URBsociAL Journal. October 27th, Bogotá 2012

Bogotá, October 27th, 2012

[10:01:38 p.m.] Constanza Saavedra Valdés: The Program begins to face its future as of today

URB-AL III faces the sustainability challenge The third edition of URBsociAL concluded yesterday with a call for maintaining the network constructed during the URB-AL III Program.

The closing ceremony was attended by the Secretary of the Mayor’s Office of the District of Bogotá, Jorge Rojas; the Foreign Affairs Director of the Diputación de Barcelona, Jordi Castells; Vittorio Tonutti, from Europe-Aid (European Commission); and Massimo Toschi, International Cooperation Advisor of Regione Toscana.

During the closing of the Program, the innovative contribution made

by URB-AL III to change the paradigm of cooperation initiatives was confirmed: We have gone from a unidirectional model to a peer-topeer dialog between continents. It is with this spirit that the main actors are invited to continue to work for sustainability and replicability of the results achieved in their territories. Public institutions will share this responsibility by incorporating social cohesion into their agendas as a central axis of the public policies designed. • 1

An agenda for continuity

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mong the recommendations of the Bogotá 2012 Agenda to promote sustainable development are the promotion of territorial competitiveness, the strengthening of basic social services, the construction of an active citizenship, reduction of territorial unbalances, and institutional strengthening. Likewise, within the framework of this document, the organizing institutions undertook to give top visibility to the results obtained by the program.

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Roundtable

Rational decentralization helps achieve social cohesion

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Governance and decentralization for an inclusive and sustainable future” was the central theme of the roundtable debate held during the closing session of URBsociAL 2012. The participants included Horacio Ghirardi, Secretary of Regions, Municipalities and Communes of the Government of the Province of Santa Fe (Argentina); Lucia Hornes, Director of International Affairs of Intendencia de Montevideo (Uruguay); Josep Martínez, General Sub-Director for Legal Assistance and Local Regime of Generalitat de Catalunya; and Georges Bonan, expert of the Orientation and Coordination Office of the URB-AL III Program.

As José Luis Furlán, director of CELADEL and roundtable moderator, pointed out, there is a full consensus regarding the value of decentralization as an effective mechanism to execute public policies that have an impact on social cohesion. However, it was emphasized the decentralization by itself will not automatically lead to the

development of a cohesive society.

“Giving local governments resources and political mandates to take on the responsibility for their own development does not make any sense unless they have the autonomy and governance in place to implement it,” Furlán said.

The loss of economic autonomy implies the loss of capacity to promote local development Horacio Ghirardi Secretary of Regions, Municipalities and Communes of the Government of the Province of Santa Fe (Argentina)

Influence The participants pointed out that the influence of decentralization is essential for the implementation of public policies that have an impact on social cohesion.

Lucia Hornes has no doubts about its positive effect. She cited as an example the change that has taken place in the Latin American continent: “Once the elites were removed from power and we began to work on our own development, we have seen progress for the people,” she explained.

Josep Martínez believes that there are no absolute formulas. “What is important is to find the most adequate orga-

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URBsociAL Newsletter // Report nization size to guarantee the principle of equality of the people according to the specific context,” he said. Horacio Ghirardi added to the debate the issue of the cost of decentralization: “It is not about how much it costs, but how much is spent on centralized institutional structures. The loss of economic autonomy means the loss of capacity to have an incidence on local development”.

To close this section, Georges Bonan reminded the audience that decentralization is a key aspect, because it is not possible to undertake public policies for social cohesion without the legitimacy of local governments: “decentralization represents the path towards the effective implantation of inclusive development public policies”.

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URBAL-III has defined for us a framework to help us innovate in our territories Director of International Affairs of Intendencia de Montevideo (Uruguay)

LIMITS The limit to decentralization is where it is not possible to effectively carry out the policies, says Horacio Ghirardi.

“Not everything can be decentralized; instead, the principle of capacity to operate should prevail,” he explained.

To complement this idea, Josep Martínez added that beyond effectiveness, one should consider efficiency, especially in economic terms, when discussing decentralization. He also insisted that decentralization must be implemented with a view towards national sovereignty in order to avoid the risk of fragmentation.

In line with the approach that puts resources at the center of the debate, Georges Bonan indicated that, according to his experience, the limit to decentralization is up to the point where the local governments have the capacity to ensure proper management of the resources made available to them. Lastly, Lucia Hornes considered that the limit is somewhat diffuse, and that it consequently implies close examination. “It is a long process of great changes, and it requires stopping to make sure that the proper design is in place,” she said.

QUALITIES AND CHALLENGES In the third block, the moderators proposed making a list of the qualities a local government should have in order

Beyond effectiveness, one needs to consider the efficiency of the decentralization plans Josep Martínez General Sub-Director for Legal Assistance and Local Regime at Generalitat de Catalunya

You cannot make public policies for social cohesion without the legitimacy of the local government Georges Bonan Orientation and Coordination Office of the URB-AL III Program

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to execute public policies with an impact on social cohesion. At the start of this reflection, it was suggested that traditional models are insufficient to deal with the magnitude of the challenges that are faced. Consequently, some of the characteristics proposed by the panelists included the capacity of governments to recognize the capabilities of each actor in its territory. Working with them in the areas that contribute most would make it possible to consolidate the social cohesion policies.

