Matthew
Jackson-Baqueriza
Validated Lead Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
I have spent the last ten years undertaking research and advice around local economic development, regeneration and local governance. Working for the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) (www.cles.org.uk) has exposed me to the importance of marrying physical, social, cultural and environmental regeneration and additionally of public agencies working with other sectors to deliver effective urban development outcomes. I have in depth knowledge of urban policy interventions in a UK context from the last 30 years ranging from Urban Development Corporations in the 1980’s up to the present day Local Enterprise Partnerships; together with knowledge of European development programmes. My role at CLES has included: commenting and critiquing urban development policy; seeking to shape urban development activities through promoting more effective procurement practices which maximise the benefit of investment; assessing the impact of urban development activities; and offering recommendations for enhanced benefit through urban development policy. This practical engagement has come through engagement with local authorities and voluntary and community sector organisations in the UK and beyond, including in a current project in the United States. The practical engagement has supplemented my educational background and particularly a Masters in Urban Regeneration and Development, for which my dissertation was on the potential regeneration benefits of London hosting the 2012 Olympic Games
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
Every piece of work which I undertake with CLES is based upon working collaboratively with a partner organisation such as a local authority and is designed to facilitate learning and better policy. I was part of a consortium of organisations and European countries involved in developing, piloting and delivering the Future City Game (http://www.cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/LW104-Future-City.pdf). The FCG is an innovative way of drawing together communities and stakeholders to vision what they want the future of their city to be. I have been involved in developing the methodology for the game and facilitating it in Norway and the UK. The FCG has been played over 250 times across Europe. I have also shared learning from the FCG at conferences in Budapest, Hungary and Pilsen, the Czech Republic. The work I have undertaken around maximising the impact of public procurement in Manchester (http://www.cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The-power-of-procurement.pdf), England has also been disseminated Europe wide and internationally, including at a seminar in Copenhagen, Denmark whereby the findings were utilised to refresh approaches to procurement. I am currently undertaking work in the United States, seeking to understand how alternative approaches to local economic development can be transferred to a UK context. In the UK, I am currently working with Preston City Council to facilitate learning around procurement across six anchor institutions based within the City.
B.3. Proficiency in English:
English is my mother tongue. In written terms, I write a range of different outputs. This includes summaries of government policy around economic development and regeneration; critiques of policy for trade press and CLES’ in-house magazine new start; reports for local authorities about the impact of their procurement spend and their processes; evaluation reports for a range of organisations including central government; and CLES’ own publications. Recently I have authored publications such as the CLES manifesto for local economies (http://www.cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CLES-Manifesto-2015.pdf); and around how the debate around devolution can bring a social benefit (http://www.cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Double-dividend-Final.pdf). Equally, I communicate orally through a range of means. I have spoken at national and international conferences around my work on procurement. I have given evidence to parliamentary select committees. I regularly provide training on economic impact assessment methodologies such as Local Multiplier 3 (LM3) to a range of audiences. Recent presentations have included: one detailing the findings of an evaluation of the Brixton Pound; and one reflecting upon what the devolution agenda means for the social sector. I also facilitate events and meetings and chair groups. I am the Chair of the Greater Manchester Social Value Network and have recently facilitated a UK wide event on the impact of welfare reform.
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:
I have spent the last ten years undertaking a range of research and advice activity around local economic development, regeneration and local governance. This work has been in both a UK specific and transnational context. What is common about all this work has been the ability to work in partnership, whether that be with a project team, a partner organisation, or a range of stakeholders and communities. In each of the projects undertaken at transnational level, I have been involved at various stages from the creation of the idea, to the design of the tool or methodology, to the piloting or delivery of the event, and to the evaluation of the outcomes. This is particularly notable in my key role in the development and delivery of the Future City Game. This experience means I am able to adapt to a range of circumstances and amend activities accordingly. I have significant experience of facilitating and presenting at different types of meetings including seminars, parliamentary committees, networks, and more formal events. In this oral communication, I have experience of engaging with non-english speakers to explain complex concepts; most notably in my work around public procurement and local economic development. My current role is predicated by a need to produce policy messages as reflected in recent pub
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Local Economic Development
Summary Thematic expertise:
I work for the UK’s leading think-tank and research organisation dedicated to local economic development. In this I have a range of experience of undertaking research and advice activity with local authorities and other stakeholders around employment interventions, economic development strategy, and creating resilient places. My particular area of expertise is around public procurement and how the process can maximise local economic, social and environmental outcomes. In this, I have done work measuring the impact of procurement spend, facilitating procurement focused workshops, developing procurement charters, and providing advice to local authorities and other stakeholders about their processes. As well as this, I have published widely around procurement including for CLES and other organisations such as the Federation for Small Businesses. I am seen as one of the UK’s leading thinkers on progressive procurement practice. This work had been disseminated on a transnational basis through specialist briefings and seminars, for example. In my work around procurement and local economic development, I write a range of different outputs. This includes impact data and analysis reports, charters for improvement, strategy, policy focused publications, and blogs and articles. The work I have undertaken around procurement has led to key changes in the behaviour of procurers and importantly suppliers of goods and services, so that greater benefit is derived for the local economy.
