By the 1990s a research base had developed articulating the principles of sustainability, but there remained a need for work which analysed the implementation process and the implementability of sustainability in particular policy areas. The Rio UNCED conference (1992) had articulated concerns that all levels of governance should operationalise the principles of sustainability into deliverable actions. Whilst critics (e. g. Galtung et al., 1995) have challenged the legitimacy of these global pronouncements, there was nevertheless an expectation that Local Agenda 21 (LA21) might facilitate transformational change within local governance, with local authorities and other key actors engaging in communityorientated policy making to establish priorities for sustainability. It is within the context of these considerations that this research formulated three main research aims: to establish the role of LA21 processes in operationalising the principles of sustainability at the local level in the UK; exploring the interaction between politicians, local government officers and community representatives. 2) to consider the capacity of the policy area of tourism to operationalise the principles of sustainability at the local level and thus provide evidence of the wider implementability of sustainability principles within local government. 3) to scrutinise the potential of the example area of cycle tourism to provide a model for sustainable tourism at the local level. Adopting a case study research strategy, three example local authority types were identified within the LJK sub-region of Humberside. The research project highlighted a spectrum of corporate responses to sustainability, ranging from non-participation in the LA21 process, to a 'Centralist' approach driven by a strong political commitment, and thirdly a community orientated approach with priorities for sustainability evolving within policy communities at the 'Periphery. Policy 'animateurs' were identified who were committed to the integration of sustainability principles within initiatives for tourism and cycling.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Jeffrey M. Peterson / State and local economic development policies are often created with the goal of stimulating local economic activity through employment growth. The success of these policies is commonly measured by the number of jobs they create. Because labor markets are not bound by county lines, commuting and migration are important factors to consider when measuring employment growth in a region. This study used county-level data from the 2000 Census to predict labor force participation, unemployment, in-commuting, and out-commuting. The model was estimated using Ordinary Least Squares regression and was simulated to predict changes in labor force, unemployment and commuting as a result of a change in employment for all 105 Kansas counties. An increase in employment was found to increase the labor force participation, in-commuting, and unemployment, while decreasing the number of out-commuters. The increase in in-commuting causes many of the economic benefits expected to accrue to the county where the job growth occurred to be essentially exported to the county where the in-commuters live. Failure to account for the proportion of new jobs filled by in-commuters would lead to significant over estimations of local impacts of employment growth. These results suggest that regional coordination of economic development policies, through the use of tools such as tax-base sharing, would provide substantial gains to otherwise competing local governments.

The study is based on the views of medical equipment agent industry, to discuss the transition and development of government procurement system and the effect on industry benefits, disadvantages by public policy. Both "political" and "economy" are the purposes of Government Procurement Law (GPL). Government procurement operations have to be political fairness and the economic benefit at the same time. The dilemma for GPL design is to prevent abuse, which is far away from the public policy object, and to avoid interfering with the operation of free market. In this thesis, open information of Ministry of Economic Affairs and Public Construction Commission, data from newspaper, papers, government laws, and the experiments of medical instrument agents were involved to study the relationships and interactions between themselves. This research studies on the operation of GPL through literature review to confirm the questions and framework for the qualification, specification, prices. We interviewed four senior medical equipment suppliers (OEM, agent) for data analysis and collection. Between the competitive structure of market and non-market environment, enterprises are focus to achieve the best business interest and the highest efficiency, however, they are at a loss in the conflict of public policy spirit and the operation of the law. On the limitation of bureaucratic culture and regulatory constraints, how to strengthen government ¡§procurement management", to formulate a integrity, flexible, and authorized procurement system is very important. We think there is very large space to improve whole medical industry, and some advices was brought out in government procurement enhancement, medical instrument industry development, and the benefit of people health. All public policies and rules need to combine with reality and current status. If we only consider theoretical reduction, but ignore the influence of reality, all laws will be a mere formality and useless. GPL is a ¡§law of large numbers¡¨ which has large difference in variety of industries and may need to modify in the change of environment. If GPL was modified roughly, even a good law would be canceled out. Business managers need have ability to manage political environment, to dealing with emergency, and to maintain and create competitive advantages by adapting political environment and laws. The development of medical equipments is a business that is combined with technical innovation, high R&D risk, public interests, and economical interests. Governments need assist and guide the direction of GPL correctly, and only for that, the dreams for building the Taiwan Biological Technology Island can come true.

The present article discusses the way we approach the process of change in rural communities with active presence of extractive industries. As an example, it presents a study about a peasant community from the Peruvian northern coast where a petroleum extraction project is being developed. The case analysis suggests that, in such contexts, different and conflicting patterns of resource, such as land usage, valuation, access and appropriation are configured, leading to a very complex scenario for the decision making process about the future of these resources. The article thus states that categories such as social-environmental management, conflict resolution, and negotiation can lead to a simplified interpretation of reality. In this sense, by presenting some critical issues, it argues the importance of adopting anthropological and sociological approaches in order to consider the way spatiality and temporality are being conceived, as well as to integrate the historical process of land appropriation into the analysis. / El presente artículo propone una reflexión sobre la manera en que se abordan los procesos de cambio que atraviesan las comunidades rurales con presencia de industrias extractivas. Tomando como  ejemplo  el caso de una comunidad campesina de la costa norte peruana en cuyo territorio se desarrolla un proyecto petrolero, el texto plantea que en estos ámbitos se encuentran y enfrentan lógicas distintas de usos, valoraciones, apropiación y acceso a los recursos –la tierra en este caso particular–, que configuran un complejo escenario para la toma de decisiones sobre el futuro de estos. Y que categorías como las de gestión socioambiental, resolución de conflictos o negociación, llevan a una interpretación que simplifica la realidad. En ese sentido, el artículo expone algunos puntos críticos para mostrar la necesidad de abordar estos procesos de cambio desde un enfoque antropológico y  sociológico,  que  tome  en  cuenta las distintas espacialidades y temporalidades, así como los procesos históricos de apropiación del territorio, que dichas categorías no permiten aprehender en toda su dimensión.

The dissertation deals with an inquiry concerning how the transformation of community work can be understood from a comparative perspective within the framework of social work in Scandinavia. Community work is examined by means of two main studies: an international literature review and an empirical study in four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden). The transformation is discussed in the light of theories of modernisation and discourse analysis. The results propose that the transformation is characterised by differentiation, both divergence and convergence. The discourses are far from constant, while the practices seem to remain the same. There are surprisingly many similarities between settlement work and contemporary community strategies across the globe. Since the 1980´s, they have expanded rapidly because of the political and ideological changes within welfare states – towards decentralisation and devolution. The concept of community work has been replaced by a plurality of community-orientated concepts. Within social work, it has converged into community social work. The transformation of Nordic community work has also moved towards a national and local diversity. The Nordic countries share similar phases of transformation of community work, but also have traits of their own. In general, community work has been carried out as projects. Denmark is characterised as the promised land of projects, Finland as the community land of minimal number of projects, Norway as the land of co-ordinated projects, and Sweden as the land of structural project-ideology. The transformation has also resulted in a polarisation – an increased professionalisation in academic communities and deprofessionalisation in practice. A constant problem with community work is its temporary nature, due to dependence upon recurring projects. There is a great need for sector transcending and integrating research, knowledge and practice development within the area of community policy and practice, including community work.