LEDCast

Cluster facilitation

info@ledcast.net — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:36:00 GMT

In this LEDCast episode, Frank Waeltring interviews Ifor Ffowcs-Williams on the role of a "cluster facilitator". The difference between cluster management and cluster facilitation is discussed. Different kinds of funding and its implications are also elaborated on and the roles of different cluster facilitators are described. The main challenges for future cluster initiatives are also explored.

Frank Waeltring is a partner in mesopartner (www.mesopartner.com). Ifor Ffowcs-Williams is an international cluster development expert and is the CEO of the niche economic development consulting firm Cluster Navigators (http://www.clusternavigators.com). His blogsite is at (http://e4oncompetitiveness.com/ ).

LED in post recovery disaster areas

info@ledcast.net — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:03:00 GMT

In this episode, Dr. Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke of mesopartner interviews professionals of the international NGO World Vision: Elvire Douglas, Humanitarian Emergency Officer in Haiti and Treganna Myrabo, Economic Recovery Coordinator at the International Center in Monrovia, USA. The interview highlights why it is needed to include an economic perspective from the beginning in the response process to natural and man-made disasters.

Please post your comments and questions to us!

Natasha Walker on facilitation - part 2 of 2

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:40:00 GMT

This is the 2nd part of the interview between Shawn Cunningham and Natasha Walker on facilitation.

Natasha Walker on facilitation - part 1 of 2

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 18:47:00 GMT

Shawn Cunningham interviews Natasha Walker on the essence of facilitation. During the conversation they share some practical tips and also agree on many pet hates. The issues discussed range from dealing with so-called difficult participants, balancing the role of facilitator and expert, and managing group work and feedback sessions. For more information on Natasha visit www.ifok.de or http://natashafacilitator.wordpress.com/

Announcement of the death of Jorg Meyer-Stamer

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 18:40:00 GMT

As many listeners are aware, Dr. Jorg Meyer-Stamer passed away on the 1st of May, 2009. In this short announcement Shawn Cunningham commit on behalf of mesopartner to continue publishing the LEDCast. To visit the condolonce page go to http://www.mesopartner.com/nc/dr-joerg-meyer-stamer/

Case #16: The Provincial Competitiveness Index in Vietnam

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:37:00 GMT

Edmund Malesky explains the conceptual foundation and the impact of the PCI, an exercise that has been running in Vietnam for some years, unleashing significant sub-national government efforts to create a more business-friendly environment.

Innovation #3: Analysing an innovation system in South Africa

Sun, 8 Feb 2009 08:57:00 GMT

John Lawson, Geoff Ritson and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the outcomes of a RALIS exercise, i.e. a quick diagnosis of the innovation system around the Downstream Chemicals Technology Station at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Case #15: Cluster promotion in Western Cape province, South Africa

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:09:00 GMT

Nigel Gwynne-Evans of the Department of Economic Development in the Western Cape, South Africa, shares his experience with ten years of cluster promotion.

Value Chains #7: Lessons learnt in value chain promotion

Fri, 9 Jan 2009 12:41:00 GMT

Jorg Meyer-Stamer has a conversation with Jim Tomecko (GTZ, Thailand) on some of the main lessons learnt in value chain development initiatives.

A conversation with Jorg Meyer-Stamer, part 2

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:32:00 GMT

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke and Frank Waeltring interview Jorg Meyer-Stamer on the second part of his career, working as an advisor and trainer and founding mesopartner.

This is the second of two LEDcasts which come as a companion to a book that Ulrich and Frank edited on the occasion of Jorg's 50th birthday. This "birthday anthology" with contributions from a number of renowned researchers and practitioners is available here.

A conversation with Jorg Meyer-Stamer, part 1

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:17:00 GMT

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke and Frank Waeltring interview Jorg Meyer-Stamer on the first part of his career, when he was working in academia and policy research.

This is the first of two LEDcasts which come as a companion to a book that Ulrich and Frank edited on the occasion of Jorg's 50th birthday. This "birthday anthology" with contributions from a number of renowned researchers and practitioners is available here.

Innovation #2: Innovation Systems

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:54:00 GMT

Shawn and Jorg explore the relevance of national, regional and sectoral innovation systems and discuss practical ways of changing the way in which they work.

Innovation #1: Introduction

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:30:00 GMT

Kicking off a new series, Shawn and Jorg have a conversation on some basic concepts and issues around innovation.

Cases #14: The evolution of carnival in Trinidad

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:39:00 GMT

Clive Pegus tells Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke how the carnival in Trinidad is an important factor in the local economy, not only due to its growth and the tourism it attracts but also because it has spawned carnivals in other cities around the world.

