Exclusion of Indigenous and local communities' connections to the rest-of-nature is a typical problem in policy-decision making. This paper highlights the key attributes of these connections and suggests evaluation pathways to mainstream them into policy development. For this, we integrate and apply the ecosystem services (ES) and human capability concepts. Five socio-cultural and economic values relating to peoples' well-being are identified as the core attributes for developing policy tools: (1) livelihoods; (2) social values; (3) cultural values; (4) spiritual values; and (5) capabilities. For policy tools, common ES frameworks and the relevant ES evaluation techniques that can be applied along with community participatory approaches, are considered. We recommend that developing a pluralistic policy platform is essential to appropriately comprehend Indigenous and local communities' connections with nature for enhancing well-being, not just sustaining livelihoods. A three-step process: (1) identifying attributes of natural systems that are vital for peoples' well-being (beyond their livelihoods); (2) developing locally-specific integrated frameworks; and (3) evaluating identified attributes (monetary and non-monetary), is clearly described in this paper to inform the policy-makers. Recognition and understanding of Indigenous and local communities’ values for nature beyond livelihood opportunities is essential for informing inclusive sustainable development processes and policies.

The Routledge Handbook of International Local Government conducts a rigorous, innovative and distinctive analysis of local government within a comparative, international context. Examining the subject matter with unrivalled breadth and depth, this handbook shows how different cultures and countries develop different institutions, structures and processes over time, yet that all have some features in common – the most obvious of which is the recognition that some decisions are better made, some services better delivered, and some engagement with the state better organised if there is structured organisational expression of the importance of the local dimension of all these factors. Thematically organised, it includes contributions from international experts with reference to the wider context in terms of geographies, local government modes, recent developments and possible further lines of research. It has a wide academic appeal internationally and will steer a course between the two dimensions of mono-jurisdictional studies and ‘cataloguing’ forms of comparison.
 

Table of Contents 1. Local Governments - A Global Presence [Richard Kerley, Joyce Liddle, Pam Dunning] Part I: Elected Roles and Governance 2. Local Electoral Systems [Michael Cole] 3. Local Political Leadership: The Voters or Councillors – Who Chooses Who Governs? [Colin Copus] 4. Traditional Leaders and Local Government in Pacific Island Countries [Graham Hassall and Paul Mae] 5. The Role of the Councillor [Neil McGarvey and Fraser Stewart] 6. The Relationship between Politics and Administration: From Dichotomy to Local Governance Arenas [Alessandro Sancino, Marco Meneguzzo, Alessandro Braga, and Paolo Esposito] 7. Institutionalized Differences in Economic Development Perspectives: A Comparison of City Managers, Mayors and Council Members in Texas [James Vanderleeuw and Melanie Smith] Part II: Local Governments in Different Jurisdictions 8. The Political Salience of Local Government in a Small State [Ann Marie Bissessar] 9. Local Government in the Pacific Islands [Graham Hassall, Matthew Kensen, Rikiaua Takeke, Karibaiti Taoba, and Feue Tipu] 10. Local Government in Latin America – The Struggle to Overcome Social Exclusion [Andrew Nickson] 11. A Turbulent Past, A Turbulent Future? Reform and Disruption in the Local Government of New Zealand [Michael Reid and Michael Macaulay] 12. Constitutional and Legislative Changes in Caribbean Local Government [Eris Schoburgh] Part III: Range of Local Government Services 13. Local Government Service Roles in the U.S.A: Consistency and Change [J. Edwin Benton] 14. Public Entrepreneurship: Is Local Government Necessary to Deliver Economic Development? [Lorraine Johnston and John Fenwick] 15. The Wide Range of Local Government Public Services [Elisabetta Mafrolla] 16. Public Service Delivery in Today’s Georgia [Giorgi Vashakidze] 17. The Provision of Public and Personal Social Services in European Countries: Between Marketization and The Return of the Public/Municipal and Third Sector [Hellmut Wollmann] Part IV: Citizen Engagement 18. Practices and Challenges of Citizen Participation in Local Government: Case Studies of Midsized Cities in Russia and the United States [Sofia Prysmakova-Rivera, Elena Gladun, Thomas Bryer, Andrey Larionov, Dmitry Teplyakov, Olga Teplyakova and Natalia Nosova] 19. The Urban Governance of Austerity in Europe [Adrian Bua, Jonathan Davies, Ismael Blanco, Ioannis Chorianopoulos, Mercè Cortina-Oriol, Andrés Feandeiro, Niamh Gaynor, Steven Griggs, S. David Howarth, and Yuni Salazar] 20. Redressing the Trust Deficit: Local Governments and Citizen Engagement [Jonathan Carr West] 21. Does Mode of Public Outreach Matter? [Sheldon Gen and Erika Luger] 22. Improving Social Development in Brazil through an Open Budget Perspective: Does Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement Matter? [Ricardo Gomes and Welles Abreu] 23. Civic Engagement in Local Politics in Central Europe [Oto Potluka, Judit Kalman, Ida Musialkowska, and Piotr Idczak] Part V: Multi-Level Governance 24. Australia: Challenging Institutional Constraints [Chris Aulich] 25. Local Government Outside Local Boundaries: Rescaling Municipalities, Redesigning Provinces and Local-Level Europeanization [Koenradd De Ceuninck, Tony Valcke and Tom Verhelst] 26. Local Government in the European Union’s Multilevel Polity [Marius Guderjan] 27. Second Thoughts on Second-Order? Towards a Second-Tier Model of Local Government Elections and Voting [Ulrik Kjær and Kristof Steyvers] 28. The Architecture of the Local Political Community: France; Italy; Portugal and Spain [Jaume Magre and Esther Pano] Part VI: Getting and Spending 29. Local Government Anti-Corruption Initiatives in Post-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine: Another Tale of Two Cities [Terry Anderson] 30. Enhancing VFM Audit in Local Government: The Best Value Initiative [Michela Arnaboldi and Irvine Lapsley] 31. Financing and Taxing for Local Government [Kenneth Gibb and Linda Christie] 32. Adapting to the Fiscal Environment: Local Governments, Revenue and Taxation Powers [Mark Sandford] 33. Financing Local Government in the Twenty-First Century: Local Government Revenues in European Member States, 2000 – 2014 [Gerard Turley and Stephen McNena]

