Rainero

Sandra

Rainero

Validated Lead Expert

Generic Skills

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

My experience on sustainable urban development refer to employment, labour mobility, human capital, as well as education, skills and active inclusion in urban contexts, and public-private partnerships. Since 2005, I have worked with dozens of local authorities/stakeholders in several transnational projects and actively participated to local authority-led networks. Between 2007 and 2012, I have coordinated on behalf of the Veneto Region the “inclusion” thematic network of the ENSA/ELISAN, the European Network of Social Authorities, a EU-wide network (http://www.ensa-network.eu/) which includes cities and local authorities. As coordinator of the thematic table, I have organized meetings, promoted the network, searched for partners and developed projects’ ideas, shared local practice on inclusion with a cross-sectoral approach. Between 2008 and 2010, I was Project Manager for the Valencian Association of Municipalities and Provinces to UNDP “Networking and participation of Local Authorities” for the EC-UN Joint Initiative on Migration and Development” where I was tasked with the mobilization of local authorities on the issues of –co-development. We managed to involve and mobilize different cities in Europe and third countries. The local dimension of M&D, originally a small component of the Initiative, thanks to the mobilization, meetings, exchange and publication that I have contributed to, has become the focus of the second phase of the JMDI. I collaborate with ANCI-cittalia

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

Transnational exchange and learning are part and parcel of my job and life. I have spent the last 15 years – as part of my professional career – and years before that – as part of my education and life experience –in transnational and international environments. I have been spending long periods abroad to better understand the differences and the underpinning commonalities of different cultures, places and people. In my professional experience, transnational exchange of knowledge and practice has been a recurrent theme: I have designed and coordinated projects focusing on building transnational knowledge as the starting point of a continuous process of learning from the local to the transnational and viceversa. In particular, in some of the projects carried out in the framework of structural funds(ESF Art 6, Progress, Interreg IIIC and IV C, ERASMUS+ strategic partnerships) the exchange of experience and practice have begun with the definition and design of the project itself, and the collection of local experiences, following common and shared criteria to allow comparability and readability. In methodological terms, the definition and collection of knowledge through common criteria have represented in themselves the first learning step in many instances, as it has required that partners adopted new standards and points of view. The learning process has continued in several ways, with reviews and meetings to assess relevance and innovation of the knowledge acquired.

B.3. Proficiency in English:

I hold a University degree in Languages (English) in Italy and two Master’s degrees from an US University. I spent years in the UK during high school and University, and almost 7 years in the USA. I have written dozens of reports and studies, I have been speaker, moderator and facilitator in numerous occasions; I designed, managed and reported on several projects in English, I produced and translated videos and documentaries.

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 a long standing experience in design and delivery of methods for transnational exchange in my fields of expertise: employment, inclusion, skills development in local contexts. I have designed and managed participatory events, training and experiential learning with several local authorities, public and private stakeholders. I use effective user-friendly and nevertheless relevant communication means. I have great synthesis skills, and ability to produce reports, also in multimedia platforms. I have produced reports, videos, blogs for communication to local authorities, at policy level as well at operational level, and the public. I have moderated and facilitated participatory meetings, motivating different publics, also from different cultural background, and finding balance between different interests. I have led and been involved in the development of tools to collect good practice and information, developed criteria and methodological guidelines for collections and dissemination of good practice, including research, evaluative peer-reviews, organization of learning activities, such as study visits, interactive workshops, and dissemination events and visibility material targeting different groups of policy makers, practitioners, experts, opinion makers, media and the citizens. I am an experiences participatory trainer, having trained people in the hundreds from all walks of life, but expecially local stakeholders

Thematic expertise:

Theme / Policy:

Employment, Human Capital and Labour Mobility

Summary Thematic expertise:

As an expert of employment policy for a regional employment agency, I have 15 years of hand-on experience in the field of employment, both at local level and international level. I managed several transnational projects in this field. I have specialized in skills development, human capital and mobility/ inclusion and migration. I have actively contributed to exchange of practice in the mentioned fields through a number of tools and outputs for local authorities, stakeholders, practitioners. In the field of employment, I have expertise on youth employment, but also in the employability of mature workers, women and other disadvantaged groups. Sustainable and green economy related to urban and urban-rural contexts and entrepreneurial attitudes are also topics related to employment on which I have worked in international environments. I can design, deliver results both at policy level (policy briefs, recommendations, action plans) and at operational level (toolkits, trainings etc).

