Mireia
Sanabria
Validated Lead Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
I have worked on integrated and sustainable urban development for more than 10 years now, mainly from international projects of local governments based on exchange and learning activities:
As International Cooperation (http://bit.ly/1c49fsR) Programme Manager in the Badalona City Council (BCN, Spain), I spearheaded efforts to commit technical and human resources from different departments into the city’s international strategy, engaging the Services of Urban Planning, Environment, Social, Community and Public Security in joint exchange projects with international third parties, mainly cities. The most relevant international projects were:
- URB-AL (http://www.urb-al3.eu) Network 14 on Local Public Space and Security Policies, a EuropeAid regional programme on decentralized cooperation.
- Plataforma de Ciudades, Seguridad Ciudadana e Inclusión Social (http://bit.ly/1FuGYHM) an exchange project focused on enhancing social cohesion in Spanish and Latin American cities.
- Badalona-Peñalolen Bilateral Partnership (http://bit.ly/1FuGYHM) focused on integrated urban development policies in areas of environment, waste management, public spaces and participation, and social cohesion.
URBACT II 4D Cities Network (http://urbact.eu/4d-cities) consolidated my expertise in integrated and sustainable urban development. As lead expert, I helped partner cities to develop quadruple helix Local Action Plans on Health Innovation.
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
As lead expert of the 8 cities URBACT II 4D Cities network I designed learning actions, methodologies and tools for knowledge sharing and transfer on the topic of Health Innovation with a patient-centred approach.
Before that, project implemented from the International Department (http://bit.ly/1c49fsR) of the Badalona Council were largely based on international exchange and learning activities with local actors. To highlight:
- The URB-AL (http://www.urb-al3.eu) Network 14 based on mutual exchange and learning through transnational meetings, where partner cities presented their cases. A similar methodology applied for the bilateral partnership (http://bit.ly/1FuGYHM) between Badalona (Metropolitan area of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) and Peñalolen (Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile), a project that developed inter-institutional support and exchange between the two cities.
- The PRO-GOL / Local Med Platform (http://www.es.plateforme-localmed.net) project (regional Catalan–Moroccan cooperation network) focused on the exchange of practices and policies between local policy makers and city practitioners on governance, citizen participation processes, local economic development and the prevention of urban segregation.
Early professional experience in development cooperation projects at Population Action International (http://pai.org, Washington DC), included the support and direct involvement in NGO and policy-makers’ capacity-building projects for local youth and wo
B.3. Proficiency in English:
English has been my working language throughout most of my professional life. Examples of the most recent reports and publications produced in English include the Output and Final Capitalisation reports of the URBACT II 4D Cities project on Health Innovation with an Economic Growth:
- Business Opportunities of Local Health Innovation (http://goo.gl/WrFlbg)
- Bringing Citizens into Health Planning (http://bit.ly/1eeQULe)
- Health Sector Innovation Opportunities for Cities (http://bit.ly/1c4bigj)
- Knowledge Capital in Support of Local Health Innovation (http://bit.ly/1F18wAW)
- Patient-Centred Health Innovation with an Economic Growth (http://bit.ly/1HsfZfg) Final Capitalisation Report
The most relevant exposure to oral and written English was, first, through my work at Population Action International (PAI), a Washington DC based non-governmental organisation, where all the communication and documents were done in English. As lead expert in the URBACT II 4D Cities Network, I was required to write and communicate orally in English to facilitate and deliver all tools and results of transnational meeting sessions, producing all output documents from these transnational exchange activities.
I hold the Proficiency degree of English (Cambridge University) and TOEFL certification from the Institute for North American Studies.
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:
As lead expert of the URBACT II 4D Cities network, I was responsible for the bulk of the design, organisation and delivery of exchange and knowledge sharing activities implemented in transnational meetings. In this regard, meeting facilitation tools and methodologies (peer reviews, analyses of best practice…) as well as robust planning and groundwork to prepare the meetings were crucial in being able to get the most out of the knowledge sharing process.
4D Cities was particularly challenging in bringing partner cities to develop a common model of Health Innovation. Different backgrounds and city strategies required dealing with various levels and types of expertise, interests and cultural differences. Flexibility, tailored resources and individual support to partners helped in adjusting the project to the needs and capacities of all city participants.
