Sustainable Job Development Strategies.docx

Sustainable Job Development Strategies



Rafiqua Ferdousi
Graduate Student
Joint European Master of Comparative Local Development
2015-2017



Introduction:

The term 'development' became a buzz word after the Second World War. As the war torn countries went through major reconstruction and economic regeneration process with the sanction of massive aid flow, the dominant discourse of development became more and more closely associated with economic growth. Consequently GDP or economic growth became the key indicator of progress across the globe. But it was until various scholars pointed out that development is not something linear but rather complicated and multidimensional. The major literatures that contributed in the paradigm shift are the 1962 environmental science book called 'Silent Spring' by Rachel Carson followed by the classic report on the 'Limits to Growth' by a group of scientists of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (IISD, 2012). From that point in time the term 'sustainable development' started gaining momentum and now it encompasses socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental dimensions.

Major Challenges and strategies towards achieving Sustainable Development and Job Promotion

The three main global challenges of our time are globalization of the economy, need for efficient government administration and desire for citizen participation (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges, 2016, p. 2).
Globalization is both an obstacle and an opportunity for job creation. The industrial revolution and the shift in the pattern of trade changed the world economy for ever and historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant day by day. This globalization phenomenon is termed as the so called 'flattening of the world' by Thomas L. Friedman. In his book 'The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century' he discussed 10 main causes behind the level playing field for everyone in trade and commerce. They are: the end of the cold war or the collapse of the Berlin wall, Netscape going public, workflow software, uploading, outsourcing, offshoring, supply chaining, insourcing, informing and "The Steroids" or the wireless and personal digital devices (Friedman, 2005). Advancements in technology has made the world more accessible and therefore today there are larger multinational corporation, flow of capital, demand for highly skilled workforce, information knowledge spill over, outsourcing of work across border which is also a great threat towards intellectual property right (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges, 2016, p. 5). All of these have impact on the environment and local economic development.
Consequently if someone is a local government official then he/she should encourage and support the local economy to find a competitive advantage and create their own niche or localized product or services to secure their own source of income. Also the local laws and regulations should simultaneously protect the environment but create ease for doing business. Furthermore as a local government official one should promote innovation and creative businesses so that the locality can create something unique that cannot be easily copied by others and also the city can develop an entrepreneurial culture. Sometimes government can also promote ideas that have proven effective in other places and craft the business model according to the local context.
Adopting sustainable practices can cause loss in business sometimes but government can try to raise awareness among people and argue in favour of paying for more sustainable practices so that everyone is better off in the long run. For example there are already initiative going on which focuses on saving the environment like: carbon offset (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges, 2016, p. 14). Adopting these sort of strategies will uphold the image of the city and will be beneficial for the reputation of the city and local government. Besides from the year 2016 the main policy framework around the world are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, hence as part of the government the policies and regulations of the city should be designed as such so that they are well crafted and balanced to achieve both sustainability and growth.
But adopting too much regulation can move the jobs elsewhere. For example: Shipbreaking (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges, 2016, p. 13) but as government official one should keep in mind that these sort of activities creates jobs for the time being but has very adverse effect on the environment. Thus as government official if someone has to approve such activities in their locality then proper regulation, management and monitoring should be ensured through efficient governance. Because there is increasing pressure to reduce tax burden and the size of the government. Technology can make the system of governance more efficient but it can also replace jobs of human beings. Especially when it comes to the low skilled citizen of a community then it is particularly difficult to create new jobs or sustainable jobs for them. Therefore there is a dilemma between technological advancement and job creation at all level (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges, 2016, p. 22).
Among the other major challenges, a government official has to find out a way to make the government more accountable, transparent and decentralised since it's the popular demand of our time but to ensure public participation at the level of decision making and to really make it effective can sometime work and sometime be very problematic. Public opinions are often very neighbourhood-specific and do not result in decisions that work for cities as a whole (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges, 2016, p. 25). However the trend of public participation is on rise in many places of the world and people are finding out innovative ways to really make it work. All in all as a government official one should be open to designing unique and efficient programs and carefully manage the use of technology and public opinion.
According to the lecture, there are five proposed guidelines for designing effective sustainable development strategy (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges, 2016, pp. 32-51).
Firstly, as part of local government one has to actually create jobs rather than just moving them around.
Secondly, local government should avoid chasing large production factories or the so called 'Elephant Hunting' since the bigger and richer cities has high chance of buying them out and also big companies look for agglomeration advantage and economies of scale. Small cities or localities will be better off by promoting small and medium businesses which might create more jobs.
Thirdly, government should make it easy for anyone in the locality to start, expand, or close a business and provide support if necessary for start-ups or in the hiring process.
Fourthly, the locality should focus on building workforce skills and specialization and the government can aid in many ways through advancing the education system or through new training programs so that jobs and skills are in line in the community.
And finally, focus on jobs for less skilled citizens as often they are in the most vulnerable position. The local government can try to create jobs in sectors like: construction, processing, packaging etc. Because government is not only responsible for promoting economic goals but government is also responsible for promoting broader social goals and ensuring welfare of all citizens. At the end of the day policies should focus on achieving social cohesion and harmony.
There are other strategies for creating jobs for low skilled people, for example: the youth activism, YES program and the Works through Community Based Enterprises (CBE)s case study form Liberia is an example (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local Development: LID, Waste, Best Practices, 3 Chalenges, 2016, pp. 22-29). Also in many countries agricultural production and vending fresh products in the local market can create jobs for low skilled citizens and also it can meet the demand of nutrition and healthy lifestyle of the local community. According to U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, 'Globalization of food systems is leading to dietary problems…Small local stores, traditional markets and street vendors are prone to lose busines'. In this context, gardening, urban and peri-urban agriculture, aquaculture, hydro phonics and well managed and accessible local farmers market can be the solution for both health issues and job creation (Elliott, Lecture on Sustainable Local Development: Energy, Water, Local Food, Social Services, 2016).
Local government can also try to take initiatives themselves or support initiatives for the private sector based on best practices from different countries. For example: Haitian Partners for Christian Development (HPCD) has been working for the development of strong entrepreneurship in Haiti and around the world. Since 2010, HPCD has been conducting many programs, such as business & life skills training, business incubation for small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs, mentorship, and youth training and job placement programs. HPCD focuses on creating sustainable change in the economy through job creation. These programs are made possible through partnership with groups like the United Nations, World Vision, and the World In Conversation Project. (HPCD, 2016) .
The 8th goal of the Sustainable Development Goals is to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all (United Nation, 2016). Many organizations including the United Nations and governments all over the world are already adopting strategies for the promotion of sustainable job creation. One of such initiative is the 'Sustainable Jobs Initiative' which is a not-for-profit organization based in Southern California that aims to promote the creation of sustainable jobs in the face of globalization. Their strategies include: providing venue so people can connect to form cooperative and/or socially responsible businesses, creating mentoring programs that connect those who have started successful social enterprises, helping provide legal resources and identify potential funding sources and building community support around the creation of sustainable jobs (Sustainable Jobs Initiative, 2016). As a government official one can formulate their own strategy or they can seek advice from experts and consultants or they can work in collaboration with organizations who are already working on similar issues.

