Gwen-Swinburn's blog

Friends - Just to let you know our summer school application deadline is in two weeks, so if you are thinking of applying or know someone who may benefit, take action now- it is an online application and we do need a small effort in the process. The course participants need funding for travel and accommodation and the remainder is funded by the OPen Society.

LEDNA friends, there is a really good opportunity for public sector, dooor, academics and practitioners to attend a two week summer school on inclusive local economic development.The closing date is 15th February, and there will be heavy demand because of the combination of the top faculty, reasonable fees and excellent varied learning environment and curriculum.

I am preparing a public domain report on justifying undertaking LED in relation to the MDGs. I know there has been some work on it, but need to ask the community to pull together and share with me any reports and perspectives on how you see LED contributing to MDGS, which ones, how and how to measure etc. All inputs welcome.

Best Gwen Swinburn

This is an excellent Cities Alliance resource showing the results of a comparative study we did for 15 cities across the world. It includes a practical toolkit. It compares tools and methods used in cities in developing, transition and more advanced economies. It can be downloaded in sections. A superb resource in my opinion. 

Friends, Please note that the World Bank has just launched a major new initiative that provides free access to 2,000 development indicators, including 330 indicators in French, Spanish and Arabic. The World Bank's Open Data initiative is intended to provide all users with access to World Bank data. The data catalog is a listing of available World Bank data sources.

Friends, I have worked with the organisers of the ILO annual local economic development training course  in Italy for LEDNA users to win subsidized places (up to five). There is some work to be done and you or your sponsors must make a contribution. 

Friends, please look at these resources if you are looking for LED work in and on East Africa. These resources go well beyond LED jobs but as we LED practitioners have such a wide range of skills to offer, those searching for work in East Africa are recommended to look here. http://naombakazi.blogspot.com/

Friends

These resources go well beyond LED jobs but as we LED practitioners have such a wide range of skills to offer, those searching for work in East Africa are recommended to look here. http://naombakazi.blogspot.com/

Great opportunity for NGOs in Malawi ! Scotland's International Development Fund open. Check this out now.

External Affairs Minister Michael Russell today invited Scottish non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in Malawi to bid for funding from the Scottish Government. Scottish NGOs, working with partners in Malawi, can apply for grants from the International Development Fund to support their work on the four agreed priority areas of civil society and governance, sustainable economic development, health and education.

Online resource for the understanding your local economy  Cities Alliance resource. Friends, Cities Alliance is in the process of updating its web site- so it is currently not easy to find this fundamental resource we developed for practitioners. Here it is in English and  French. Please can the LEDNA team do an update of these resources to correct the broken link to LEDNA home pages.