Gebhardt

Dirk

Gebhardt

Validated Lead Expert

Generic Skills

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

My professional background brings together experience in working for Eurocities - the network of major European cities - with doctoral and postdoctoral research, and teaching on a wide variety of urban topics. I also have hands-on experience, working on the ground in cities, in area-based programmes. As a policy advisor for Eurocities (4.5 years), I facilitated mutual learning between city practitioners, helped in the development of common positions and communicated information emerging from this work to European institutions and other stakeholders. I covered social inclusion, employment, immigrant integration and demographic change, and touched on cohesion policy and economic development. My core academic background is in geography, but also includes work experience in the fields of sociology and political sciences, covering areas such as local governance, multi-level coordination, resident participation, integrated neighbourhood-based programmes, social inclusion, immigration, residential and everyday mobility. I have published on these areas in a wide number of formats including academic articles and policy-oriented reports as well as thematic, methodological and policy briefings, and video clips.

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

Facilitating transnational exchange and learning was my main task as policy advisor for Eurocities. This included organising and programming learning activities for thematic working groups and projects on topics such as employment, social innovation, demographic change, immigrant integration, Roma inclusion and economic migration. I designed and organised peer reviews, field visits, mentoring schemes and political meetings for stakeholders from city administrations all over Europe. My work also involved responding, on a daily basis, to ad-hoc requests from city representatives, and connecting cities with similar interests. With a view to maximising learning outcomes, I gathered feedback on the efficiency of these formats for learning, and worked with city representatives to improve them. Together, we developed new formats for publications, meetings and projects that had a greater practical value for local policy makers, and sought out synergies between the needs of local practitioners and EU funding streams and institutional logics. Other experience with transnational learning includes, for instance, identifying and analysing good practice on policy coordination for the EU Agency Eurofound in Dublin; producing video case studies on innovative social services all over Europe for the EU-research project Innoserv; and routinely conducting transnational comparisons of local policies in my academic work.

B.3. Proficiency in English:

My written and spoken English are fluent. Having worked for the last eight years (see cv) in various international contexts where English has been the main working language, I am used to communicating in English on a daily basis both formally and informally, orally and in writing. I have a long track record of publishing and presenting in academic and policy contexts in English. As a non-native English speaker who speaks several foreign languages, I am sensitive to the potential problems that non-native English speakers when following conversations in English and I am able to adapt my language accordingly.

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:

With over four years' experience as a policy advisor on social affairs for Eurocities, the network of European cities, I am familiar with the perspective and needs of city practitioners from all over Europe. I have considerable experience in designing and organising mutual learning at transnational level in expert working groups and projects. This includes, for instance, organinsing peer reviews, site visits and mentoring schemes, collecting data and editing it into reports on a wide array of urban topics, reaching from immigration and diversity to employment and neighbourhood development. My “parallel” academic career in Geography (PhD on residential mobility and neighbourhood change) and Political Science (Marie Curie Postdoc on urban integration policies) has allowed me to look at cities from a different angle, reflecting, for instance on the differences of local and state level policy making, and the problems of multi-level governance. I have extensive experience in communicating urban issues in a variety of formats, and for diverse audiences. This includes, for instance, producing and publishing videos, policy briefings, methodology notes, summaries of meeting outcomes, policy papers and articles, often written in collaboration with, or based on, the input of city representatives. I am fluent in four European languages, and aware of the demands of communication in a transnational context.

Thematic expertise:

Theme / Policy:

Active Inclusion of Target Groups

Summary Thematic expertise:

I have extensive experience of fostering mutual learning between cities in the inclusion of marginalised groups, in particular immigrants, ethnic minorities and older people. My experience stems, on the one hand, from working as a policy advisor for Eurocities, supporting working groups on migration and Roma inclusion, and feeding this work into the EU-debate. I was involved in designing and implementing Eurocities' 'Integrating Cities Process', setting up a working group on Roma inclusion and coordinating the organisation's work on demographic change and ageing. This involved briefing cities on EU policy developments, gathering, analysing and summarising information from cities in reports, facilitating active mutual learning in working groups, peer reviews, projects and meetings, and feeding the knowledge generated into political discussions at EU and national levels. On the other hand, I have conducted doctoral and postdoctoral research in Geography and Political Sciences to understand the dimensions of exclusion in cities, and to explore how local policies can counter it. This work has regularly involved collaboration with urban practitioners who work on questions involving newcomer programmes, partnerships with immigrant NGOs, skill recognition, policies for Roma inclusion and the challenges of multi-level governance, to name a few examples.

Theme / Policy:

Employment, Human Capital and Labour Mobility

Summary Thematic expertise:

My experience in the field of employment policies, skills development and labour mobility is based on supporting the work of city working groups on employment and economic migration, and the Social Affairs Forum, at Eurocities, and in looking at local labour market policies in more academic articles. This work has centred on local policies for the inclusion of people furthest away from the labour market, local job centres, policies for skill homologation and validation, and policies for attracting and retaining international students. I have drafted, coordinated and edited policy-related publications in this field, and have facilitated working group and peer review meetings to foster city-to-city exchanges.

Theme / Policy:

Integrated Urban Renewal

Summary Thematic expertise:

My knowledge of segregation, disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and related policies derives from my experience in a number of different contexts. I have worked 'in the field' on neighbourhood development programmes in Berlin. As an academic I have explored area-based programmes from a governance perspective, and in relation with immigrant integration policies, in practice-oriented publications. As an expert, I have conducted surveys with residents and analysed statistical data on neighbourhood change, and provided summaries on neighbourhood-based policies and programmes in Europe for Eurocities. I am member of the working group “neighbourhood research” of the German society for university geography. I am also co-editor of a related book series “neighbourhood research” which covers a wide-range of topics related to urban neighbourhoods from both a practical and academic perspective. I am particularly interested in the articulation between place-based and people-based policies and synthesising the strengths of both approaches to contribute to spatial and social justice.