Without the state

Bravery and Heroism

This is way off my normal topic but it is such an astounding story I have to pass it on.

I've been listening to the morning story on BBC Radio 4, which this week has been a book called
The Cruellest Miles. This is about the repurcussions of an outbreak of Diptheria in the town of Nome in Alaska in 1925. The epidemic hit just after the last steamer before the winter had left, without leaving the necessary anti-toxins for the local doctor. The only way to get more was by dog-sled from the nearest rail head 700 miles to the south.

A relay of sled teams was set up, taking the drivers and their teams through truly appalling weather. The very first team set off and travelled for 12 hours without stopping, through temperatures reaching 60 below freezing, even before the wind chill factor was added. Each stage in the relay faced the same dreadful conditions.

It led me to think about the nature of heroism - because all these men were truly heroes of the first order - as distinct from bravery. These men were already brave - their job was to deliver mail to the various small mining communities across the region. I feel somehow that their actions transcended 'mere' bravery. They didn't act on impulse or in the heat of the moment. They sustained their action over a long time and in conditions which most of us cannot even imagine.

I can't express why I feel the actions of these few men were so exceptional or why I was so moved by their story. I can only suggest you read it.

Changes in Regional Planning and sustainable development

A recent report from the ESRC called Changes in regional planning : a new opportunity for sustainable development looks at whether increased policy devolution would see variation emerge across the regions in the practice of regional planning and in particular in how the theme of sustainable development was addressed.

The findings seem to suggest that:

The general approach to sustainable development in Regional Planning Guidance is having an influence on local plan making, at least in terms of the starting points for debates.

There is still some way to go to achieve consensus on key concepts and principles for sustainable development.

Sustainable development was useful as a key testing ground for ideas, but its very malleability made it a term which tended to exasperate as often as it helped in clarifying debates.

"In terms of integrating the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development, the RPG public examination system proved a valuable place for airing debates about so-called ‘win-win-win’ approaches, as enthusiastically propounded by Jonathon Porritt on the first day of the South West RPG examination, to the initial consternation of the regional planning body"...This approach represents an important shift in planning, although at present more evident in strategic documents than in practice on the ground.

Countryside lobbyists were particularly successful in retaining greenbelt and resisting attempts to develop on greenfield sites more generally. However an important shift in the debate has emerged, as the media and others began to highlight the plight of low income workers, particularly those in the public sector in the south east, as they sought to find affordable homes.

Government bashing...

Following the previous post on Planner Bashing look at this example of so-called resistance to bureaucracy which is in reality about petty law-breaking.

Her strategy to buck the system? She went to the bank, asked for $32 in rolls of pennies. Next, she unrolled all the pennies, put them in a big box, and then mailed it as her payment for the ticket. This scheme led to an evacuation of city hall, since this large, heavy box was perceived as a bomb threat. Not at all happy with this, the city sent the package back and refused it for payment. In return, this woman has hired an attorney to try to make the city accept the box of pennies as payment for her ticket.

I understand her frustration with getting the parking ticket - I've certainly gotten my share and I've never too happy to get one... but, notwithstanding the fact that she did park illegally, wouldn't it have made more sense for her to appeal the ticket if she thought it was unwarranted?

To me, this symbolizes the way in which the everyday civil servant takes a beating socially. I wonder if she ever thought that behind the "system" there's some underpaid worker that (a) probably takes abuse everyday from annoyed illegal parkers unhappy with paying their tickets and (b) would have had to have spent quite a bit of time counting out the 3,200 pennies.

Planner bashing

Via City Comforts Blog I came across this story about the reconstruction of a Roman Villa in Hampshire. Given its origins in the Adam Smith Institute I confess that my first instinct was to dismiss it as just another anti-government anti-regulation rant - especially since any planning application would have been dealt with not by the County Council at whom the finger is pointed but by the relevant District Council. If you are going to make your case about bureaucratic behaviour stick, then you pretty obviously need to finger the right one!

I'm also pretty sure that Hampshire County Council employ some pretty good archaeologists in their own right. So I'm not convinced this isn't actually a spat amongst archaeologists.

-- and yet, and yet...

