Conference Agenda

1. Problem Statement and Purpose (196 words)

Public administration’s colonial binary of the ‘formal’ (European/GDP) and the ‘informal’ ignores the 'African worldview’ and ignores the energy, ingenuity, flexibility, stamina, pragmatism and labour of the majority of the world’s population in the slums, favelas, bustees, and shantytowns. Informality in the Global South is not a state of exception, an excess or surplus - it is the ‘definitive prospect for the future’ of millions. The statically invisible but definitive prospect has profound governance implications.

Unfathomably, informal citizenship - individual and collective responsibility for meeting basic needs, struggles constantly with elite destruction and erasure of their ‘unauthorised’, ‘undesirable’, ‘haphazard’, ‘unproductive’ and ‘parasitic’ livelihoods. But the social formation of the informal economy is not haphazard, unregulated, ungoverned nor parasitic. It is a structured, subordinated, self-reproducing and rule-based system of coordination and interactions in dynamic interchange with the formal.

Informal citizenship is a function of the quality of public governance, pivoting on responsiveness, coordination and regulation of the collective towards sustainable, culturally resonant, and equitable outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to detail the successful ‘formal, semi-formal and no-name collaborations’ with the informal to meet basic needs in Bangladesh, Brazil, Peru, Philippines, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

2. Methodology (97 words)

Largely desktop-driven, the paper employs case studies from the Global South to analyse processes of change bridging external social organisation and the internal organisation of state institutions. This dynamic interchange between external and internal centres on nurturing and expanding citizenship via integrating informal settlements and economies into the urban fabric through formal, semi-formal and no-name collaborations. The paper homes in on how public authorities work with and engaged communities and wider society to drive material gains in socioeconomic outcomes. Comparative analysis may help to identify common and diverse governance modalities across cases but can neglect contextual specificities.

3. Findings (96 words)

Case studies expose the ‘innocence’ of public administration and planning - the defective ‘invited spaces’, technocratic sanitisation of politics, institutional neutrality, and colour-blind justice. Dominant elite interests plus government’s obsession with ‘efficiency and effectiveness’ continue destroying, displacing, and erasing the livelihoods and social economies of the poor majority. Pragmatic engagements with informality in countries of the Global South have led to and are pushing towards sustainable, culturally resonant, and equitable outcomes. Working with the grain - versus swimming against the tide - requires reckoning with colonial development imaginaries while respecting informality and protecting the most vulnerable.

4. Proposal (100 words)

Sustaining and improving the livelihoods of informal citizens can be measurably enhanced by recognising, respecting and working with informal processes, procedures, and governance arrangements. Government must think within (invited spaces), outside (invented spaces) and beyond (semi-formal to no name collaborations) the colonial, outdated, and contextually questionable (the 'ignored' included) bylaws, zonings laws, licencing and policing. Enlarging and expanding dynamic and durable socio-institutional pathways to shelter and livelihoods entails initiating, facilitating, enabling and empowering unconventional strategies in the self-regulated structured social economy of the poor. Regulating the monopolistic barriers of concentrated economic structures is indispensable to advancing both formal and informal citizenship.

1. Problem Statement and Purpose

Promoting green governance in rural areas is a common direction that all countries in the world are committed to in their development. In the early 21st century, Anji Yucun, a village in Zhejiang Province, China, texperienced significant economic growth through mining and cement production. Nevertheless, this growth was accompanied by deleterious consequences, including air and water contamination, deforestation, and significant health implications for the local population, thereby jeopardising long-term sustainability. Guided by the philosophy that "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", Yucun abandoned its exploitative "mountain-dependent" model, transforming ecological degradation into ecological prosperity. In recognition of its status as a UNESCO-designated Best Tourism Village, it serves as a testament to the potential for ecological advantages to catalyse governance innovation. Yucun's transition from an environmental crisis to sustainable development offers profound lessons for global rural communities grappling with the paradox of "ecological destruction vs. economic stagnation."

Existing practices and research reveal a universal dilemma: rural areas worldwide aspire to achieve economic, cultural, and social sustainability without compromising ecosystems. However, traditional governance models requently prove incapable of reconciling these objectives.

This study systematically analyzes Yucun’s transition from a "mining-driven" to an "ecology-driven" economy, distilling principles of green governance for global replication. Key questions include:

•How did Yucun resolve the paradox of ecological degradation and economic stagnation?

• What pathways enabled Yucun to monetize ecological assets?

•What institutional innovations and lessons from institutions can inform the governance of rural green spaces?