Theme / Policy:

Active Inclusion of Target Groups

Summary Thematic expertise:

I have worked for the past 20 years in the field of inclusion of different target groups in light of demographic change, globalization and new forms of marginalization in urban and local contexts. In particular, I have been working on reports and good practice, training and awareness-raising, policy recommendations on active ageing, equal opportunities, migration and integration, youth activation and motivation. I have coordinated the inclusion thematic network of ENSA network www.ensa-network.eu and worked for UNDP and ILO on migration issues. I have designed several transnational project in the field of inclusion, and I have experience in multicultural environments. I have used formal and informal learning methods, mobilization techniques, including digital storytelling and personal stories, moderated several conferences, workshops and organized interactive events also in neighborhoods.

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 :

I have used in many occasions participatory and creative ways to engage stakeholders in order to receive input for the design of tools and methods. I have used different brainstorming techniques with staff and potential partners (visual brainstorming, SCAPER and 6 hats techniques) to make ideas emerge and focus. This at a very basic level means for example the co-design or direct testing of tools such as questionnaires, asking to give feedback and suggestions for improvement. In many other projects, the latest examples are the project FITT on apprenticeship and the project Unexpressed Talent, I have used participatory approaches such as focus groups (in the case of FITT) with schools and companies to discuss and get ideas, interest and input on a general innovative model of dual training to be implemented in the next school years. In the case of Unexpressed Talent, I have used the method of the World cafè to involve partners in the delicate passage from design (the elaboration of an application form) to implementation and monitoring of the project. Finally, as I write, I have just finished to draft a guide for a number of local stakeholders’ meetings to be held in the fall for the ERASMUS + project. The methodological approach, on which I will also deliver e-training sessions, is based on the Open Space Technology, another methods for participatory co-design of tools and solutions that I am familiar with.

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

Although I cannot say that I developed urban-specific monitoring tools, I have a good experience and scientific knowledge of monitoring techniques. I am experienced in Logical framework and in linking objective and activities to indicators and proxies for quantitative and qualitative surveys and questionnaires, and have been working with experienced monitors. I have designed monitoring tools for the internal monitoring of ongoing projects, both in terms of addressing processes and results (or impact) of activities. I have developed online monitoring tools (online survey using Google forms or Surveymonkey systems) in addition to more traditional paper or electronic tools (excel forms). I have developed event evaluation forms, qualitative interviews for evaluation, and product feedback simple logs or forms in many of the project in which I had been tasked with monitoring. Following the design, I have also elaborated data. In one recent job for a project on financial literacy, I have analysed the data of a survey and produced a report. In the FITT! Project I am currently working on a ex-ante research for baseline for the creation of a comprehensive evaluation system of the experimentation phase of the project. I have the theoretical knowledge to structure simple ex-ante, interim and impact assessment of labour policy, which I will develop with experts of the sector (I am a great believer of team work).

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

Attending conferences, reading posts and news from my social media contacts, talking to and networking with local authorities officers, monitoring official EC programmes websites and registering on their newsletter or communication channels. Watching documentaries (CNN, BBC and other channels such as National Geographic Channel distribute interesting documentaries or reports on urban issues, often reporting good practice or examples). Keen observation is also one of my ways to learn, I take long strolls or bus rides to observe urban environments when I am in a different city for work or leisure.

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

I have already mentioned examples of the adaptive approach on many tools that I have developed. In particular the Talentaged model, which has been adapted to different countries and labour market situations. In one of the latest projects Interreg IVC Labour plus project I have supported the provincial administration to adapt some elements of good practice learned in the field of migrant inclusion and access to services, intercultural dialogue in the local plan for migrant inclusion, following a participated SWOT analysis. Adaptability and transferability have been the focus of a document “Lessons learned from the DART experience and some inputs on good practice and transferability” that I have produced in the framework of the Interreg IVC DART project.

Summary Expertise:

I have acquired a long experience in using participatory methods in all phases of project cycle, from the stakeholders’ analysis and mobilization, workshops and integrated management and monitoring tools. I use creative and participatory method and meetings to include different perspective in result-oriented tools and solutions, using traditional and ICT networking methods. I carry out SWOT analyses to define way forwards for policy formulation and making, oftentimes with a multistakeholder and bottom-up approach. I am caring, professional and flexible to mediate and adapt solutions for the common interest of the partnership. I am a motivator and a team player.