urbsocial journal . september 23th

SECOND MEETING

Journal

SEGUNDO ENCUENTRO

Rosario, 24th September 2011

After three days of hard work, the second URBsociAL meeting, held at the city of Rosario, Santa Fe, came to a close yesterday. The closing session was attended by the Coordinator of the socio-economic sector at the Directorate-General and Cooperation of the European Commission, Vittorio Tonutti; the Councillor Adjoint to the Presidency, Diputació de Barcelona, Joan Carles García Cañi-zares, and the Deputy Secretary of International Cooperation of the Province of Santa Fe, María del Huerto Romero. They highlighted the significance of the recommendations and the commitments to social cohesion summarized in the 2011 Rosario Agenda. In his speech, Mr. Tonutti stated that "this second edition has turned out as we expected, without academic digressions and with con-crete experiences." He added that "regional cooperation with Latin America will continue." Mr. Cañizares, on the other hand, put the emphasis on the "qualitative improvement from Sitges to Rosario." Finally, Ms. Del Huerto Romero closed the speech thanking all the people who made this meeting possible. •

THE 2011 ROSARIO AGENDA SETS THE PACE FOR URBSOCIAL

More than 500 people from 150 cities in Latin America and Europe attended the opening of the European-Latin American Dialogue on Social Cohe-sion and Local Public Policies. Dur-ing the three days of the meeting, politicians, state officers, people in the technology field and members of the academia analysed the main challenges faced by local govern-ments in the current social and eco-nomic context. In this edition we inaugurated the first Fair of Local Experiences on Social Cohesion, including the 20 URB-AL III projects and guests cities such as Lima, Rio Grande do Sul, Curitiba, Rosario, and Medellín. •

THE FIGURES OF ROSARIO

URBsociAL Newsletter // September 24th

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URBsociAL 2011 Agenda

Land Use Planning and Sustainable Development

Integrate goals and elements of social cohesion in the design of the city and the regions explicitly; i.e., in the use of spaces, the location of infra-structure and equipment, or in matters of mobility, ensuring urban develop-ment sustainability.

Generate an institutional architecture that, in its different layers, allows public participation in the formulation and execution of public policies of land use planning.

Provide the local governments with effective tools for monitoring and assessment of different processes and components of urban development.

Prioritize the improvement of urban and long-distance mobility, as the main ele-ment that contributes to the quality of life of citizens and, particularly, in matters of access to public spaces, road and citizen safety, and the environment.

Institutional Innovation

Design and build new coalitions among neighbouring municipalities (associations of communities) that include cross-border spaces, and cre-ate European-Latin American coop-eration networks to confront new demographic, migration and territo-rial realities.

Establish consensus with active par-ticipation of citizens and actors present in the territory so as to increase confi-

Having taken up the baton of the 2010 Sitges Agenda, the second URBsociAL meeting has left in Rosario views and reflections of more than 500 participants from 23 countries in Latin America and the European Union. Lucía Sala, Deputy Director of the FIIAPP, presented the recommendations and commit-ments to social cohesion drawn from workshops.

RECOMMENDATIONSPotentialities of Local Development for Cohesion and Inclusive Growth

Restore the essentially endogenous nature of development from apprecia-tion and mobilization of productive, natural and human resources in the territory.

Build a strategic vision that combines economic development with social and territorial cohesion, increasing the iden-tity and sense of belonging and the rec-ognition of all the members of the com-munity.

Include all the actors of the public and private territories in the complete development cycle, in order to initially ensure their participation in the process and in the equitative distribution of eco-nomic and social benefits.

Support the innovation in every field of local government action in order to improve the efficiency of public admin-istration and the rendering of services to the citizens.

Institutions are committed to appreciating and promoting cooperation among territorial governments as a space for innovation.

The organising institutions of URBsociAL make public the following findings, recommendations and commitments.

2011 ROSARIO AGENDA

Complete declaration in www.urbsocial.eu


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URBsociAL 2011 Agenda

dence and legitimacy as vectors of social cohesion.

