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This chapter explores the significance and implementation of family planning practices, emphasizing their vital role in enhancing reproductive health outcomes. This chapter conducts an in-depth examination of family planning practices within marginalized communities in Bangladesh, shedding light on the unique challenges and opportunities faced by these populations. By uncovering the nuances of family planning practices in marginalized contexts, this chapter underscores the need for tailored and culturally sensitive family planning programs. It advocates for program designs that facilitate the effective adoption of family planning practices among marginalized communities, ultimately promoting better reproductive health outcomes. Furthermore, this chapter highlights the importance of empowerment strategies in reaching and engaging marginalized communities. Through practice enhancement initiatives, it seeks to empower marginalized populations with the knowledge and resources necessary to make informed decisions about family planning, thereby contributing to improved reproductive health and overall well-being.

This final chapter of this comprehensive volume serves as a pivotal culmination, offering profound insights into the multifaceted realm of family planning, with a dedicated focus on empowering marginalized communities and advancing sustainable development. Drawing from lessons learned across diverse Asian contexts, this chapter encapsulates the critical importance of family planning as a catalyst for broader development outcomes. It underscores the empowerment of marginalized communities, integrating access to healthcare, education, economic opportunities, and gender equity as central pillars. Furthermore, this chapter delves into the unique lessons derived from the experiences of Bangladesh, a nation exemplifying remarkable strides in family planning. It also emphasizes the significance of context-specific policies, programs, and cross-country collaborations. This book’s concluding chapter presents forward-looking directions for holistic approaches, inclusivity, data-driven decision-making, partnerships, youth engagement, climate resilience, and more. This chapter not only consolidates this book’s invaluable findings but also paves the way for a future where family planning becomes an even more integral part of sustainable development.

The purpose of this paper is to share the findings from a learning intervention aimed at facilitating more regular and effective collaboration across the planning and aging sectors in order to advance Livable Communities for All Ages (LCA).

A half-day summit that convened over 250 aging sector professionals and planners. Data from these conversations, as well as a pre-event survey, post-event evaluations, and a six-month post-event follow-up survey provide the findings for the discussion.

The results revealed that the participants increasingly recognized the value of cross-sector relationships to their work on LCA. Further, the success on current projects was highly attributed to the trust gained from a previous experience of aging and planning professionals working together.

Researchers relied on a purposive sample of respondents already registered to attend the Livable Communities Summit, who were likely to be somewhat knowledgeable about the topic of age-friendly planning. While not generalizable to the broader professional fields of the aging and planning sectors, the results inform on the importance of cross-sector collaboration in the context of planning communities supportive of individuals across the lifespan.

Existing challenges to the local residents in a broad swath of areas including housing, transportation, social isolation, purpose and more, are exacerbated in a rapidly aging world that does not advance policies, practices, and built environments to make communities more livable for residents of all ages.

The intention of this research is to contribute to the limited existing literature on collaboration between professionals in the planning and aging fields and to stimulate the increased and improved cross-sector relationships.

Design-led events are known under a range of different titles such charrettes, participatory placemaking, co-design and enquiry by design. Rather than being standalone, such events form one single step in a multi-stage collaborative planning process. What comes after them has to be acknowledged as important to their effective contribution to collaborative planning. To date, no coherent body of empirical evidence on the aftermath of events has been published demonstrating critical factors that contribute to their success.

The paper’s significance resides in identifying an extended framework for the stages in the collaborative planning process and in highlighting critical issues for ensuring that the aspirations and concerns expressed by stakeholders throughout the process are acted on and delivered, namely, subsequent decision-making and delivery; follow-on support, resourcing and funding; the legal status of events and related governance issues; and appropriate monitoring and evaluation practices.

The paper provides guidance for professional and local stakeholders who are expected to carry the burden of acting on the outputs arising from such events. To be successful, collaborative planning has to be based on longitudinal stakeholder engagement – both long before but also after such events. It is here that the significance of the results reported here lie.

The originality of this paper lies in its attempt to broaden understanding of what happens in collaborative planning following design-led events, drawing on interviews with professional and lay participants in events held across Scotland over the past decade.

There has been much research focusing on contracting and its effect on individual voluntary sector organisation, and some mapping of the extent of voluntary sector participation in joint community care planning. Each of these is a new and formal relationship with the statutory sector, and in many cases the tasks are fulfilled by the same voluntary sector worker (usually the senior paid officer of the agency). But the impact that these two new relationships have on the voluntary organisation’s perception of its dependence and inter‐dependence has received less attention. The paper will draw on structured interviews in three local authorities, with voluntary sector participants in contracts for social care, and with participants in joint community care planning groups, as well as on documentary research. It will explore the impact of the evolving roles for those seeking to operate effectively in the pluralist provision of public services. It will analyse experiences within joint community care planning structures, and will analyse experiences of contractual relationships. The paper will seek to identify the elements present in each research site which influence the culture of joint working within the two statutory/ voluntary relationships.

