Introduction

The Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, has put together a core programme team to take forward a broad based set of activities on local economic, territorial and rural enterprise development. The team will draw on the wider Institute’s capacity of development specialists, agricultural and natural resource economists, social anthropologists and sociologists, and will work jointly with bilateral and international agencies and developing country partners in programme formulation and implementation.

Why is Local Economic Development important?

With greater international multi-donor initiatives and developing country governments' emphasis on poverty reduction (Millennium Development Goals) and decentralization in recent years, there is increased responsibility being placed on municipal and/or local government to develop strategies to increase jobs and revitalise local and regional economies.

The main aim of local economic development (LED) initiatives is to encourage local participation and consensus building to determine economic and social welfare initiatives for the locality and the community. The concept of local economic development is based on promoting local approaches that respond to local needs and conditions. There is no single model of how to implement local economic development or of what strategies and actions to adopt, as the efficiency and effectiveness of regional development is influenced by a range of institutions and processes. The importance of local ownership of the development process is however central to most local economic development approaches, which simultaneously views development within the context of governance and civil society at all levels. The approach is also effective spatially, whether in urban, peri-urban and/or rural areas.

Local economic development requires the creation of an environment that enables the stimulation of new opportunities, in rural and urban regions where there may be limited existing opportunities for economic growth. Local economic development programmes should aim to strengthen and re-enforce good governance, and identify sustainable income generating opportunities for the local community, particularly for the poor.

Local economic development, rural enterprise and territorial development approaches and initiatives feature within NRI's current work.

Further details of the Natural Resources Institute's projects and publications are available on our website.

Last Updated: October 2006