Regional aviation and economic growth : cointegration and causality analysis in Australia

Air transport is a critical link to regional, rural and remote communities in Australia. Air services provide important economic and social benefits but very little research has been done on assessing the value of regional aviation. This research provides the first empirical evidence that there is short and long run causality between regional aviation and economic growth. The authors analysed 88 regional airports in Australia over a period of 1985–86 to 2010–11 to determine the catalytic impacts of regional air transport on regional economic growth. The analysis was conducted using annual data related to total airport passenger movements – for the level of airport activity, and real aggregate taxable income – to represent economic growth. A significant bi-directional relationship was established: airports have an impact on regional economic growth and the economy directly impacts regional air transport. The economic significance of regional air transport confirms the importance of the airport as infrastructure for regional councils and the need for them to maintain and develop local airports. Funding should be targeted at airports directly to support regional development.

Serviço Social e Política: uma análise da participação dos assistentes sociais no Conselho Regional de Serviço Social 14ª região

This paper analyzes the political participation of Social Workers at the Social Service Regional Council Region 14th. The theoretical and methodological framework of this investigation has as its perspective the totality of social life and its determining relations within the object of study. To the production, analysis and collecting of data it was used a qualitative approach considering a bibliographical and documental research as well as a series of twelve interviews with 2005-2008 and 2008-2011 managing counselors of CRESS/RN. It was also used the data obtained from other special interviews held with the social workers in the period between 2007 and 2008. The results of this study allow and affirm the political dimension of Caseworkers and the CRESS/RN as a space of political activity with opportunities for effective and collective elaboration of strategies in order to reach the fulfillment of the ethical and professional policy of the Social Work. From a historical viewpoint, the beginning of this process is marked by the struggle for democracy, the end of military dictatorship, the establishment of the State of Human Rights. The Democratization of the so called Federal Council of Social Workers and its Regional Councils of Social Workers, CFAS / CRAS, respectively, area a result of the participation of the category in an effort to fight for democratization in Brazil. The objective of this research, so, is to understand which the socio-historical determinants are, that focus objectively and subjectively in the demobilization of social workers in CRESS Region 14th - in the contemporary and historical context. Among the results obtained we identified the ignorance of some professional workers and also of some advisors, regarding the existence and the role of the Council, as well as the commercialization of Education that compromises the quality of the professional training in its theoretical and methodological, ethical and political dimensions. According to our understanding, this shows a the presence of a non-critical professional profile based on a false reality, on the precariousness of employment contracts which undermine the political organization and submit the worker to various social exploring mechanisms such as double shift and ultimately the fragility of the management of the Regional Council -, as a consequence of the offensive capitalist system that ideologically invests to stop the political organization founded in a critical and democratic perspective. The low participation of some advisors and, in general, the category in CRESS / RN, despite its objective conditions, is a reality and it is presented to us as a challenge to future managements and policy consolidation to society. Inasmuch as the category intends to guarantee the high quality of its social workers, the demands of future counselors, their skills and abilities in dealing with regulatory issues, administrative policies that pervade the everyday life of CRESS / RN are necessary

Analysis of damage to buildings following the 2010–11 Eastern Australia floods

This research analyses the extent of damage to buildings in Brisbane, Ipswich and Grantham during the recent Eastern Australia flooding and explore the role planning and design/construction regulations played in these failures. It highlights weaknesses in the current systems and propose effective solutions to mitigate future damage and financial loss under current or future climates. 2010 and early 2011 saw major flooding throughout much of Eastern Australia. Queensland and Victoria were particularly hard hit, with insured losses in these states reaching $2.5 billion and many thousands of homes inundated. The Queensland cities of Brisbane and Ipswich were the worst affected; around two-thirds of all inundated property/buildings were in these two areas. Other local government areas to record high levels of inundation were Central Highlands and Rockhampton Regional Councils in Queensland, and Buloke, Campaspe, Central Gold Fields and Loddon in Victoria. Flash flooding was a problem in a number of Victorian councils, but the Lockyer Valley west of Ipswich suffered the most extensive damage with 19 lives lost and more than 100 homes completely destroyed. In all more than 28,000 properties were inundated in Queensland and around 2,500 buildings affected in Victoria. Of the residential properties affected in Brisbane, around 90% were in areas developed prior to the introduction of floodplain development controls, with many also suffering inundation during the 1974 floods. The project developed a predictive model for estimating flood loss and occupant displacement. This model can now be used for flood risk assessments or rapid assessment of impacts following a flood event.

