Part I. Conceptual and Historical Perspectives of Decentralization and Local Governance -- Chapter 1. From Deconcentration to Devolution: Tracking the Historical Trajectory of Democratic Decentralization in Ghana -- Chapter 2. Historical Perspectives of Local Governance and Community Development...

Neoliberal accounts of local governance have paid insufficient attention to variation in the forms of urban governance and urban policies across local regimes. On the basis of a comparison of eight deprived neighbourhoods in Catalonia (Spain) where the same regional programme of urban...

There is ample evidence to suggest that improving the on-farm productivity of small-scale farmers and integrating them into commercial markets is a promising strategy for alleviating poverty and leveraging agriculture as an engine of wider economic growth. Yet, persistent market failures in...

Over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in the focus on rural development and public goods within the common agricultural policy (CAP). Many researchers emphasise how this implies a need for new ways of implementing policy and innovative collaboration between various...

The aim of this paper is to discuss the restructuring of primary sector dominant rural areas in the Baltic States with a special focus on local governance and administrative structures. In the theoretical part, we elaborate on a principal transformation model for Baltic rural areas. Despite...

The continued spreading of household wastewater sludge on farmlands is a major economic and environmental issue. This practice is being challenged in France, mainly through pressure from the agrifood business. Here, by means of an agronomic analysis performed on 60 farms, we show the relevance...

Regulation of pesticides in agricultural sector is becoming increasingly oriented to the use of best management practices in order to counter the effect of agricultural practices on health and groundwater. Several distinct criteria (economic, technical, environmental, social and informational...

The Best Value (BV) regime in UK local government became mandatory on 1 April 2000. This paper explores the international sources of the ideas behind BV. It maps out the evolution of BV from an approach primarily directed at achieving high quality local services into an approach which is...

This article deals with methods and tools dedicated to territorial development respecting participatory principles. This process enables the emergence of cross-cutting global approaches and involves new forms of decision-making (consultation, participatory management, collective development of...