The course will review the theoretical underpinnings of current urban policy, planning and management practices and provide course participants with a broad range of international case studies and practices that reflect the current state of the discipline. The course's geographical relevance will be broader than Central and Eastern Europe and will help young faculty and practitioners to better understand challenges faced by public policymakers and managers, NGOs and the private sector in rapidly more...

Birmingham’s diversity is fundamental to its social and economic future. One of the most ethnically diverse cities in Europe, Birmingham relishes the cultural and entrepreneurial energy that comes from bringing together different perspectives, orientations and traditions. The City honours its past and the industrial base on which it was built, whilst celebrating the fact that it has the youngest population of any major European city. Birmingham welcomes the international links that our peop more...

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability proudly bestowed the organization’s top climate protection award on the City of San Francisco today. The international award, part of ICLEI’s Five Milestone climate protection process, was presented to Mayor Gavin Newsom at an event where the City released updated emissions inventory data and the day after Newsom signed a landmark green building ordinance. San Francisco is one of only 13 local governments in the U.S. to receive all five climate prot more...

Year and Location: Feb 2004 – Sep 2005, Bulgaria. Client: MATRA Fund. Transition in the Bulgarian housing sector has been drastic in the 1990's. Housing production is no longer solely a state affair. Private parties are also increasingly responsible for management and maintenance of the housing stock, yet for many home owners investment in maintenance has not become a habit. In multi family buildings apartment buildings technical problems are starting to become urgent particularly in the panel more...

There is a widespread, but hard to quantify, view in Latin America that the poor are over-represented among the losers of liberalised trade. This opinion by Alina Rocha Menocal of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) responds to the pressing question: how can interested stakeholders influence trade policy-making to make trade work better for the poor?

The Think Tank Initiative is a new, multi-donor program dedicated to strengthening independent policy research institutions – or “think tanks” – in developing countries, enabling them to better provide sound research that both informs and influences policy. The Initiative will focus its activities in East and West Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The First Call for Expressions of Interest is for organizations in East and West Africa, and is open until August 19, 2008. Initial fundi more...