A decentralised approach to waste management in the Province of Siena, Italy

The Province of Siena presents an important case study of sustainable rural development. Despite a rich endowment of idyllic rural landscapes, artistic and cultural assets, together with a well-developed local economy and a strong network of voluntary associations, the Province is still struggling with problems of sustainable development within a context of a far-reaching devolution of powers from the regional to local levels of government in Italy.
 
The Province of Siena (population 250,000) is confronted with the twin problems of population scarcity and urban sprawl. The overall population density of the Province is about one-third of the Italian average, but the more important factor is that the region is split up into an industrial area with a higher density of population and a larger agricultural area with a very low density of population. In addition, in the rural areas there are many very small towns – there are 36 municipalities in the province. Taken together, the low density and very spread out pattern of towns provide major challenges with regard to efficient service delivery at local level, and particularly for waste management. In 1996, the Province of Siena set up a Waste Management Observatory in order to carry out environmental analyses and to keep citizens informed about developments in the local environment. Furthermore, an integrated system of waste management has been established with the following aims:

1. Reducing the production of waste at local level;
2. Encouraging recycling by having an efficient and effective management of both household and industrial waste;
3. Increasing the fraction of waste converted into compost for agricultural use;
4. Improving the disposal of waste, thus minimising the impact on the environment and protecting the safety of the local community.

The case study will show the difficulties which had to be overcome to establish the new waste management system within a context of decentralisation of responsibilities from the regional to local levels of government and it will demonstrate the results which have been achieved so far.

The full case study is now available as a pdf download (280KB).

Contact person: Pietro Micheli, email: pietro.micheli@govint.org

Improving the quality of life of the elderly in the French county of Saône-et-Loire

In the East of France, the county council of Saône-et-Loire has established a partnership with the private company Villas Family and the French Association of host families. The partnership allows for the implementation of 7 sheltered residences for elderly and disabled people in the local area. The idea goes back to the estate manager Philippe Loubens who is convinced of the important role of the family in society. In order to accommodate the needs of both the people who are ‘in care’ and of their families he started to construct specially designed housing. On the ground floor, the people in care have individual rooms and a communal dining room and kitchen. On the upper level, apartments are reserved for the host family, to give them some privacy. The carer in the host family has to meet specific professional requirements and have the consent of the leader of the county council (Président du Conseil général). The person who has chosen to live with a family has specific rights as this person pays for the services he/she receives. Of course, all parties living in the house have to agree to some rules, so that they can live together in harmony. The small size of the houses and the moderate costs of investment required make this form of co-housing particularly attractive for rural municipalities, allowing elderly and disabled people to continue to live in their own village. Furthermore, the ‘Villa Family’ creates employment and attracts young families into rural areas. So far, 10 ‘Villa Families’ operate in France, the oldest one going back 15 years. The project is now being rolled out in other areas.

The full case study is now available as a pdf download (7MB).

Contact person: Philippe Loubens, email: villa.family@wanadoo.fr

Community empowerment in Ireland – Strategic planning in the village of Blarney

This case study seeks to demonstrate the success of a partnership arrangement between Cork County Council and the people of Blarney, a village in the south of county Cork. Blarney enjoys considerable prosperity due to the existence of historic, well-visited sites such as Blarney Castle, the Blarney Stone and the Blarney Woollen Mills.

In 1994 Cork County Council commissioned a strategy for Blarney in order to foster its economic success and to deal with a number of structural problems. In particular, the village had traditionally been split into a residential nucleus and a tourist area with little interaction between the two. Having agreed on the necessity for a strategy, Cork County Council were of the opinion that a plan for a village of Blarney’s size presented an ideal opportunity to develop the concept of community planning. It was decided therefore to formulate not a local authority plan to be approved by the community but instead a community-generated plan, prepared by the community, to be presented for approval to the local authority. Cork County Council commissioned the National Building Agency as planning consultants to the village community.

The Blarney Plan was endorsed by the steering group in May 1995 and by the community of the village at a public meeting in June 1995. The plan outlined a series of development intentions in two stages over ten years. Ten years after the Blarney Plan was officially launched, many of its objectives have been achieved. Councillor Tomás Ryan, a leading member of Cork County Council since 1979, and involved in the plan ab inito, saw the plan as “unique” and very successful in harnessing the diverse, overlapping and integrated networks which existed at the time. This initial Blarney Plan remains a striking example of effective governance in a rural area. However, a disappointing element of the Blarney story is that the inclusive and participatory of the Blarney Plan process appears to have been largely forgotten and the old order has been partially restored - Cork County Council’s current plans for ‘New Blarney’ reverted back to a traditional model of public participation based on public meetings and consultation documents, following the production of a draft plan. The case study shows that getting a good initial plan is not enough - community empowerment requires continuity and new generations of community leaders who can give a life to it.

The full case study is now available as a pdf download (432KB).

