Local Advisory Council Research Articles

Whose Interest Really Matters? The Role of NGOs’ Representatives within Local Advisory Councils in Poland

The article shows the results of empirical research conducted among members of advisory councils operating in Polish cities. The study covers five types of councils: councils of NGOs, senior citizen councils, councils for residents with disabilities, labor market councils, and sports councils. The author focuses mainly on advisory council members who are also NGO representatives. Thus, they have a twofold role: a member of a collegial advisory body, which is supposed to consult local authorities, and a representative of an NGO. The article aims to reveal the motives for engaging NGOs’ representatives in social council activities. Considering the specific character of the NGO sector in Poland, one may expect that membership within social councils will become an arena for pushing the interests of NGOs. However, research results show that the motivations for involvement in social council activities do not have clientelistic patterns. The members of the councils are motivated by similar factors as in other forms of prosocial activity, which may be divided into normative, rational, and affiliative-prestigious. Council members are aware of their double role. They, therefore, distance themselves from the possibility of achieving individual (private) benefits or benefits for the NGO they are associated with. Their membership in councils is motivated primarily by a sense of duty to the group or the organization they represent or local authorities, taking part in the decision-making, and being a member of the prestigious group of experts they consider advisory councils to be.

From Advice and Consultation to Local Co-governance. The Case of Advisory Councils in Polish Cities

The paper draws on the empirical findings of the research exploring the functions of local advisory councils (ACs). ACs are conceptualized as the form of participation placed between ‘advising and opinion-giving’ and ‘co-governance’ according to Fung’s approach (2006). Youth councils, senior citizen councils, and councils for residents with disabilities – that operate in 65 Polish cities – are put under examination. The article presents the results of the desk research, questionnaire, and interviews with the AC members addressing the issues of the origins of ACs in Poland, their membership and the way members are recruited, and AC functions and their relations with city authorities and community. The authors conclude by pointing to the pro-active role of ACs in local governance, but also indicate that their role as a stakeholder in co-governance requires them to contribute to policy decisions going beyond and above the advice and consultation provided so far.

Local advisory councils in deliberative decision-making. Findings from research in Polish cities

ABSTRACT Local advisory councils (LACs) are defined as collegial bodies that are anchored in local communities (representing public institutions, NGOs, social groups, business, and individuals), and are established by local authorities for opinion-giving purposes. The authors claim that LACs have deliberative potential and can perform different roles in deliberative governance. The paper presents the results of a survey of the members of eight kinds of LACs that have been established in 65 Polish cities. The research results provide proof of the inclusive character of LACs: their sustainability and the conditions for their deliberation (frequency of meetings, relations with the community). The question of the impact of LACs on local policy; however, remains open.

Multispecies Coastal Shelf Recovery Plan: A Collaborative, Ecosystem‐Based Approach

AbstractThis article explains the integration of an ecosystem into a collaborative management plan to restore New England's depleted multispecies groundfish stocks and decimated coastal fishery. Applying lessons learned from Maine's successful fishery for lobsters Homarus americanus, the Downeast Groundfish Initiative (an eclectic group of fishermen, scientists, and concerned individuals) created a new groundfish management approach designed to nest seamlessly within existing federal and state management systems and be compatible with a total allowable catch (TAC) approach, though it does not require TAC as the primary management tool. The plan resolves fine‐scale issues affecting the fishery's biological productivity and addresses the economic, social, and cultural factors confronting fishing communities. The inadequacy of systemwide assessments in detecting local changes in marine ecosystems led to the creation of smaller, contiguous coastal shelf management units each of which encompasses the subpopulation of a key species such as Atlantic cod Gadus morhua. Each unit would have an inshore core layer encompassing the species' spawning grounds and nursery habitats while providing a limited, small‐scale fishery for local fishermen using selective, habitat‐friendly gear. A buffer layer outside the core area that brackets coastal shelf migration routes would also support a fishery using all legal gear types but with constraints, and an outer layer would provide a fishery operating under current federal regulations. The core and buffer areas would be collaboratively managed to enhance local stock recovery by local advisory councils of fishermen functioning under state administration and regional council oversight. The coastal shelf plan synchronizes the needs of coastal ecosystems and fishermen by restoring species diversity and protecting critical habitats while rebuilding commercial stocks. The approach can create robust, sustainable fisheries for all user groups, resolve equity issues among fishermen, and revitalize the economies of fishing communities of all sizes.

Counterpublics in Public Housing: Reframing the Politics of Service-Learning

On my way up to the thirdfloor to meet with Susan [local advisory council president for a public housing development on the south side of Chicago], I was greeted byjust about everyone I had come across, which was something that Ifound to be very surprising. Aside from hellos all the men I had come across gave me a nice firm handshake and introduced themselves. This was something that Ifound to be very honorable and respectable. When I was led to Susany' office, she was currently on the phone. As I sat patiently awaiting to conduct my interview with her, I realized that not everyone in the South Side community is dangerous, mean, or tough. Now the question was, How come I always perceived this area the way I did until now?

The dignity of resistance: women residents' activism in Chicago public housing

Foreword Sheila Radford-Hill Preface and acknowledgments Part I. Introduction: 1. Struggle for homeplace Part II. Wentworth Gardens' Historic Context: 2. US public housing policies: Wentworth Gardens' historic backdrop 3. Memory of a better past, reality of the present: the impetus for resident activism Part III. Everyday Resistance in the Expanded Private Sphere: 4. The community household: the foundation of everyday resistance 5. The local advisory council (LAC): a site of women-centered organizing 6. Women-centered leadership: a case study 7. The appropriation of homeplace: organizing for the spatial resources to sustain everyday life Part IV. Transgressive Resistance in the Public Sphere: 8. The White Sox Battle: protest and betrayal 9. Linking legal action and economic development: tensions and strains 10. Becoming resident managers: a bureaucratic quagmire Part V. Conclusions: 11. Resistance in context Epilogue Appendices References Index.

Too Many Masters

Much has been written on the subject of Technical Education in recent years. National and local advisory councils, government-sponsored committees, professional institutions, trade unions in general and trade unions associated with technical teaching in particular, government departments, employers' federations and trade associations—these and many other bodies and individuals have had their say. All are agreed on the tremendous importance of technical education to the country's welfare and on the need for it development and extension to meet the urgent demands of this highly technical age.