Tools #11: The Boston Matrix

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 14:36:00 GMT

In another presentation from mesopartner's Africa Academy on LED, Colin Mitchell presents a variation of the Boston Matrix, a simple tool to investigate promising areas of specialisation for a given territory.

Tools #10: The Leaking Bucket

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:08:00 GMT

In a presentation from mesopartner's Africa Academy on LED, Afia Darkwa-Amanor presents the Leaking Bucket, a tool that allows to leverage money and other resources that usually flow out of the local economy for local economic development. Afia is a Senior Advisor in the gtz-supported LRED program in Ghana.

Tools #9: Polarity management

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:01:00 GMT

In a presentation from mesopartner's Africa Academy on LED, Shawn Cunningham presents the concept of polarity management, i.e. an approach to deal with opposing options to address a given issue in a constructive manner and avoiding extreme swings of a pendulum.

Tools #8: The Vegetable Garden: A practical way to explain the "enabling environment"

Fri, 3 Oct 2008 19:55:00 GMT

In a recording from mesopartner's first Africa Academy on LED, Sonja Ende uses the metaphor of a vegetable garden to explain the principles of an enabling environment and to highlight the appropriate role of government in LED.

Concept #9: Competition and competitiveness

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:10:00 GMT

Shawn and Jorg discuss why some people are uncomfortable with the notion of competition, what the upside and downside of competition is, and how to become competitive.

Cases #13: IBA See -- Conversion of a former open pit mining region

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Michael Feiler, project manager at IBA See, explains their experimental, innovation-focused approach to the conversion of a region that has been shaped by decades of open pit lignite mining.

Concept #8: Change management

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:25:00 GMT

Jorg Meyer-Stamer and Grant McKenzie discuss what lessons Change Management has to offer for territorial development.

Cases #12: LED in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 18:07:00 GMT

Zdravko Miovcic, director of EDA - Development Agency, Banja Luka, shares experiences and lessons learnt in many years of doing LED in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Concept #7: Systemic competitiveness

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:03:00 GMT

Shawn Cunningham and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the origin and main messages of the concept of Systemic Competitiveness, an approach that helps in formulating a holistic perspective of a local economy.
More information, including the Benchmarking Table that we mention in the show, is available here .

Cases #11: UNIDO's experience with cluster promotion

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 19:19:00 GMT

Michele Clara, industrial development officer in the Cluster and Business Linkages Unit of the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) shares some of the lessons learnt over many years of cluster promotion.

Cases #10: Using radio in local development

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:51:00 GMT

Sonja Ende interviews Kasim Abdukadir, who is running a small business-oriented programme in a local radio station in Niger province, Nigeria, and Veronique Stolz, who is with a GTZ programme and promotes developmental radio in Nigeria. The publication she mentions is available at http://www.led.co.za/docs/362.pdf.

Cases #9: Business Development Committees in Nigeria

Fri, 30 May 2008 10:27:00 GMT

Sonja Ende interviews Margaret Joshua who is working with GTZ's LED programme in Nigeria. Margaret shares the experience with Business Development Committees that have been created at a local level in order to improve the local business environment.

Tools #7: Managing expectations

Sat, 17 May 2008 15:12:00 GMT

Jorg Meyer-Stamer and Colin Mitchell discuss why the management of expectations in development activities so often goes wrong.

Tools #6: PACA

Sun, 4 May 2008 08:36:00 GMT

Shawn Cunningham and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the background, main characteristics and evolution of the Participatory Appraisal of Competitive Advantage (PACA) method.

Cases #8: The Genesis method in Amatole, South Africa

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:53:00 GMT

Mpumi Fundam, responsible for LED in the Amatole district municipality (i e the region around East London) in South Africa, and Colin Mitchell, the author of the Genesis method, explain how Genesis helped Amatole to identify its potential competitive advantage, formulate a strategic perspective and identify catalytic projects.

Cases #7: Training councillors on LED

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:51:00 GMT

Jorg Meyer-Stamer interviews Zini Godden, a South African LED trainer and facilitator, on her experience with LED training courses for councillors, i.e. the elected representatives in local government.

Cases #6: Tourism development in a World Cultural Heritage town

Fri, 4 Apr 2008 18:24:00 GMT

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke has a conversation with Andrea Schunk who is involved in tourism development in Colonia de Sacramento, a world cultural heritage site in Uruguay.

Tools #5: The Compass of Local Competitiveness

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:22:00 GMT

Shawn and Jorg explain the Compass, a performance management tool for LED that turns the Balanced Scorecard into a practical and exciting workshop format.
You can find a detailed description of the Compass here.