Conclusion
Although the question of sustainability and economic growth have traditionally been very problematic but at the end of the day as human beings we all share equal responsibility to make our planet sustainable for the future generation. Much damage have been done to the greater ecosystem that we are part of but despite all the depressive phenomena much well thought and good intentioned efforts have also been made. So there are still reasons to look forward and work together to make the world a better place for everyone. The Sustainable Development goals seem very challenging in our present context but with all the collective human intelligence and effort the possibilities are also endless. The role of locality and local initiatives are becoming increasingly popular in the discourse of development and it is only fair because if every locality plans, manages and acts responsibly it will be ultimately beneficial for everyone. So local government and active citizens can be one of the key player towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Works Cited

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hpcd.org/
(2016). Retrieved May 25, 2016, from Sustainable Jobs Initiative: http://www.sustainablejobs.us/
Elliott, D. (2016, April 18). Lecture on Sustainable Local Development: Energy, Water, Local Food, Social Services.
Elliott, D. (2016, April 22). Lecture on Sustainable Local Development: LID, Waste, Best Practices, 3 Chalenges.
Elliott, D. (2016, April 15). Lecture on Sustainable Local development: Three challenges. Slide 2.
Friedman, T. L. (2005). The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
HPCD. (2016). Retrieved May 25, 2016, from Haitian Partners for Christian Development (HPCD): http://www.hpcd.org/
IISD. (2012). The Sustainable Development Timeline. Retrieved May 24 , 2016, from International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): http://www.iisd.org/library/sustainable-development-timeline-2012
United Nation. (2016). Retrieved May 25, 2016, from SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTKNOWLEDGE PLATFORM: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg8