Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Localactorsandlocaldevelopment.ThecaseofPoland
11
enterprises,trainingoflocalactors,East-WestEuropeancooperation,socialcapital
andactinglocallyforemployment.2
Localdevelopmentisso-called“developmentfromwithin”[Birkhölzer2009,
p.3]“grass-rootsdevelopment”whichisbasedonitsownpossibilities,unique
assets,ornon-materialresources.AccordingtoS.AaronovitchfromtheLocal
EconomyPolicyUnitinLondon,“thereisnoescapefromself-help”[Birkhölzer
1999,p.43;compareAgenda21].Localdevelopmentcanalsobeunderstoodasthe
qualitytransformationrelatingtoaparticularareaintermsofstandardoflivingand
theconditionsoftheeconomicentityoperating[Parysek2001,p.22].
Localdevelopmentisaprocesswhichtakesplacewithinagiventerritory,
dependentontheabilitytocreateandstimulateitsowndevelopment.Itmaybe
identifiedwithintentionalactionsoflocalauthoritiesorinhabitantswhichaimat
creatingnewvalues,andtherationalandeffectiveuseofhuman,naturalandcultural
resources.Therealizationoflocaldevelopmentrequiresactionsatlocallevelwhich
takeintoaccounttheuniquecharacterofagivenlocalgovernmentunit.Localactors
aregroupsofpeopleorinstitutionsaffectingtherealizationoflocaldevelopment
whichinclude:localauthorities,non-governmentalorganizations,enterprisesand
localsociety[Famulska,Znaniecka(eds.)2004,pp.24-25].
Non-governmentalorganization(NGOs),alsocalledthethirdsector,playan
activeroleinthelocalcontext.Theorganizationsbelongingtothethirdsectorhave
thefollowingfeatures:organizationalstructureandformalregistration,structure
independentofpublicauthorities,non-profitcharacter,sovereigntyandself-
-government,voluntarycharacterofbelonging.Theyhaveasocialfunctionandat
thesametimeinfluencelocalentrepreneurship.Duetotheirproximityinthelocal
environmenttheycanprovidesocialservices,reacttothecurrentneedsandthreats
aswellasformulatedevelopmentalprospects.Theyareoftenperceivedassocial
innovators.Theycontributetocreatingsocialcapital[seeBourdieu1986;Woolcock
1998;Sabatini2006]andalternative,“non-business”workplaces.
Activitiesforco-operationwhichcanbeundertakenbyNGOs,aresignificant
forlocaldevelopment.Localdevelopmentcanbeperceivedthroughtheprismof
benefitswhichcanbeobtainedbythelocalcommunity.Co-operationbetweenlocal
entitiesandcreatingfavourableconnections(settings)insidelocalsocietycontribute
toformingpersonalrelationships.Theserelationshipscreateandsupportaclimateof
trustandallowforatransferofculturalvaluesandskillstotheirsuccessors.
Thespecificassetsoflocalculture,combinedwiththequalificationsandskills
oflocalentrepreneurs,contributetoformingcharacteristiclocalsettingsbetween
entrepreneursinthisarea[Domański2001,pp.127-134].Inthiscontext,onecan
emphasizetheroleofNGOs,whichorganizethelocalcommunity,engagethemin
addressingandsolvingissuesconcerningthem.
2http://www.european-network.de/englisch/projects.htm(dateofaccess:22.05.2013).