Concept #6: Market failure

Fri, 7 Mar 2008 17:34:00 GMT

Shawn Cunningham and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the issue of market failure: What is it? How can you address it? And how does it relate to other modes of organising economic transactions?

Concept #5: One stop shops

Sat, 1 Mar 2008 11:37:00 GMT

Christian Schoen interviews David Walke on the subject of business registration. David explains the do's and don'ts in the introduction of one stop shops.

Value Chains #6: Social standards

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 01:27:00 GMT

Jorg Meyer-Stamer interviews Peter Knorringa about social standards, the upcoming ISO 26 000 standard and the way in which local actors can respond to global standards.

Case #5: Starting LED in a marble sculpture cluster in Vietnam

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:23:00 GMT

Shawn Cunningham and Christian Schoen share insights from a PACA Exercise in the Marble Mountain cluster close to Da Nang, Vietnam. In particular, they discuss how slightly shady business practices impact on LED.

Value Chains #5: Cut out the middleman? And then what?

Thu, 7 Feb 2008 21:38:00 GMT

Mark Lundy and Jorg Meyer-Stamer discuss the middleman: Who is he, or she, why is s/he so important, why do local stakeholders often suggest to cut out the middleman, and why is this not necessarily a good idea.

Concept #4: Social Capital

Fri, 1 Feb 2008 13:07:00 GMT

Peter Knorringa (ISS, The Hague) explains what social capital is and how it can be addressed in LED.

Cases #4: SEBRAE, SMEs, supplier development and value chains

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:43:00 GMT

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke interviews Vinicius Lages of SEBRAE, Brazilâs small business promotion organisation. He explains how an SME-oriented supplier development project with Petrobras evolved into a value chain project, how SEBRAE approaches the issue of certification of SMEs, and the link to territorial development. -- Apologies again for the poor sound quality, hopefully for the last time since Ulli recently purchased a new and much better recording device!

Cases #3: Experiences with LED in South Eastern Europe

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:56:00 GMT

Frank Waeltring interviews LED practitioners from several South East European countries. They share some of their main learning processes.

Value Chains #4: Standards and certification

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:43:00 GMT

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke and Martin Doherty talk about the relevance of sanitary and phytosanitary standards in global value chains, their impact on producers, and possible responses by producers, including efforts to move into niche products or innovative, unusual products. -- We apologise for the poor sound quality of this recording.

Tools #4: Mad - Glad - Sad

Sat, 8 Dec 2007 12:29:00 GMT

Colin Mitchell explains a simple workshop format to engage with stakeholders at a very early stage of an LED process, asking them: What makes you mad? What makes you glad? What makes you sad?

Value Chain #3: CIAT's experiences in Central America

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:17:00 GMT

Jorg Meyer-Stamer interviews Mark Lundy of the Agribusiness Group at the Center for Tropical Agriculture, www.ciat.cgiar.org. They talk about CIAT's "learning community" around value chain development, surprising experiences with powerful buyers, and what often goes wrong in value chain initiatives.

Tools #3: Using the Five Forces Concept as a Workshop Format

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:57:00 GMT

Shawn and Jorg explain how to use Michael Porter's Five Forces Concept as a tool in a quick workshop with local businesses from the same subsector.

Value Chains #2: Learning in Global Value Chains

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:52:00 GMT

Jorg Meyer-Stamer interviews Lizbeth Navas-Aleman, fellow at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, about her research on the learning that takes place, or doesn't take place, as companies from developing countries are integrated into global value chains.

Case #2: Regional Economic Development in Central Java (gtz RED)

Fri, 2 Nov 2007 16:20:00 GMT

Hayder Al-Bagdadi, Atjeng Kadaryana and Christian Schoen discuss the achievements and learning processes in the Regional Economic Development Programme [gtz-RED] in Central Java, Indonesia.

Value Chains #1 - Introduction

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:55:00 GMT

With this show we start a new series in the LEDcast. We look at value chains: What are they? How are they relevant for local economic development? How can you promote them?

Case #1: LED in a poor rural location in South Africa

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:10:00 GMT

JÃrg Meyer-Stamer interviews John Lawson, an LED specialist currently involved in a major EU-supported LED programme in South Africa's Limpopo province. John reports on his experience with initiating an LED process in a poor rural municipality called Fetagkomo.

Concept #3: Business Retention and Expansion

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 08:55:00 GMT

Gerry Delaney, a South African LED consultant, explains the main features of the Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) approach to LED.

