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The Sami have lived for time immemorial in an area that today extends across the Kola Peninsula in Russia, northern Finland, northern Norway's coast and inland, and the northern half of Sweden. The Sami play an important role in these northern economies thanks to their use of land, their involvement in reindeer husbandry, agriculture/farming and food production, and connection with the region’s tourism industry. However, in Sweden, as in the other states where the Sami live, the connections with regional development are often inconsistent and weak, and could do more to support the preservation and promotion of Sami culture and create new employment and business opportunities. This study, together with the OECD’s broader thematic work on this topic, provides actionable recommendations on how to better include the Sami and other Indigenous Peoples in regional development strategies, learning from and incorporating their own perspectives on sustainable development in the process.

Asian cities are particularly vulnerable to risks associated with natural disasters. While they are exposed to various types of natural hazards, flooding and other water-related disasters pose particularly significant risks and undermine long-term economic growth, especially in coastal cities. Managing such natural disaster risks is an essential component of urban policies in fast-growing Southeast Asian cities, especially as the impacts of climate change worsen.In addition to providing a framework for assessing disaster risk management policies in cities, this report also presents the results of assessment and locally tailored policy recommendations in five cities of different institutional, geographic, socio-economic and environmental contexts in Southeast Asia. They include Bandung (Indonesia), Bangkok (Thailand), Cebu (Philippines), Hai Phong (Viet Nam) and Iskandar (Malaysia). The study highlights that Southeast Asian cities are largely underprepared for natural disaster risks.Through an assessment of disaster risk management (DRM) policies at national and subnational levels, the study aims to enhance urban resilience by: i) identifying policy challenges related to DRM ; ii) assessing the impacts of current DRM policy practices; and iii) proposing more efficient and effective policy options to enhance urban resilience.

The government of Kazakhstan has set an objective to substantially increase the contribution of SMEs and entrepreneurs to employment and value added in the economy. Although there are large numbers of SMEs and entrepreneurs in the country, achieving this growth will require a step change in the productivity of existing SMEs and the emergence of many more medium-sized and growth-oriented firms.This report shows the important achievements of the government in creating a clear vision and structures for SME and entrepreneurship policy, including major improvements in business regulations and through the introduction of the Business Road Map 2020 programme offering direct supports to SMEs and entrepreneurs in areas such as financing and infrastructure. It also highlights the current challenge of doing more to strengthen management capabilities, skills, and innovation in SMEs and new enterprises, and makes a range of specific recommendations for policy actions including further building the incubator and Entrepreneurship Support Centre infrastructure, introducing dedicated support for high-growth potential enterprises, and stimulating supply chain linkages around foreign director investors.

This report assesses the key bottlenecks within the water-energy-land-food nexus in Korea, and proposes policy recommendations and governance arrangements to future-proof environmental integrity and enhance sustainable growth. The increasing pressure caused by urbanisation, industrialisation, population growth and climate change in Korea has led to more land consumption and augmented water supply, at the expense of the environment and at a high cost for public finance. Korea has engaged with the OECD via a national policy dialogue to explore best practices from the wider international community to better manage the nexus at the river basin scale.

This report focuses on the challenges of governing infrastructure investment and public-private partnerships (PPPs) at the subnational level. Subnational governments – cities and regions – play a vital role in the infrastructure landscape. Infrastructure needs in energy, transport, water and telecommunications are substantial, estimated at USD 6.3 trillion per year between 2016 and 2030. In a tight fiscal environment, it is critical to diversify sources of financing for infrastructure investment and PPPs represent an alternative to traditional government procurement with the potential to improve value for money. However, PPPs are complex and sometimes risky arrangements that require capacity that is not always readily available in government, in particular at the subnational level. This report examines the challenges of using PPPs at the subnational level and ways to address them. It does so by focusing on three case studies: subnational PPPs in France, local Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects in the United Kingdom, and PPPs in Virginia (United States).

Of the requests for asylum in France made in 2016, more than 10 000 applications were made by people in Paris and were made in the context of a rising number of refugees and asylum seekers since 2015. This increase has stirred a debate in France around its 'universal' migrant integration model, which aspires to equal treatment for all and for which the main tool has been 'Integration Contract' for migrants. At all levels of government, measures are now being designed for 'reinforced' support for migrants, helping them to better integrate socially and to better access the  job market; these measures are tailored for all persons with a residency permit, in particular for refugees. This case study examines the City of Paris and its ambitions to successfully integrate its new inhabitants. The municipality sets aside dedicated resources for this and actively involves French citizens in implementing activities to foster social cohesion. The city is still attracting new migrants while socio-economic disparities and segregation remain marked in Paris and its region, in a context of limited emergency accommodation facilities for migrants and a tight housing market. More can be done to improve coherence across levels of government and among partners, in order to prevent fragmented service delivery and to improve how the impact of integration programmes is measured.