Increase institutional and human capabilities that make it possible to strengthen political leaderships com-mitted to the preparation of a local pub-lic agenda which fosters social cohesion and warrants the full exercise of their citizenship rights.

Adopt tools that encourage and improve the exterior projection of local and regional governments; this has proven to be a key factor for promotion of development opportunities and it is particularly important in today’s con-text.

Promote and consolidate decentral-ised cooperation as a strengthening instrument of institutions and of the development policy of local and region-al governments.

COMMITMENTSThe institutions which organised this second European-Latin American Dia-logue on Social Cohesion and Local Public Policies are committed to:

Disseminating the current 2011 Rosa-rio Agenda of URBsociAL.

Promoting adherence to it by the local governments in Europe and Latin Amer-ican through the associations and net-works which represent them.

Maintaining social cohesion as one of the three themes of European-Lat-in American cooperation along with political dialogue and economic part-nership.

Promoting forums for dialogue, reflec-tion and exchange of experiences among participants that make it possible to gen-

erate reference frameworks in design, execution and evaluation of local pub-lic policies.

In addition, they will ensure that the national governments and interna-tional organisations receive this 2011 Rosario Agenda of URBsociAL, as well as -and especially- the institu-tions of the European Union, with the aim of encouraging the preparation of the agenda.

They are also committed to appre-ciating and promoting cooperation among territorial governments as a space for innovation and learn-ing, and to exploring new ways and instruments of decentralised coop-eration. Moreover, all the experiences identified by the participants in all the workshops will be collected and disseminated so that it is possible to generate common reference frame-works.

The organising institutions will pro-mote complementation and the search for synergies among the various programmes for interna-tional cooperation oriented towards encouraging social cohesion. While the organising institutions adhere and evaluate the recommendations contained in the present Agenda, they also recognize the value and need to generate forums for dia-logue on social cohesion and pub-lic policies among European-Latin American territorial governments and are committed to seeking mechanisms for the continuity of URBsociAL.


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News

Eight speakers presented the regional programmes of the EC.

The coordinator of the socio-econom-ic sector at the Directorate-General

for Development and Cooperation of the European Commission, Vittorio Tonutti, conducted yesterday an introductory session about the main programmes that channel regional cooperation in Latin America in order to promote com-plementation among them. The ses-sion aimed at making people aware of the different programmes to promote synergies.

Firstly, they introduced the ALFA pro-gramme, which is focused on the exchange between universities from Europe and Latin America. Among the projects presented, speakers empha-sised on Sapuvetnet, a veterinary public health network.

Another one was the CID (Knowledge, Inclusion and Development) project, aimed at the outplacement of work-ers over 40 years old and women who missed their jobs due to personal rea-sons. Thirdly, they introduced the project called Integrated University Management of Students Desertion, focused on the

Complementation of the regional programmes of the CEThe European Commission headed a session to promote synergy between its Latin American programmes

During the session, collaboration between regional programmes was enhanced.

causes of university student's desertion in the middle of their studies.

As regards the programme Al-Invest, which supports the internationalisation of Latin American SMEs, they presented the strategy to help companies improve competitiveness according to interna-tional parameters that help new foreign markets to be open.

The programme @LIS, also introduced during the session, analyses the dig-ital gap between Latin America and the industrialised countries, and its consequences of underdevelopment in the region.

During the presentation of the pro-gramme, speakers stressed out that Latin America's successful perform-ance regarding economic growth was not translated into a decrease of inequalities. As an example, they mentioned the situation of broadband rates in Latin America; they are ten times more expensive in industrialised countries -and even slower- due to the oligopoly market managed by the service provider companies. In this respect, they emphasised that Bra-zil is taking action to implement new fiber-optic networks that will help the emergence of larger service providers. Additionally, Mr. Tonutti mentioned the advances in telemedicine and tele-education as initiatives to help reduce the digital gap, as well as the technolo-gies used in the successful implemen-tation of the Brazilian social assistance programme Bolsa Familia.

