Papers by Jonathan D Smith
Global Environmental Change, 2024
Religions play an important yet poorly understood part in how social movements motivate societies... more Religions play an important yet poorly understood part in how social movements motivate societies to respond to environmental crises and the rapidly changing climate. Indonesia sits on the global frontline of environmental crises, with a rich history of religious diversity and environmental activism. Using framework synthesis, we analyzed 244 empirical studies (English and Indonesian) on 208 environmental social movements operating in local communities in Indonesia from 1990 through 2022. We developed a conceptual model showing how grassroots movements used lived religion to create new environmental practices and motivate environmental behavioral changes in diverse local communities. Our study inventoried 571 examples of lived religious concepts, practices, rituals and systems that movements used to create environmental concepts and practices. We found three patterns in the creative process: 1) conceptual hybridization, meaning that movements often blended official religions, Indigenous religions, and local knowledges and traditions (often called cultural practices), and they fused these aspects of lived religion with economic, legal and scientific concepts; 2) contextual imagination, meaning that movements adopted multiple religious and other strategies to respond to local economic, environmental, political, and religio-cultural contexts; and, 3) contestation-driven improvisation, meaning that movements faced intense opposition, and this dynamic both motivated improvisation and increased the vulnerability of movements and of local communities adapting to rapid environmental change. We propose that future studies on adaptation and sustainable transitions could include lived eco-religion as a meeting point for critical partnerships between environmental scholars in the sciences and the humanities.
SSRN, 2023
Religions play an important yet poorly understood part in how social movements motivate societies... more Religions play an important yet poorly understood part in how social movements motivate societies to respond to environmental crises and the rapidly changing climate. Indonesia sits on the global frontline of environmental crises, with a rich history of religious diversity and environmental activism. Using framework synthesis, we analyzed 244 empirical studies (English and Indonesian) on 208 environmental social movements operating in local communities in Indonesia from 1990 through 2022. We developed a conceptual model showing how grassroots movements used lived religion to create new environmental practices and motivate environmental behavioural changes in diverse local communities. Our study inventoried 571 examples of lived religious concepts, practices, rituals and systems that movements used to create environmental concepts and practices. We found three patterns in the creative process: 1) conceptual hybridization, meaning that movements synthesized between official religions, Indigenous religions, and local traditions and wisdom (often called cultural practices), and between these aspects of lived religion and economic, legal and scientific concepts; 2) contextual imagination, meaning that movements chose multiple religious and other strategies to respond to differing local economic, environmental, political, and religio-cultural contexts; and, 3) contestation-driven improvisation, meaning that movements faced intense opposition, and this dynamic both motivated improvisation and increased the vulnerability of movements and of local communities adapting to rapid environmental change. We suggest that future studies on adaptation and sustainable transitions could include lived eco-religion as a meeting point for critical partnerships between environmental scholars in the sciences and the humanities.
Kawistara, 2017
This article discusses connections between transnational multi-faith social movements addressing ... more This article discusses connections between transnational multi-faith social movements addressing climate change on a global scale with local expressions of religion and ecology in Indonesia. It connects two trends in literature on religion and ecology: 1) spatial analysis of religion and the natural environment and 2) studies of religious environmental social movements. Many studies of these movements put religious activists at the center, which suggests that they operate in a separate zone, somewhat disconnected from the local communities they aim to represent and reform. This articles argues that religious environmental movements can be better understood by placing them in the middle, as actors embedded in and shaped by overlapping global and local spaces. The article begins with a brief review of literature on religion and ecology relevant to a spatial analysis of religion and environmental social movements. It then argues that studies about religious environmental movements can be enriched by studying how movements are embedded in global and local contexts. It provides examples of how the Indonesian context (among others) has helped to shape global religious environmental movements. Next, the article presents case studies in Indonesia demonstrating how environmental activists share a dynamic relationship with their contexts, and how religious environmental discourses are co-created by local communities and religious activists. The article concludes with suggestions for further study about creative adaption to climate change at the local and global level.
