Emeritus Professor of City Leadership Robin Hambleton Robin.Hambleton@uwe.ac.uk
Let's ban the lazy language of 'best practice'. An exploration of how to enhance the effectiveness of international city-to-city learning
Hambleton, Robin
Authors
Abstract
This paper sets out five reasons why there is no such thing as ‘best practice’ when it comes to international city-to-city learning and dialogue. The paper then widens the conversation to consider the nature of international exchange and distinguishes three levels of analysis: 1) Ideological and political forces; 2) Ideas in good currency; and 3) The agency exercised by place-based leaders. It will be suggested that much international comparative research spotlights national policies and practices and, as a result, is in danger of failing to recognise the very rapid rise of influential patterns of international, place-to-place exchange now taking place below the level of the nation state. The concept of lesson drawing is then introduced and, provided this focuses on ‘relevant practice’, not ‘best practice’, it provides a promising way forward for comparative action/research. A framework for understanding the various dimensions of international lesson drawing is presented, and it is hoped that this might be helpful to those interested to design and develop cross-national policy exchanges in the future. A final section discusses how to move beyond ‘best practice’ and arrive at ‘relevant practice’. It considers the emerging prospects for international city-to-city learning and suggests that universities could be far more active in helping local stakeholders develop more rigorous approaches to relevant international lesson drawing.
Citation
Hambleton, R. (2018, June). Let's ban the lazy language of 'best practice'. An exploration of how to enhance the effectiveness of international city-to-city learning. Paper presented at Reconciling past and future urban and regional strengths. Annual Conference of the European Urban Research Association (EURA), Tilburg, The Netherlands
Presentation Conference Type | Conference Paper (unpublished) |
---|---|
Conference Name | Reconciling past and future urban and regional strengths. Annual Conference of the European Urban Research Association (EURA) |
Conference Location | Tilburg, The Netherlands |
Start Date | Jun 21, 2018 |
End Date | Jun 23, 2018 |
Acceptance Date | Mar 30, 2018 |
Publication Date | Jun 1, 2018 |
Deposit Date | Jun 4, 2018 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 29, 2024 |
Peer Reviewed | Not Peer Reviewed |
Keywords | best practice, international exchange, public innovation, city leadership, lesson drawing |
Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/867164 |
Additional Information | Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Reconciling past and future urban and regional strengths, Annual Conference of the European Urban Research Association (EURA) |
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