EUROsociAL was the last programme to be introduced in the complemen-tation session. This initiative is work-ing at the level of European and Latin American official organisations in terms of cooperation. Due to its nature, EUROsociAL can establish strong synergies with URB-AL, focused on local governments •

ALFA, Al-Invest, @LIS and EUROsociAL were the initiatives presented within URBsociAL.


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News

The speakers of the workshop on potenti-alities of local development got together again yesterday morning in order to pro-duce a summary document, based on the

experiences of the first session, to articulate the list of conclusions. Key diagnostic points were estab-lished stating the proposal of the public policies to be adopted.

Silvia Estillarte, UNE’s coordinator project from Irún, mentioned the case of the Central Department of Paraguay regarding the importance of recovering the sense of territorial belonging and the generation of employment policies aimed at youth and women. The second case to be analysed was the city of San Juan, where the Government articulates with the productive sectors and the scientific-technologi-cal-educational areas. Finally, the city of Medellín helped analyse an alliance between sectors of the civil society.

In the employment creation field, the impor-tance of recovering identity and the sense of ter-ritorial belonging was stressed out as a starting point. The need to focus employment creation policies on youth and women was also empha-sised.

The second analysis of the subtopic was cen-tred on the search of integral and transversal policies. For the creation and implementation of such policies, the institutionalisation of specific dialogue spaces -such as centres (usinas) or Training Pacts- was considered essential. The last issue of the discussion was the need to democratise information using new technologies.

As regards the topic of local competitive-ness, it was discussed whether the role of State should be as guarantor and promoter of such competitiveness, or just another actor.

Additionally, in connection with the role of the State, the analysis considered whether it should be a promoter of social cohesion within the framework of territorial competi-tiveness. The need to articulate the actors in the territory in order to have an instrument of action was also mentioned. Finally, the necessity to reinforce local entrepreneurship and its relation with knowledge management was discussed.

In the third subtopic regarding innovative cities, the significance of institutionalising an international cooperation policy in agree-ment with the characteristics of the terri-tory was presented. Thus, the path to con-ceptually transform innovative cities into innovative regions was drawn. In this expan-sive sense, the idea of connecting civil society with this institutional innovation process was pointed out.

ACTUAL DEvELOPMENT POTENTIAL The conclusions of the first workshop, focused on the potentialities of local development, go for the transversal structure and growth of competitive synergies.


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News

The conclusions of the second workshop were presented by Maria Lluïsa Ferré. She used the cases of the cities of Quito and Curitiba as a trigger to speak about

the need to establish long-term strategies -20 to 30 years- to build the vision of a city.

Ms. Ferré also stressed the need to think about urban mobility not only in relation to public trans-portation but also in relation to how people move about their city using pedestrian areas. In the search of a distributive and an inclusive city, edu-cation is a crucial agent that goes beyond school. Its objective is to educate people so that they relate responsibly to urban space and environmental care. Lastly, she emphasized the importance of regulating land tenure as an element that strength-ens the territorial sentiment and its corresponding protection.

From the practical case studies of Quito (Ecuador) and Curitiba (Brazil), the work-shop focused in land use planning and sustainable development and arose a good number of questions and discussions that require further analysis. The majority of the reflections dealt with the two subtopics in a generic manner: urban mobility and integrated urban design.

Among other conclusions, speakers men-tioned the need to sensitize local govern-ments in order to develop strategic plans at a local and regional level, taking into account multilevel governance.

Another aspect that appeared repeatedly during the debate was the restoration of sovereignty over land use planning, remov-ing the strictly private and speculative inter-est of the land use planning criterion.

In this sense, participants also discussed the need to bear in mind social cohesion when reflecting about urban mobility and the way of living in and moving about the cities. In other words, cohesion must be considered as a variable in master or stra-tegic plans affecting mobility.

The debate focused on a third aspect: edu-cation -whose aim is to educate responsi-ble citizens who are committed to urban spaces and environmental care. In this line of argument, the focus was on the need to reappraise environment by thinking of a balanced and integrated urban develop-ment in the territory, in opposition to clas-sic models of urban segregation.