World Development, 2017
This article diagnoses major causes of the uncomfortable relationship between missionaries and de... more This article diagnoses major causes of the uncomfortable relationship between missionaries and development scholars and practitioners, and it proposes new ways to clarify the relationship through shared reflection on sacred influences that shape global development. In the past fifteen years the turn to religion in development studies has altered how development scholars and practitioners perceive religious actors, opening up possibilities for renewed partnership. Yet the turn to religion in development has mostly disregarded missionaries. This oversight is partly due to the complicated historical relationship between Western Christian missionaries and development workers. Although missionaries have long participated in the work of development, present-day missionaries remain associated with coercive proselytization, or they are overlooked in literature on religion and development.
In order to understand the challenges of positioning missionaries in development, I review 48 sources which create, apply, or critique typologies of faith-based organizations (FBOs). FBO typologies of the past fifteen years have broken new ground in exploring the links between beliefs and practices of religious actors doing development work. Yet these typologies struggle to position missionaries due to (1) simplistic categorization of FBOs, (2) unhelpful scales of religiosity, and (3) a basis in outdated assumptions of separate spheres of religious and secular actors, and separate worlds of religion and development. Based on shared critiques of FBO typologies, I propose a new framework for positioning missionaries. The framework provides a shared space to explore how all development actors, both religious and secular, are shaped by the interaction between sacred and material influences. The framework offers a way to move beyond circular arguments about comparative advantage of religious or secular approaches toward an appreciation of the complementarity of different approaches to development. The article concludes with a shared critique of missionaries and development workers who impose their beliefs and values on others.
Disasters, 2018
This paper explores the crucial part that faith-based organisations (FBOs) play in acting as inte... more This paper explores the crucial part that faith-based organisations (FBOs) play in acting as intermediaries between international donors and local faith communities (LFCs) implementing humanitarian relief projects for Syrian refugees. Humanitarian responses to the mounting Syrian refugee crisis have coincided with greater collaboration between international donors and LFCs. This cooperation often is facilitated by a complex web of non-state intermediaries at the inter- national, national, and local level. This study probes the breadth of roles of these intermediaries, drawing on primary data from case studies of two Christian intermediaries supporting Christian LFCs as they deliver aid primarily to Muslim Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The results of the study are connected to the wider literature on LFCs in humanitarian response, revealing how intermediaries address issues of accountability, capacity-building, impartiality, neutrality, and professionalism. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for further research on intermediaries as key actors in the localisation of humanitarian assistance.
Multi-faith spaces display and influence the state of public religion at UK universities. In the ... more Multi-faith spaces display and influence the state of public religion at UK universities. In the past decade the vast majority of university managers have adopted multi-faith policies. In most cases these reflect a growing engagement with religious identity and practice. But in a few cases the creation of multi-faith spaces corresponded with clashes between students of different faiths, student protests and negative media coverage about campus relations. How could the same policy have such different results? My study of multi-faith spaces suggests that the difference can be found in how university managers approach religion on campus, illustrated by two different approaches to accommodating Islamic prayer.
Drawing on the theory of social capital and research on religious groups and social transformatio... more Drawing on the theory of social capital and research on religious groups and social transformation in South Africa, this paper presents a model demonstrating that interfaith partnerships can effectively transcend boundaries of social exclusion and inequality by creating diverse communities of care. Interfaith solidarity, defined as multi-religious and religious-secular coalitions unified around common goals, has long been a characteristic of peaceful social movements. It played a key role in the anti- apartheid struggle that resulted in transition to democracy in 1994. More than a decade later, South Africa remains one of the world’s most unequal societies. In this context, religious communities are underutilized as a force for social transformation, despite being one of the strongest multi-racial affiliations among South Africans. A critical approach to social capital reveals five major conditions for optimising its effectiveness in overcoming exclusion: informal networks, stock of social trust, multiple levels, mediating actors, and constructive interaction. Interfaith solidarity is effective because it largely meets these conditions for religious communities’ involvement in social transformation. The model of interfaith solidarity is illustrated by the coalition effort to care for South African HIV/AIDS patients and to advocate for government adoption of more aggressive policies to stem the tide of the disease.