Tools #2: Designing an LED workshop

Sat, 8 Sep 2007 15:39:00 GMT

In this episode, JÃrg Meyer-Stamer and Colin Mitchell continue their conversation on how to prepare a workshop. What are the issues that you consider when you design the sequence of activities in a given workshop? How do you make sure that the limited time is used effectively, and what do you do to get a practical result out of a workshop?

Tools #1: Organising an LED workshop -- whom and how to invite

Mon, 3 Sep 2007 16:46:00 GMT

In this episode, JÃrg Meyer-Stamer and Colin Mitchell discuss one of the critical issues in the organisation of a workshop: How do you invite the right people? And how do you handle the management of expectations properly?

Concept #2: Local enabling environment

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 13:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we present a conversation that was recorded at mesopartner's Summer Academy on Local Economic Development. Jim Tanburn shares his views on the topic of "local enabling environment" -- what it is, and what can be done to promote it. Jim is an international consultant who specialises in private sector development. He also administrates the Donor Committee's website, www.businessenvironment.org.

Concept #1 - What is a cluster?

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:07:00 GMT

From now on, we will run parallel series on concepts, tools, cases, and specific issues. This is the first episode under 'concepts'. It addresses the topic of 'clusters' -- what are they, and why are they such in an issue in the context of local economic development?

Reflecting on the first dozen episodes

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:03:00 GMT

With this episode we complete the first dozen. We take this as an occasion to reflect on our learning process, and to discuss some of the comments that we received from listeners.

LED at the ILO

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 09:48:00 GMT

Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke, mesopartner, interviews Martin Gasser of the ILO's International Training Center about the ILO's approach to LED.

The three meanings of facilitation in LED

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:12:00 GMT

The three meanings of facilitation in LED are facilitating a learning experience, a workshop or meeting, and an LED process. We discuss what often goes wrong in facilitation, and what to do about it.

LED as a process

Sat, 26 May 2007 14:17:00 GMT

We discuss why LED needs to be conceptualised as a process. It is crucial to build credibility, trust, confidence and creativity. An LED process is a learning process. It is also, unfortunately for external donors, somewhat unpredictable.

Pro-poor Tourism and Local Economic Development

Sat, 19 May 2007 16:40:00 GMT

Christian Schoen interviews Jonathan Mitchell about the relationship between the pro-poor tourism approach and local economic development.

Tourism and LED in Da Nang, Vietnam

Sat, 19 May 2007 16:24:00 GMT

Christian Schoen (mesopartner) and Jonathan Mitchell (Overseas Development Institute) talk about their efforts to promote tourism through local economic development activities in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang.

LED in South Africa

Sun, 6 May 2007 19:08:00 GMT

We discuss the evolution of LED in South Africa.

Involving the business sector in LED

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:19:00 GMT

Why is it often difficult to involve the business sector in LED? What can you do to raise their interest?
At one point, we refer to Malcolm Gladwell's concept of "connectors". More information on this is available at http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/tp_excerpt2.html.

LED in industrialised and developing countries

Sat, 7 Apr 2007 09:25:00 GMT

In industrialized countries, LED has been practized for decades, whereas in developed countries it is a fairly recent phenomenon. Current practice in industrialized countries is the result of extensive learning-by-doing and trial-and-error processes. Practitioners in developing countries who want to learn for those experiences need to understand the evolutionary pattern of LED, and they need to ask the right questions to understand how current practice emerged.

LED in four types of regions

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:30:00 GMT

In this programme, we discuss four different types of locations and the possible approaches to LED in each of them.

LED in four types of regions

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:13:00 GMT

This figure shows the framework that we refer to in the Podcast.
For a more systematic introduction of this framework, see Jorg Meyer-Stamer's recent paper on Regional Development Agencies at http://www.mesopartner.com/publications/mp-wp10_RDA_e.pdf

LED and Strategy

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 05:17:00 GMT

In this program, we discuss the difference between strategy and strategic planning and the meaning of strategy for LED.

LED and Strategy

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 03:18:00 GMT

In the Podcast, we mention Henry Mintzberg's "5 Ps of Strategy". There is more information available at
http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/dstools/paradigm/5pstrat.html
We also mention David La Piana, the author of "Play to Win. The Nonprofit Guide to Competitive Strategy". You can find a Podcast where he presents some of his main ideas at
http://cdn.conversationsnetwork.org/SI.CLB-DavidLaPiana-2006.08.19.mp3

Why LED?

Wed, 7 Mar 2007 13:55:00 GMT

Why has Local Economic Development received so much attention in recent years, both by local actors and by national governments?