Francesco
Silvestri
Validated Lead Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
After graduating in Economics in 1993 with a thesis on sustainable development, in last 20 years I have been involved in many studies on sustainable development on both rural and urban environment.
My first work has been in 1996-’98 the technical assistance to EU LIFE Project “Città Castelli Ciliegi” (Cities, Castles Cherry Trees), on the implementation of leisure and other sustainable activities between the cities of Bologna and Modena and the rural hinterland of both towns.
My last research interests are focused on solid waste management and on smart specialization with respect to cultural heritage, two topics strictly related to sustainable urban development.
Finally, in last 10 months I managed an evaluation project on sustainability of policies in a district of the downtown of Naples affected by economic, social and environmental problems. With respect to this last project, I have got in touch with urban stakeholders, Municipality politicians and civil servants, experts in urban social development.
Besides of work experience, my focus on sustainability has been strengthen through years due to theoretical studies carried on because of my involvement as Environmental Economics and Innovation economics professor at University of Bologna and at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
In my work experience I dealt with many transnational exchange projects. In last two years I have worked in the technical assistance for EU cooperation projects on sustainable development:
Med Project (ECO-SCP-MED), Interreg IV (Histcape), and Adriatic IPA (Shape, technical assistance for Marche Region)
In ECO-SCP-MED, a project on the sharing of best practices on consumer and production sustainable policies, I was head of the technical assistance for the working package coordinated by Province of Bologna.
In Histcape, sustainable management solutions to arrest decline of historical assets in rural communities, I was part of the technical assistance for Marche Region.
In Shape, Shaping an Holistic Approach to Protect the Adriatic Environment between coast and sea, I was the head of the Marche Region technical assistance group appointed to design a replicable model for the economic analysis of the coastline
In previous years (2004 and 2007) I operated as Country referent (Montenegro) for an exchanging learning project on natural parks management among Italy and the Balkans countries.
Other transnational programmes where I operated in last 15 years, are Interreg Italy-Slovenia (sustainable energy), Interreg Italy-Suisse (sustainable tourism), Interreg III and II projects (sustainable planning), EU IEE, UE 6th FP (rural development), EU Life (environmental planning and policies); being concerned as a researcher, I participated to many exchange and learning processes.
B.3. Proficiency in English:
Even if it is not my mother tongue, I used to attend international English-spoken meetings due to consultancy, academic teaching and research activities in last years. In addition, besides of technical and layman’s report for cooperation projects and application forms for international projects, in last years I have published in English various scientific papers on sustainable development and environmental economics subjects (see attached CV)
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:
In transnational projects I managed, I carried out different kinds of knowledge sharing activities: organization of international workshops and seminars with participation methods such as World Café and implementing with partners tools like Logical Framework. The non-presence activity was held through Skype and Webex conferences.
The way to treat the few cases of inactivity or un-confidence by partners has been based on personal and tailor-made supporting in their activities.
It is my habit to speak to non-English participants with a simple language, helping myself with concise slide-presentation support accompanied by figures.
In my whole professional activity, both transnational and domestic, I use to write meeting drafts, summaries, and final reports. The nature of my job (consultant on local and sustainable development for public bodies) leads me to write reports with policy messages and recommendations.
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Environmental Issues
Summary Thematic expertise:
My main skills are concentrated in the environmental issues: I taught Environmental economics at Bologna University from 2001 to 2009, and I published more than 10 scientific papers on the issue, a university handbook in environmental economics included.
I’m a partner and the CEO of eco&eco, Economy and Ecology Ltd, a private research firm active in the field of consultancy to privates and public bodies on the economic interpretation of natural and environmental heritage.
In my professional activity, I use to produce thematic inputs, concise reports, documents and dossiers with policy recommendations on environmental issues, with the corollary of dissemination activities such as web platform implementation (see for instance “Emilia-Romagna Region Sustainability Showcase”, wwwservizi.regione.emilia-romagna.it/ambiente/vetrinasostenibilita), public conferences, publications.
