Document: Genesis: A Manual for Strategising Local and Regional Economic Development

Local and regional economic development initiatives have received increasing attention in developing and transformation countries since the 1990s. One of the main challenges for such initiatives is to define strategic interventions, i.e. activities that make a difference regarding the economic performance of a locality in the medium and long term. The challenge is to identify activities that generate growth dynamics, create new job and income opportunities and contribute to deepening and broadening prosperity. Genesis is an approach that is particularly effective and efficient in addressing the challenge of strategic interventions. It creates a strategic decision making framework built around the competitive advantage of the region and those interventions that are likely to provide the greatest leverage in the medium to long term.