Sustainable regional development projects are a challenge for all countries, regardless of their geographic location, cultural differences, or level of economic development. Kazakhstan is also facing this challenge and tries to counteract this process by actively implementing regional development projects and programs. However, project effectiveness and project value remain bottlenecks as these projects are aimed to improve lives and work in rural areas and eliminate inequality; therefore, managing such projects is a complex issue. This study seeks to obtain data that will help to address these research gaps and to identify value aspects of such projects from the end-users’ perspectives – local communities. This can help to understand how to select projects with high value and enhance their effectiveness.For this purpose, in 2020, a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews of end-users of regional development projects implemented in local communities were conducted. 301 respondents from main mining towns included in the regional development program of the Republic of Kazakhstan have been surveyed and 18 deep interviews have been conducted. The results show that Kazakhstani regional development projects appear to have a low level of value from the perspective of main stakeholders and beneficiaries – local communities. Project value evaluation has also revealed that a concept of value is different for local government authorities, project teams, and local communities. The study expands knowledge on the management of regional development projects, revealing the importance of understanding the value for such projects to achieve success and enhance their effectiveness.
How do the post-Soviet countries differ in their regulatory approaches to organized civil society? This study provides a systematic and comprehensive assessment of relative differences and similarities in the regulation of civil society organizations in seven post-Soviet countries: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Ukraine. Empirically, the study offers a regulatory index that makes it possible to map and compare relative differences and similarities between these countries’ regulatory approaches to civil society. The findings show that post-Soviet authoritarian countries do not use similar levels of repression against organized civil society. The study provides an account of how different political configurations explain relative differences in the extent to which post-Soviet authoritarian countries repress their respective civil societies.
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