THE POWER OF PEOPLE, PLACES & FIRMS
Reading Time: 4 minutesWhen fans travel to Northern Ireland to experience landscapes made famous by Game of Thrones, they are doing more than chasing a fantasy, they are fuelling a regional economy. Although the television series concluded in 2019, it still draws around 350 000 visitors each year, representing around one in six visitors from outside Northern Ireland. How can more regions reel in the benefits of movie stardom?
Reading Time: 6 minutesEn el imaginario colectivo, las regiones rurales suelen evocar imágenes de abandono y decadencia. Sin embargo, esto está lejos de reflejar la realidad. Las zonas rurales albergan al 30% de la población de la OCDE y, en algunos casos, están creciendo más rápido que las ciudades en términos de desarrollo, productividad e innovación. Entonces, ¿por qué las narrativas obsoletas sobre el declive rural siguen eclipsando sus contribuciones? Ha llegado el momento de desmontar los mitos que frenan a estas regiones.
Reading Time: 4 minutesLas comunidades rurales de América Latina producen gran parte de los alimentos, energía y minerales de los que depende el mundo. Sin embargo, para la mayoría de los habitantes rurales, la promesa de una prosperidad duradera sigue siendo inalcanzable porque a: pesar de esta riqueza, el trabajo informal e inseguro sigue presente, debilitando los medios de vida, servicios y oportunidades a largo plazo.
Reading Time: 12 minutesIndia’s rural areas are developing at an extraordinary rate, posing both challenges and opportunities to rethink development at a large scale. Recorded live from the OECD Rural Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Shayne MacLachlan speaks with Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Secretary to the Government in the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, about how India’s fascinating track-record of rural transformation can offer practical lessons to policymakers everywhere.
Reading Time: 4 minutesEn Colombia, más de 17 millones de personas, casi un tercio de la población, requieren cuidados o apoyo diario. Construir sistemas de cuidado sostenibles requiere coordinación entre sectores y niveles de gobierno, con base en principios de colaboración, descentralización y corresponsabilidad. Pero el esfuerzo vale la pena: garantizar el derecho al cuidado no es solo una obligación moral, sino un camino hacia comunidades más fuertes e inclusiva.
Reading Time: 3 minutesIn Colombia, more than 17 million people, nearly a third of the population, require daily care or support. Many of these children, adolescents, older adults, and people with disabilities are supported by more than 7 million unpaid caregivers. Building sustainable care systems requires coordination across sectors and levels of government, based on principles of collaboration, decentralisation, and shared responsibility.
Reading Time: 11 minutesWith hundreds of sustainability and impact labels in circulation, how can consumers, policymakers and investors identify organisations that really do put people over profit? In this episode, Shayne MacLachlan is joined by Ruben Rebelo from the European Commission and Sofija Rakcejeva from the OECD to explore how labels can do more than just make social economy more visible and easier to support but also help people do better.
Reading Time: 10 minutesIn 11 of the 29 OECD countries included in the OECD Reinforcing Rural Resilience report, rural populations are declining. Discussing all things decentralisation, digitalisation and democracy in Kazakhstan, Shayne MacLachlan from the OECD has a conversation with Zhanerke Kochiigit. This conversation took place at the 2025 OECD Latin American Rural Development Conference, Rural-Urban Connections: Pathways to Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Have a listen.