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Forum News 9.3: Community Driven

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 The geographical and economic isolation of rural communities, is often exacerbated by a lack of political commitment to local mobility issues. Rather than wait for state and regional authorities to deliver adequate transport facilities, many rural communities are taking responsibility for their own mobility needs and driving forward their own transport solutions. Amid the complex forces that shape these initiatives how do we isolate the factors which influence success or failure?

In this edition of Forum News we examine case studies drawn from the IFRTD network to highlight the issues arising from the challenge of establishing sustainable local transport interventions. We also look at a Toolkit developed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to address the particular challenges of infrastructure rehabilitation at community level.
 
What emerges is the importance of addressing socio-political factors; ownership, participation, political will, perceptions of responsibility, in order to mobilise local resources and to understand the extent and potential of local capacities. A viable community solution may include strong alliances with outside agents or local authorities, but will take the responsibility for sustainability back to the community and leave them firmly in the driving seat.

Format: Bulletin
Date: January 2002
Download: Acrobat pdf 111 kb