Sustainable Regional Development: executive summary of the final report: an Australia-wide study of regionalism highlighting efforts to improve the community, economy and environment

Abstract

This book reports on an exploration of integration (or not) of social, environmental and economic policies across Australia, commissioned by the Federal Department for Transport and Regional Development. This was an interactive study of sub-national regionalisms working with people around Australia attempting to improve ‘their region’ – employing processes which we referred to as Sustainable Regional Development (SRD) initiatives. The research included analysis of global and Australian trends influencing institutions and context-setting examination of Australia’s systems of governance. We examined regional planning processes, thru an SRD lens, in thirty sub-national regions to see what could be learnt about the persistence of government support, or lack of it, which had characterised many regional efforts. We also observed the varying degree to which regional efforts had a clear purpose, entrenched by mandate, or, on the contrary, whether they had been quick fixes to political problems, or ways for the various spheres of government to perpetuate a regular joust. It was also clear there was vastly different levels, and types (social, economic, biophysical, ‘scientific’, cultural, ‘local’, indigenous, national, global) of underpinning information which had been available to inform regional communities participating in various initiatives. Show more