The rationale for local fiscal autonomy suggests that local expenditure and local revenue generation should remain in close proximity. This is achieved through fiscal decentralisation to local government, to ensure efficient provision of local services that align with local needs, and to improve accountability to residents. Fiscal decentralisation has found resonance in developing countries through local government reforms, but in Africa fiscal decentralisation has been focussed mainly on revenue sharing, except in a few cases where some local fiscal autonomy has been achieved. Urbanisation in Africa is likely to continue (UN-Habitat, 2008), necessitating an increase in municipal service delivery which African cities must finance - hence the need for local fiscal autonomy. Local fiscal autonomy is arguably contentious for African cities, partly because provision of municipal services must be tempered with considerations of equity and redistribution to the poorer urban populations, and because inadequate welfare nets from national government do not subsidise the gap in municipal revenue. In the recent past, Kenya and South Africa adopted local government reforms in different forms that has yielded different forms of local fiscal autonomy. The paper conducts a comparative of local fiscal autonomy in municipal services provision in Nairobi and Johannesburg.

There is growing concern about climate change impacts on local government areas. In Australia, the federal carbon tax (from 1 July 2012) will also increase costs for local councils. This paper evaluates what carbon mitigation (i.e. energy, water, and waste management) actions have been implemented by metropolitan Adelaide councils (n=14) and why (or why not). A survey of environmental officers profiled carbon mitigation actions, emissions auditing, and motives for emissions reduction by Adelaide councils. The main reasons for adopting carbon actions were a climate change plan, climate leadership, and cost savings. Internal council governance of climate change actions was also evaluated. A climate governance framework based on adaptive management, communication, and reflective practice (Nursey-Bray 2010) was applied to assess climate mitigation by Adelaide councils.

A request by Alotau Urban Local Level Government (AULLG) was submitted to the Commonwealth Local Government Good Practice Scheme in the Pacific (CLGGPS) in early 2007 for assistance to improve waste management practices. The intention of AULLG was to improve waste management practices within the town in order to ensure that it was kept clean and tidy with a view to enhancing its natural beauty. A direct benefit of this would be Alotau’s desire to become a tourist destination as the region has a huge potential for further development and the subsequent job creation this enhanced industry would bring. AULLG also needed assistance to ensure that waste management administration including budgeting and billing supported a sustainable program for the future.