Local Development Policies Research Articles

O6-5 Can the development of a physical activity counseling network help fostering effective local policies for the attention of inactive people? Mugiment Gipuzkoa

IssueIn the province of Gipuzkoa, 34.1% of women and 32.1% of men do not reach the minimum levels of healthy physical activity. On the other hand, there is an important influence of social determinants, the gap on physical activity between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% is 28 points.DescriptionMugiment Gipuzkoa is a multicomponent and multilevel initiative whose objective is the promotion of physical activity in the population. One of the main strategies is the development of a network of physical activity counseling services (PACS). In this network the autonomous, provincial and local government of different sectors such as health, sports, social services and education are called to act in coordination. The objective of the PACS network, is to cause the change of behavior in the inactive population, but also to reorient the policies of local entities regarding physical activity. The PACS connect sports services to the local services of different sectors, articulating referral protocols.ResultsAt the beginning of 2020 Gipuzkoa has 23 PACS in 16 municipalities. In 2018, 16 PACS corresponding to 12 municipalities have been evaluated. 778 people have attended to the services, the user profile is of an adult or aged woman, inactive, who came from the health center or autonomously. Most of them (73%), opted for autonomous physical activity. Pre-post methodology has been inplemented using a sample of 365 participants. Analized the clinical health history, we observe a positive trend on BMI, physical activity and less use of health resources at six months.LessonsCoordinated action between different levels of the administration and different sectors is key to the accompaniment of local entities when developing policies aimed at the inactive population. In the case of social and educational services, the experience of collaboration is limited, so it is necessary to deepen these sectors.Main messageThe establishment of a network of services for orientation to physical activity can serve to foster the development of effective local policies that focus on inactive people.

S11 Improving knowledge co-creation and participation in physical activity promotion: The cooperative planning approach

A central problem of current efforts to promote health and physical activity (PA) is that many successful projects remain stuck in the demonstration phase and are not implemented successfully at scale. The use of participatory and/or co-creation approaches has been suggested to avoid this ?pilot project trap? and better adapt interventions to target group needs and setting specificities.This symposium intends to introduce to an international audience a particular participatory concept that has become increasingly popular in PA promotion in Germany in recent years: The Cooperative Planning approach has been successfully used in sport facility planning, local and regional PA policy development, and various settings of PA promotion (incl. kindergartens, schools, vocational training, and communities). The workshop will shed light on the theoretical background and methodology of Cooperative Planning as well as its specific application in select settings.The first presentation will introduce the concept of Cooperative Planning, outline potential areas of application, and compare it with other popular participatory and co-creation approaches in PA promotion. Following this, we will provide evidence from ongoing projects employing the approach to promote PA in kindergartens (Presentation 2) and in the community setting (Presentation 3). Presentation 4 will introduce an example from the retirement home setting and also highlight ways of combining Cooperative Planning with other approaches such as photovoice and participatory evaluation. The final presentation will provide an outlook on the future extension of the concept by introducing the idea of the Practice Dive, which may be used to further optimize knowledge co-creation between researchers and practitioners.A closer look at the Cooperative Planning approach is both timely and relevant for an international audience for a number of reasons: Conceptually, Cooperative Planning is a theory-based framework that combines ideas of participation and co-creation for PA into an innovative whole-of-system approach. From a practical PA promotion perspective, it transcends many existing techniques by focusing both on engaging multipliers and members of the target group, and by involving all of them in the decisive intervention development process (e.g. rather than only via opinion polls or focus groups). This symposium will allow us to combine evidence from four different projects, highlighting both the specificities of working in different settings as well as different aspects and possible extensions of the Cooperative Planning approach.

A sustainable future for Africa through continental free trade and agricultural development.

