Local Authority

O presente artigo parte da consciência de que atualmente o Estado Angolano, com um modelo de governação centralizado, cada vez mais, não tem sido capaz de responder satisfatoriamente aos principais anseios das suas populações, nas diferentes regiões do país. Destarte, interessará por isso reflectir sobre algumas matérias em torno do processo de implementação das autarquias locais em Angola, através de uma abordagem qualitativa, mediante um raciocínio dedutivo, que versa sobre a consolidação do poder local e das municipalidades, enquanto instrumento de descentralização da administração local em Angola; no sentido em que a implementação das autarquias contribuirá na resolução sustentável dos problemas enfrentados nas localidades, através do exercício efetivo da cidadania na gestão da coisa pública.

This paper discusses the findings of a study undertaken by a team from the University of Birmingham's Institute for Local Government Studies (INLOGOV), funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The research explores the implications for democratic practice of collaborative working through partnership arrangements in the public sector. Through a study of multi-organisational partnerships in two local authority areas, the research identifies a problem for policy makers to address: partnerships are flexible management tools, but exhibit a democratic deficit in terms of the rules and procedures of public governance when measured against a benchmark of elected local government. Partnerships are in, but not of, the community.

Efficient natural resources management, including continental water at watershed level, requires understanding the arrangement of landscape attributes in a region. The geographical analysis of landscape attributes is a useful approach to delineate relatively homogeneous watersheds or regions. This research was carried out in order to evaluate the effect of land cover through time on regionalisation modelling in the poorly-gauged Cuitzeo Lake Watershed, and to develop models to create two hydrogeographical regionalisations for the years 1975 and 2000. The inputs required by the regionalisation methodology were integrated in a GIS and validated before carrying out statistical regionalisation procedures (cluster analysis and PCA). GIS operations were done in Arc View 3.2 and statistical analyses in PC-ORD. Median Euclidean distances with mean distance linkage methods were used. A 75% of similarity was chosen as the threshold to generate regions. Importance rankings of regions were obtained using multicriteria evaluation methods. Based on the analysis, 38 of the 52 subwatersheds belonging to the Cuitzeo Lake Watershed were clustered; eight groups were defined in 1975 and nine in 2000. According to PCA, the strongest positive variables are associated to morphometric, geologic, land cover and soil attributes. Fourteen subwatersheds were never clustered. Four subwatersheds changed of cluster between 1975 and 2000. This change is explained because of rainfed agricultural parcel abandonment, and subsequent shrubland growth. This means that the hydrogeographical regionalisation is sensitive to land cover change processes. The methodological approach applied in this research is a low-cost and fast alternative for evaluating the impact of land cover and land use change on hydrogeographical regionalisation; in consequence, data and information generated during the analysis were made available to local authorities so that they can improve both water resources planning and their informational baseline for decision making and for development of environmental policies in the Cuitzeo Lake Watershed.

The understanding of how people evaluate and respond to natural hazards in an urban area, and how this knowledge can be integrated in the planning and management process, are becoming very important elements of a comprehensive and participatory approach to flood hazard management. Such an approach demands a clear comprehension of the processes of the risks perception, causal attribution, possible solutions for the problem and patterns of behaviour developed during hazard situations. The willingness of the public to participate in flood management, and the attitudes to previous initiatives also need to be addressed. The provision of structural flood defences can have a major impact on the environment and there has been an expression of concern by many members of the public for the degradation of river corridors. In this context, it is becoming a commonly accepted practice by central or local governments to submit flood management plans to public discussion. Appropriate techniques for interfacing with the public are necessary to support this upsurge of public involvement. This paper presents results from research on public perception of floods, flood management and participatory initiatives in Setúbal, Portugal. An extensive interview programme was undertaken with residents and shopkeepers – with and without flood experience, professionals responsible for dealing with flood control problems and local authorities responsible for decision-making on flood management. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations for flood hazard management policy making and processes.

In this article, the authors explore how, at the level of a Baurci village approaches the solution of environmental problems and improvement of the village. The results of consultation with inhabitants in the process of decision-making by the authorities and an example of cooperation with NGO in the implementation of the project.

The Children Act 1989 requires local authorities in England and Wales to look after children whose parents are unable to do so and to promote their welfare. Despite a variety of initiatives over recent years by central government, local authorities, researchers, practitioners and trainers, the outcomes for the majority of young people who spend any length of time in care continue to be poor. The studies described in this paper sought to trace a group of more successful people who had grown up in care, using educational achievement as a marker. In an attempt to find out what were the qualities and circumstances that helped them to do better, 105 completed a postal questionnaire and a subgroup of 38 "high achievers" participated in a more intensive study. These were compared with a matched group of ex-care people who had not reached the threshold for inclusion in the study. The pre-care background and experiences of the successful group were found to be typical of children in the care system generally. A risk and resilience framework was used to identify the protective factors which enabled this small group to achieve a life trajectory very different from that of their siblings and peers. From their own accounts, success in education was a crucial factor. The implications for child care practice and decision-making are discussed.

This chapter discusses the current situation of solid waste management in healthcare centers in Palestine. The monthly estimated quantity of solid waste produced by the healthcare centers in Palestine was 472.9 tons. There is very little separation of solid waste in primary healthcare centers (38.1%) as compared to secondary healthcare centers (71%). Only 17.3% of the healthcare centers in Palestine perform treatment of their solid waste. The place of final disposal of healthcare waste is an unsanitary dumping site owned by the local authority, and is used by 87.2% of the healthcare centers. Collection, storage and disposal of healthcare waste constitutes an environmental problem that poses an important health risk and calls for immediate attention and intervention. Healthcare centers have inadequate refuse collection services, lack of storage and disposal facilities. Special efforts should be made to improve the healthcare management in an effective and integrated manner.

The Glasgow conurbation, Scotland's largest city, is built along the lower River Clyde and upper Clyde estu- ary. It has had a long history of heavy industry and mining, much of which has ceased, leaving brownfield sites with variable ground conditions and contamination. Many of these sites are now prioritized for redevel- opment and regeneration. The British Geological Survey (BGS) has been working with local authorities in the area, especially Glasgow City Council, and regulatory partners, to acquire, integrate and supply a wide range of digital geodata to assist the redevelopment. Bulk-attributed three-dimensional (3D) geological models, produced by BGS, are useful for portraying general properties (e.g. engineering, hydrogeological) of the area. However, these models do not portray the inherent variability of each unit, necessary for more site-specific considerations, so limiting their usefulness. The data available were not considered suitable for cellular attri- bution an...