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 :
The work in Preston around anchor institutions has involved a range of different methods designed to ensure the participation of six organisations. The purpose of the project has been to seek to identify ways in which six anchor institutions can bring greater benefit for the local Preston and Lancashire economies through their spending and in turn work more collaboratively and learn from each other. The approach to participation included: initial meetings with the Chief Executives and Leaders of the six organisations with a clarity of what we wanted the project to achieve; follow up discussions around their procurement spend and training in the use of a tool for undertaking supply chain analysis; a series of workshops designed to analyse and interpret findings and share them across the group of anchor institutions; action planning activities to develop a cross-anchor procurement charter; and the formulation of a procurement practitioners working group. All this has led to a change in the behaviour of anchor institutions and they are all working collectively toward a vision of creating a good local economy.
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
Over the last ten years, I have worked on a number of projects and activities whereby the achievement of positive outcomes through urban development activities is predicated by relationships across the public, private and social sectors. This is reflected in CLES’ work around resilience and particularly this publication (http://www.cles.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Resilience-for-web1.pdf). In this we posit the importance of collaboration in the design and delivery of interventions to respond to local economic shocks. I have been involved in a number of CLES’ specific pieces of work around resilience including in Greater Dandenong, Melbourne and Walsall in England (http://www.barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CLES-UNDERSTANDING-COMMUNITY-RESILIENCE-2013.pdf). In this work we seek to collaboratively understand how resilient a place is across ten measures and subsequently identify ways through which resilience can be enhanced through better relationships and joint projects across the public, private and social sectors. The way in which we approach evaluation is that it is very much about learning and informing the future roll out of activity; hence the need for it to be a collaborative approach between the evaluators and the deliverers. In terms of monitoring, I have designed a number of frameworks for monitoring and measuring the impact of intervention. This includes recent work with Bury Council exploring the impact of an employment programme.
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
My work at CLES is embedded in contemporary policy around sustainable urban development. At a European level, we understand programmes such as European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund and their contemporary tie in with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in the UK in terms of funding. Again, we regularly engage with LEPs through the LEP Network to understand how European monies link to infrastructure and skills development in the UK. At the national level, we regularly undertake research and consultancy work exploring vehicles such as Local Enterprise Partnerships, Enterprise Zones and City Deals; and increasingly we are engaged in the debate around city devolution. The important thing about the way in which CLES follows urban development policy is that we do not tow the government line that policy is about economic growth; instead our emphasis is upon ensuring that urban development intervention brings not only economic growth, but also social and environmental outcomes including the alleviation of poverty. We keep up to date about urban development policy through working directly with places and interventions, through commenting on policy, through undertaking research which identifies impact, and also through critiquing what other think-tanks and research organisations are doing around sustainable urban development.
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
On an everyday basis in my work at CLES, I come across different local circumstances. We are adept at tailoring our research activities to the needs of particular localities and clients. CLES operates on a relationship basis, whereby work is shaped in close coordination with a locality or organisation. We very rarely bid for formally advertised tenders. This means that we are often embedded in place. Whereby we adopt a recognised approach to evaluation, we often adapt our methods so they are reflective of the groups of individuals or organisations involved. At the moment I am working in a range of different places (amongst others) which require varying approaches. I am working with Preston City Council and five other anchor institutions on a community wealth building project which requires different relationships with different institutions. I am working with the London Borough of Lambeth on an evaluation of the Brixton Pound which involves engagement across the business, local community and stakeholder base, with different methods used for different audiences. I am working with the Education Funding Agency exploring the impact of school construction in different parts of England, with the approach being tailored to the developer in question and the types of impact they are seeking to enable for the local economy.
Summary Expertise:
The core objective of the organisation I work for (CLES) is to provide support to local authorities and other stakeholders to deliver more effective outcomes through their interventions in terms of local economic development and the alleviation of poverty. In this, each project I work on is framed by developing relationships with local authorities and other stakeholders so that it is reflective of the challenges facing that place and other local circumstances. Research and advice is undertaken on a co-produced basis whereby findings and support are designed to directly shape the way in which policy is designed and implemented in a locality. I have worked with over 50 local authorities across the UK on specific projects related to local economic development. In this, I have developed in-depth knowledge of policy pertaining to economic growth and urban development and provided them with research and advice which has shaped the way in which they engage across stakeholders and with the community. My knowledge base of how local government operate is based upon this experience is extensive and is transferrable to other issues across Europe.
Informations
Unavailable - already performing the role of Lead Expert for an URBACT network