There's something about the "local"

So I discovered that "lahiouudistus" broadly means "regeneration" in Finnish. What I also discovered is that under their sustainable development programme, Helsinki has embraced "area based" or "neighbourhood" approaches. These include local/neighbourhood websites. Their philosphy stems from the Agenda 21 programme - arguing that citizen engagement is a key component of "sustainable development" at the local level.

Theoretically, this links to building SOCIAL CAPITAL (ref. Putnam and the rest). I read a useful contribution by Ade Kearns entitled 'Social Capital, Regeneration and Urban Policy' [www.neighbourhoodcentre.org.uk] : "Within a regeneration context, the social capital that deprived communities need in order to attain a better future also comprises that between local community organisations and partnerships: organisational networks among a plethora of groups and bodies; norms of working practice; and crucially, trust in each other..." (emphasis added) (A. Kearns 2004)

Kearns continues to make the point that neighbourhood organisations provide an important bridge between individual residents and the wider world: policy makers, other organisations, businesses, sources of information - you name it. Kearns calls this "community capital", but I'd like to make a reference here to "networks of opportunity" - linking social capital literature with my mainstream stuff ie e-governance/and all things digital.

Neighbourhood organisations, being sort of "hubs" of active citizens who probably more often than not also have access to the "information superhighway" [assumption to be tested in my case studies] they act as a broker between the rest of the community and sources of information and influence. A case in point is demonstrated by Kearns in a resume of advantages of "community capital":

"An individual member of a community group may broker a link to another organisation. Futhermore, an organisation with diverse membership may be disproportionately network-rich in this way".

I think this is indeed an observation of "networks of opportunity" in full swing. Networking and information flows mostly take place electronically in the information age. However, 100% take-up is not attainable, nor is it necessary for as long as "community capital" exists and can be found at a suitably LOCAL level. With active citizens tapping into flows of information and networks, the neighbourhood should not be left behind. All assuming ofcourse that there is a critical mass of active citizens in an area to act as "brokers".

There is something indeed about the "local".

Helsinki's answer to regeneration

I thought there was no such thing as "regeneration" in Finland, and was beginning to have concerns about terminology and how to communicate my research in Finnish to the authorities in Helsinki.

Whilst regeneration may not quite have the same meaning as in the UK in a political-cultural sense, I today discovered that "lahiouudistus" refers to the regeneration of inner city areas. Phew!

Helsinki has modelled their "regeneration" after the Agenda21 model, thus following the mainstream conception of the "triple bottom line" : 1) social 2) economic 3) environmental outcomes.

The url:

http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Ymparistokeskus/Artikkeli?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/fi/Ymp%C3%A4rist%C3%B6keskus/Ymp%C3%A4rist%C3%B6ohjelmat/Helsingin+kest%C3%A4v%C3%A4n+kehityksen+toimintaohjelma/Paikallisagenda+21