain efforts to support the elderly? Is your population too old to have broad support for educating children and funding parks?
4. Must have sufficient economic diversity and vibrancy so that businesses are being added at a rate greater than or equal to the rate they are being lost.
Is your community dependent on one business or industry for the bulk of employment opportunities? Are there opportunities, locations, access to capital and a local support system for entrepreneurs that want to start businesses? Does your town actively engage in succession-planning, where successful local businesses can be passed from generation to generation? Does your town misuse tax subsidies to drive inefficient development patterns or fund non-viable endeavors? Does your town allow for creative destruction, where non-competitive businesses are allowed to fail in a competitive, free market.
5. Must have the courage and leadership to plan for long-term viability.
Does your town have a long-term plan for success? Do the leaders in your community understand that plan and embrace it? Are short-term decisions made through the prism of the long-term viability of the community? Are the members of the town engaged in a broad and comprehensive way in the planning of the community?
To make your town a Strong Town, begin today by reorienting to meet these five benchmarks. For some concepts for how to build a Strong Town, be sure and read our Placemaking Principles.
Website: www.strongtowns.org
The American approach to growth is causing economic stagnation and decline along with land use practices that force a dependency on public subsidies.
The inefficiencies of the current approach have left American towns financially insolvent, unable to pay even the maintenance costs of their basic infrastructure.
A new approach that accounts for the full cost of growth is needed to make our towns strong again.
The Strong Towns approach ultimately requires a reorientation of emphasis and a renewed understanding of what it takes to build a town or a neighborhood.
The current approach to growth emphasizes investments in new infrastructure to serve or induce new development. This approach uses public dollars inefficiently, destructively subsidizes one type of development over another and leaves massive maintenance liabilities to future generations.
A Strong Town approach emphasizes obtaining a higher return on existing infrastructure investments. We can no longer simply disregard old investments in favor of new, but instead we need to focus on making better use of that which we are already committed to publicly maintain.
Building a Strong Town is a complex, long-term endeavor. Much as a successful family balances their short-term spending needs with their long-term savings and financial commitments, so too must a Strong Town work towards long-term, balanced objectives,
A Strong Town...
1. Must be near-term financially solvent.
Can your town meet its near-term financial obligations? Is your town deferring needed maintenance, bypassing key investments or dramatically raising revenue in order to balance its budget? Is your town seeking new growth as a way to pay for current financial imbalances?
2. Must have the tax base and resources to cover long-term financial commitments.
Have the public investments that have been made in your town's infrastructure resulted in private-sector investments that can financially sustain the maintenance of that infrastructure? Is your town reliant on government transfer payments or extreme amounts of debt to pay for maintenance of basic infrastructure systems? Does your town have a capital improvements plan that accounts for the maintenance and replacement of all infrastructure systems?
3. Must have sufficient age diversity so that population will be added at a rate greater than population is being lost.
Is your town positioned to sustain its population a generation into the future, especially if it is planning to borrow for major infrastructure with a long payback cycle? When looking a generation to the future, is your town positioned to grow leaders from within the community or will tomorrow's leaders need to be imported? Is your population too young to sustain efforts to support the elderly? Is your population too old to have broad support for educating children and funding parks?
4. Must have sufficient economic diversity and vibrancy so that businesses are being added at a rate greater than or equal to the rate they are being lost.
Is your community dependent on one business or industry for the bulk of employment opportunities? Are there opportunities, locations, access to capital and a local support system for entrepreneurs that want to start businesses? Does your town actively engage in succession-planning, where successful local businesses can be passed from generation to generation? Does your town misuse tax subsidies to drive inefficient development patterns or fund non-viable endeavors? Does your town allow for creative destruction, where non-competitive businesses are allowed to fail in a competitive, free market.
5. Must have the courage and leadership to plan for long-term viability.
Does your town have a long-term plan for success? Do the leaders in your community understand that plan and embrace it? Are short-term decisions made through the prism of the long-term viability of the community? Are the members of the town engaged in a broad and comprehensive way in the planning of the community?
To make your town a Strong Town, begin today by reorienting to meet these five benchmarks. For some concepts for how to build a Strong Town, be sure and read our Placemaking Principles.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Future Cape Town
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Website: www.futurecapetown.com
With our roots firmly in the present, and eyes on the full potential of the city we live, play and work in, Future Cape Town is a diverse collection of minds that are driven by sustainable and innovative ways to address modern urban design challenges.
Website: www.futurecapetown.com
With our roots firmly in the present, and eyes on the full potential of the city we live, play and work in, Future Cape Town is a diverse collection of minds that are driven by sustainable and innovative ways to address modern urban design challenges.
We offer our opinion through cooperation and collaboration. In doing so, we promote an inspired and active citizenry, a reliable and innovative government and public sector willing to invest in projects that offer change in new ways.
We consider the model of partnerships to be a feasible and sustainable way forward.
We believe it offers value to all partners, while ultimately benefiting communities.
Driven by our focus of “Inspiring a more liveable Cape Town” and through our projects and initiatives, we serve as a platform that brings different stakeholders together, promoting the acceleration of urban change.
We invest significantly in our social media influence and online presence; these we consider key tools in stimulating active citizenry and creating meaningful public participation techniques and methods.
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