Developing and integrating agricultural markets may be key to addressing Africa's sustainability challenges. By modelling trade costs from farm gate to potential import markets across eight African regions, we investigate the impact of individual components of continental free trade and the complementary role of domestic agricultural development through increased market access for farmers and agricultural intensification. We find that free trade would increase intra-African agricultural trade sixfold by 2030 but-since it does not address local supply constraints-outside food imports and undernourishment would reduce only marginally. Agricultural development could almost eliminate undernourishment in Africa by 2050 at only a small cost of increased global greenhouse gas emissions. While continental free trade will be enabled in Africa through the African Continental Free Trade Area, aligning this with local agricultural development policies is crucial to increase intra-African trade gains, promote food security and achieve climate objectives.

Spatial-Temporal Pattern Evolution of Xi’an Metropolitan Area Using DMSP/OLS and NPP/VIIRS Nighttime Light Data

A metropolitan area provides valuable space for economic development, and it is the home on which human beings depend for their survival. However, metropolitan areas are often faced with prominent problems caused by the natural environment and city layout. Therefore, understanding metropolitan areas’ spatial-temporal pattern evolution is of vital significance for medium-to-long-term city growth. This study uses the nighttime light data to monitor the urban pattern evolution of the Xi’an Metropolitan Area (XMA) over the past 30 years. The study results suggest that the continuity correction and consistency correction used in this study can construct a stable long-term, multi-source nighttime light dataset and, at the same time, accurately reflect the changes in the urban pattern. The determination coefficient between gross domestic product (GDP) and total nighttime light (TNL) reached 0.90; the nighttime light index (NLI) of the XMA is characterized by high spatial heterogeneity. The NLI of the core areas has been saturated before 2004, while the CNLI value of the peripheral Chang’an District was 0.31 by 2021. Urban land expanded in all directions, with an average expansion rate of 12.9% and an expansion intensity of 2.6%. The nighttime light gravity center generally shifted towards southwest, from (108.915° E, 34.355° N) in 1992 to (108.922° E, 34.343° N) in 2021. The urban pattern of the metropolitan area is influenced by the natural environment, and the southwest and northeast directions will be the primary development directions in the future. The local development policy is a crucial driving factor in the urban pattern evolution, which significantly affects the location and intensity of urban expansion; the center of gravity of the XMA has different migration directions in different periods, meaning that the development of the metropolitan area tends to be balanced.

Explanatory structural equation model validation for territorial branding tourism policies

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to validate an explanatory structural equation model for the evaluation of territorial branding tourism policies for local development and its application in cities in Mexico and Colombia.Design/methodology/approachA sample was calculated for finite populations of residents in the municipalities of Girón Santander, Colombia and El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico, of 125 individuals for each locality, in total, 250 individuals. The study includes three latent variables, which in turn constitute three models (Model 1: State and Public Policies; Model 2: Territorial Brand for Development; Model 3: Local Development) to explain the multiple relationships with the observable variables. The results were analyzed by using IBM AMOS software (SPSSS Extension), using the maximum likelihood method.FindingsMultiple relationships between the variables were evident, with excellent to acceptable indices. Model 1 (CMIN/DF = 1.742; CFI = 0.948; RMSEA = 0.057; PClose = 0.059) Model 2 (CMIN/DF = 1.528; CFI = 0.921; RMSEA = 0.073; PClose = 0.044). Model 3 (CMIN/DF = 3.210; CFI = 0.951); RMSEA = 0.057; PClose = 0.049), obtaining an adequate fit. The correlations between the variables reveal that the tourism policy is weak in both contexts, in its implementation in terms of the participation of residents in decision-making with respect to the management of the policy and in the lack of education and training of collaborators/workers to provide a better tourism service.Practical implicationsIt was possible to establish that the measurement model is applicable in the municipalities of the two countries by considering the similarities in tourism policies, as well as the differences (social, cultural, political and economic), but with a need for explicit articulation between the pillars of the territorial brand with the legitimized public policy.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the generation of new knowledge in relation to territorial branding from residents, within the framework of a tourism policy, allowing to establish its limitations in terms of implementation.

