Mixed world heritage in Scandinavian countries

UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention has become a global policy for natural and cultural conservation and in particular the intricate relation between the two. This article presents two cases, Laponia and the Lofoten Islands, put forward as mixed World Heritage Sites by the governments of Sweden and Norway. The overall national goals of the nominations have been to ensure sustainable human use of natural resources and the conservation of biodiversity. However, in both countries the nomination and implementation of mixed sites have produced a series of challenges at the municipality management level. Comparing the processes of promoting Laponia and Lofoten as World Heritage Sites, the article discusses the challenges of local involvement and democratic participation in national decision-making by asking what comprises local involvement and co-management at mixed World Heritage Sites. Why does the implementation of management at mixed World Heritage Sites create conflict between local stakeholders and the national governments of Norway and Sweden?     

West African Tradition in the Decoration of Colonial Jamaican Folk Pottery

In the early colonial period, Jamaican slaves manufactured pottery that incorporated traditional West African technology with selected European innovations. Recent examination of Afro-Jamaican wares from the seventeenth-century site of Port Royal suggests that the decorative elements are consistent with those that are in wide use among West African pottery traditions, particularly those of the Gold Coast (Ghana). Stamped designs prevail as the clearest example of this continuity. Potential Amerindian contributions to the Jamaican folk pottery industry during this period are considered and shown to be unlikely. The isolation of decorative traits demonstrates how certain craft elements of West African peoples were transported to the New World and integrated with other cultural traditions. It also corroborates the documentary record pertaining to the geographical origin of Jamaican slaves during the early colonial period.     

Challenges and Dilemmas in Implementing the Americans With Disabilities Act: Lessons From the First Decade

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 represents a strong national commitment to protecting the full rights and opportunities of persons with disabilities. This article traces evidence of the impact of the ADA's implementation and compliance during its first decade.     

School Choice in Milwaukee

For decades educational reformers have identified school choice programs as a strategy for restructuring public school systems. Practically every state has considered or adopted a school assignment program that qualifies as a "choice" initiative, one in which students and parents have some choice in school selection. Increasingly, school districts are contemplating plans that include a choice of private, as well as public, schools. One of the most far-reaching of these school choice plans is the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Parental Choice Program, which, as legislated, allows parents to use vouchers to enroll their children in both sectarian and nonsectarian schools in the community. This paper explores the evolution of school choice in Milwaukee and examines the extent to which school choice is representative of other privatization efforts currently under way in the United States.     

WILL ATTRACTING THE “CREATIVE CLASS” BOOST ECONOMIC GROWTH IN OLD INDUSTRIAL REGIONS? A CASE STUDY OF SCOTLAND

Attracting in-migration of the creative class has been argued by Florida (2002) to be a route to higher economic growth in the era of the knowledge economy. This paper critically evaluates this proposition in relation to old industrial regions using the example of Scotland. The paper presents an assessment of, in the first instance, to what extent there is a shortage of skilled, talented and entrepreneurial individuals and, in the second instance, whether a talent attraction strategy alone can hope to attract such people to Scotland. It is proposed that for most migrants the availability of appropriate economic opportunities is a prerequisite for mobility. However, despite uncertain evidence that place attractiveness is a catalyst to mobility among the so-called creative class, this is not a reason for dismissing talent attraction programmes. Instead it is argued that talent attraction programmes have the potential to contribute to old industrial economies, but their success will be greatest when talent attraction is carefully targeted and based on economic realities rather than the marketing of ethereal conceptions of place attractiveness.