There is growing awareness of the importance of local knowledge (e.g., locals’ spatial needs, perspectives, and desires) in improving planning deliverables. However, this improvement depends on the availability of local knowledge. This article’s objective is to compare the capabilities of public participation practices and anthropological fieldwork to uncover local knowledge and render it accessible and...

Overview This special report examines how government, business and the community in four nations share information about organised crime. Its key finding is that the Australian Government, businesses and community as a whole must be open to new kinds of information sharing partnerships. The field work involved over 80 interviews, including visits to or discussions...

The relationship between Australia and Israel is warm and close, despite occasional problems. Australia has always been seen as friendly by Israel, although it’s rarely been a major focus of policy efforts in Jerusalem. While there’s a mutual recognition of shared values and a reasonably close bilateral working relationship, there hasn’t been sufficient recognition given...

Uses Israel's recent wars to identify issues relevant to the Australian Army’s preparation for future conflict. Overview Israel is in a state of continuous conflict, frequently of the armed variety, and not uncommonly achieving levels of violence that qualify as war. Significant spikes in that level of violence have occurred several times during the past...

Which participatory practices are most efficacious in capturing local knowledge and incorporating it into plans? This study provides a better understanding of the elements affecting the ability of public participatory practices to enable incorporation of residents’ preferences, ideas, opinions, desires, and needs into plans.