THE INCLUSIvE CITyThe second workshop set the priority to establish long-term strategies in the search of a redistributive city which inspires a feeling of territoriality.


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News

The conclusions of this workshop were presented by Héctor Navarro and were drawn from the cases of the Province of Santa Fe (Argentina), the San Salvador

Metropolitan Area, and the municipalities of Cala-coto and San Pedro de Quemes. As a result, the conclusions emphasised the need to strengthen institutional capabilities through the training of their public officers, and the incorporation of new coordination mechanisms within the organisations. This may be reinforced by establishing a rela-tion between universities and local governments and the civil society. To this end, debate systems have been implemented as a place for transversal discussions that lead to identifying and owning policies on part of the citizens, in order to create a sense of collective belonging. Finally, Mr. Nav-arro clearly expressed the need to resignify the concept of borders between countries.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATIONThe third workshop highlighted the need to increase the capabilities of local management agents in the creation of public participation mechanisms.

The first theme dealt with the articulation of territorial actors, and was based on the case of the Province of Santa Fe. Its purpose is to strengthen the institutional capabilities of governments and local states through the incorporation of coordination mechanisms within the organisations. The workshop focused on the revalorisation of knowledge by finding a relation between universities and local governments and the civil society.

The second theme revolved around local pooling and associativism, and was based on the case of the San Salvador Metropolitan Area. It was a place for discussing the expe-riences about pooling and associativism, about the elements that make these experi-ences sustainable, and it highlighted public participation and its potential as an enabler factor for these processes.

The third theme centred on cross-border cooperation and was based on the case of Calacoto and San Pedro de Quemes. It analysed the importance of multilevel coop-eration at the local, regional and national levels. The role of national governments in this type of cooperation was also discussed, since such cooperation involves several countries. In this sense, it was clearly expressed that there is the need to resig-nify the concept of borders in relation to the opportunities provided by such per-spective. This leads to the identification of problems that are common to the territories so as to generate shared approaches and stimulate endogenous resources. In the end, from this we can establish the need of considering cross-border cooperation not only in terms strictly related to econo-my, but also in terms of culture, society, identification and the territory.

News


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Report

PHOTO ALBUM

The second edition of URBsociAL, held in the City of Rosario (Argentina), closed yesterday after three days of conferences and intense work sessions with social cohesion as the main theme. These are the photos of the event.


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Organization of Urbsocial: OCO-URB-AL III

OCO Consortium: Barcelona Provincial Council, international and Ibero-American Foundation of Government and Public Policy, FIIAPP (Spain); Province of Santa Fe (Argentina); Mayoral Office of Bogotá (Colombia); Municipality of San José (Costa Rica) and Region of Tuscany (Italy).

Diputació de Barcelona, September 2011. Coordination and supervision: Office of Coordination and Orientation of URB-AL III Program. Edition and layout: Pauta Media S.L. Photography: Diputació de Barcelona (Òscar Ferrer, camaleó), Gover-nment of Santa Fe (Marcelo Beltrame), OCO and proyectos URB-AL III archives.

laboratory to create solutions in the framework of globalisation and crisis." He also focused on the journalistic discourse in official communications, which were "based on pedagogical considerations of questions with open debates." These were the words of the Governor of Río Grande do Sul, Tarso Genro, who proposed interesting chal-lenges in his keynote speech.

From this speech to the inaugura-tion of the projects fair, this edition showed a vast qualitative improve-ment with respect to the first one. "An ideal setting that allowed us to know a range of different projects in an inte-grating and easy way," according to the meeting reporters. In relation to the methodology used, Enríquez indicated video as "the best way to reach out to people," as well as the way in which "the URBsociAL newsletter has been a key factor in reflecting contents and making them visible."

The methodology used in the work-shops during this second edition satis-fied the need expressed at Sitges for a method that allowed fast exchange of experiences "where we can all talk and listen," Enríquez added.

