GDRC - Serendipitous Tags

GDRC goes social!

2009-03-24T14:11:00.001+09:00

You can now follow GDRC on Facebook and Twitter to keep yourself updated on what GDRC is doing, or questions that are driving its programmes, or activities that it is carrying out.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Development-Research-Center-GDRC/66976630019

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gdrcdotorg

Externalities of Heritage conservation

2009-03-22T16:12:00.000+09:00

GDRC is now working on an initiative to assist the city government of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to develop an urban heritage conservation strategy.

For a city in a developing country, heritage conservation is a public strategy that has considerable and serendipitous externalities. Besides the intangible benefits of preserving culture, there is the income generation and job creation potential from tourism sector, better urban governance (including public participation and partnership), improved urban finances, et al.

The Urban Heritage and Conservation programme of GDRC has been working and researching on these and related issues. More info will be uploaded to the website as the project progresses ...

Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change in Indonesia

2009-03-05T09:53:00.001+09:00

GDRC is collaborating with "CC-base" - an initiative to create a baseline for adaptation and mitigation of climate change in Indonesia.

The initiative aims to create a comprehensive information baseline on existing condition and trends (covering social, economic and environmental aspects) in Indonesia based on GIS and spatial/remote sensing data, especially on land use and land cover changes to ensure adaptation and mitigation activities of climate change are implemented in scientifically sound basis.

Such verified data will form the base for modeling and decision support systems at all levels of governance – national, provincial and local, as well as facilitate stakeholder dialogue to push for adaptation and mitigation action.

More info:
http://ccbase.wordpress.com/

Beyond just 3Rs

2009-03-04T11:07:00.001+09:00

While '3Rs' stand for reduce, reuse and recycle of resources and wastes, the concept itself goes beyond just better waste management and calls for the building of an economy based on the life-cycle approach, covering both sustainable production and sustainable consumption.

The 3R approach, focusing on reduce, reuse, and recycle, essentially aims to set up a sound material cycle society within the concept of a life-cycle economy, where consumption of natural resources is minimized and the environmental load is reduced, as much as possible.

An important serendipitus tag that cuts across many themes covered by GDRC's programmes, it lays the responsibility of achieving sustainable development squarely on individual decision-making that takes place daily at the micro level!

See GDRC's infopac on 3R issues:
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/3r-index.html

Women and the Informal Sector

2009-03-03T10:57:00.001+09:00

According to the estimates from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), over 500 million people - a staggering more than a quarter of the world's working population - are working in the informal economy worldwide.

The informal economy accounts for more than 35% of the world's gross national product and employment growth in the informal economy has been approximately 5% per year compared to employment growth in the formal, legally regulated economy has been barely 1%.

It is an undisputed fact that women workers are disproportionately represented in the informal economy all over the world. Women workers in the informal economy are a growing number and are one of the most vulnerable groups in society. These women workers are involved in diverse jobs such as agriculture workers, forest workers, fish workers, rag pickers, construction workers, home-based workers, domestic helpers, street vendors, contract or dispatch workers, part-time workers, casual workers and workers in very small enterprises.

Recently there have been attempts to recognize the needs of women in the informal economy and the following article highlights a rich mapping of the work currently carried out in the Asia Pacific with regards to organizing women in the informal sector.

Read more: "Informal work - getting back to 'bread and butter' union action"
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991215447&Language=EN

Small is beautiful!

2009-02-25T14:48:00.001+09:00

Think about it - from 60 to 90 percent or more of economies of most countries are actually run by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Single owner enterprises, with single sources of income, a single line of products or a combination of these features characterize SMEs.

SMEs function independently, providing goods and services directly to the consumer, or form part of a supply chain, linking them to large business corporations producing complex products.

Sometimes also interchangeably called microenterprises, SMEs are legally registered and tax paying entities. This distinguishes them from the equally small household or one-person enterprises that form an equally large proportion of the informal economic sectors of most developing countries (again up to 90% in some cities!).

A cross-cutting serendipitous tag for GDRC, issues related to SMEs influence research carried out by many of its programmes - particularly sustainable development, sustainable business, informal sector, microfinance, etc.

Greater attention need to be paid to SMEs - how can they contribute to better sustainability practices in the private sector? How can their environmental impacts be reduced? Without affecting their bottom line? Or making it part of the bottom line? Especially in developing countries? Questions that need further research ... more work to do!

Microfinance and environmental management

2009-02-23T11:11:00.001+09:00

Providing microfinance, and creating necessary conditions for microfiance to be used for environmental management, is an important aspect for poverty alleviation. This is particularly true in developing countries and in post-disaster situations.

GDRC has been exploring this issue in its Programme on Microcredit and Microfinance.

- Environmental Colours of Microfinance: http://www.gdrc.org/icm/environ/environ.html
- Microfinance and Disasters: http://www.gdrc.org/icm/disasters/index.html

Celebrating the Local Dimension

2009-02-20T15:38:00.000+09:00

What kind of lifestyles, particularly urban, needs to be adopted? How can economic growth goals be reconciled with environmental ones? Who plays the key roles in this case - the manufacturers? The national government? The local government? Or the citizens? What kinds of participation and partnership structures can we put in place for this purpose? Indeed, there can be no 'one policy' to achieve reduction goals - and a comprehensive mixture of policies need to be developed. What would these look like? Who does what, when and where? And indeed why? What are the motivations?

