FARRELL

GILDA

FARRELL

Validated Lead Expert

Generic Skills

B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:

MA in Multidisciplinary studies and Doctor in Economics, I am trained to understand the complex dynamics of sustainable development. 14 years as Head of the Social Cohesion, Research and Early Warning Division at the Council of Europe (CoE), have provided me a profound vision of interrelations between policies and active citizenship as tools to ensure long-term sustainability. I understand that besides creating material and immaterial incentives to use at best local potential and capabilities, urban sustainability confronts political authorities to the need of finding pertinent combinations of resources and rules to solve current and future challenges in human dignity as employment, food, housing, poverty reduction, diversity. Sustainable means less negative externalities as waste and conflicts for resources or spaces; it means the ability to upgrade inner knowledge and renew the interpretation of heritage as source of inspiration for creative enterprises. Sustainability calls urban authorities to evolve in terms of sharing responsibilities and interaction with bottom-up initiatives. Having been vice-director of LEADER II technical bureau for 6 years, I am aware of local strategies’ dynamics, partnership-governance, and rural-urban equilibriums. Currently, retired from the CoE, as member of the TRANSIT project board (http://www.transitsocialinnovation.eu/), I support analysis on innovative tools to reach critical masses in towns and collaborative action on key societal issues

B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:

For over 20 years I have encouraged and facilitated European learning processes. In the 90’s as expert involved on setting Regional Development Agencies in Poland, I organised exchanges with similar structures in France, Italy and Portugal. Among the tasks of the LEADER II technical bureau, transnational cooperation was utmost important. LEADER was a pioneer experience of local partnerships involved in transnational processes. Several communication tools were used to diffusing lessons and enabling understanding among different cultures. From 2000, the Social Cohesion, Research and Early Warning Division was a privileged platform to foster transnational learning. Along 14 years, I have led pan-European working groups on topics related to social cohesion, gathering participants from multiples horizons and disciplines, in close cooperation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. Outputs are published in: Trends in social cohesion (http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/socialpolicies/socialcohesiondev/trends_en.asp) & Methodological Guides on Social Cohesion Policy (http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/socialpolicies/socialcohesiondev/guide_en.asp). While heading the Division, Edgeryders, the 1st online platform of transnational exchange for young people and local authorities supported by a European entity was created (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/socialinnovationeurope/en/directory/organisation/edgeryders-0), followed by Responding Together, project on local sharing of social innovation

B.3. Proficiency in English:

I have been working in English, French and 3 other languages for more than 20 years. Besides delivering speeches, teaching and facilitating exchanges in English, I have written texts for publications and edited English contributions from different experts or academicians, in particular contributors to the series Trends in Social Cohesion and Methodological Guides on Social Cohesion Policy, published by CoE publisher while I was Head of Division. Due to my fluency in 5 languages, I am able to fully understand non-native English speakers. In collective exercises, I am in the position to facilitate communication among participants of different nationalities and synthetize the outputs of exchanges or discussions in an accessible manner. During my M.A. in Toronto, Canada beyond attending lessons, I have played as research assistant, write and discuss my thesis in English

Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:

Summary Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:

20 years of practice in design and delivery of transnational exchanges, collective learning process, policy analysis encouraging the mainstream of good practices, have provided me with the knowledge and sensitivity to address a diversity of publics, bringing stakeholders, contributors and partners from different horizons to common ground and shared interests. Besides, due to my professional experience, I am able as well to advice on long-term action and policy monitoring tools, as participatory evaluation models, quality and quantitative indicators, methods for the diffusion of good practices’ lessons and social innovation.

Thematic expertise:

Theme / Policy:

Active Inclusion of Target Groups

Summary Thematic expertise:

More than 20 years of practice in exploring a vast range of thematic issues on social inclusion and cohesion and access to rights, searching to understand how to translate thematic knowledge in policy and action, have provided me, on one side, with a deep understanding of the complexity of sustainable development, and, on t-----------------------------168551062129209 Content-Disposition: form-data; name="title" FARRELL

Theme / Policy:

Employment, Human Capital and Labour Mobility

Summary Thematic expertise:

Theme / Policy:

Local Economic Development

Summary Thematic expertise:

Several years of professional practice involved in exploring a vast range of thematic issues including on local strategies and partnerships, searching to understand how to translate thematic knowledge in policy and action, have provided me, on one side, with a deep understanding of the complexity of sustainable development, and, on the other, with the need to constantly propose a systemic conceptual framework, avoiding partial or incomplete approaches to reality. Besides, my professional experience has increased my capacity to understand how to translate thematic knowledge in policy and action and combine short-term advice on effective action with long-term strategic visions.

