“Local Governance and Intergovernmental Relations: Examining the Past, Assessing the Present and Predicting the Future” is the theme of the conference being hosted jointly by Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) and the Department of Government, UWI, Mona. Hon. Robert Montague, Minister of Local Government will speak at the opening session of the Conference being held on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at  9 am at the Graduate Lecture Theatre 3 (GLT 3) at UWI, Mona.

The Conference will bring to the fore several issues such as: local government and development, managing competition, partnerships and networks in local governance, fiscal decentralization, community-based leadership, local government viability and issues related to democracy such as gender and participatory development.

The occasion provides a forum for discussing theoretical and empirical developments in local governance in the hemisphere; expose management innovations in urban and local development and serve as an arena for policy learning.

Keynote speaker at the conference will be Professor Gerry Stoker of the University of Southampton, UK who will explore the micro foundations of governance. The Conference also features several local, regional and international experts including: Dr. Eris Schoburgh, Dr. Philip Osei, Professor Edwin Jones, UWI, Mona, Dr. Ann Marie Bissesar, UWI, St. Augustine, Victor Cummings, former Minister of State and Professor Joyce Liddle, University of Nottingham Trent, UK.