Suchergebnisse

Evaluations of the recent structural change in the Ruhr region differ. On the one hand, modernisation and innovative combinations between the economy, culture and science are praised; on the other, the sustainability of the programme and projects, which are maintained with high subsidisation, is in doubt. It is doubtless true that, in recent times in the Ruhr region, there have been strong changes in the economic, job market and social structures. In addition, it is not only true that the centre of the European coal and steel industry has changed in terms of the sector as a whole, e.g. to become the area in Europe with the greatest density of universities, but also in terms of the landscape. It is now regarded as being Europe's greenest industrial region. The restructuring of the region is also revealed in a change in the cultural landscape, which, in changes in the use of industrial land, places the main importance on the production of open spaces, on the networking of green belts and on recultivation in order to do justice to the increasing demands of the inhabitants and visitors for life quality. The "culture economy" and tourism as image factors have been given the more importance than ever, not least in order to remain competitive with regard to soft location factors in the corporate decisions of where to locate. For a long time, the only purpose of the structural political measures in the Ruhr region was to improve the competitiveness of the German rock coal mining and the Ruhr economy. Especially after the removal from power of the settlement association of the Ruhr region in 1970, cross-regional planning was the exception. It was not until the "International Construction Exhibition Emscher Park" (IBA) was established in the Emscher zone in 1989, that an attempt was made to network the decentral structures of the region, as well as to achieve a modern "reconstruction" of the (industrial) landscape. It is the first construction exhibition which is not related to a city, but to a region. The pilot projects are the Emscher Landscape Park, the ecological reconstruction of the Emscher system, the new use of industrial areas and buildings to house cultural institutions, work in the park as well as new housing and integrated city district development. The projects which are pursued by the International Construction Exhibition Emscher Park contribute considerably to the improvement of the economic, cultural and recreational-orientated life in the region. This is why political discussions currently centre on the establishment of an as yet unnamed "Ruhr region agency", which is intended to continue the network of the IBA and represent a national co-ordination office for decentral projects and the cultural economy. Although the Ruhr region is far from being modernised and additional assistance is necessary in order to continue the initiated developments, the current approach is constructive, worth subsidisation and is exemplary for the industrial region. Therefore, IBA is not one of many measures, but rather represents the acceptance and consideration of regional problems, and also shows new approaches to planning and conception.

Under present conditions of economic globalization, social-ecological systems undergo rapid changes. In this context, internal and external forces put heavy pressure on the governance systems of commons to adapt effectively. While institutional learning has been identified as a key element for the adaptive governance of social-ecological systems, there is still limited knowledge of what roles communities and governmental actors play in these processes. In this study, we take the case of yarshagumba (English: caterpillar fungus), a formerly non-valued product in the Himalayas, which has recently been transformed into a highly valuable resource within a short time. We compare the governance systems in collection sites in the Kailash Landscape in India and Nepalby using an analytical framework developed by Pahl-Wostl. Our findings show that in these remote mountain areas, communities and community-led organizations are highly flexible in responding to immediate resource value changes by establishing communal management arrangements. At the same time, however, communities have difficulties to enforce their newly developed informal and formal arrangements. During the process of learning the link between the amendment of arrangements on community-level and the revision of formal policies and frames at the state or national level is only partly established. Against this background, we argue that in the context of rapid change, adaptive governance requires the concerted interaction of actors at the local and the national levels in order to enable the sustainable use of common pool natural resources. ; Open-Access-Publikationsfonds 2019 ; peerReviewed

The colonial conquest of Palu and Kulawi Valley in western Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, is characterised by the so-called "ethical policy", which was introduced to Dutch colonial policy at the beginning of the 20th century. An in-depth analysis of Dutch colonial sources, the
memories van overgave
, which have never been analysed in such detail on the subject of cultural geography, reveals that almost all facets of cultural landscape were influenced by the Dutch rule. These sources also disclose the ambiguous use of
ethical policy
by justifying or withdrawing colonial intervention in this area.

Worldwide, the commercial collection of non-timber forest products (NTFP) has increased, with growing demands on domestic and international markets. This provides income opportunities for local people and links usually remote rural areas, where the resources are collected, with global markets. At the same time, it also enforces dependencies, increases the risks of overexploitation and extinction of the resource and often leads to contestation between different actors for access to these lucrative resources. Thus, actors modify and adapt existing governance systems to secure or gain access t...

Worldwide, the commercial collection of non-timber forest products (NTFP) has increased, with growing demands on domestic and international markets. This provides income opportunities for local people and links usually remote rural areas, where the resources are collected, with global markets. At the same time, it also enforces dependencies, increases the risks of overexploitation and extinction of the resource and often leads to contestation between different actors for access to these lucrative resources. Thus, actors modify and adapt existing governance systems to secure or gain access t...

Multi-stakeholder sustainability certification schemes have become a favorite instrument for applying good governance, though studies indicate their inefficiency at the producer level. In this study, we used a mixed-method approach to first, map the institutional context of independent oil-palm smallholders in rural Sumatra while, second, reflecting upon the impact of the Smallholder Standard proposed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil on smallholder management practices. We hold that non-recognition of micro-scale perspectives within governance processes may partially explain noncompliance with certification principles among smallholders. The Smallholder Standard appears unable to mitigate challenges important for smallholders, who in turn cannot properly comply with it, due to problems including weather instability and high management costs. We suggest that certification schemes need to work on some overlooked but essential preconditions of good governance, namely gaining micro-level visibility and acceptance. ; peerReviewed