Global environmental problems and the solutions to mitigate them can find their legitimacy for dialogue only if a local dimension is kept in mind - indeed, the local human dimensions in finding solutions for environmental problems is by far the way forward in this respect. Decision-makers, using buzzwords such as 'public choice,' 'informed consent,' and 'community participation,' have now come to realize that it is critical to understand the relevance and implication of global problems from the man-on-the-street perspective, even in order to start defining the problem. How can the focus on the man-on-the-street be built? Who has to do this? What indeed are the 'human dimensions' of environmental development and management?

Scientists have striven to remain independent and rational so that their work would not be influenced by outside pressures. But with an increasing realization of the interlinkages between problems, solutions and the 'humans' who are part of both, scientific research will have to find partners and partnerships in unlikely places to find and justify the solutions that they will suggest … Increased globalization of the economy, with decision-making processes far removed from the local levels, has had a negative and deteriorative impact on the environment. This highlights the old ying and yang debate of quantitative growth of the local economy, and the qualitative improvement of the local environment. Which comes first? Both have their priorities and their advocates … is there a 'good' and a 'bad'? In the final analysis, it is the community that can actually decide on things that affect their lives and what is best for them. How can such thought-processes and leadership be fostered? Paternalism not-with-standing, how can local governments and other bureaucracies be made to 'listen' to the community? What kind of future vision of symbiosis be built ground-up? How can local desires and wishes be reconciled with national priorities? Indeed, how can the middle ground be identified and fostered??

And so the debate goes on ...

Climate Change: Seeing REDD

2009-02-16T15:38:00.000+09:00

You probably have heard of the REDD Initiative - Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation initiative. The Climate Change Conference in Bali, in December 2007, opened the possibility of developing an incentive mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). One example of REDD is the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Some REDD mechanisms already feature in the voluntary carbon markets.

REDD mechanisms can deliver multiple benefits. In addition to mitigating climate change, REDD can support livelihoods, maintain vital ecosystem services, and preserve globally significant biodiversity. Discussions on the linkages between REDD and biodiversity conservation are increasing. A number of research projects and policies are being developed around the issue. However, Parties to the CBD noted that the benefits will not necessarily be automatically achieved.

REDD is being spearheaded within the UN system by UNDP, FAO and UNEP. See a presentation on how they are doing this. Also keep yourself updated on REDD and related issues at: http://www.redd-monitor.org/

Much of what GDRC does in its various programmes have direct or indirect implications for the REDD initiative. REDD will be an interesting serendipitous tag for GDRC to interlink local issues and dimensions to larger issues at the global level.

Time to renew ...

2009-02-14T18:53:00.001+09:00

Its been quite some time and then some, since entries have been made on this blog.

So its time to renew and revamp this blog, focusing on themes that stitch together the disparate topics covered by GDRC's 15 programmes.

Besides keeping the original intent and purpose of the blog, it will now also cover summaries and implications of new documents added to GDRC's website - allowing the user's own sense of serendipity to link it back to his/her reality!

Serendipity to the rescue

2008-05-06T14:56:00.004+09:00

One of 6,600+ people who come to GDRC's website every day, an online visitor is confronted with 15 programmes and approximately 130 sub-themes, 7,900 files, 42,000 links, and more ... talk about information overload!

But for GDRC, this volume of information simply represents the varied and interlinked research interests of its Virtual Fellows and Institutional Partners. However, keeping it updated, current and interesting is a never-ending and uphill task.

For the casual visitor, information packaging is all the more important. GDRC looses out a bit here, due to (1) lack of a strong search mechanism (besides the all-encompassing Google Search);and (2) lack of 'wrappers' or overviews/summaries that help contextualize and interlink info together.

Mmm ... more work to do, but so much more for Serendipity. And for the a-ha! to happen.

More than just imprints ...

2008-05-01T14:33:00.002+09:00

Here's a serendipitous tag for you - footprints. Not the footprints-in-the-sand variety, but the imprint you leave on the planet as a result of resources consumed and wastes generated. The ecological overshoot that our lifestyles are generating is cause for much concern, and in fact the real starting point for sustainability action.

Forget global warning or CO2 emissions. To reduce our footprints, what information would you need? What decisions would you have to take? How can everyone be involved - rich and poor? What solutions - technology and skills - are out there? What can businesses and consumers do?

Read more about footprints at: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/footprints/index.html

Increasing Social Capital

2008-04-29T15:11:00.004+09:00

Though not (yet) a part of GDRC's programmes, the concept of social capital is an interesting precondition to many of the themes and issues that are covered in its 15 programmes. Social capital is formed out of "the networks of relationships among persons, firms, and institutions in a society, together with associated norms of behavior, trust, cooperation, etc., that enable a society to function effectively."

