From best practice to relevant practice in international city-to-city learning

Hambleton, Robin

Abstract

This chapter sets out five main reasons why there is no such thing as 'best practice' when it comes to international city-to-city learning and dialogue. The chapter then considers the nature of international exchange and distinguishes three overlapping levels of analysis: 1) Ideological and political forces; 2) Ideas in good currency; and 3) The agency exercised by place-based leaders. The concept of city-to-city lesson drawing is then introduced and it is suggested that, provided lesson drawing focuses on 'relevant practice', not 'best practice', it offers a promising way forward for international comparative action/research. A framework for understanding the various dimensions of international lesson drawing is presented and a concluding section provides suggestions on how to improve city-to-city learning in the future.

• Online Publication Date: Jun 1, 2020
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Dec 27, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2022
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (part of Springer Nature)
• Pages: 31-56
• Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Sub-national Governance
• Series ISSN: 2523-8248
• Book Title: Strategies for Urban Network Learning
• Chapter Number: 3
• ISBN: 9783030360474
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36048-1
• Keywords: International city-to-city learning; Best practice; Relevant practice
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/8442154
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-36048-1
• Contract Date: May 31, 2019