This paper explores multiple ways that religious groups conceive of their roles as citizens in th... more This paper explores multiple ways that religious groups conceive of their roles as citizens in the newly-democratic, multicultural South Africa. Religious affiliation is among the strongest group identities in South African society, largely cutting across racial and class boundaries. The swift political transition in South Africa from apartheid to democracy has resulted in a greatly changed relationship between religious groups and the newly democratic government. The adoption by the government of a religion-state model of separation with interaction and the rapid pluralisation of the public sphere have opened numerous channels for religious groups to critically engage as citizens with government in the construction of a democratic South African society. Yet religious communities that were divided over the appropriate response to apartheid are now divided over their role in the pluralistic public sphere. How can religious groups maintain their particular identities and at the same time participate in the constructing of a national identity along with people from other religions and the non-religious? Religious responses have included 1) retreat into the private sphere, 2) prophetic critique of government policies, and 3) active participation in multi-faith partnerships with government through informal and formal channels. Case studies illustrating each of these conceptions of citizenship are presented. It is argued that multi-faith partnerships best represent the model of plural citizenship fitting to the development of a multicultural democracy in South Africa
Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office Occasional Paper #18, 2005
The advent of a democratic South Africa brought numerous changes in the public sphere. With the a... more The advent of a democratic South Africa brought numerous changes in the public sphere. With the adoption of the 1996 Constitution, a new model of religion-state relations was instituted that fundamentally altered the interaction between religious groups and the new government. This paper is an attempt to examine this developing model by placing it in the context of other models and other countries, particularly in southern Africa. The historical and cultural context of South Africa will then be discussed, its evolution from the colonial past to the democratic present, and an exploration the limitations of the model as well as its implications for religious groups in South Africa today.
Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Parliamentary Liaison Office Briefing Paper 155, 2006
The persistence of poverty and the frightening spread of HIV/AIDS a decade after the transition t... more The persistence of poverty and the frightening spread of HIV/AIDS a decade after the transition to democracy highlight the pressing need for social transformation in South Africa. Religious groups have a unique role to play in this endeavour, with a robust capacity for providing social services that is acknowledged by government. The past decade has seen increasing partnerships between religious groups and the state in both formal and ad-hoc forums to increase the effectiveness of social programmes. This paper will critically examine some of these partnerships and the ongoing debate around their usefulness.
Futures, 2007
Young people's complex and contradictory understandings of the future are inevitably influenced b... more Young people's complex and contradictory understandings of the future are inevitably influenced by their past experiences and the environment in which they currently live. Where this environment is itself particularly complex or contradictory then the understandings young people hold of the future will be affected. This paper, based on foresighting workshops held at three Israeli/Palestinian universities, examines the differing environmental attitudes and understandings of the future that young people hold in Israel and Palestine, before analysing the implications of these for achieving more sustainable development in the region. Despite the very real challenges the region is facing, these foresighting workshops showed that young people think systematically and rationally about the future. They are not filled with pessimism but recognise the challenges they face and can identify realistic solutions to those problems which they see as being of the greatest importance. The foresighting workshops showed that there was some common understanding of the participants about the key future environmental challenges that they face together with possible means for tackling these challenges.
This working paper is an output of the Renewable Energy And Decentralization (READ) project, a re... more This working paper is an output of the Renewable Energy And Decentralization (READ) project, a research project (EP/L002469/1, 2013-2015) funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the UK Department of International Development (DFID) and the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), and executed by Loughborough University, Gamos Ltd and Practical Action East Africa.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly toward decentralised budgets, giving local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population. Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens, those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely considered energy infrastructure. The primary objective for this project is, therefore, to scope the implications for energy governance caused by the political process of decentralisation occurring across African states. As such, our objectives are to (i) assess the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in relation to energy issues across Rural Africa, (ii) to examine how the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in relation to energy issues have already been affected by the transfer of powers and budgets under decentralization initiatives and (iii) to analyse the implications for local authorities in relation to energy issues of further, more profound, transformations that would see the transfer of more powers and budgets under current decentralization impulses. In this working paper we focus on Decentralisation of Government in Africa. In order to understand the influence of local governments on clean energy transitions, we provide an overview of the literature on decentralisation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper reviews definitions of decentralisation; traces the extent of decentralisation worldwide and in sub-Saharan Africa, including trends in its development, summarises the achievements, challenges, lessons learned in the past two decades; includes case studies of the process of decentralisation in six African countries; provides an inventory of typical responsibilities of local governments; and concludes with relevance to the wider decentralised energy project.