Take microfinance - much of its success lies in the presence of social capital within the communities that use microfinance. Effective disaster risk reduction practices have succeeded in some communities, but failed in others - research has shown that success has depended on the level and strength of social capital in the community. Active involvement of the community in heritage and conservation efforts have also largely been affected by the pride that the community feels about their locality - another vote for its social capital.

And sustainable development itself - if it has to happen, will happen at the community level. And in the daily decisions and consumption patterns that we adopt. Concern for our neighbours, for the community and for future generations can easily be activated when social capital is high ...

Maybe its time for the Sustainable Development programme of GDRC to pick up this thread of thought and create a new feature page!

The Informality of Poverty

2007-10-20T13:17:00.001+09:00

A serendipitous tag that always sticks to my mind is that of the informal economic sector - always there, invisible but necessary, and unsupported but functioning.

Much needs to be tagged to the sector - poverty alleviation, education and health, training and skill development, market development, but also social issues such as gender etc.

Recently, the informal sector also got mentioned in disaster management - how does the question of "business continuity" be asked of informal economic activities (when it is not recognized at all in the first place)? Considering that most of the people in the sector are from the lower economic rungs? No easy answers there, but needs exploring ...

See GDRC's programme page on the informal sector

Better urban mobility - and poverty alleviation.

2007-09-13T09:32:00.000+09:00

An interesting piece of news on the link between providing good mobility (in terms of walking, bicycling, and public transport) and increasing the economic opportunities of low income people in cities, and hence poverty alleviation:

European Urban Knowledge Network - "Promote bicycling, walking and public transport to improve chances for poor people":
08-06-2007

How can transport policy contribute to the goal of more inclusive cities? What role does the car play in ensuring mobility for all?"

The Externalities of Tourism

2007-09-11T11:16:00.000+09:00

I subscribe to several tourism-related email lists, particularly those related to ATLAS [www.atlas-euro.org]. In the range of activities, events and publications that are being carried out in this field, it was interesting to see a large cross-section of topics being synchronized with tourism.

Of particular significance is how the research and development activities on tourism are being linked to economic development (but of course ...), but also to heritage conservation and environmental/ecological preservation. Clearly, the multiplier effects of one sector has implications and advantages (or disadvantages) for other sectors as well.

GDRC works on all the three themes - tourism, heritage and environment - but in separate silos. it will be interesting to bring them together in a Special Feature.

Leadership Matters - Vision, Effectiveness and Accountability

2007-09-09T20:56:00.000+09:00

A key aspect of the GDRC Programme on Urban Governance is that of leaders and leadership. And so the title of a recent World Bank Institute's meeting theme struck my eye as a good set of leadership 'matters':

VISION: Does the leader have a vision for the future? Does it match the wishes, needs and aspirations of the community that he/she leads?

EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the leader in delivering on his/her promises? How capable ha she/she been in accomplishing stated goals and objectives?

ACCOUNTABILITY: How has the leader set up accountability in his/her working? Who is he/she accountable for? with respect to the community he/she serves?

These and many more of such attributes drive a good leader in being able to deliver to his/her constituency, their wishes and aspirations!

Go to GDRC's programme on Urban Governance

National policies for NGOs in India

2007-09-08T09:33:00.000+09:00

The voluntary sector in most developing countries (including NGOs, CBO etc.) are in a double dilemma - on one hand, many of the rules and regulations that they have to adhere to actually originate from the for-profit private sector. On the other, the bad actions of some of the NGOs taints the sector as a whole, calling for stricter monitoring and enforcement of the rules and regulations.

It is good to see some change in attitudes and approaches towards the sector, but much more needs to be done!

PIB Press Release: National Policy on the Voluntary Sector 2007

Send your comments to me at hsrinivas@gdrc.org.

The Info-design Cycle

2007-09-06T14:08:00.000+09:00

Packaging information properly so as to facilitate its contextualizing and customizing by the user to create tacit knowledge is an iterative cycle. Where is information available? Who has it? How can we match user needs with information available? What are the interlinakages between the different pieces of information? What enhancements can be envisaged to the info patterns? How can the products developed be improved further? How can the info products be delivered to the user? These are some of the questions that are covered in the cycle.

Ultimately, good information management is an aid to decision-making, of understanding what and how information is used, and developing a channel to deliver it to the user. Based on a user-needs assessment, information is collated and analyzed to build patterns. The iterative process is repeated by incorporating feedback and review it until it matches the needs of the user. This is the 'Information Desgin Cycle'

Welcome to "Serenditous Tags"

2007-09-02T14:04:00.000+09:00

Welcome to the GDRC Blog, "Serendipitous Tags"

In this complex world of ours, problems that we face may not be the 'real' problem - there will always be problems behind problems, and so solutions that we propose should beget more solutions. It is this interconnectedness that lies at the core of everything that GDRC does.

The multi-disciplinarity of GDRC’s 15 programmes help in discovering the connections and associations among different issues not apparent at first. This is the thinking that went into the creation of this blog – Serendipitous Tags – in making unexpected links when tagging different pieces of knowledge.