The capacity to capture key learning of knowledge sharing and translate it into policy recommendations transferable to other cities with similar challenges can be assessed in the 4D Cities Outputs and Capitalisation reports at (goo.gl/7oFCqD).
Projects developed under my responsibility as International Cooperation Manager at the city Council of Badalona demonstrated effective processes for international exchange and capacity building on integrated urban policies, and counted on diverse inputs from multicultural actors from cities in Latin America and Africa.
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Local Governance
Summary Thematic expertise:
My thematic expertise in the field of local governance grows out of a very practical experience as International Cooperation Manager at the Badalona City Council (Barcelona Metropolitan Area) where the topic crosscut every international project the city engaged in. Then, as lead expert in URBACT II 4D Cities on Health Innovation, I worked on a set of policy recommendations issued from the project that contained a number of governance guidelines to advance local strategies in the Health Innovation field.
My knowledge of urban strategic planning also stems from my experience at the local government in Badalona. The international agenda was part of - and reflected in - the city strategy to improve real collaboration between public and private urban stakeholders to advance a modern and participatory form of planning urban development. I led the efforts to successfully embed the international plan in the broader local strategy and helped empower economic and social actors to harmonise their own strategies with those scenarios identified for the city.
My experience in the Health area relates to social and participatory processes in empowering patients and community groups, first in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in developing countries with a Washington DC-based NGO (PAI), later as lead expert of the URBACT 4D Cities network where I championed the patient-centred approach and was in charge of collecting shared knowledge to produce output reports
Theme / Policy:
Health
Summary Thematic expertise:
My thematic expertise in the field of local governance grows out of a very practical experience as International Cooperation Manager at the Badalona City Council (Barcelona Metropolitan Area) where the topic crosscut every international project the city engaged in. Then, as lead expert in URBACT II 4D Cities on Health Innovation, I worked on a set of policy recommendations issued from the project that contained a number of governance guidelines to advance local strategies in the Health Innovation field.
My knowledge of urban strategic planning also stems from my experience at the local government in Badalona. The international agenda was part of - and reflected in - the city strategy to improve real collaboration between public and private urban stakeholders to advance a modern and participatory form of planning urban development. I led the efforts to successfully embed the international plan in the broader local strategy and helped empower economic and social actors to harmonise their own strategies with those scenarios identified for the city.
My experience in the Health area relates to social and participatory processes in empowering patients and community groups, first in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in developing countries with a Washington DC-based NGO (PAI), later as lead expert of the URBACT 4D Cities network where I championed the patient-centred approach and was in charge of collecting shared knowledge to produce output reports.
Theme / Policy:
Urban Strategic Planning
Summary Thematic expertise:
My thematic expertise in the field of local governance grows out of a very practical experience as International Cooperation Manager at the Badalona City Council (Barcelona Metropolitan Area) where the topic crosscut every international project the city engaged in. Then, as lead expert in URBACT II 4D Cities on Health Innovation, I worked on a set of policy recommendations issued from the project that contained a number of governance guidelines to advance local strategies in the Health Innovation field.
My knowledge of urban strategic planning also stems from my experience at the local government in Badalona. The international agenda was part of - and reflected in - the city strategy to improve real collaboration between public and private urban stakeholders to advance a modern and participatory form of planning urban development. I led the efforts to successfully embed the international plan in the broader local strategy and helped empower economic and social actors to harmonise their own strategies with those scenarios identified for the city.
My experience in the Health area relates to social and participatory processes in empowering patients and community groups, first in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in developing countries with a Washington DC-based NGO (PAI), later as lead expert of the URBACT 4D Cities network where I championed the patient-centred approach and was in charge of collecting shared knowledge to produce output reports
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 was directly involved in leading a co-production and participatory process in my role as International Cooperation coordinator in the city of Badalona. The objective was organising the City international agenda under coherent guidelines and harmonising it with the agenda of local actors.
With the support of an external expert and the City Councillor, I led the participatory process involving local organisations, charities, schools, government services, city councillors and volunteers. The process aimed at consolidating a consensus-based local plan for preserving and supporting the existing projects run by local entities and designing a mid-term strategy for joint international action.
