Regional Governance:

Opportunities for Development and Rural-Urban Interaction in

Functional Regions

Project components1) Identify and map (GIS) linkages between

communities in “regions”, particularly urban and rural relationships

2) Assess governance mechanisms used to manage these relationships, identify gaps, investigate alternatives

3) Assess the contribution of community linkages to local and regional sustainability and create a “regional economic capacity index”

4) Knowledge mobilization: collaboration, communication, application

Regional governance1) Active labour market strategies (discussion paper, Lysenko thesis)

2) Regional governance background paper

3) Pilot region data collection and relationship mapping (‘08/’09)

4) Assessing strategic plans and processes – provincial + pilot regions (summer /fall‘09)

5) Options and suggested applications (’09-2010)

Active Labour Market Policy Paper

• Efforts by government to alter workings of labour markets vs. income replacement, market adjustment

alone. Addresses structural unemployment problems by:

• Modifying supply of labour • Increasing demand for labour• Improve functioning of labour market

Examples: job matching, training, subsidies

By Dr. David Freshwater

“locally oriented ALMP may be a useful component

of regional development strategies”

The Norwegian Experience • Locally designed ALMPs allows for an

individualized approach• With unemployment insurance/benefit

restrictions, and activation programmes

Local agency, government, private sector collaboration

Regional Governance in NL• Nearly 160 identified regional entities

• 46% formed since 1990 - RDAs, Chamber 50s/60s

• More than 20 ways “regions” are defined

• Literature review

• Questionnaires

• Interviews

Survey of Regional Organizations

• 35 of 71 organizations have a mandate for labour

market development activities, 38 are involved

• Organizational challenges: $, HR, cooperation

Regional Governance in NL

• Challenges facing their regions: outmigration, demographics and labour shortages

• Mixed degrees of cooperation – key for the future

“Pilot” regions

-Includes one each of: urban-adjacent, non-adjacent, and remote rural regions -Defined according to existing governance boundaries

2006 pop. figures from NL Community Accounts

Pop 3088 including Blanc Sablon

Pop. 8410

Pop 6280

“Rural remote”

“Non-adjacent”

“Adjacent”

Pilot Regions• Regional profiles and asset mapping• Regional meetings• Questionnaires:

T-NWI (41): 19 businesses, 17 community, 5 regional NGOs

Labrador Straits (43):18 NGOs, 18 community, 7 regional NGOs

Irish Loop (48): 33 businesses, 7 community NGOs, 5 regional

Pilot Regions• Economies in transition • Sense of community optimism (business): IL - 72% , T-NWI – 68%, LS - 67%, • Why?: growth, development of new roadways,

housing (IL) vs. tourism, quality of life (T-NWI) • Lack of optimism - mainly because of

outmigration, lack of young people and an aging population, lack of jobs/industry

–Regional collaboration extremely important but only present to some degree

– limited on labour market development, capacity constraints but also opportunities for partnership development

Mapping Community Development Relationships

Businesses, Local NGO and Regional NGO Respondents

Business Relationships(Irish Loop)

Business support - other

• Student services (1)• Fed’l and prov’l $ for work

terms , employment progams (2)

• CBDC – pilot HR project (1)

Labour force support

• ACOA (5) • Service Canada/HRSDC• BDC• NLOWE• SWASP• ENL• HNL• Natural Resources • Province – misc• Destination St. John’s• City of St. John’s• CBDC (3)• Local tourism assoc. (2)• ILDB• Irish Loop Chamber• Financial institutions

Urban-centred supports

Labour Market Development

Activities

Labour Market Development

Activities

Business support (18), Employee Support (5), Job matching (4), Direct employment /wage subsidy (4), Indirect – community development (2), Policy & planning (1), Job training?

Irish LoopRelationship Maps

Local NGOs

Results were calculated from 10 local NGO´s:

• 4 Public services• 3 Service groups/clubs• 2 Development organizations• 1 Church group

Indirect – Community Development (17), Policy & planning (4), Job training (1), Direct employment/wage subsidy (1), Job matching?

Note: Many unspecified

Labour Market Development

Activities

Some Key Points• Identification of “players” and links in development

networks - also who and what links are missing?

• Rural urban linkages in community & econ. development

• Significant business-to-business relationships (50-55%), particularly in tourism, retail - referrals

• Regional differences: ACOA IL, vs. INTRD in LS (15-17%)

• NGOs as “indirect” labour market support – role in ALMP?

• NGOs - citizen collaboration + municipal

• Gaps in labour market development (training, planning)

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Rural-Urban Linkages …are multiple and complex

• Functional integration• Trade and commerce• Institutions and governance• Common environments• Common identities (B. Reimer)

• Regional sense of place often differs from administrative boundaries and is varied

• Irish Loop vs. Lab Straits • T-NWI –Twillingate New World Island

(5/19), Notre Dame Bay (4), Central (3), Kittiwake (0)

Interdependencies differ within provinces

• Rural remote – 1st order urban (policy, some financial) vs. 2nd order urban (shopping, services)

• Rural non-adjacent – 2nd/3rd order urban (shopping, services, policy and planning, some labour flows)

And between them …

Rural-urban interactions

Food and natural resources

Ecosystem servicesCulture, ideas, sense of region

Finance/investment

People

Jobs, shopping , tourism, trade

Adapted from K. Lynch (2005)

Governance

Infrastructure and public services

Next Steps• Reports on pilot regions and regional

governance questionnaires• Assessment strategic plans and labour

market activities

• Discussions with pilot regions and other stakeholders on future options