Local climate change policy and rural development in Colombia’s post-peace agreements context

ABSTRACT This study provides information on the gap between policy discourse and policy implementation of climate change (CC) management and peace governance. Following international commitments, the Colombian government developed national policies that respond to CC or extremes, coinciding with peace-agreements made with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces. Indeed, CC and peace are embedded issues. Conflict negatively impacts the environment and increases vulnerability to CC or extremes. Moreover, both policy areas aim for effective agricultural development. This study addresses CC adaptation and peace-agreements management as traveling models translated into policies within the agriculture sector. Drawing from development and political anthropology and the notion of a policy mix derived from political science, the analysis method employs semi-structured interviews of governmental and non-governmental actors. Accordingly, gaps exist between policy models and their local translation within the policy mix. CC management and peace governance embrace diverse actors implementing a multiplicity of dispositives concentrated along the Pan-American highway, with distinct durations, responding to diverse interests, and using several approaches. Within the scope of the policy mix, this study observes fragmentation, discontinuity, extraversion, coherence building and fight for local power. The findings can help formulate and implement more relevant policies to improve CC management and peace governance.

SIMPLIFIED PREDICTIVE MODELS ON SUSTAINABLE LOCAL CONTENT POLICY, AND HUMAN CAPACITY DEVELOPMENTS, IN NIGERIA’S OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY.

Simplified predictive models developed to determine sustainable local content policy and human capacity development in the Nigeria’s oil and gas industry was carried out using secondary data from the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) within ten years. The research was formulated on both descriptive and analytical statistical methods for the prediction of the expected capacity development value at optimum conditions based on critical industry need assessment and audit report between 2018 -2023 - a baseline study and the secondary data sets from PTDF trio-capacity development strategies from 2011 – 2021. From equations 2.1 – 2.11, it was established that challenging weaknesses could be turned into opportunities for the Fund. A comparative analysis of the Skills Gap Audit (SGA) and Simplified Predictive Models (SPM) was carried out using arithmetic mean, standard deviation and correlation coefficient from the assumed mean of the unclassified data. Tables 2.1 - 4.5 and Figures 2.1 and 2.6 are reference commonality data sets. The results established that more key performance indicators were captured in the SPM models (mean of 23.04 and deviation of 0.4) against the imputed values in the SGA, (mean 4.52 and deviation of 0.5) respectively. This research is useful for policy formulation and decision-making on local content policy formulations and capacity development programmes in Nigeria. Keywords: Predictive models, Sustainable local content policy, Petroleum technology Development Fund.

Does industrial intelligence improve resource misallocation? An empirical test based on China.

Resource misallocation has become a new threat to China's high-quality economic development, and industrial intelligence may play an important role in optimizing resource allocation. Using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2020, the relationship between industrial intelligence and resource misallocation is studied using the spatial Durbin (SDM) model. To further explore the indirect effect of environmental pollution on resource misallocation, the interaction term between industrial intelligence and environmental pollution is added to test how environmental pollution affects the relationship between industrial intelligence and resource. The research results show that industrial intelligence in China has significant spatial correlation. Local industrial intelligence can improve the local resource allocation, but the intelligence of neighboring industries will intensify the resource misallocation in the region. The interaction between environmental pollution and industrial intelligence also further affects resource allocation, and the interaction term can intensify local capital allocation to improve local labor allocation, and the interaction term in the surrounding area will also improve capital and labor misallocation in the region. Heterogeneous results find that industrial intelligence exacerbates resource misallocation in regions with insufficient capital allocation, and the mediating effect of environmental pollution is not significant. However, in places with excess capital allocation, the development of industrial intelligence helps improve resource misallocation, while the mediating effect of environmental pollution is also present, and industrial intelligence can improve resource misallocation through the indirect effect of improving environmental pollution. Therefore, the policies of local industrial development policies need to fully consider the resource allocation situation in the region. At the same time, it needs to smooth the capital circulation mechanism, reduce the cost of capital allocation, establish a sound employment mechanism, and improve labor misallocation.