Unprecedented levels of investment in transit and transit-oriented development in Los Angeles County have not resulted in gains for transit-dependent populations or overall higher ridership for that matter. They have instead saddled them with inordinate cost burdens and displacement pressures. Yet racialised, low-income communities that rely on transit are far from passive victims. Rather, they are participating in advocacy campaigns that penetrate decision-making venues and procedures and co-create institutional practices, policy priorities, and public and private investments that serve their interests and build a Los Angeles that is more widely accessible and affordable. This chapter presents a case study of the Alliance for Community Transit-Los Angeles (ACT-LA), a regional coalition of over 40 community-based organisations at the helm of direct-action policy campaigns and participatory planning initiatives to advance transit justice and equitable transit-oriented communities (TOC). After examining ACT-LA's origins in the LA-based movement for community benefits agreements, the analysis focuses on how ACT-LA has combined political mobilisation for ballot-box measures with participatory policy-making and planning processes to advance just, equitable, sustainable transit systems, and TOC. The concluding discussion considers the implications of the ACT-LA case for reformulating participatory policy-making and planning around transportation and land use to further equity and climate goals.

This paper aims to address to what extent local administration is involved in national planning focusing on drafting and reviewing processes of “Egypt Vision 2030”.

The paper plan to use focus group discussions and descriptive-analytical approach with representatives of local administration in three governorates.

Importance of local participation is not any more a question; however, participation concept and methodology are what matters. Participatory approach is not complex-free. It is crucial to consider conflicts of interest groups, ideologies, and political trends, communities’ high expectations, particularly of those who were marginalized and deprived for long time. Definitions should not be unified on national, regional and local levels. Each community needs to agree on its own definitions, needs, dreams and paths toward development. Accordingly, the role of the planner is to expand choices and opportunities for each citizen. Participation in planning for the future must include the coming generation who are opting to live this tomorrow. That requires institutionalization of youth participation in the decision-making processes.

It was difficult to ensure meeting adequate sample; however, the author does believe that the participated sample represents the case.

The impact of public participation in planning on enhancing the planning processes and strategic planning outcomes and implementation is not a matter of questioning anymore, although governments do not pay due attention.

Public participation in planning processes named participative planning is crucial for achieving development, social justice, economic development and public trust in governments.

The paper depends on focus-group discussions that were conducted by the author. Analysis and discussions reflect the author’s academic and practical experiences.

Emergency management has come to be regarded by many analysts as a critical part of the development of sustainable communities. The emergency management function has been linked to issues such as environmental stewardship and community planning. Especially important is the linkage between hazard mitigation efforts and community planning in the context of building sustainable communities. But this conceptual linkage has been difficult to implement in practice. The resolution of this difficulty and a clarification of the essential linkage of hazard mitigation to community planning will require a broader definition and a reformulation of the emergency management function. It will also require an assessment and the removal of impediments that currently stand in the way of the implementation of this linkage. Practical steps can be taken to begin this important chore.

Purpose – This chapter explores the nature of spatial change processes in the urban–rural fringe of Ireland's capital city, Dublin. These areas have experienced rapid population growth between 1991 and 2002 in changing social structures, a rapidly changing built and natural environment, and increases in commuting. The chapter investigates how coalitions of community interests have responded to these spatial changes through opportunities for public participation in local governance processes.

Methodology/approach – We adopt a qualitative approach to assess the relationship between residents’ associations and the local state through a detailed empirical examination of the activities of residents’ associations within the rural–urban fringe.

Findings – Community and residents’ groups are very active in attempting to shape land-use and spatial planning policy outcomes with a complexity of motivations for engaging with the planning process, beyond simplistic portrayals of Not In My Back Yard-style local opposition to any change. However, attempts to influence policy outcomes were undermined by powerful developer and landowning interests, resulting in a deep-seated cynicism towards the public participation process, particularly with regard to the relationship between developers and councillors, and the probity of the planning system.

Implications/value of chapter – The limited ability of community interests to influence policy represents the economic and political reality of the development process, where the strategies and tactical behaviour of a few dominant interests and embedded power relations can compromise a deliberative and participatory policy process.