Regional Planning, Local Visions : Participatory Futuring in West Africa
The note examines regional planning, and future participatory methods for economic development in West Africa, based on the work carried out by the Club du Sahel - a branch of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - respo...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/02/1671227/regional-planning-local-visions-participatory-futuring-west-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10821 |
| Summary: | The note examines regional planning, and
future participatory methods for economic development in
West Africa, based on the work carried out by the Club du
Sahel - a branch of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) - responsible for
coordinating northern donor agencies, in support of food
security, and natural resource management in the desert-edge
portions of West Africa, in cooperation with the Interstate
Committee for Struggle Against Drought in the Sahel. The
results prompted controversy, because of disagreements
between Europeans - favoring urban-oriented scenarios - and
North Americans - more inclined toward rural-oriented ones -
including the views of Northerners who provided the
analysis, in contrast to that of African researchers who
felt somehow shortchanged. However, collaboration on a
participatory study of decentralization, and capacity
building, involving case studies of local communities,
assumed a major new development, and management
responsibilities on their own. Through a trial methodology,
researchers invited debate, and analysis on future
community, and regional cooperation. The work covered
examining changes occurred in communities, country, and the
West Africa region, concentrating on the environment,
demography, economy, society and culture, and politics.
Findings suggest the exercise transformed the strategy into
a set of tools for self-assessment, and strategic planning
of local associations, and businesses. |
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