Being clear on the city’s model was another feature that was mentioned. As a complement to this, the vocation for transparency of the government, understood as the actual possibility they give citizens to participate, also helps this model become a reality. Along this same line, legitimacy was another quality that was mentioned. Believing, yielding and maintaining a scheme of citizen participation should be the vocation of local public entities. Lastly, the capacity to envision the future was mentioned as another desirable quality. If at present it is difficult to find points in common, it is often more effective to think about the future in order to obtain a consensus on the policies to be executed.

Regarding existing challenges towards incorporating innovation in local public policies, Lucía Hornes explained that “even though they exist, URBAL-III set the stage to help us innovate, which makes it easier to approach them”. Josep Martínez believes that confusing legal frameworks are one of the main obstacles. To this he added a specific item on resource management: “the financing systems should be sustainable, reviewable according to the circumstances, but above all, fair.”

Horacio Ghirardi believes that a short-term outlook in dealing with crises creates two difficulties that prevent extending social cohesion. “Indiscriminate cutbacks without consistent analysis can lead to the loss of valuable human capital and knowledge for governments,” he said. At the end of the session, Georges Bonan pointed out that “paradoxically”, those in charge of decentralization do not share the design of new models of shared management.

This, in his opinion, sets up roadblocks in terms of developing fluid decentralization processes, and also generates mistrust regarding its capabilities. •

URBsociAL Newsletter // News

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BOGOTĂ 2012 AGENDA The organizing institutions of the third edition of URBsociAL brings its recommendations and commitments for social cohesion to the public opinion.

Complete declaration in: www.urbsocial.eu

This last event lays the foundations for good practices in public policies developed during the last two editions of URB-AL III, and highlights the great importance of overcoming short-term visions when designing development strategies on a local level.

R E C O M M E N D ATIONS Productive and occupational dimension. Policies and activities to support local economic development, territorial competitiveness and innovation. Promotion of immigrant labor market incorporation policies.

Social dimension. Strengthening and integration of basic social services in order to guarantee accessibility.

Ensure citizen safety and public-private participation.

Civic dimension Construction of active citizens, multicultural integration and identity and cross-cutting gender policies Territorial dimension. Reduction of territorial unbalances through policies of urban integration and land-use planning, waste management and crossborder cooperation Institutional dimension. Institutional strengthening and local fiscal management. Consensus-building on policies between citizens and governments. Strategic planning and intragovernment management of public policies and local co-management.

Marcelo Romeu, representative of the OCO Consortium

CO M M IT M E N T S The organizing institutions of URBsociAL 2012 undertake to: Disseminate this Agenda among local and regional governments of Europe and Latin America, and present these conclusions to the institutions of the European Union.

Promote spaces of dialog, reflection and exchange of experiences between elected officials and local leaders to deepen the lessons learned and promote the construction of local public policies.

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Support social cohesion as a means to create inclusive cities and territories that can develop all their potentialities.

Search for synergies from among the various initiatives to promote the objectives of the URB-AL Program and capitalize on the Program to give continuity to its achievements.

Innovate in initiatives for cooperation between local and regional Latin American and European governments going beyond the model based solely on the transfer of financial resources. •

URBsociAL Newsletter // News

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COOPERATION NEW WAYS Among the results presented in the URB-AL III Program conclusions, there is the generation of 150 public policies.

“Opportunities for exchange and analysis, regional dialogs and URBsociAL meetings were offered, and 9 methodological guidelines and 8 studies to promote strategic reflection have been edited”. In this sense, the methodology offered URB-AL III is its own, exportable, easy to use and is founded on multilevel dialog. These characteristics have allowed the generation of a common language thus building community and capitalizing on the knowledge it creates.

For the future, URBA-AL III has generated frames of reference to be used by other sub-national governments in Latin America. In fact, many projects have already received replication applications for their initiatives and are already working on it.

Octavi de la Varga, director ejecutivo de la OCO

In the Program Final Report presentation session, Octavi de la Varga, executive director of the Coordination and Orientation Office (OCO - in Spanish) made a summary of URB-AL III’s main developments and achievements. “The Program has highlighted the added value of decentralized cooperation. Today we are progressing toward forms of more systematic cooperation away from the traditional North-South pattern” he pointed out.

Among the results, the pioneer character of URB-AL III was mentioned. The program has been a real laboratory for innovative experiences where the local government is the development stimulation agent and the publicly responsible entity generating alliances among all territory actors. This way, it has been possible to place social cohesion as a priority for the territorial governments of Latin America, thus supporting evolution from a cooperation project format to an interregional decision and cooperation process that has established 150 local public policies.

De la Varga explained that the Program has had influence in the institutional

political progress with the implementation of tools and strategies for the improvement of public management.

The creation of new administrative units, the support from local economic

URB-AL III is a pioneering inter-regional cooperation program

development offices or from territorial development plans are some of the examples he used. In the same wave, the effort to establish leadership committed social cohesion has led to training for elected positions in 18 countries of Latin America. OCO’s executive director explained that “with the Program’s help, sub-national governments are able to incorporate their affairs in national and even international public agendas nowadays”.

