Welfare Reform on the Web (June 2012): Community regeneration and development - overseas

Business Improvement Districts (BIDS)

E. Peyroux, R. Pütz and G. Glasze (guest editors)

European Urban and Regional Studies, vol. 19, 2012, p. 111-194

In many countries around the world, Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) are seen as a new model of sub-municipal governance to secure private capital for improving the attractiveness of a city's central spaces. Originating from Canada and the United States, this model of self-taxing districts, often based on public-private partnerships, has spread to Europe, Australia and Africa. This themed issue explores the internationalisation and contextualisation of the BID model in both Northern countries (the United States, Canada, Germany and Sweden) and Southern countries (South Africa). The articles focus on key debates surrounding BIDS and present different theoretical perspectives

Food security and gender mainstreaming: possibilities for social transformation in Brazil

I. Lessa and C. Rocha

International Social Work, vol. 55, 2011, p. 337-352

Gender mainstreaming includes a focus on gender equity evident not only in project outcomes but also through all phases and aspects of an initiative and the organisations putting it into practice. This article discusses use of gender mainstreaming as a tool for change in an international project aiming to enhance processes of participation in Brazil. The international cooperation project Building Capacity in Food Security in Brazil operated at the level of developing the interest and capacity of local groups to participate in food security initiatives already put in place by the Brazilian government. The analysis suggests that implementation practices can be key to increasing positive gender outcomes.