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Byron Davies, Chief Executive, Cardiff Council
The increasingly interdependent world in which we are living presents huge opportunities for local government. It seems that barely a day goes by when we are not reminded that the world is changing. Globalisation, new migration flows, demographic challenges: all of these insist that local government develops new ways of doing business, in economic, social and environmental arenas. One thing remains certain throughout: local communities are profoundly affected by global forces.
This year's SOLACE annual conference was held in Cardiff in October and explored some of the themes connected with a thinking global, acting local agenda. Through my role as president of SOLACE for 2007-08 and vice president of the European Federation of Local Authority Chief Executives (UDiTE), I have witnessed this agenda becoming a mainstream element of the work of local authorities across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
It was therefore encouraging that Hazel Blears, the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, gave the SOLACE conference a clear message in responding to questions relating to the relevance of internationalism to local government. She had no hesitation in confirming that it was a mainstream responsibility of local authorities to embrace internationalism and to assist in managing the economic, environmental and social affects of global forces on behalf of their citizens and communities.
Local government practitioners have a commitment, above all, to their citizens and com munities, and this is served through engagement with the wider world. There is no doubt that significant benefits can be gained through allowing local government practitioners to look outwards and to use their expertise in sharing best practice to assist in the ongoing development work of international partners. But sceptics remain. How, then, can we best counter the argument that developing an international agenda is merely an optional extra for local authorities?
One practical example is the role that Cardiff, as the capital city for Wales, has established for itself as a player on the international stage for a number of years.
Partnerships
The city has developed international partnerships with cities in Europe, China, India and the USA. Cardiff council's international policy, which was published in 2006, focuses on the development of city-to-city links, strategic city networks and transnational cooperation, and seeks to go beyond traditional twinning links in furthering the city's economic connectivity and competitiveness. This approach focuses on the importance of developing people, sharing best practice, and influencing trade opportunities through innovative approaches to service delivery.
The international policy also identifies priority cities based on an assessment matrix linked to a number of key criteria. This assists in establishing the potential for joint projects that can draw on EU and other funding sources to help share knowledge and experiences, and to turn the challenge of globalisation into something positive for local people and the business community.
It is an approach which has, to date, delivered significant economic, social and environmental regeneration benefits to the city. I believe that some of the work we have done in Cardiff helps to provide an answer to the question of why local authorities should work internationally.
The economic arena
In a globalised world, new trade and investment opportunities abound. With the interconnected nature of national economies, small changes in one country can have significant effects in another. Local authorities with a broad vision and a pioneering attitude will be able to reap the benefits of imaginative approaches to international projects.
The regeneration agenda that has been progressed in Cardiff over the past 20 years is an excellent example of this. When working on plans for the regeneration of Cardiff Bay, the city drew on expertise gained through its work with the American city of Baltimore. Our partners in the US had considerable experience in maritime regeneration and Cardiff was able to learn from them. Similarly, Cardiff's work with the Canadian city of Toronto was instrumental in the successful development of the Millennium Stadium at the heart of the city centre, and we continue to work closely with international partners to exchange expertise and knowledge.
In economic terms, one of the key strands of Cardiff's approach to furthering the city's international activities involves a promotion of the city's assets - among them the Millennium Stadium, the Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff University - to enhance Cardiff's growing reputation as an international capital city with a genuinely global outlook. Ongoing developments, such as the International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay and the pounds 675m St David's 2 initiative, a major retail, leisure and residential development opening in 2009, will further contribute to Cardiff's development as a world city.
The social arena
The broad diversity of the UK's towns and cities necessitates a clear awareness of international social matters among local government practitioners. New migration flows are combining with changing patterns of consumption to create an array of challenges and opportunities for local government. World events echo in UK neighbourhoods and the potential implications for public services are significant.
In order to fully play its part in this agenda, Cardiff Council has been involved in the Commonwealth Local Government Forum's good practice scheme, which supports the exchange of experience and expertise between local authorities across the Commonwealth. The scheme promotes the delivery of local authority services, particularly to poor and disadvantaged groups. As part of the scheme, Cardiff is partnered with the city of Cochin in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The two cities have worked closely together to identify sustainable solutions to issues relating to economic development, tourism, master planning and waste management. The relationship continues to grow in strength and both partners are committed to sharing good practice that will inform their respective approaches to working with their own citizens and communities.
The environmental arena
The environmental agenda impacts upon a number of issues relevant to local government. Once again, we see a need for local practitioners to look to the world stage to tackle the issues which impact upon their own communities.
The issue of climate change is an example of a key policy area in which local decisions can have profound global significance. Furthermore, initiatives to improve the environments of our local communities can be enhanced through learning from our international partners.
In Cardiff, we have welcomed the recent investment by a Californian company, G24i, which makes lightweight, flexible solar cells to provide sustainable energy sources. The company has sited its pounds 60m production plant in the city and this major investment will create 300 highly skilled jobs, with the aim of producing the UK's first zero-carbon manufacturing facility. This inter national company, with its combination of high skills, environmental sustainability and global presence, is representative of the type of modern business that Cardiff is seeking to attract.
Localism and globalism: reaching a tipping point
At the SOLACE annual conference, Blears declared herself to be "really inspired by the 'localist movement' we're enjoying today". We are certainly seeing the emergence of a policy process to which a genuinely bottom-up approach is required. In local government systems across the world, local communities are influencing local authorities, with this impact passing upwards to central government. In addition to this, the principle of subsidiarity requires that decisions within the EU should be taken at the closest practical level to the citizen.
The American academic Malcolm Gladwell published a book in 2000 in which he explores the phenomenon of The Tipping Point. The book discusses the spread of ideas and aims to identify reasons why some ideas become social phenomena, whilst others seem to wither on the vine. The answer lay in the attainment of critical mass. Gladwell concluded that when an idea takes root among a particular number - and a particular type - of people, its momentum makes it unstoppable. It reaches a "tipping point", beyond which its spread is unstoppable.
There is a powerful message to be drawn from this work. The "tipping point" approach is of considerable relevance to local government, as it is, above all, concerned with the manner in which local thinking can create a global impact. Ideas which at first seem small can lead to profound changes, and things happening at grassroots level today can have the potential to change the world tomorrow. From a local government perspective, this illustrates how citizens and communities can make a real impression upon the global stage.
We are living in devolutionary times. To those who claim that the needs of a locality cannot be served through working in the wider world, a straightforward response can be given: never underestimate the power of local places in shaping global forces. Far from being the "helpless victims" of globalisation, citizens and communities are increasingly taking control of their own destinies and playing their own part in shaping the bigger picture. This bottom-up approach has underpinned the international policy initiatives that we have taken forward in Cardiff and it will continue to do so as the international agenda grows in significance for all of us.
Byron Davies is chief executive of Cardiff Council. He is president of SOLACE UK and vice president of the European Federation of Local Authority Chief Executives (UDiTE). For two decades Byron has been at the heart of the regeneration and transformation of Cardiff. He has made a contribution to the professional development of public services as a long-serving chief executive, and is continuing this work through his role as president of SOLACE UK
