James Blackburn – författare

This latest Voices of the Poor study advances the participatory research tradition of the previous World Bank Voices works with new modules focusing on poor peoples' action recommendations. In the summer of 2002, 942 poor women and men from ten poor communities of Colombia discussed urgent problems facing their families and communities. They shared their experiences, frustrations and hopes for improving their deteriorating livelihood prospects, the pervasive violence afflicting their homes and communities, and the very poor educational and training opportunities availably locally. Voices of the Poor in Colombia also includes proposals, developed by the communities, that they believe can bring real improvements to their lives. Two broad patterns emerge from the more than 250 action recommendations developed. First, poor people view problems of livelihood, insecurity and education as tightly connected, and progress will have to be made simultaneously on all three fronts if any is to be made at all. Second, households are seen to be the critical arenas in which development problems begin and then spread, and responsive and effective local institutions are terribly important if poor families and communities are to become more harmonious, secure and prosperous. Despite the wider political violence, a significant finding from this work is a very widespread view that more cohesive and stronger families and local organizations are the bedrock to greater peace and development.

The use of biotechnical processes in control of environmental pollution and in haz­ ardous waste treatment is viewed as an advantageous alternative or adduct to phys­ ical chemical treatment technologies. Yet, the development and implementation of both conventional and advanced biotechnologies in predictable and efficacious field applications suffer from numerous technical, regulatory, and societal uncertainties. With the application of modern molecular biology and genetic engineering, there is clear potential for biotechnical developments that will lead to breakthroughs in controlled and optimized hazardous waste treatment for in situ and unit process use. There is, however, great concern that the development of these technologies may be needlessly hindered in their applications and that the fundamental research base may not be able to sustain continued technology development. Some of these issues have been discussed in a fragmented fashion within the research and development community. A basic research agenda has been established to promote a sustainable cross-disciplinary technology base. This agenda includes developing new and improved strains for biodegradation, improving bioanalytical methods to measure strain and biodegradation performance, and providing an in­ tegrated environmental and reactor systems analysis approach for process control and optimization.