In recent years, my expertise on the issue leaded me to deal with Natural parks economic masterplans (Regional parks of the Province of Bologna, of Parma, of Po River Delta, National park of Tuscany-Emilia Appennine, Geopark of Bologna and Romagna Appennine, Ecological network of Sardinia), waste selection plans (Republic of San Marino), LA21 plans (Stelvio Park), Sustainability projects (Vetrina della Sostenibilità of ER, ECO-SCP-MED), renewable energy analysis and projects (LG Action, Energy Masterplan of Po River Delta, best practices of co-provision of energy in Italy, Oekoprofit)
Theme / Policy:
Local Economic Development
Summary Thematic expertise:
My second field of expertise is local economic development, an issue I practice both with personal studies and job activity and on which I published different papers.
In my day-by-day professional activity of consultancy (individual and through the firm where I’m partner and CEO, “eco&eco, Economy and Ecology Ltd”) I use to support local development agencies. In last year, I specialized in the Internal Areas National Strategy, an Italian programme for the local socio-economic development of fringe areas with aging, loss of inhabitants, economic decline, thanks to a methodological work for a national agency held by Italian Ministry of Economy, a field work in Liguria (province of Spezia), and the technical assistance to Marche Region (ongoing).
In this field, I produced thematic inputs, concise reports, dissemination activities and scientific and informative publications in a EU 6th FP Project (Corason - A Cognitive Approach to Rural Sustainable Development”), in Italian internal areas research, in EU Interreg (Histcape), and in a recent project on local development in Lombardy (Integrated local plan for sustainable development in Valcavallina, Bergamo)
Theme / Policy:
Local Governance
Summary Thematic expertise:
Complex problems go beyond administrative borders, claiming for shared solutions that need the constitution of new governance models, often connecting private with public stakeholders.
As a researcher of eco&eco, Economy and Ecology Ltd, I dealt with the issue of local governance in many territorial project: in the definition of basin masterplans for three river agreement in Lombardy involving more than 40 municipalities, among which the Milan metropolis, in the organization of the managing structure for the Territorial Integrated Projects in Sicily (Palermo) and the aforementioned District Integrated Project in Valcavallina. Finally, in last year I followed the institution and the definition of the governance for the Bologna and Romagna Geopark.
In all mentioned projects, thematic inputs and learning phases to the benefit of partners have been implemented, through memorandums, internal seminars, sharing of documents.
I produced several partial and thematic reports, with a focus on good practices in the case of river agreements’ governance throughout Europe. Working reports and documents were uploaded in a Google document platform with access to all participants of the multidisciplinary working group.
Dissemination and awareness took the form of seminars, informative and scientific publications (for instance http://agriregionieuropa.univpm.it/content/article/31/37/i-contratti-di-fiume-lombardia-un-modello-di-governance-le-politiche
Theme / Policy:
Research, Innovation and Knowledge Economy
Summary Thematic expertise:
In 2011-2013 I have been appointed by University of Modena as Professor of Innovation Economics. I centred the course on the Complexity theory approach to Innovation and technical change, a brand new paradigm claiming that innovation is a social construct, and not a simple matter of economic efficiency.
Complexity approach guided even the study on the use of European funds for Innovation policies and technical transfer in Tuscany (Project Poli.in, funded by Tuscany Region), that I participate with the same University and that has produced two collective papers (one on the main innovation policies in Europe, and one on Innovation policies in Tuscany).
In addition to those activities, I have recently published a paper on innovation and technical change in the solid waste industry, and I produced and recorded a series of 20’ podcasts on Creativity and Innovation for the Educational Training Learning Centre of Tuscany.
The Poli.In project produced plenty of thematic inputs for the benefit of regional policy makers and civil servants to generate a more keen and effective innovation policy. For this reason, every six months a progress report, and some position papers were discussed in dedicated seminars and workshops.
Other activities by me deal with the production of learning materials – mainly conveyed by web-platforms (www.progettotrio.it), and scientific papers (www.economia.unimore.it/site/home/ricerca/demb-working-paper-series.html)
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 :
Participation is at the basis of any project I have developed in my professional life. My research approach is inspired by Participatory Action Research (PAR), a well-known method that claims the importance of involving the beneficiaries of the research/consultancy in the developing of the same research/action plan.
