When community members, local government, practitioners and academics collaborate on one urban development project, they build relationships and a knowledge base that can inform and energize numerous other projects throughout the city. In this way, one project can change the city.
In what ways does your local government function in the same way as national government? In what ways does it not? What are the pros and cons of each?
What could it mean for local government to "lead city development working with the people?"
Why invite representatives from many neighborhoods, and local academics, to perform a citywide survey of possible locations for a project, when you only have money for one project?
What is the downside of having more people involved in planning one project, and what could be the upside long term? Do you agree that it may increase the chances that one project is the beginning of a larger set of projects and not a stand alone, one-off?
Somsook Boonyabancha, is Chairperson, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), a regional network of grassroots community organizations, NGO’s and professionals actively involved with urban poor development processes in Asian cities; former Director of the Community Organization Development Institute (CODI); Chairperson, of the Baan Mankong Program Committee.
Boonyabancha has been working and facilitating sustainable, equitable collective housing development and slum upgrading in Thailand and other Asian countries for 30 years – specializing in community-led initiatives. As director of CODI, she fostered a “city-wide” approach to community upgrading that has been replicated in cities across Thailand. She is based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Cities in Thailand have fostered collaboration between community members, civil society, government, and academia for greater success in sustainable, equitable development. Community groups mentor and support one another, building a powerful network of learning and empowerment between communities that improves the city overall.
Are there places in your city /your region/ your work where you use Big Sister communities to guide Little Sister communities about particular issues or practices?
Is there a particular subject area in your city/ your work where you think it would be useful for communities to advise one another?
What are existing barriers to connecting communities, civil society, government and academia? How could those barriers be addressed?
Somsook Boonyabancha, is Chairperson, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), a regional network of grassroots community organizations, NGO’s and professionals actively involved with urban poor development processes in Asian cities; former Director of the Community Organization Development Institute (CODI); Chairperson, of the Baan Mankong Program Committee.
Boonyabancha has been working and facilitating sustainable, equitable collective housing development and slum upgrading in Thailand and other Asian countries for 30 years – specializing in community-led initiatives. As director of CODI, she fostered a “city-wide” approach to community upgrading that has been replicated in cities across Thailand. She is based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Boonyabancha describes the process for engaging stakeholders developed by her team in Thailand, and how collaboration between local government, residentsand other community stakeholders has lead to more successful, equitable and sustainable urban development in cities throughout Thailand.
Somsook Boonyabancha, is Chairperson, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), a regional network of grassroots community organizations, NGO’s and professionals actively involved with urban poor development processes in Asian cities; former Director of the Community Organization Development Institute (CODI); Chairperson, of the Baan Mankong Program Committee.
Boonyabancha has been working and facilitating sustainable, equitable collective housing development and slum upgrading in Thailand and other Asian countries for 30 years – specializing in community-led initiatives. As director of CODI, she fostered a “city-wide” approach to community upgrading that has been replicated in cities across Thailand. She is based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Can you think of an issue that is causing multiple problems in your city? (For example, lack of public transportation options forces many cars to use a busy road, causes air pollution, makes the neighborhood less walkable, and cuts off that neighborhood from other neighborhoods)
Can you think of an initiative that has solved multiple problems in your city? (For example, expanding a subway line to reach new neighborhood would decrease traffic, increase accessibility to jobs)
Thomas Henry Culhane, Urban Ecologist Dr. T.H. Culhane is a professor of Environmental Sustainability and Justice at the Patel College for Global Solutions at University of South Florida, Tampa. He is passionate about transforming food waste into fuel and fertilizer, collecting biogas and bioslurry, to not only cook food, heat water and generate clean electricity, but to grow new nutritious food. Culhane is co-founder and president of Solar CITIES Inc., a not-for-profit environmental technology training organization that teaches members of impoverished urban and rural communities around the world how to build their own home and community scale biodigesters and vertical aeroponics food production systems with the goal of eliminating all waste. Culhane lives with and uses these technologies in his daily life at the Rosebud Continuum Eco-Science and Sustainability Education Center in Land O Lakes Florida where he resides.