¿Son los Planes de Desarrollo un mecanismo eficaz para el fortalecimiento de las democracias participativas?

El autor se interroga acerca de si el Consejo Nacional de Planeación, al igual que los consejos territoriales, son escenarios para el ejercicio de la democracia y si su participación, en la construcción de los planes de desarrollo, constituye un instrumento eficaz para su fortalecimiento o son, por el contrario, un espejismo en la praxis de la democracia en Colombia. En la primera parte se mencionan algunas versiones de democracia desde Lincoln, pasando por las versiones de Tocqueville, Shumpeter, Dahl, Bryce, Borón y Sartori. Se identifican en cada caso los elementos fundamentales para tenerlos como referente y soporte de análisis para dar cuenta, en la segunda parte, cuál o cuáles formas de esas democracias describen el modus operandi en el seno de los consejos de planeación en los niveles nacional o territorial. Igualmente se analiza el rol de los consejos de planeación, su legitimidad, la calidad y trascendencia de las intervenciones de sus miembros, así como la capacidad de incidir en el proyecto de ley del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo, para lo cual se recurre a entrevistar a miembros y ex miembros de los consejos Nacional y Distrital de planeación. El autor, además de responder algunos interrogantes que se plantea sobre el tema objeto de esta reflexión, deja planteados otros para la consideración de los lectores.

O planejamento territorial participativo do Pará e o processo de formulação, implementação e tomada de decisões de políticas públicas: inovação e limites para a democracia participativa

Ao assumir o Governo do Estado do Pará em 2007, a então governadora Ana Júlia Carepa (PT) apresenta o Planejamento Territorial Participativo que foi um instrumento por meio do qual o Governo do Estado do Pará visava garantir a participação popular e a descentralização da gestão, através de etapas onde a população era consultada acerca de problemas e defendia propostas de políticas públicas locais ou regionais. Tais propostas foram incorporados aos instrumentos legais de planejamento (PPA, LDO, LOA) para que o governo implementasse ao longo dos 04 anos de gestão. O processo envolveu a participação de mais de 80.000 pessoas em todo o Estado e elegeu 3.983 conselheiros para compor 12 Conselhos Regionais de Participação Popular e mais 105 Conselheiros Estaduais para compor o Conselho Estadual de Participação Popular. Entretanto, sobre o projeto atuaram atores com poder de veto dentro do Poder Executivo, que acabaram por não implementar políticas públicas decididas através do PTP, em função de interesses e disputas internas no governo. Assim a presente dissertação tem como objetivo analisar os fatores que inviabilizaram a ação do PTP, tornando o processo ineficaz durante os anos de 2007 e 2010.

Community perceptions of collaborative processes for managing freshwater resources

