Maria Chiara
Pizzorno
Ad-Hoc Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
I gained a Master's degree in Work and Organizational Psychology and a Ph.D. in the Psychology of Health and Quality of Life. Thanks to my experience in tertiary education I developed a strong background in community psychology applied in fields such as education, employment and equal opportunities. As visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia (CA), Department of Special Education and Counseling I had the opportunity to be trained in action-research promoting individual and community empowerment. Appointed as research assistant at University of Valle D’Aosta (IT) I researched and published on gender equality, LGBTQ rights, critically revising current policy and diversity management approaches to gender equality.
As founder and manager of a non-profit organization – Next Level - over the last five years, I have devised and managed a number of social impact projects in the field of education, employment and equal opportunities. I have always dealt with such complex issues by enabling a social innovation ecosystem drawing together actors from the public, private, third and research sectors, a multi-actor system underpinning my daily work with target groups (drop-out students, migrants and the unemployed).
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
Training and learning processes have always been at the core of my profession. I specialized in organizational and managerial training by working for an HR consulting company for 10 years. Moving into the field of Education, I devised and managed several projects to promote innovation in teaching at different school grades, targeting minority groups. I was also appointed by the University of Turin to carry out research into innovative teaching-learning processes and to develop lecturers’ competences in the same.
Drawing on such robust knowledge and experience I have designed 6 European projects financed by the ALCOTRA, Interreg Italy-Switzerland; ALPINE SPACE and EaSI Programmes, all focused on social impact and innovation and involving up to 14 partners. They have all included best practice exchange and mutual learning, carried out through innovative methods such as blended learning, co-creation and gaming. For example, under the project “ALPSIB. Capacity Development of Public and Private Organizations for Social Impact Bond” (SIB) focused on social impact investments we combined technical workshops, with E-learning modules, and “Co-creative Labs” to design pilot SIBs. When young people have been involved in a project (e.g. as target groups), I have often used new formats and new media to engage them in the learning community (video-making, scratch etc.). Fostering people’s creativity, regardless of age, is an effective way to trigger learning.
B.3. Proficiency in English:
During my PhD Programme I worked for one year as Visiting Scholar at the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education of the British Columbia University (CA).
Excellent skills in academic writing are proven by a number of scientific papers published in international and national journals (see for instance doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2015.03.002; https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12081).
As project designer and officer in 6 European projects I have delivered several institutional and technical reports targeting different groups such as funders, beneficiaries, experts.
In 2018-2019 I attended an advanced English course (C1) at INLINGUA Turin.
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 designed, and worked as an expert in, 6 European projects financed by the ALCOTRA, Interreg Italy-Switzerland; ALPINE SPACE and EaSI Programmes, all focused on social impact and innovation. During the project “ALPSIB. Capacity Development of public and Private Organizations for Social Impact Bond”, financed by ALPINE SPACE in 2016, I have been a member of the Steering Committee working with 14 partners from 5 countries. The project overall goal was enabling a social innovation ecosystem for social investments, by bringing together actors from the Public, the Private, the Third and the Research sectors. I designed and supervised transnational exchange and learning processes through: “engaging and sharing events” with local stakeholders; “Capacity building workshops” of policy makers and public officers; “Co-creative Labs” to build pilot actions and “Capital-project matching events” to turn ideas into practice. A web platform was also developed, including E-learning Modules and a Toolkit Area. A Transnational Advisory Board of experts was set up to deliver a common methodology for SIB implementation in the Alpine Region. The project achieved remarkable results and the European Economic and Social Committee invited the partnership to present its outcomes to the “Social Economy Category - Study Group”. I have been the spoke-person.
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Local Economic Development
Summary Thematic expertise:
I have been working in the field of social finance since 2015, when I designed with the Lead Partners two European projects on this topic “ALPSIB” and “SIB4Growth” financed, respectively, under the ALPINE SPACE and EaSI Programmes. Thanks to my knowledge of the topic I have been invited to be a speaker at several conferences. I was also invited, in a list of 30 experts from across Europe, to attend the workshop organized by the European Investment Bank on Social Outcome Contracts in January 2018. During the ALPSIB project I supervised the delivery of the project main output: “Implementing Social Impact Bonds in the Alpine Region: A Common Methodology”. This is a policy document that guides decision makers and public officers through the process of implementing an SIB while taking into account differences among countries and the European background. It explains in detail how to deal with the legal, the contractual, the measurement aspects of an SIB and provides examples and tools, such as contract templates. For the project “SIB FOR GROWTH: Education & Integration through Social Finance”, I authored several parts of a feasibility study of an SIB to be commissioned by the Piedmont Regional Government. I provided background and statistical information on the issue addressed (early school leaving among migrant students), described the intervention model and the costs of services on the basis of a research conducted among social provider and stakeholders.