Over 30 years as a local government planner I have seen other equal idiocies from time to time - not all planning based. I believe however this has more to do with the mind set of people who enjoy working in regulatory functions - the classic bureaucrats. While not everyone in local or even national government is of the same bureaucratic tendency as the Adam Smith Insitute would have you believe, there are enough of them to occasionally make life difficult. But have you ever tried to get a straight answer from an insurance company?

There are too many horror stories put about by the likes of the ASI to take things at face value - look for example at some of the ludicrous Euro-myths - do you remember the so-called straight banana?

In the end. I agree with David Sucher - I want to see the paperwork.

26 Things : The Photographic Scavenger Hunt

26 Things is a fun photographic game - no winners list, no prizes handed out. On a given date, 26 items are posted on the website and participants set out to photograph each item in their own interpretation.

The closing date is 1st December so you'll need to get a move on!

A Sense of Place

British Council presents: A Sense of Place

Area: Cardiff (The Old Library, The Hayes)
Date: 24th - 27th November 2003

International Conference on Displacement and Integration: the role of the arts and media in reshaping societies and identities in Europe

Visual arts, installations, exhibitions, human rights, education, architecture, museums and heritage, dance, debates, communities, young people, politics, performances, theatre, presentations, music, media, film, poetry, creative partnerships, culture, photography, workshops, video, literature, social policy

Download the full programme at: www.asenseofplace.org.uk/programme.php

Various admission rates apply- for more info please email: [email protected] or tel: 01280 821828.

www.asenseofplace.org.uk

[via Voluntary Arts Network newsletter - sign up here]

Creative Clusters

Creative Clusters - is a conference and network for people working in the development of creative industries. We are interested in regeneration and development projects that deliver outcomes in both cultural and economic terms.

Creative Clusters is seeking Presenters for the 2004 Conference. Policy themes for this year are:

# A Sense of Place: Cultural Tourism and Cultural Industry
# Social Inclusion & the Rise of the Creative Class
# European Enlargement: Implications for Creative Business
# Cultural Value and Economic Value
# Asia-Pacific Creative Industries
# Financing Creativity

We are also looking for case studies about:

# Area and sector development agencies
# Cultural quarters and cluster projects
# Advocacy and reputation-building initiatives
# Business support, incubators and managed workspaces
# Networking and resource-sharing projects
# Projects for young people
# Mentoring, training, education and professional development programmes
# Investment, funding and commissioning schemes
# Partnership brokering and building
# Vision and strategy formulation
# Research and data collection
# Venue and exhibition spaces
# Marketing, distribution and sales support programmes

If you have been involved in a ground-breaking project in any part of the world, or you have a compelling contribution to make to policy, then check out the Call for Presentations.

More headlines

http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d3rebas/humor/archive/5.txt

Some arts projects

Art in the Environment. Exciting opportunities for five artists to create two unique environmental arts projects at the Springhead Trust in north Dorset. Basic self- catering accommodation available onsite if required. "Wild, Wet & Windy Week", February 2004 "Art in the Garden", June 2004 To obtain a brief covering both residencies please write to Tamara Essex, Springhead Trust, Fontmell Magna, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 0NU, or e-mail name and address to: [email protected] by November 19th. Applications to be returned by December 9th. Preliminary site visits available by arrangement on November 22nd and 26th.

Allenheads Contemporary Arts.
ACA is continuing its series of residencies with a further two residencies ScArtlab 2 and 3’. These will be happening between January and March 2004. ACA is interested in hearing from artists wishing to utilise/explore and work in innovative ways with the remote rural environment and community of Allenheads and its surrounding area. We are looking for proposals that will see projects lasting for periods of 1 month or up to three months. One of the residencies will be working in partnership with photoNORTH for which an artist working specifically with photo based practice will be selected.
The artist will be paid £1,667 pcm. for the month of the residency.
Proposals should be received by the 31st November.
For further details contact: [email protected]

[via ArtsCouncil Artsadmin e-digest]

Community infrastructures

The National Centre for Volunteering has produced a summary and key questions on the Active Communities Unit consultation (comments wanted by 28th November) at http://www.volunteering.org.uk/workwith/infrastructure.htm.