Me and my colleagues, both academic and at eco&eco Ltd., applied this approach to many studies on the implementation of local policies: at the rural level, in both the design of management plans of Natura 2000 sites (the EU ecological network made of natural protected areas and buffer zones) in Emilia-Romagna and Sardinia, and in the definition of socio-economic and development plan for natural parks across Italy; at the urban level, in the drafting of the sustainable strategic plan of the city of Siracusa (Sicily), in the implementation of waste selection programme in the Republic of San Marino, and in the zoning of the municipality plan of the city of Grado.
With respect to National parks, I implemented a Local Agenda 21 for the National Park of Stelvio/Stilfser Joch and organized a series of 32 participatory meeting with local communities to debate on the socio-economic plan of the National Park of Tuscany-Emilia Apennines, similarly inspired to facilitation techniques of LA21
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
Monitoring and evaluation methods are gaining growing relevance in EU policies and programmes. Being involved in policies evaluation research projects, I got skilled in the use of evaluation methods and monitoring indicators.
With respect to urban strategies, in Naples (Reves project) we experimented a new method of “local evaluation”, deeply rooted in realistic evaluation approach, that applies evaluation not to the programme to be analysed, but to the local environment and to the community of beneficiaries and doers, grabbing in this way the main interactions among agents, policies and local conditions that affect the final outcome of an implemented programme.
In Siracusa I designed the monitoring plan for the sustainable strategic plan, considering a set of economic, social, and environmental indicators to be measured ex-ante and after the implementation. The measurable indicators were: per-capita GDP and taxable income, tourist presences, average permanence of tourists, hotel occupancy ratio, real estate values in different parts of town (economic); job activity index, total, female, and youth employment/unemployment rates, no. of buildings destined to cultural use, no. of buildings for social activity (social); per-capita urban green, % of protected land, km of accessible pathways and cycle lanes, motorization rate, air pollution indicators (No2, PM10, benzene), public transportation indicators, size of no-cars areas, no. of car-sharing users (environmental)
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
Besides of the attention for EU funding programmes, calls and tenders to be suggested to potential clients in my consultancy activity, I use to teach EU planning and funding schemes at ESF education, educational training projects, and seminars, so that I need to keep up to date on this issue. In last years, I taught in 8-10 ESF courses, in one case internal to European Cooperation Programme MED, comparing the past (2007-2013) with the new (2014-2020) EU programmes and addressing even the issue of urban development policies
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
Working in the field of local development and adopting the approach of participatory action and research, the totality of consultancy and research projects I have been involved are “tailor-made”. Usually I start with a field analysis based on interviews and focus groups to indentify the main issues and problems of the local environment where to act. A second step is the elicitation (either vis-à-vis or public) of the main interests, objectives, aspirations of local stakeholders. Then, I proceed co-designing actions and projects with policy makers stakeholders, and beneficiaries. The quasi-final step is a public open access meeting where to present the plan/project and to debate the suggested solutions. At last, I update the plan/project designing the final version if some remark emerged
Summary Expertise:
Participation and tailor-made approach are the basis of any project in my professional life, devoted to local development. My research approach is inspired by Participatory Action Research, claiming the importance of beneficiaries involvement in the developing of a research/action plan.
I am skilled in the use of evaluation methods and monitoring indicators. With respect to urban strategies, in Reves we experimented a new method of “local evaluation”, rooted in realistic evaluation approach, that does not evaluate the programme to be analysed, but the local environment and the community of beneficiaries/doers, grabbing the main interactions among agents, policies and local conditions that affect the final outcome of implemented programme. In Siracusa I designed the monitoring plan for the sustainable strategic plan, considering a set of more than 20 economic, social, and environmental indicators.
I teach EU planning and funding schemes at ESF education, educational training projects, and seminars, so I need to keep up to date on the issue.
My method contemplate field analysis based on interviews and focus groups to indentify the main issues and problems of the local environment, elicitation (either vis-à-vis or public) of the main interests, objectives, aspirations of local stakeholders, co-design of actions and projects with stakeholders, public debate of the suggested solutions, and drafting of the final version of the programme
Informations
Residence location:
Italy
Languages:
Italian - Mother tongue
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Email:
silvestri@eco-eco.it