Business Incentives for Local Economic Development

The main role of local development policy is to create a favorable business environment and new jobs, thus contributing to economic development. Creating a positive business environment to act as a pull factor for new businesses is of great importance, because entrepreneurship conduces to the rise in the supply of goods and to an increase in citizens’ income and revenues of local budgets. This paper therefore examines the main goals of economic development in the towns and municipalities of the Republic of Croatia, as well as the tools used by local governments to encourage entrepreneurship and new businesses. Using a questionnaire, mayors and deputies of towns and municipalities were surveyed, and the sample covered 131 towns and municipalities. The research methodology included a descriptive analysis and the Kruskal–Wallis test. The results indicate that improving the quality of life of the residents, creating new jobs, and retaining the residents in the town or municipality were identified as the most important goals of economic development. To encourage entrepreneurship and new jobs, towns and municipalities most often simplify regulations, reduce local taxes, and introduce various benefits and incentives. The contribution of the paper is manifested in providing useful guidance to local governments to improve the business environment.

The effect of science and technology parks on tenant firms: a literature review

Science and technology parks (STPs) are non-spontaneous agglomerations aimed at encouraging the formation and growth of on-site technology and knowledge-based firms. STPs have diffused worldwide, attracting significant, and often public, investment. However, there are contrasting evidence and insights on the effectiveness of these local development, technology and innovation policy tools. This paper provides a comprehensive and systematic review of the STP literature (221 papers, 1987–2021), focusing especially on quantitative papers aimed at assessing the park effect on tenant’s performance. We perform an in-depth quantitative analyses, which allows us to go beyond the inconclusiveness reported in previous review papers, showing that the likelihood of finding positive STP effects increases considerably with sample size. We discuss the limitations of this literature and offer some suggestions for future research.

The Burden of Microplastics Pollution and Contending Policies and Regulations.

The relationship between humans and plastics has become intricate due to their versatile nature and low production cost. Plastics generation has surpassed that of other manufactured products, which, coupled with the prevailing poor waste management systems, makes it a serious problem for the terrestrial and aquatic environments as its final destination. Their extensive presence has continued to pose a significant threat, not only to the aquatic ecosystem but also to the approximately 3 billion people relying on it for their livelihood. Even more disturbing were the recent findings of these plastics in food and drinking water and the evidence of human exposure, the long-term health effects of which are largely unknown. This ubiquitous phenomenon has over time put plastics under critical observation, leading to the development of many local and international policies, resolutions, and directives aimed at addressing and reversing the menace. This review provided the first snapshot of the global and local governance strategies currently aimed at mitigating plastic pollution, their limitations, and future directions. The findings of the review revealed several aspects of microplastics (MPs) pollution to be overlooked in policy formulation, a laxity in policy implementation, and an apparent lack of indices to ascertain the impact of the regulations. Furthermore, there is currently no regulation on MPs contamination of food and drinking water and an apparent lack of funding for research into the health effects of plastics and their alternatives. This, therefore, necessitates the need for a well-coordinated approach at international and national levels to scale up these policies in all countries and translate them from paper to measurable, holistic, and realizable actions that will address all forms of plastic pollution.

Reversing Biodiversity Decline in Aotearoa New Zealand

Reflections on the history of and prognosis for reversing biodiversity in Aotearoa New Zealand are provided from the perspective of a 40-year involvement in terrestrial ecology and its interface with central and local government policy development and implementation. The emerging favourable policy framework, continuing growth of iwi-and community-led conservation, and a shift to regional-scale restoration give cause for optimism. But reversal of biodiversity decline over still greater areas is required, alongside an in-perpetuity commitment to management that enhances indigenous biodiversity.