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 :
When I designed the ALPSIB project I envisaged 3 consensus and capacity building actions to be undertaken since social finance is a controversial topic that often provokes criticism among third sector and public organizations. 1) The first strategy was “engaging” local stakeholders though events planned in each country. These events were designed to explain what SIBs are and to present case histories, while stimulating debate in a relaxing atmosphere (such as aperitifs). 2) “Listening and discussing”: workshops and interviews were conducted with politicians and public officers to better understand the perspectives of local and regional public authorities with regard to SIBs and to bring this to the attention of National and European institutions. 3) “Co-creating” SIB pilot projects: 4 Co-creative Labs were organized to co-design with partners, professionals, stakeholders SIB pilots targeting NEETs or promoting Healthy Aging. Five capital-project matching events were also organized locally to turn ideas into practice: searching for commissioners and investors willing to give this innovation a try. This bottom-up and participatory process culminated in ALPSIB FORUMS (2017 and 2018) which gave local communities the opportunity to connect transnationally and with European initiatives on social impact investing.
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
An SIB is a policy instrument that relies on an integrated approach, design thinking, monitoring and evaluation. An integrated approach is necessary since an SIB deals with complex issues, such as unemployment or homelessness, which must be addressed through multi-actor and multi-dimensional interventions. Moreover, an SIB scheme works if savings are generated by preventive interventions; savings might impact on different Public Administrations at different government levels. The SIB is also a social policy instrument that relies on scientific methods of assessment as it is a “pay by result” agreement with investors. This is why I included in our ALPSIB proposal a toolkit for social impact measurement that could help public administrations to implement evaluation. I designed the tool with the Slovenian partner in charge of this, shared literature and data with them and revised the tool. This evaluation-tool provides a framework on impact measurement (main methods form experimental research design to SROI) and furnishes examples for social outcome metrics definition and assessment that have been tested on matters of unemployment, education and health. The toolkit will be available as an appendix to the “common methodology” and in the platform toolkit Area.
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
The SIB itself is an innovative and sustainable funding scheme as it is a financing instrument transferring risk to private capital and linking repayment of investors to the savings unlocked by the project. To launch an SIB Public Commissioners have to cover high overhead costs and local authorities also need to be backed up by national funds. This is why under the ALPSIB project I made a great effort to keep the partnership and local stakeholders in contact with National and European initiatives. This is why we had EC DG ECFIN, EIB and EIF involved in our Transnational Advisory Board meetings and international Forums. We also monitored national initiatives on social outcome contracts. We had representatives from national ministries (French, Italian and Austrian) in our events illustrating relevant initiatives in the field such as the Italian Social Innovation Fund, the French national call for proposals for social outcome contracts, and the Austrian SIB commissioned by the Social Ministry.
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
Differences among Countries in relation to the administrative system (local, regional and national powers) and the regulatory framework (procurement law) strongly affect the implementation of SIBs. Legal aspects of SIBs must be carefully considered in local pilots and procurement solutions must be contextualized. The five discussion papers described opportunities and barriers in each country's legal system. On the basis of this knowledge we held a workshop, open to partners and local stakeholders, on “procurement and contracting” and we had legal experts as Transnational Advisory Board members. Different options for procurement of social outcomes under an SIB were finally described in the common methodology.
Summary Expertise:
When I designed the ALPSIB project I envisaged 3 consensus and capacity building actions to be undertaken since social finance is a controversial topic that often provokes criticism. 1) “Engaging” local stakeholders though events planned in each country was the first strategy. These events were designed to explain what SIBs are and to present case histories, while stimulating debate. 2) “Listening and discussing” was the next step. Workshops and interviews were conducted with politicians and public officers to better understand the perspectives of local and regional public authorities with regard to SIBs and to bring this to the attention of National and European institutions. 3) “Co-creating” SIB pilot projects, 4 Co-creative Labs were organized to co-design with professionals and local stakeholders SIB pilots. Five capital-project matching events were also organized locally to turn ideas into practice. This bottom-up and participatory process culminated in ALPSIB FORUMS (2017 and 2018) which gave local communities the opportunity to connect transnationally and with European initiatives on social impact investing. I personally devised the agenda of “ALPSIB FORUM: Building an equitable future. New forms of social impact investments across the Private, Third and Public sectors” held in Turin on November 2018.
Informations
Residence location:
Italy
Languages:
Italian - Mother tongue
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Email:
mariachiara.pizzorno@next-level.it