Six of New Zealand’s 16 regional councils are trialling collaborative planning as a means of addressing complex challenges in freshwater management. Although some work has been undertaken to evaluate similarities and differences across those processes, the success or failure rests with the public’s acceptance of the processes and their outcomes. This is the first study to evaluate public perceptions of freshwater management in regions with collaborative processes. We surveyed 450 respondents in Hawke’s Bay, Northland, and Waikato, some of whom live in catchments in which collaborative processes are under way and some of whom do not. In addition to assessing awareness of the collaborative planning processes, the survey measured perceptions regarding the regional council’s management of freshwater resources, the extent of agreement regarding freshwater management among various interests, the fairness of freshwater management, and the extent to which respondents believe that their interests and concerns are included in freshwater management. We hypothesized that relative to respondents in parts of the region in which traditional processes are in places, respondents in catchments with collaborative management of freshwater resources would have more positive perceptions of management, agreement, fairness, and interests, even if there is low awareness that a collaborative planning process is under way. Survey results indicate that knowledge of collaborative processes is generally low and that living in catchments with collaborative processes does not impact respondents’ perceptions of management, agreement, fairness, or interests in Northland or Waikato. However, relative to Hawke’s Bay respondents living outside of the collaborative catchment, respondents living inside the collaborative catchment believe that the regional council’s freshwater management is better and fairer. Moreover, Hawke’s Bay residents living inside the collaborative catchment perceive less conflict over freshwater management than Hawke’s Bay respondents living outside the collaborative catchment. Further research is needed to identify the reasons for this regional variation.

Prizes for modernity in the provinces: The Arts Council’s 1950-1951 regional playwriting competition

As part of its contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain, the Arts Council ran what can be seen in retrospect to be an important playwriting competition. Disregarding the London stage entirely, it invited regional theatres throughout the UK to put forward nominations for new plays within their repertoire for 1950-1951. Each of the five winning plays would receive, what was then, the substantial sum of £100. Originality and innovation featured highly amongst the selection criteria, with 40 per cent of the judges’ marks being awarded for “interest of subject matter and inventiveness of treatment”. This article will assess some of the surprising outcomes of the competition and argue that it served as an important nexus point in British theatrical historiography between two key moments in post-war Britain: the first being the inauguration of the Festival of Britain in 1951, the other being the debut of John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger in May 1956. The article will also argue that the Arts Council’s play competition was significant for two other reasons. By circumventing the London stage, it provides a useful tool by which to reassess the state of new writing in regional theatre at the beginning of the 1950s and to question how far received views of parochialism and conservatism held true. The paper will also put forward a case for the competition significantly anticipating the work of George Devine at the English Stage Company, which during its early years established a reputation for itself by heavily exploiting the repertoire of new plays originally commissioned by regional theatres. This article forms part of a five year funded Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) project, ‘Giving Voice to the Nation: The Arts Council of Great Britain and the Development of Theatre and Performance in Britain 1945-1994’. Details of the Arts Council’s archvie, which is housed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London can be found at http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/wid/ead/acgb/acgbf.html Keywords: Arts Council of Great Britain, regional theatre, playwriting, Festival of Britain, English Stage Company (Royal Court) , Yvonne Mitchell

Electric power supply and demand 1978-1987 for the contiguous United States : as projected by the Regional Electric Reliability Councils in their April 1, 1978 long-range coordinated planning reports to the Department of Energy.

"UC-13"

Circulars addressed to local councils of defense, farm advisors, regional district and county directors, victory garden chairmen, historical societies, advisory committees, etc.] : Jan. 4, 1942-Jan. 11, 1944.

Title taken from Monthly check-list of state publications. U. of I. set includes also some miscellaneous material not addressed to local councils of defense, etc.

Bureau of Power staff report : electric power supply and demand 1977-1986 as projected by the regional electric reliability councils in their April 1, 1977 responses to FPC order 383-4, docket R-362.

Chiefly tables.

Remote, rural, and regional airports in Australia

This paper provides an overview of the challenges faced by remote, rural and regional airports in Australia. The deregulation of airports over the past decades has resulted in local councils owning most of the rural and regional airports across Australia. The paper provides an overview of the international literature on regional airports and research directed at defining the issues faced by regional and rural airports in Australia. A survey of airport managers, regulators and local councils was undertaken across Australia to outline the challenges and stresses that regional airports are facing. Core findings indicate that the operation of rural and regional airports is under stress due to the interrelating factors of infrastructure costs, high cost of maintenance, and security infrastructure upgrades. Small airports often compete with one another to attract airlines and maintain their infrastructure advantage.