Creating planning visions for fragmented post-socialist city-regions

ABSTRACT The post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been largely sidelined during the mainstream international debate on city-regional (or metropolitan) planning and governance. As the formal institutionalization of city-regions in CEE is relatively weak, the voluntary bottom-up approach to city-regional visioning is the only alternative. Through the empirical analysis of the experience of the Poznań city-region in Poland, based on face-to-face interviews with policymakers and a study of planning documents, the paper discovers the political relations of power behind the consensus-based strategic visioning and limitations of a voluntary approach when confronted with long-lasting local development policies embedded within the formal planning system.

A comparison of health-related quality of life and personal, social, and environmental factors of older adults according to a residential area: a propensity score matching analysis.

This study identified individual, social, and environmental factors affecting the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of older individuals living in urban and non-urban areas of the Republic of Korea and investigated their effects on HRQoL. A secondary data analysis study was conducted using raw data from Korea's 2017 Community Health Survey. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to compare the individual, social, and environmental characteristics of older individuals living in urban and non-urban areas (16,695 and 29,106 individuals, respectively). Statistical analyses were performed using R program 4.0.5. The differences between variables were analyzed using chi-squared and t-tests, whereas factors influencing HRQoL were analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Among the individual factors, the living arrangement (p = 0.001, confidence interval [CI] = 0.00-0.02) was an influencing factor in urban areas, whereas it showed no statistical significance in non-urban areas. Moreover, Helping their neighbors (p = 0.001, CI = 0.00-0.01) among the social factors and satisfaction with the living environment (p = 0.011, CI = 0.00-0.02) and with healthcare services (p = 0.047, CI = 0.00-0.01) among the environmental factors were influencing factors in urban areas, whereas they showed no statistical significance in non-urban areas. Satisfaction with the living environment and with healthcare services was positively associated with HRQoL among older individuals living in urban areas. Therefore, factors associated with regional health inequality should be identified, and health equality sought through the development of local government policies that consider diversity in population composition and health indicators by region.

Between culture and industry: re-evaluating the development of the Australian New Eligible Drama Expenditure (NEDE) requirement on Australian pay-TV

In Australia, policies that mandate levels of production and distribution of local television content are shaping factors of the sector. Many of these policies are under review due to the impact of new streaming services. At a time of major overhaul of policies, it is illustrative to return to the development of earlier local content policies in Australia. The development of the 1992 New Eligible Drama Expenditure Requirement (NEDE) on Australian pay-TV reveals the difficult balancing act between cultural and economic rationalisations of cultural policy. Using policy analysis of key historical documents surrounding the NEDE's development, this article charts how decisions over the shape of the policy were constructed in ways that prioritised impacts on industry. In doing so, this article reveals how despite some objectives of the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) aiming to balance culture and the economy, the NEDE was designed with industry at the forefront.

Blockchain tools for socio-economic interactions in local communities

Abstract Blockchain technology is generating interest in novel applicative fields such as co-production of public services. Our CommonsHood project is a “wallet app” that uses the Blockchain as a tool to support sustainability of the local economy. Its tokenization mechanism allows everyone to create new types of cryptographic tokens on the Blockchain in order to digitalize assets, augment the availability of local liquidity, and incentivize cooperative socio-economic interactions. This article analyzes a concrete application of CommonsHood for innovating local development policies and service co-production in the tourism sector. We examine this application using Linders’s analytical framework for information and communications technology (ICT)-enabled co-production of services (2012). We show the advantages our project brings for local policies on tourism development, and we discuss the benefits and costs of using the Blockchain in that context. We argue that the observed case study covers different types of digitally enabled co-production of services, and that it can be defined as a case of Governance as a Platform. We also argue that well-established analytical frameworks for ICT-enabled co-production of services need to be expanded in order to account for the new affordances enabled by the Blockchain technology, namely the creation and transaction of digital values, which represent a paradigm change in how we understand the Internet and digital co-production.