This working paper is an output of the Renewable Energy And Decentralization (READ) project, a re... more This working paper is an output of the Renewable Energy And Decentralization (READ) project, a research project (EP/L002469/1, 2013-2015) funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the UK Department of International Development (DFID) and the UK Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), and executed by Loughborough University, Gamos Ltd and Practical Action East Africa.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly toward decentralised budgets, giving local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population. Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens, those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely considered energy infrastructure. Existing research indicates that many local authorities in Africa are struggling with the capacities and capabilities necessary to govern the complex social, political and economic situations they routinely face. Required to contribute inter alia to financial management, local and regional economic development, strategic planning in the local government, budgeting procedures, tax collection, procurement procedures and standards, ethics for local government staff and elected representatives, and action against corruption, it is hardly surprising that against this backdrop the demands placed on their time and capabilities would see energy planning neglected. And yet energy - in particular, clean energy for development - is becoming increasingly important not just to them in their specific geographical location, but to the wider region and world more generally. The need for energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability – the energy trilemma – are a pressing concern for all the world’s citizens and the fragile global ecosystem (World Energy Council, 2013), but the actual application of energy policy often takes place at the hyper-local level under the influence of increasingly-decentralised actors. In this paper then we draw on the literature and analysis of three distinct areas: 1) conceptions of the term literacy in other sectors and fields of work, 2) analysis of the current discourse on policy and acquisition of ‘multiple knowledges’, and 3) inventory and critique of current definitions and frameworks for energy literacy. Based on this deepened understanding, we propose a definition and general framework of energy proficiency for decentralised governance.
This working paper is an output of the Renewable Energy And Decentralization (READ) project, a re... more This working paper is an output of the Renewable Energy And Decentralization (READ) project, a research
project (EP/L002469/1, 2013-2015) funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC), the UK Department of International Development (DFID) and the UK Department for Energy and
Climate Change (DECC), and executed by Loughborough University, Gamos Ltd and Practical Action East Africa.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly towards decentralised budgets, giving
local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population.
Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens,
those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely
considered energy infrastructure.
Working Paper 2b focused on energy proficiency. It explored the idea that existing definitions of energy
literacy fall short of the robust understanding of the different types of energy knowledge needed by local
authority officials. This paper fills those gaps by exploring the acquisition of ‘multiple knowledges’ and its
policy context, reviewing definitions of energy literacy and other relevant knowledges, and presenting
frameworks for energy proficiency (both the participatory process of its development and its implementation).
Based on this deepened understanding, we proposed a definition and general framework of energy proficiency
for decentralised governance.
This is a short briefing paper scanning the trends in price of Solar Photovoltaic cells and panel... more This is a short briefing paper scanning the trends in price of Solar Photovoltaic cells and panels, to inform other research projects.
Reports by Jonathan D Smith
The Faith & Belief Forum, 2017
This briefing paper reports on The Faith & Belief Forum (formerly 3FF)’s research about faith, be... more This briefing paper reports on The Faith & Belief Forum (formerly 3FF)’s research about faith, belief and belonging in London. It is the first in a series of papers on how faith and belief in London relate to social exclusion and belonging. It accompanies our Evening of Faith Recognition and Celebration, which recognises the contribution of local projects to improving the lives of Londoners of all faiths and non-religious beliefs. Throughout this paper, we mention projects which have received awards for their contribution to and for faith communities in London. For more information please see our website at https://faithbeliefforum.org/programme/london-faith-belief-community-awards-winners-2017/. We use the term ‘faith and belief’ as an aspect of people’s identity, including all religious and non-religious beliefs. People are defined by more than their faith or belief identity, but for many Londoners their faith or belief is an essential part of their lives. London is an extraordinary city in its religious diversity. In the last Census of 2011, 70% of Londoners declared a religious affiliation. The largest group remain Christians (48.5%), joined by a rising number of other religious and non-religious groups. Beyond the numbers, faith and belief work in complicated ways in the lives of Londoners. Some people are more visibly religious than others due to modes of dress such as the headscarf or turban. People who identify themselves as belonging to the same faith may hold vastly different beliefs, and some people who appear religious may define themselves as non-religious or atheists. Most scholars agree that faith and belief may contribute to both belonging and exclusion. For many Londoners, their faith or belief provides a sense of belonging and is a source of wellbeing. In local communities, different faiths and beliefs can contribute to exclusion and social division, yet people motivated by their diverse faiths and beliefs also make important contributions to harmonious community relations. Here, we describe factors that contribute to both exclusion and belonging in London.
Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies Research Briefings 10, 2018
Since 2011 more than 6 million Syrians have fled a devastating civil war in their homeland, and s... more Since 2011 more than 6 million Syrians have fled a devastating civil war in their homeland, and some have sought refuge in Western countries. European and North American responses to this crisis have revealed stark political and religious divisions. Yet the overwhelming majority of these refugees (5.5 million) live in local communities in neighbouring countries, primarily in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The responses of local Christians in these countries to their new Syrian neighbours have important implications for global Muslim-Christian relations. Between September 2015 and September 2016, as part of doctoral research, I conducted interviews with 25 staff members and volunteers from 12 international and local Christian organisations providing aid to Syrian refugees. These organisations included Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches and church-based organisations. Two of the areas we explored in interviews were the significance of the responses to Syrian refugees by Christians, and the implications of these responses for Muslim-Christian relations in Jordan and in the wider region.
How do we describe a community? This report aims to explore not what community is in an abstract ... more How do we describe a community? This report aims to explore not what community is in an abstract sense, but what it means to people living in our London neighbourhood. This report is part of a six-month Community Listening Project conducted by the Hurtado Jesuit Centre. Community means many different thing to different people. We have tried not to define it ourselves, rather to allow people to define and to talk about what community means to them. In total we conducted 24 extended interviews with community members. In addition we conducted two group interviews: one with residents of a short- term accommodation hostel and one with stakeholders of a community services organisation. We begin with a description of the shape of community in Tower Hamlets and Wapping. Then we explore how people experience community on a daily basis, what makes them feel welcome or unwelcome. After listening to these stories, we turn to descriptions of good and effective community work, illustrated by cases of projects that are working well. Next we examine gaps in community services that people highlighted. We then describe what community means to us at the Hurtado Centre, and conclude the report with some suggestions on a way forward in building stronger local communities. In each section we have tried to give space for people to speak. Each section closes with some questions that may aid reflection for your own community work. Whatever community is, it is valuable. The value of community is hard to quantify, but we can agree that is essential for a good life and a healthy society.
The Lokahi Foundation has developed and delivered workshops on facilitating conflicts of beliefs ... more The Lokahi Foundation has developed and delivered workshops on facilitating conflicts of beliefs and values to staff and officers at five Students’ Unions. This best practice guide is a direct result of the learned from those workshops, combining key concepts in the workshop with important information submitted by staff and officers. The objectives of the workshops are to: -Deepen understanding of conflicts of beliefs and values and how they impact on project delivery. -Expand bank of facilitation skills for managing conflicts of beliefs and values. -Increase understanding of personal and group boundaries in facilitating difficult discussions. -Build confidence in conflict management by practicing use of skills in roleplays of conflict situations
This briefing paper provides an update on a four-year Lokahi research project on campus relations... more This briefing paper provides an update on a four-year Lokahi research project on campus relations. The Equality Act 2010 sets a clear expectation for universities and colleges to foster good relations between people from different groups, as noted in the 2011 Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) report on religion and belief; however, many institutions do not offer appropriate training or incorporate best practices, particularly in areas of religion and belief. The Lokahi Foundation has completed the pilot year of a four-year action research project on good campus relations. The project offers customised support and training to key influencers in student societies and students‟ unions. Over a three- year cycle, our support equips them to make structural changes and to incorporate best practice into their institutions. The learning is being compiled into a best practice toolkit in campus relations for the benefit of the entire sector. The campus relations research project addresses two questions: 1) What are the descriptors and indicators for good campus relations at higher education institutions (HEIs)? 2) What factors contribute to embedding lasting change in good campus relations?