Case study photographs are now available as a slideshow

Contact persons:

Aodh Quinlivan and Tim McCarthy
Department of Government
University College Cork
Republic of Ireland
Email: a.quinlivan@ucc.ie
Email: tim.mccarthy@ucc.ie

Fire prevention and protection training for kindergartens: the Group 112 initiative in Solingen, Germany

In Germany, Solingen (with a population of c.165,000) has long been known for the manufacture of high-quality knives. More recently, the city has aroused interest through its public safety initiatives involving local children and the fire brigade. This involved the foundation of the association Group 112 for the Solingen Fire Brigade. The name, which sounds rather clumsy in English, works well in German, as it both symbolises the date of the Group´s foundation (1 December 2005) and also reflects the emergency services telephone number in Germany (the equivalent of 999 in the UK). The board of the association was recruited from representatives of the council and business managers of the founding companies

The foundation of Group 112 meant a departure from the traditional path of the fire service and involved innovation in the way the service viewed its mission and the priorities for its work. The projects undertaken by the association have focussed on improving fire protection education for pre-school children. The Solingen fire brigade has also changed one of its rescue vehicles into a fire prevention vehicle, which is not only fun for children but has specific equipment to help in education activities. At the same time, the association is designing a professional marketing campaign to attract new volunteer fire fighters.

Through the involvement of local businesses, the association was quickly able to put together a solid budgetary base for its activities. At a later stage, the association hopes to roll out the successful Group 112 model from Solingen to other cities. 

The full case study is now available as a pdf download (442KB).

Contact person: Ralf Weeke, email: r.weeke@solingen.de

Bringing the Local School and Youth Services Together –
The Partnership for Children and Young People in Laer, Germany

Similarly to the UK head teachers and directors of children and youth services typically do not talk much to each other in Germany. This has been no different in the village of Laer (6900 inhabitants) in NorthRhine Westphalia. The results were that activities run by children and youth services did not necessarily create much added value to the education offered in local schools.

The dissatisfaction of parents with the afternoon activities of a day school scheme led to the foundation of a parents' association. It was evident to the Mayor, Prof. Dr. Schimke, that the new association would only be successful if it managed to integrate the interests of the school, the youth services and the parents. His efforts to bring all stakeholders together resulted in the foundation of a formal partnership in 2003. A new day school project was started a few months later after the applications for state subsidies had been approved. The open day school started with 25 children in 2003. In the school year 2006/2007 50 school children made use of the day school offer. There is evidence that the set of activities and support to disadvantaged children provided during the afternoon has improved school performance and social skills of the pupils benefitting from the scheme. The partnership has won the prestigious Speyer Prize of the quality award for public agencies in Germany.

The full case study now available as a pdf download (275KB).

Contact person: Mayor Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Schimke
E-mail: hans-juergen.schimke@laer.de

Providing school meals for pupils from rural areas: The dinner lady initiative in the Town of Nürtingen, Germany

In Germany, there are typically few schools which stay open all day. On most days, school finishes at lunch time and parents are expected to pick up their children and provide lunch for them. A few times a week, however, there may also be some afternoon lessons, so children need to go back to school after lunch. This typical pattern is also found in the picturesque town of Nürtingen (about 40,000 inhabitants) in South-West Germany. 

Once a week, the pupils of the Neckar and Geschwister-Scholl Schools have afternoon lessons with a lunch break of 50 minutes. Clearly, this time is too brief to allow pupils from far-away neighbourhoods and surrounding villages to go home for lunch. In a place such as Nürtingen, with so many pupils in this position, this posed an especially difficult challenge.

A number of parents responded to this situation by setting up a new association - “The Canteen of the Comprehensive Schools of Nürtingen”. This did not only involve the development of 11 cooking teams who provide a variety of healthy meals twice a week when there are afternoon lessons but the building of a new school canteen.

The association has been very successful since its foundation in 2001: The meals provided by the volunteer cooks are very popular and demand has been rising, partly because the prices are very moderate. The financial situation of the association has been very positive: it does not need any public funding and has even been able to make a profit and to co-finance other school initiative. Last but not least, the numbers of volunteers involved has also been rising over time – many parents are now continuing to be active in the cooking teams, even though their child has already left school.

The full case study now available as a pdf download (3MB).

Contact person: Ana Rosa Peralta de Schaich and Gabi Allmendinger
Email: mensa-nt-realschulen@arcor.de

New approaches to child care and improving employment opportunities for women in the County of Bad Kissingen, Germany

This initiative is aimed at improving the quality of life of girls and women in rural areas through the establishment of a ‘House of the Women's Network ’ in Bad Kissingen (Bavaria). The initiative is financed by the EU programme LEADER+, the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesanstalt für Arbeit) and the county council and city council of Bad Kissingen, as well as a number of private sector sponsors.

The project involves three components: 1) The establishment of a ‘mobile’ service for child care - the ‘mobikid project’ – which has involved market research on providers of child care in the county and a needs analysis, so that gaps in the child care network could be closed. There has also been training of local mothers so that they can provide part-time day care provision upon request. 2) Internet training for girls and women who were found to be more hesitant than men about starting to use ICT, which is why a separate training course has been designed. 3) A business contact network for women who are looking for jobs after their children have entered the full-time education phase.

The project has received high political support but now the county council is practicing management at ‘arm’s length’ and has given managerial freedom to a local NGO to run the projects - the ‘Frauennetzwerk’, which acts as an umbrella organisation of various women associations and is run by volunteers.

The full case study is now available as a pdf download (3MB).

Contact person: Cordula Kuhlmann, email: kwfbde@gmx.de