Finally, the reporters focused on the "real value of the meeting for sectors and territories that are working on it, as a place for a learning experience." According to Enríquez, in a time of global crisis "Europe and Latin Amer-ica are affected by the crisis differ-ently, but we need to find the answers together. In this respect, our territories have a huge responsibility to find these answers." To sum up, URBsociAL "provides new tools and a renewed commitment." Enríquez ended his report thanking and acknowledging those who made this second edition possible. •

From left to right: Octavi de la Varga, José Luis Furlan and Alberto Enríquez.

The Executive Director of the OCO, Octavi de la Varga, intro-

duced the reporters for the second edition of URBsociAL. De la Varga introduced José Luís Furlan, Direc-tor of the Latin American Centre of Local Studies (CELADEL) and Alberto Enríquez Villacorta, expert in the field of Decentralised Cooperation and Local Public Policies, as "two silent witnesses" responsible for reporting the three days of the meeting.

Enríquez, who addressed the audience on behalf of the two reporters, high-lighted the most interesting concepts in relation to the main topic of URB-sociAL: the link between the meth-odology and the contents. A link that is "difficult to manage; however, this initiative has shown it is possible."

The first aspect to note is the context of the meeting. According to Enríquez "the URBsociAL environment is a fabric that unites territories. Its first stop was Sitges and its second stop is Rosario. Two completely different scenarios with shared challenges." Rosario is

the ideal local setting because it is a city undergoing a deep transformation process, where the value of strategic planning as a tool has been made evident. Enríquez briefly mentioned the chronological sequence of the meeting, starting by the combination of the first day with an opening and official inauguration, led by institu-

tional authorities. He singled out three ideas from the inauguration: "Social Cohesion is only achieved when Gov-ernments are committed to uphold the rights of their citizens. Decentralised cooperation is a learning experience in which the territories learn and URB-AL is a space characterised by the sharing and living of experiences." In his address, Enríquez highlighted that "the local level is the most adequate

The Experience Fair offers a new dimension to URB-ALThe second edition of URBsociAL has been a useful forum for dialogue, using new tools and fostering a renewed commitment.

Decentralised cooperation is a learning experience for different territories.


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Agenda

UPCOMING EVENTSURBSOCIAL REUSES CREATIvE MATERIAL

Now that the second edition is over, there is one last chal-lenge: to reuse all the materials designed for the Experiences Fair. All printed materials exhibited at the stands have been made avail-able for the different projects to reuse them.

29 November - 3 December 2011

Second Seminar of the second meeting of the Local Leadership PlatformLa Antigua (Guatemala) The Local Leadership Platform, consisting of 34 Latin American elected bodies, is an academically excellent training space promoted by the OCO and aimed at local leaders in Latin America. The Platform operates in the framework of the URB-AL III Programme of the European Commission.

29-30 November 2011

Third Regional Dialogue on Social CohesionLima (Peru)The next Regional Dialogue on Social Cohesion of the URB-AL III Programme will deal with “The challenges of inclusive development.”

Meetings planned for 2012(the exact dates and venues are to be determined) Two Seminars of the third meeting of the Local Leadership Platform

Three Regional Dialogues on Social Cohesion

Third URBsociAL meeting


ALCALDÍA MAYORDE BOGOTÁ D.C.

Back page

Sentences of the day

The Fair and the methodology have been two hits of this second meeting.”

JC García CañizaresCouncillor Adjoint to the Presidency, Diputació de Barcelona

It has been a team work with the participation of every actor involved."

Maria del Huerto Romero Deputy Secretary of International Cooperation, Province of Santa Fe

The local level is the most adequate laboratory to create solutions in a global world."

Alberto Enríquez Expert on Decentralised Cooperation and Local Public Policies

The path we have walked reinforces the meaning of continued cooperation."

vittorio TonuttiDirectorate-General for Development and Cooperation of the EC

urbsocial journal . september 23th

Documents

rosario agenda

public spaces

city of rosario

local public policies

elements of social cohesion

use of spaces

urbsocial meeting

public participation