Effects of climate on bank default

Developing countries are more vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. The access to credit has been highlighted as crucial to the investment in adaptation strategies and to build resilient economies, but bank lending behavior in response to climatic shocks is still not well understood. The demand for credit is expected to increase in periods of extreme climate events, but loan delinquency rates would likely go up as well. In recent decades, Brazil has already experienced unusual climate variability with severe droughts in the Northeastern region, the most populous semiarid area in the world. The Bank of the Northeast (BNB), a public bank that has been used to implement local development policies, has lent over US$ 20 billion since the earmarking of funds for regional development in the Constitution of 1988. This study examines the impact of climatic shocks on the BNB’s credit operations and delinquency rates when several climatic events occurred over the period of 2002-2013. The econometric regressions method was used with fixed-effects panel data and its estimates indicate that deviations of temperature and precipitation from their annual mean increased default rates considerably. One of the factors that affects bank defaults may be the reduction in agricultural production, since default rates are higher in this sector, which suffers from the income reduction of producers whom are affected by these climate variations.

Critical factors in local food development policies, farming, and coping mechanisms mothers with stunting children in Jember

Jember Regency has the potential of local food diversity that has not been optimally utilized in stunting recovery. Local institutions have also not fully contributed optimal roles in rural mothers with stunting children. The research aims to determine key policy factors for local food development, farming, and coping mechanisms in mothers with stunting children. Adequate policies, especially in utilizing cheap and easily obtain nutritious local food sources, are expected to facilitate effective stunting recovery efforts. This research method uses quantitative and qualitative approaches. Description of local food sources and their processing, demographics, and maternal behavior, is carried out through focus group discussion activities involving key stakeholders. Furthermore, modeling is carried out based on key factors or elements with interpretative structural modeling methods. The study’s findings suggest that increasing maternal knowledge of local food and nutritional content and health aspects is a crucial policy factor. Systematically these key factors need to be supported by strengthening maternal health in decision-making in the household, handling maternal health detection, maternal skills to process food, and maternal skills to choose food according to family needs. Policy implementation requires formal and informal institutional support that exists in the countryside.

Global and Local Agendas: The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and Innovative Sustainable Food Policies in Euro-Latin American Cities

This paper analyzes the relationship between the construction of international agendas and new sustainable local policies. Specifically, it analyzes the framework of sustainable food policy building at global and local scales. In this sense, we explore the international agreement called the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, and its influence on the development of local and global sustainable food-related policies through different innovative methods. To this end, the process of building the international alliance of local governments for the development of sustainable food systems is analyzed first, and secondly, its locations are investigated through the public actions and programs in three cities of the Euro-Latin American region: Madrid, Quito, and Valencia. Two conclusions are clear after our qualitative study: on one hand, local policies are designed and implemented through a double strategy: the substantive construction of the policy and its inclusion in the global agenda. On the other hand, both dimensions are fundamental and reinforce each other, specifically in the case of urban sustainable food policy.

Modeling the Development of Local Health-Enhancing Physical Activity Policies from Empirical Data and Policy Science Theories.

Physical inactivity is considered a pandemic, requiring strong policy responses to address this major health issue. However, research on the development of Health-Enhancing Physical Activity policies (HEPA) remains scarce, particularly at the local level. There is a need to produce evidence to better understand the process to develop local HEPA policies. This study aims to model the development of HEPA policy promotion in French municipalities from empirical data and policy science theories. This research was undertaken in three steps: (1) assess the level of development of HEPA policies from 10 French municipalities using a local HEPA analysis tool, (2) provide a brief overview of core political science theories applied in health promotion, and (3) from these empirical and theoretical perspectives, model a conceptual framework to better understand the development of HEPA policy promotion in French municipalities. Based on empirical data and the Multiple Streams, policy cycles and Institutional Rational Choice theories, a conceptual framework of the development of municipal HEPA policy promotion was modeled. This conceptual framework is comprised of five stages describing the development of municipal HEPA policies. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the development of municipal HEPA policies.