Aneta
Quraishy
Validated Lead Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
I have experience of working at public administration level in the area of creative city regeneration and inclusive empowerment at Leeds City Council in the area of Arts and Regeneration. My thematic focus is on art and culture and how it can work at city level to ensure economic prosperity and help with issues such as diversity and inclusion. Another area I have experience with is managing international city populations. I led the successful URBACT-funded city network project OPENCities. I was involved in project content development in thematic areas of making cities open to international populations. Three core areas were internationalisation, leadership & governance and managing diversity. We developed an OPENCities monitor that could be used as a practical tool by cities to monitor their own activity and progress in these areas. I successfully delivered OPENCities activity in Spain at a time of great change and an approaching financial crisis (conferences, round-tables, press launches, exhibitions, educational activity and Social Cohesion workshops). I developed successful partnerships with key City Council stakeholders and international organisations (iCoCo, Maytree Foundation, European Commission, BAK Basel Economics etc…). I am particularly interested in the idea of shared cities, creative hubs, inclusive urban planning and development and innovation at the city level. I can bring the capacity to work across sectors to projects and networks.
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
Following almost 15 years of experience of working for large international non-profit and creative organisations such as the British Council, Amnesty International and Leeds City Council Arts and Regeneration Unit in a variety of roles ranging from event organisation, fundraising, project management, partnerships, strategic leadership and most recently organisational development I have good understanding of exchange and learning processes at the transnational level with a specific focus on ensuring sustainable long-term results and a holistic inclusive approach.
B.3. Proficiency in English:
I am bi-lingual English/Czech. I am multilingual and can write well in a variety of formats (project proposals, policy papers, project/thematic summaries, public documentation etc...).
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:
Mediation and negotiation have been key to past roles I have held. I have the skills and experience needed to manage both single large international networks as well as a series of smaller ones. The complex large-scale multi-stakeholder projects I have successfully led are proof of the vast EU funded project experience I hold.
I have managed sharing of knowledge at the local city level as well as between cities using peer review and learning as one important method as well ensuring clear conference and workshop information summary takeaways.
I am pretty meticulous enjoying detail but at the same time a forward thinker who does not forget the whole picture. I am used to working internationally, across a wide range of stakeholders, ensuring that project deliverables are met in line with set standards and deadlines (both internal and external). To give one example as Senior Project Manager of Language Rich Europe at the British Council based in Berlin, I successfully led this £2 million EU Lifelong Learning funded project that included many outputs: 19 publications, 25 countries and regions, 20 launches, 56 workshops and 2 international conferences.
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Arts and Culture
Summary Thematic expertise:
I have over 15 years experience in working in the area of soft power, cultural relations and diplomacy
across a variety of stakeholders (government, private, NGOs, trusts&foundations and the education
sector). Areas of expertise include co-creation, culture & development, culture & urban regeneration.
With a focus on cultural relations and the social positive impact it can have both within Europe as well
as further afield, especially if there is a coordinated effort and negotiated longer-term vision but also
quicker response rate in the current climate at city level. I have demonstrated the leadership and
network building capacity via all of the regional roles I have held and large-scale multi-stakeholder
projects I have led. I have long term experience of working at the British Council, but also in
partnership with the Goethe, Camoes and Cervantes institutes linking up with city administrations
across Europe in order to disseminate learning and new approaches. I am well informed about the
current cultural policy trends, pressures (especially with regards to funding issues) and the important
role of cultural relations and the positive impact soft power can have at the international, national and
city levels. I have experience of using co-creation methods to creating relevant solutions in the sector,
as well as working across sectors (public, private and third).
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 good working knowledge of facilitating working groups, expert teams, steering groups and/or
focus groups and using co-creation in order to come up with effective locally relevant policy solutions.
Through my participation in EC co-funded projects, learning material was created including thorough presentations of good practices for linking theory to practice, as well as policy recommendations for integrating sustainability principles, development perspectives and innovation into the legal, administrative and institutional framework.
For OPENCities I designed self assessment tools, partner questionnaires and regular phone interviews with city partners.
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
I have specific design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies with the following city council departments: Arts&Regeneration, External/International Relations as well as Departments of Integration and Development.
Integrated urban strategies and policies I have guided include participation of international populations in decision making at the city level in Bilbao, urban regeneration through arts and culture in Leeds as well as city internationalisation policies in Madrid.
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
I have working knowledge of the URBACT funding scheme. OPENCities was one of the projects I
managed directly funded by this scheme. Similarly I am familiar with funding and budgeting at the
local city council level and the importance to work across sectors when it comes to fundraising in the
area of urban development.
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
I have experience of ensuring that an exhaustive situation analysis and risk assessment precedes project and strategy development. I have experience of working in multilingual settings and adapting material in culturally diverse settings. The ability to understand local realities ensures the success of any international learning/exchange network project.
In OPENCities the management on international populations across Europe varies from city to city and I ensured an on the ground situation analysis in the first part of the project. Some cities had a well established international population, for others this was a 'newer' more recent phenomenon. City participation was unique and specific to local needs and requirements (focus on international talent and business, managing diversity and/or a focus on leadership at the city council level.
Within Language Rich Europe each country or region was able to focus on the more relevant aspect to their local reality, for example: the need to augment foreign language learning at primary and secondary level, the need to protect the national language against imminent power struggles, the importance of maintenance of regional languages, the importance of translation into minority languages in diverse international communities with a large immigrant population. My role as project manager was to ensue that all partners could get their needed relevance out of the wider project.
Even within a city needs vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and this was my task working for Leeds City Council and ensuring the right Arts & Regeneration grant projects were rolled out in different neighbourhoods, also ensuring cross neighbourhood exchange to avoid silo situations.
Summary Expertise:
I have many years of experience of ensuring cross-sector city relations. I have worked with Leeds City
Council to ensure arts and culture can bring regeneration to under-developed city areas empowering
citizens to take creativity into their own hands and empowering them to seek funding opportunities.
With Bilbao City Council Department of Integration I worked on developing an inclusive approach to
the new international population arriving in the city, ensuring their participation at city policy-making
level and on relevant governance issues. In Madrid I collaborated with Madrid Global and the
department of External Relations focusing internationalization of Madrid with a focus on
competitiveness and economic success and the contribution of new international populations to this. I
have assisted these city administrations in creating participatory workshops, festivals and conferences.
Through my participation in EC co-funded projects, learning material was created including thorough
presentations of good practices for linking theory to practice, as well as policy recommendations for
integrating sustainability principles, development perspectives and innovation into the legal,
administrative and institutional framework.
Informations
Residence location:
Spain
Languages:
Czech - Mother tongue, English - Mother tongue
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Email:
quraishyaneta@gmail.com