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Papers by Jonathan D Smith
In order to understand the challenges of positioning missionaries in development, I review 48 sources which create, apply, or critique typologies of faith-based organizations (FBOs). FBO typologies of the past fifteen years have broken new ground in exploring the links between beliefs and practices of religious actors doing development work. Yet these typologies struggle to position missionaries due to (1) simplistic categorization of FBOs, (2) unhelpful scales of religiosity, and (3) a basis in outdated assumptions of separate spheres of religious and secular actors, and separate worlds of religion and development. Based on shared critiques of FBO typologies, I propose a new framework for positioning missionaries. The framework provides a shared space to explore how all development actors, both religious and secular, are shaped by the interaction between sacred and material influences. The framework offers a way to move beyond circular arguments about comparative advantage of religious or secular approaches toward an appreciation of the complementarity of different approaches to development. The article concludes with a shared critique of missionaries and development workers who impose their beliefs and values on others.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly toward decentralised budgets, giving local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population. Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens, those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely considered energy infrastructure. The primary objective for this project is, therefore, to scope the implications for energy governance caused by the political process of decentralisation occurring across African states. As such, our objectives are to (i) assess the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in relation to energy issues across Rural Africa, (ii) to examine how the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in relation to energy issues have already been affected by the transfer of powers and budgets under decentralization initiatives and (iii) to analyse the implications for local authorities in relation to energy issues of further, more profound, transformations that would see the transfer of more powers and budgets under current decentralization impulses. In this working paper we focus on Decentralisation of Government in Africa. In order to understand the influence of local governments on clean energy transitions, we provide an overview of the literature on decentralisation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper reviews definitions of decentralisation; traces the extent of decentralisation worldwide and in sub-Saharan Africa, including trends in its development, summarises the achievements, challenges, lessons learned in the past two decades; includes case studies of the process of decentralisation in six African countries; provides an inventory of typical responsibilities of local governments; and concludes with relevance to the wider decentralised energy project.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly toward decentralised budgets, giving local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population. Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens, those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely considered energy infrastructure. Existing research indicates that many local authorities in Africa are struggling with the capacities and capabilities necessary to govern the complex social, political and economic situations they routinely face. Required to contribute inter alia to financial management, local and regional economic development, strategic planning in the local government, budgeting procedures, tax collection, procurement procedures and standards, ethics for local government staff and elected representatives, and action against corruption, it is hardly surprising that against this backdrop the demands placed on their time and capabilities would see energy planning neglected. And yet energy - in particular, clean energy for development - is becoming increasingly important not just to them in their specific geographical location, but to the wider region and world more generally. The need for energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability – the energy trilemma – are a pressing concern for all the world’s citizens and the fragile global ecosystem (World Energy Council, 2013), but the actual application of energy policy often takes place at the hyper-local level under the influence of increasingly-decentralised actors. In this paper then we draw on the literature and analysis of three distinct areas: 1) conceptions of the term literacy in other sectors and fields of work, 2) analysis of the current discourse on policy and acquisition of ‘multiple knowledges’, and 3) inventory and critique of current definitions and frameworks for energy literacy. Based on this deepened understanding, we propose a definition and general framework of energy proficiency for decentralised governance.
project (EP/L002469/1, 2013-2015) funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC), the UK Department of International Development (DFID) and the UK Department for Energy and
Climate Change (DECC), and executed by Loughborough University, Gamos Ltd and Practical Action East Africa.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly towards decentralised budgets, giving
local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population.
Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens,
those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely
considered energy infrastructure.
Working Paper 2b focused on energy proficiency. It explored the idea that existing definitions of energy
literacy fall short of the robust understanding of the different types of energy knowledge needed by local
authority officials. This paper fills those gaps by exploring the acquisition of ‘multiple knowledges’ and its
policy context, reviewing definitions of energy literacy and other relevant knowledges, and presenting
frameworks for energy proficiency (both the participatory process of its development and its implementation).
Based on this deepened understanding, we proposed a definition and general framework of energy proficiency
for decentralised governance.
