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Governance of urban collectives in Amsterdam

Across European cities local entrepreneurs are joining forces in new ways, forming collectives to stimulate business growth and innovation and to create a more attractive business environment. The value of such collectives is increasingly recognized by local governments and policy measures to stimulate these initiatives are being developed. Amsterdam hosts different collaborative initiatives, including 39 business improvement districts (BIDs).The Knowledge Mile is such a collective in which shopkeepers, other local SMEs, residents work together to collectively improve a large retail area. The city of Amsterdam is also a stakeholder. Government can fill an important role in enabling the creation of collective resource management in urban settings. However, if effective regulation is missing, citizens and governing bodies have to look for incentives to find new means of addressing governance. As such, the potential for collective management of urban commons may be greater than realized so far, as there is still a lack of knowledge in this area. In this paper, we aim to bridge this gap. By means of an embedded case study approach, we analyze the interaction between the stakeholders in their development of a green zone, the Knowledge Mile Park, in the Wibautstraat. In the coming years, roofs, facades and ground level will be changed through a collaboration of residents, entrepreneurs, researchers, civil servants and students in a metropolitan Living Lab. In this Living Lab, solutions for a healthy and social environment, climate resistance and biodiversity are jointly developed, tested and shown. In our study, we will analyze the role of the governing bodies in such initiatives, and make recommendations how collectives can become more mainstream with new kinds of institutions, without an undue burden on the community.

An accountability puzzle

The external expectations of organizational accountability force organizational leaders to find solutions and answers in organizational (and information) governance to assuage the feelings of doubt and unease about the behaviour of the organization and its employees that continuously seem to be expressed in the organizational environment. Organizational leaders have to align the interests of their share– and stakeholders in finding a balance between performance and accountability, individual and collective ethical approaches, and business ethics based on compliance, based on integrity, or both. They have to integrate accountability in organizational governance based on a strategy that defines boundaries for rules and routines. They need to define authority structures and find ways to control the behaviour of their employees, without being very restrictive and coercive. They have to implement accountability structures in organizational interactions that are extremely complex, nonlinear, and dynamic, in which (mostly informal) relational networks of employees traverse formal structures. Formal processes, rules, and regulations, used for control and compliance, cannot handle such environments, continuously in ‘social flux’, unpredictable, unstable, and (largely) unmanageable. It is a challenging task that asks exceptional management skills from organizational leaders. The external expectations of accountability cannot be neglected, even if it is not always clear what is exactly meant with that concept. Why is this (very old) concept still of importance for modern organizations?In this book, organizational governance, information governance, and accountability are the core subjects, just like the relationship between them. A framework is presented of twelve manifestations of organizational accountability the every organization had to deal with. An approach is introduced for strategically govern organizational accountability with three components: behaviour, accountability, and external assessments. The core propositions in this book are that without paying strategic attention to the behaviour of employees and managers and to information governance and management, it will be extremely difficult for organizational leaders to find a balance between the two objectives of organizational governance: performance and accountability.

Towards an Improved Governance of Heatwaves in the MENA Region

Executive Summary - Temperatures across the Middle East region are predicted to increase by 3°C by 2050 - Warming will be felt more in cities because of the urban heat island (UHI) effect, causing heat-related health problems - City planning and management regimes are often disconnected from disaster risk and resilience building and legislation is lacking - Lacking data and information sharing across multiple levels of governance hamper heatwave warning systems - Urban building projects lead to a soaring demand for cooling systems - Traditional adaptations such as street grid design, wind catchers and mashrabiya screens could be used more - Policy response should include national Heat Health Action Plans that are translated into Local Heat Plans, coordinated and implemented by local governments

Shaking Up Disaster Recovery

Integrated flood disaster management and spatial information

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XL-8, 147-154, 2014www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-8/147/2014/doi:10.5194/isprsarchives-XL-8-147-2014Integrated flood disaster management and spatial information: Case studies ofNetherlands and IndiaS. Zlatanova1, T. Ghawana2, A. Kaur2, and J. M. M. Neuvel31Faculty of Architecture, Jullianalaan, TU Delft, 134, 2628BL Delft, the Netherlands2Centre for Disaster Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sector-16C, Dwarka, New Delhi, P.O. Box-110078, India3Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Risk management, Handelskade 75, 7417 DH Deventer, the NetherlandsKeywords: Floods, Spatial Information Infrastructure, GIS, Risk Management, Emergency Management Abstract. Spatial Information is an integral part of flood management practices which include risk management &emergency response processes. Although risk & emergency management activities have their own characteristics, forexample, related to the time scales, time pressure, activities & actors involved, it is still possible to identify at least onecommon challenge that constrains the ability of risk & emergency management to plan for & manage emergencieseffectively and efficiently i.e. the need for better information. Considering this aspect, this paper explores flood managementin Netherlands& India with an emphasis on spatial information requirements of each system. The paper examines theactivities, actors & information needs related to flood management. Changing perspectives on flood management inNetherlands are studied where additional attention is being paid to the organization and preparation of flood emergencymanagement. Role of different key actors involved in risk management is explored. Indian Flood management guidelines, byNational Disaster Management Authority, are analyzed in context of their history, institutional framework, achievements andgaps. Flood Forecasting System of Central Water Commission of India is also analyzed in context of spatial dimensions.Further, information overlap between risk & emergency management from the perspectives of spatial planners & emergencyresponders and role of GIS based modelling / simulation is analyzed. Finally, the need for an integrated spatial informationstructure is explained & discussed in detail. This examination of flood management practices in the Netherlands and Indiawith an emphasis on the required spatial information in these practices has revealed an increased recognition of the stronginterdependence between risk management and emergency response processes. Consequently, the importance of anintegrated spatial information infrastructure that facilitates the process of both risk and emergency management isaddressed.Conference Paper (PDF, 1063 KB)   Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XL-8, 147-154, 2014www.int-arch-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/XL-8/147/2014/doi:10.5194/isprsarchives-XL-8-147-2014Integrated flood disaster management and spatial information: Case studies ofNetherlands and IndiaS. Zlatanova1, T. Ghawana2, A. Kaur2, and J. M. M. Neuvel31Faculty of Architecture, Jullianalaan, TU Delft, 134, 2628BL Delft, the Netherlands2Centre for Disaster Management Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sector-16C, Dwarka, New Delhi, P.O. Box-110078, India3Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Risk management, Handelskade 75, 7417 DH Deventer, the NetherlandsKeywords: Floods, Spatial Information Infrastructure, GIS, Risk Management, Emergency ManagementAbstract. Spatial Information is an integral part of flood management practices which include risk management &emergency response processes. Although risk & emergency management activities have their own characteristics, forexample, related to the time scales, time pressure, activities & actors involved, it is still possible to identify at least onecommon&

The dynamics of power in disaster response networks

A major challenge for disaster scholars and policymakers is to understand the power dimension in response networks, particularly relating to collaboration and coordination. We propose a conceptual framework to study interests and negotiations in and between various civic and professional, response networks drawing on the concepts of “programming” and “switching” proposed by Manuel Castells in his work on the network society. Programming in disaster response refers to the ability to constitute response networks and to program/reprogram them in terms of the goals assigned to the network. Switching is the ability to connect different net-works by sharing common goals and combining resources. We employ these concepts to understand how the US Federal Emergency Management Agency organized its response in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Our conceptual framework can be used both by disaster scholars and policymakers to understand how networked power is constructed and utilized.