Expertise support to local authorities and other stakeholders in designing & delivering integrated and participatory policies

E.1. Knowledge on participatory methods and tools for co-production and implementation of local polices :

While heading the Social Cohesion, Research and Early Warning Division at the CoE, SPIRAL (https://wikispiral.org/tiki-index.php?page=SPIRAL+history), a participatory methodological tool to define well-being, was developed and applied in over 150 cities. Concretely, it involved representatives of municipalities, NGOs and a wide range of citizens, from diverse social and economic backgrounds, in co-producing their own diagnosis and action plan in terms of well-being for all. Because social cohesion officially referred to the capacity of the society to ensure the well-being of all, the Division proposed to governments’ representatives, including the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, to implement social cohesion policies adopting a proactive and participatory approach. As concrete example, the Wallonia region adopted both, the concept and the method, and launched a Social Cohesion Plan, involving over 180 municipalities (http://cohesionsociale.wallonie.be/actions/plan-de-coh%C3%A9sion-sociale-des-villes-et-communes-de-wallonie-pcs) . Such approach plus the results from the project “Living in dignity in the 21st century: poverty and inequalities in Human Right societies, a paradox of democracies” were integrated in an official declaration on policy engagement and implementation by the conference of INGO of the CoE ( see: http://www.elisan.eu/photos%5C343762_Committee%20DSCGC%20resolution%20inequalities%20poverty%2015_02_2013.pdf ).

E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:

The following document show examples on impacts on urban strategies and policies of the work done on well-being indicators, while I was Heading the Social Cohesion, Research and Early Warning Division at the CoE. https://books.google.pt/books?id=imMzL3Ncm80C&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=indicators+of+well-being+for+all,+Congress+of+Local+Authorities+Council+of+Europe&source=bl&ots=RHw-86Q8ET&sig=IW03oyCUQTK-_WsFdoRXogmN2tg&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=9VpPVZjcIYqtU4a8gKAN&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=indicators%20of%20well-being%20for%20all%2C%20Congress%20of%20Local%20Authorities%20Council%20of%20Europe&f=false

E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:

Having 20 years’professional experience in diverse European institutions, I have a deep and detailed knowledge of European structural funding schemes and keep myself constantly informed on their evolution. Currently, I participate in debates on social and civic economy, searching concrete implementation of the urban sustainable development concept and principles.

E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:

Applying the SPIRAL approach and supporting the training of local partners in a wide range of European cities, from Belgium, Bulgaria to Russia, I have acquired the capacity to help such partners engagement in adapting tools and contents to their own reality. Moreover, a close interaction with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, was a very valuable experience on finding common ground around the question of well-being indicators with representatives of the most diverse social, economic and political local environments (see: https://books.google.pt/books?id=qZAD4NlMId0C&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=indicators+of+well-being+for+all,+Congress+of+Local+Authorities+Council+of+Europe&source=bl&ots=oo55pMWpxW&sig=y0fkZcfZrltyQ3wxRzFiaJFp73A&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=9VpPVZjcIYqtU4a8gKAN&ved=0CEAQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=indicators%20of%20well-being%20for%20all%2C%20Congress%20of%20Local%20Authorities%20Council%20of%20Europe&f=false). Besides, while heading a Division at the Coe, different European cities were invited to engage themselves, by signing a Charter on Social Shared Responsibilities in fighting poverty, in adapting such concepts and tools to their own local reality. See, the example of Covilhà, in the North of Portugal (http://download.cm-covilha.pt/pdf/2011RedeSocialPlanoAcao.pdf)

Summary Expertise:

Several years of professional experience on supporting the development and concrete applicationof a participatory methodological approach in urban realities, aimed at defining well-being at local level, had provided me with a double-fold capacity of: a) understanding the interest of exploring the specificities of particular contexts as a path to adapt policies and actions while ensuring pertinent results and, b) leading processes with representatives from different local universes and environments aimed at finding and agreeing on shared visions, recognizing the need to develop and facilitate comparative approaches by applying a common methodological tool.