2.Methodology

Documentary Analysis: Synthesizing policy documents, academic literature, and governance frameworks related to Yucun’s ecological transition.

Field Surveys: In-depth interviews with local officials, villagers, entrepreneurs, and analyses of emerging industries (e.g., eco-tourism, bamboo-based technologies).

Comparative Analysis: Tracking Yucun’s economic, environmental, and social metrics (2003–2025) to derive governance logic and universal principles.

3.Findings

The green governance model proposed by Yucun is founded upon three core pillars:

Ecological Restoration and Industrial Restructuring:

Closure of mines and rehabilitation of landscapes under the "Ten Thousand Projects" initiative.

Development of eco-agriculture (e.g., bamboo cultivation) and low-carbon tourism.

Institutional Innovation and Collaborative Governance:

"20 Articles of Village Regulations" institutionalizing waste sorting and firework bans.

"Two Mountains Council" for democratic resolution of disputes (e.g., land use, cultural heritage protection).

Cultural Empowerment and Technological Integration:

Promoting eco-consciousness through rituals and education.

Innovations like "Bamboo Replacing Plastics" to balance ecological and economic imperatives.

4. Proposal

Yucun’s experience provides actionable insights:

Adopt Holistic Development Paradigms: Prioritize "Ecology as Economy" by aligning conservation with livelihood creation.

Foster Multi-Stakeholder Participation: Engage villagers, NGOs, and businesses in co-designing governance frameworks.

Leverage Culture and Technology: Integrate traditional ecological wisdom with innovations (e.g., smart tourism, circular industries) to achieve synergies between ecological and economic outcomes.

5. References

[1] Wen Haiyan et al. Green Ascent: The Development of Huzhou Yucun [M]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2021.

[2] Ma Li, Yang Yanmei. Learning from International Experience in Rural Green Governance in China[J]. Journal of Anhui Agricultural Sciences, 2023, 51(10): 203-207.

South African municipalities is defined by the administrative, political and community legs (RSA, 2000). In many instances sport is the expression of community through competing community owned clubs. The effective governance of sports organisations is essential for long term social cohesion.

South Africa is a respected rugby leader,crowned back to back world cup champions. In addition South Africa pioneered the global corporate governance framework setting a code of conduct for boards and their office bearers (IOD, 2025). However, South African rugby have been characterised by persistent governance failures. The La Motte Rugby Football Club case exposed principled flaws in the local governance of sport. Despite receiving community support and formal affiliation to the Boland Rugby Union in November 2024, the club was obstructed by the Western Province Rugby Football Union and later by Boland leadership. The High Court was forced to intervene, affirming the club’s full membership in May 2025.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse a governance breakdown and to generate applicable insights for the governance of community sport. It aims to inform policy, strengthen legal compliance and reinforce the role of civil society and community media as watchdogs and attack dogs of local governance.

The study followed a qualitative interpretative research paradigm and exploratory case study design. The researcher followed an inductive approach, applying the Learning Governance Framework that probes (i) what happened, (ii) why did it happen, (iii) the lessons learnt (iv) how to build the learning back into the system (Schwella,2014). Data was collected from court documents, internal communication, media interviews and community radio archives. First hand observations and active participation by the researcher, who acted as a public interest advocate and community broadcaster are woven into the narrative to offer insider perspective. A triangulated approach ensured the reliability of facts and the contextual integrity of findings.

The High Court ruling affirmed La Motte RFC’s rights. The case revealed five critical findings: (i) grassroots clubs often lack protection against union politics; (ii) AGMs and constitutions are vulnerable to manipulation; (iii) the legal systems are increasingly being used to resolve sport governance disputes; (iv) the role of community media in amplifying marginalised voices is essential; and (v) the failure to apply accepted governance principles by the Union leadership showed a lack of accountability. The findings suggest patterns of systemic governance failure and the urgent need for reform across rugby structures to prevent similar recurrence in other municipalities.

The study proposes a governance reform agenda that include, (i) mandatory mediation protocols for disputes; (ii) binding timelines in affiliation processes; (iii) statutory protection for clubs acting on democratic community mandates; (iv) to establish a rugby ombudsman for governance disputes; and (v) a review of jurisdictional overlaps in municipal rugby governance. Additionally, the role of community broadcasters to be formalised within a stakeholder engagement framework. These recommendations will ensure four governance outcomes - an ethical culture that is fair and transparent, performance that ensure long term value creation, conformance through upholding compliance and legitimacy that builds trust and corporate citizenship.