Reports by Jonathan D Smith
In order to understand the challenges of positioning missionaries in development, I review 48 sources which create, apply, or critique typologies of faith-based organizations (FBOs). FBO typologies of the past fifteen years have broken new ground in exploring the links between beliefs and practices of religious actors doing development work. Yet these typologies struggle to position missionaries due to (1) simplistic categorization of FBOs, (2) unhelpful scales of religiosity, and (3) a basis in outdated assumptions of separate spheres of religious and secular actors, and separate worlds of religion and development. Based on shared critiques of FBO typologies, I propose a new framework for positioning missionaries. The framework provides a shared space to explore how all development actors, both religious and secular, are shaped by the interaction between sacred and material influences. The framework offers a way to move beyond circular arguments about comparative advantage of religious or secular approaches toward an appreciation of the complementarity of different approaches to development. The article concludes with a shared critique of missionaries and development workers who impose their beliefs and values on others.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly toward decentralised budgets, giving local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population. Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens, those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely considered energy infrastructure. The primary objective for this project is, therefore, to scope the implications for energy governance caused by the political process of decentralisation occurring across African states. As such, our objectives are to (i) assess the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in relation to energy issues across Rural Africa, (ii) to examine how the roles and responsibilities of local authorities in relation to energy issues have already been affected by the transfer of powers and budgets under decentralization initiatives and (iii) to analyse the implications for local authorities in relation to energy issues of further, more profound, transformations that would see the transfer of more powers and budgets under current decentralization impulses. In this working paper we focus on Decentralisation of Government in Africa. In order to understand the influence of local governments on clean energy transitions, we provide an overview of the literature on decentralisation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper reviews definitions of decentralisation; traces the extent of decentralisation worldwide and in sub-Saharan Africa, including trends in its development, summarises the achievements, challenges, lessons learned in the past two decades; includes case studies of the process of decentralisation in six African countries; provides an inventory of typical responsibilities of local governments; and concludes with relevance to the wider decentralised energy project.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly toward decentralised budgets, giving local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population. Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens, those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely considered energy infrastructure. Existing research indicates that many local authorities in Africa are struggling with the capacities and capabilities necessary to govern the complex social, political and economic situations they routinely face. Required to contribute inter alia to financial management, local and regional economic development, strategic planning in the local government, budgeting procedures, tax collection, procurement procedures and standards, ethics for local government staff and elected representatives, and action against corruption, it is hardly surprising that against this backdrop the demands placed on their time and capabilities would see energy planning neglected. And yet energy - in particular, clean energy for development - is becoming increasingly important not just to them in their specific geographical location, but to the wider region and world more generally. The need for energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability – the energy trilemma – are a pressing concern for all the world’s citizens and the fragile global ecosystem (World Energy Council, 2013), but the actual application of energy policy often takes place at the hyper-local level under the influence of increasingly-decentralised actors. In this paper then we draw on the literature and analysis of three distinct areas: 1) conceptions of the term literacy in other sectors and fields of work, 2) analysis of the current discourse on policy and acquisition of ‘multiple knowledges’, and 3) inventory and critique of current definitions and frameworks for energy literacy. Based on this deepened understanding, we propose a definition and general framework of energy proficiency for decentralised governance.
project (EP/L002469/1, 2013-2015) funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC), the UK Department of International Development (DFID) and the UK Department for Energy and
Climate Change (DECC), and executed by Loughborough University, Gamos Ltd and Practical Action East Africa.
Over the last ten years African governments have moved increasingly towards decentralised budgets, giving
local authorities increased powers and budgets to govern areas that include both rural and urban population.
Yet while cities have a municipal authority to consider new ways of supplying energy to its urban citizens,
those governing Africa's rural poor in small and medium towns in the surrounding rural hinterlands have rarely
considered energy infrastructure.
Working Paper 2b focused on energy proficiency. It explored the idea that existing definitions of energy
literacy fall short of the robust understanding of the different types of energy knowledge needed by local
authority officials. This paper fills those gaps by exploring the acquisition of ‘multiple knowledges’ and its
policy context, reviewing definitions of energy literacy and other relevant knowledges, and presenting
frameworks for energy proficiency (both the participatory process of its development and its implementation).
Based on this deepened understanding, we proposed a definition and general framework of energy proficiency
for decentralised governance.
Also investigates more broadly the experience of Muslims (and to a lesser extent, other faiths) in Europe at the moment