The Town Crier Turns 50!

Chris_ACELG — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 04:05:53 +0000

Today UTS:ACELG's official blog, 'the Town Crier', celebrates its 50th published article. The blog launched in January 2014 as a forum to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas relating to local government in Australia and internationally. The blog publishes original commentary and analysis by and for an audience of local government practitioners, researchers, students and professionals.

In its year or so of operation, the Town Crier has published a wide variety of articles covering the full spectrum of local government activities and interests.

The blog has provided commentary on a number of challenges and opportunities facing local government, both in Australia and internationally, for example on local government elections, emerging technologies, research practice, localism, and environmental benchmarking.

The blog has showcased innovative examples of leading practice in Australian local government, for example on topics as diverse as water and waste management, youth engagement, service delivery, mobile apps, and economic development.

The blog has provided recaps of key local government events, both in Australia and overseas, for example: conferences of Rural Councils Victoria, Local Government NSW and Environmental Health Australia; the Palembang International Conference on Local Government; the Australian Multicultural Council forum; and the 2014 Greater China-Australia Dialogue on Public Administration.

The blog has also operated as a conduit for the exchange of knowledge between those active in the sector. For example, the blog has been used to source input for local government research, showcase the outputs of the Local Government Management Challenge, feature interviews with local government practitioners, and promote tools to improve local government practice.

Going Forward

The Town Crier is looking to strengthen its output and impact in the coming months and years. This means new articles identifying leading practice, fresh debates on policy, and a raft of other features and resources designed to facilitate a dialogue on local government in Australia and internationally.

To get involved with the Town Crier in 2015 and beyond, you could consider:

Following UTS:ACELG on Twitter, Facebook or RSS to stay abreast of all the latest updates and articles.
Commenting on articles that you find of interest (beneath the article). This might include asking follow up questions of the authors, or presenting your own supporting or dissenting opinions.
Sharing the blog with your network of associates, be they practitioners, academics, professionals, students, or local government dilettantes.
Writing for the blog. UTS:ACELG accepts unsolicited submissions to the Town Crier all year round, and on any subject related to local government in Australia or overseas. For details on submitting a draft article, and on the benefits of blogging, see the Submission Guidelines.

Thank you to all of our readers and contributors for the first year of the Town Crier. We look forward to building the blog into a vibrant hub of local government knowledge and idea sharing in the coming months and years!

Chris Watterson is a Project Officer at the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government.

Good reads on local government innovation

Chris_ACELG — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 01:42:33 +0000

There is a growing body of literature that examines the role and opportunities of innovation in the local government sector. ACELG itself has contributed to this movement with two commissioned papers: Innovation, Ingenuity and Initiative: The Adoption and Application of New Ideas in Australian Local Government, which analyses a number of examples of innovation in the Australian context; and Innovation in Local Government: Defining the Challenge, Making the Change, a better practice guide relating to the application of innovation and change

For those with an interest in building the innovative capacity of local government, a number of other helpful resources are listed below:

The Australian Department of Industry Innovation Report: "The Innovation Policy Report is compiled by the Department, and aims to highlight departmental, national and international developments in the innovation Policy area. It also includes summaries of relevant innovation documents and events."
Government Innovation Around the World by Elaine Kamarck: This report from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University looks at the history, causes, examples, and outcomes of government innovation in a variety of national contexts – even Australia gets a mention (p. 24).
Local government as a facilitator of systemic social innovation by Sharon Zivkovic: This paper from the recent ACELG Local Government Research Forum argues that innovation is not something that is best achieved piecemeal through application of derivative solutions to singular problems, but rather requires a systemic and adapted approach that is influenced by individual communities. This is an important read given the existing paradigm of project-level innovations prescribed by best practice in other councils.
The Harvard Kennedy School Government Innovators Network: This is a great repository of resources relating to various aspects of government innovation. It advertises itself as a "marketplace of ideas and examples", and includes news, publications and examples of best practice.
Innovation in the Public Sector: Enabling Better Performance, Driving New Directions published by the Australian National Audit Office: This better practice guide "provide[s] a framework for understanding the processes that underpin innovation in the public sector and to provide practical insights and a resource for practitioners. In this way the Guide is designed to further encourage and facilitate an innovative culture in the Australian Public Service and the public sector more generally."
Innovation in Public Services: Literature Review published by IDeA Knowledge: A 2009 literature review of public sector innovation. It reviews the importance, key concepts, trends, mechanisms and challenges of innovation in the public sector in an international context.
Innovation in Public Sector Organisations published by Nesta: This report presents the findings of a pilot survey for measuring innovation in the public sector. The report and sample survey provide some interesting insights into the anatomy and scope of innovation in a public organisation.

Chris Watterson is a Project Officer at the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government.

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The Town Crier Turns 50!

Good reads on local government innovation

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