Kildare 2012 - An Economic, Social and Cultural Strategy
How does the Strategy Work?
Following the introduction the Strategy sets out a summary of the current issues and trends in the county. From this analysis the key challenges and possible responses facing the county are identified. These provide the context for the overall vision, goals and objectives of the Strategy set out at the end of the section.
The next section is broken down into the six Key Thematic Areas. Each Theme has its own vision, and a set of goals and objectives needed to fulfil that vision. Each goal is a response to an important issue in the county and has a number of objectives that must be realised if the goal is to be achieved. The Key Themes are:
- Transport & Communications
- New Settlement Patterns
- Housing and Physical Infrastructure
- Community Needs
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A County of Contrasts
- Economic Progress, Skills & Regional Development
- Agriculture, Farming & Rural Development
- Environmental Issues
- Education, Training & Capacity-Building
- A Sense of Place
A section on Regional Co-ordination is also provided which sets out how co-operation with neighbouring counties will be developed.
The Final section describes how the Strategy will be implemented, how it will be reviewed and monitored and how KCDB will ensure that issues of equality, sustainability and social inclusion are kept to the fore while the Strategy is being implemented.
An Integrated Strategy
The Strategy takes an overall look at the economic, social and cultural aspects of life in Kildare. In this way it is an Integrated Strategy.
This means that although it is set out under individual headings and themes, all of the goals and objectives in the strategy are related to each other. The six Key Themes and their goals and objectives will all contribute to achieving the overall goals of the Strategy.
For example having a strong local and county identity (an objective under A Sense of Place) will help make more integrated communities (an objective of New Settlement Patterns - Community Needs) as people feel a stronger attachment to their local area.
Achieving this will facilitate people to work, live and participate in life locally and increaseparticipation and involvement in community life (goals of the Strategy).
Because of the integrated nature of this Strategy, the Key Themes cannot be looked at in isolation from each other. Only by achieving the goals and objectives of all the Key Themes will the strategy be fully effective.