The process consisted of:
- Interviews with the most relevant and influential actors on the international and solidarity field;
- Thematic group meetings for priority setting with sector organisations like education, environment or Human Rights;
- Informative sessions through meetings with council representatives, mainly decision-makers at the political and department level, to inform on the consultation process and involve them;
- Sharing the outlined strategy to different local groups for discussion and amendment;
- Agreement on a final document approved (http://bit.ly/1LkHbxS, in Catalan language).
A number of animation tools were deployed for brainstorming, analysis and prioritising, such as small group discussion, Roleplaying, collaborative thinking and others.
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
The methodological tools that I developed for the 4D Cities project were aimed at capturing the interactions among the 4 drivers within the local strategy of Health Innovation policies for the purpose of identifying and monitoring them.
- 4D Cities Mapping (http://bit.ly/1LkEKv7)A set of tools and policies to develop and monitor citizens-centred health innovation with an economic growth. Areas in which the local government can undertake activities to promote relations and collaboration among Health Innovation stakeholders. e.g. the healthcare services and professionals with the patients and their relatives (Health-Citizen) or the private sector companies with the Universities and research centres (Business-Knowledge).
- 4D Cities Matrix of Sector-to-Sector Engagement (http://bit.ly/1EjuNrS) I developed a second tool, a grading exercise according to increasing levels stakeholders’ involvement. The document offers the capacity to identify the potential of progress in each project dimensions from information provision on through consulting, involving, partnering and real, citizen-focused empowerment.
The approach was based loosely on the idea of learning organisations, and learning by individuals, inspired by internationally applied taxonomies in the health sector as well as on Bloom’s taxonomy of learning. At the core of the approach is the idea that people and institutions cannot only learn but can become empowered.
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
I keep up a regular scanning and consultation practice about relevant H2020 and Cohesion Policy developments as well as national and regional EU policy related institutional departments.
I keep updated via RSS/Social media on urban development initiatives, conference reports, international gatherings, network activities, and policy documents.
I also study relevant foresight documents and Expert Advisory Group reports on topics of integrated urban policies and governance. I have lately joined Health Innovation resources.
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
Since the 4D Cities project network was composed of cities with different profiles, historical trajectories, governance, levels of patient involvement, and business development, the full accomplishment and implementation of all key learning and policies from the quadruple helix perspective was not feasible for any one city.
Each partner focused its LAP by developing more in-depth one or more dimensions, thus balancing the QHelix. Therefore, the support required from each partner differed; and so, as lead expert, I tried to adapt the content and learning to each of the partners by undertaking follow up meetings and conversations to see the potential of adjusting and to propose individual measures and resources for each of them. I was also successful in animating bilateral exchanges between partners with similar challenges.
It is worth saying that not all local authorities of the cities involved in the project shared the innovative perspective of a patient-centred development model. Although initially, in the thematic transnational meetings, there were expressions of reluctance to embrace the new approach, in the end the dissemination and shaping of project outputs and best practices contributed to a large extent to a change of mind-sets. In this regard, the project succeeded in the final Local Action Plans to adjust from initial project that had a more technological approach and include a new dimension of the citizens as an active stakeholder of the local policy.
Summary Expertise:
As lead expert of the 4D Cities project, I supported network partners coming from different history tracks, governance, levels of patient involvement and business development in the advancement of their quadruple helix projects. Being a broad topic, the local project stakeholders were representatives of the public administration, the private business sector, the social and community field and the knowledge institutions. Consequently, the solutions adopted came inevitably from a policy-integrated perspective.
Though the thematic and methodological interests differed from partner to partner the support provided succeeded in including them all in the common participatory approach for each one of their self-interested projects. I offered methodologies based on social innovation, Social Return on Investment and other impact measurement tools. I learned once again that change does not happen immediately, that change in complex situations may happen after the project funding ends.
As coordinator of the International Cooperation Programme in the city of Badalona, I was directly involved in leading a co-production and participatory process to set the City international agenda under coherent guidelines and harmonising it with the agenda of local actors and government services.
Informations
Residence location:
Spain
Languages:
Spanish - Mother tongue
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Email:
mireiasanabria@gmail.com
Unavailable - already performing the role of Lead Expert for an URBACT network