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PROJECTS The Program’s projects received special comments. In spite of the fact that, due to each one’s nature, they are limited impact initiatives, Octavi de la Varga pointed out that, if they are put together, each initiative contributes in a decisive manner to local policy An exhaustive analysis of the social cohesion components in the 20 project group shows that the most outstanding ones have been participation (100%) and legitimacy (84%), followed by equality and inclusion (76%), sense of belonging (74%), and acknowledgement of others (60%).

Among the practices that have demonstrated to favor social cohesion are multi-actor governance, citizens’ decisions integration, increment of access to people’s basic services, civil society’s support, training for public servants, getting the services closer to residence places, actions favoring discrimination victims, and strengthening of the services system. •

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optimizing URB-AL III

URbsociAL 2012 workshop’s conclusions

Civil dimension in representation of the state of Michoacán, Mexico, rather than a closing speech, sounded more like an opening. Through sharing of experiences, the territories have learned to recognize their shared issues and to define common lines of action for the short and long term, thereby strengthening local initiatives. This has produced a new vision of political participation where, for years, social fragmentation had prevented its free exercise. Taking advantage of the networks created through URB-AL III and using the knowledge that was acquired are considered key factors for giving continuity to the effort. Lastly, to institutionalize the results at all levels is one of the most ambitious challenges. •

The conclusions of this workshop, presented by Jaime Mares Camarena, coordinator of the IDEAL project

Productive and occupational dimension The participants in the workshop on the productive and social cohesion dimension, presented by Harold Flores, coordinator of the emiDel project in La Paz, Bolivia, highlighted that the central achievement over these four years has been to “learn to do”, to govern in a different manner, beyond the financial resources contributed by the Program. In this sense, the need to articulate all the actors in the territory is essential when the intention is to change the dynamics of regional development. An important contribution was the consideration given to local economic development policies, which they suggest should be focused on innovation and training. The incidence and impact on the improvement of social conditions by strengthening the local productive network was another matter discussed.

ability and to overcome the paralysis that is often associated with changes in administrations. Another important contribution was the paradigm shift that took place in terms of the model of cooperation for development, from the traditional North-South aid to international cooperation between peers. This relationship is based on mutual learning and reciprocity, the recognition of added value and of the unique nature of the local actors. •

The projects need to look for local formulas for financing through private alliances to ensure their sustain-

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URBsociAL Newsletter // Report

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Institutional dimension Héctor Aguirre, manager of the Three-Country Border Commonwealth of the Lempa River and coordinator of the project “Social cohesion phenomena in the threecountry border area”, presented the workshop results on the institutional dimension of social cohesion, which establish the need for the territories to work jointly as a priority, with the objective of establishing channels for correlation. The institutions need to operate as a body that articulates the activities derived from government policies and the population, thereby enabling the integral development of the citizens. The projects, as indicated in the workshop conclusions, should seek effective solutions to issues that arise

within the institutions and prevent the community from being transformed due to the implications of the development of the proposed purposes. •

Social dimension effective participation of the citizens. We must learn to understand the projects as processes and incorporate planning methodologies into public policy. Another key point of reflection was the finding that participative budgets run the risk of degenerating into welfare payouts. Each project should be accountable for specific requirements and not lose the human capital that was created. In this manner, the budgets will always be well channeled. Some future challenges that arise are getting the private sector involved and the creation of territorial networks and alliances between neighboring cities. It is necessary to implement an evaluation system for the URB-AL III projects and to create new forms of cooperation that are not only financial, but also conceptual and methodological. •

During the presentation of the workshop’s conclusions, Mariângela Ribeiro, coordinator of the project “Prevention of violence in marginalized urban areas” highlighted the need for multi-level governance and the

Territorial dimension The presentation by Allan Ramos, mayor of Puerto Cortés, Honduras, and coordinator of the GIT project, pointed out that one of the key conclusions of this last dimension was that it is essential to achieve citizen participation in territorial planning. It was also found that the projects cannot function without a methodology for rendering of accounts and without defining medium-term results. It was learned that the development of each municipality is positively affected by the development of neighboring municipalities, which makes regional integration vital. On the other hand, political will is a decisive factor for the projects to go beyond a given term in office. It is also relevant to make good use of the acquired technical capital to incorporate it in future projects, develop sustainable visions of the city over the long term and

maximize the scope of the territorial networks that were created. •

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URBsociAL Newsletter // Report

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PHOTO ALBUM The third edition of URBsociAL was a place to work and learn, but also to get together with old friends and to celebrate the achievements

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URBsociAL Newsletter // Report

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URBsociAL Newsletter // News

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“We must strengthen the SouthSouth cooperation”

Foto: Juan Giovanicchini

During the chronicle of URBsociAL, Wray said that Latin America has the aspiration to contribute to Europe.

Norman Wray, Councilman of Quito

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he chronicle of URBsociAL,

by Norman Wray, council member of Quito (Ecuador), made it clear that, in spite of the contrasts, the Latin American feeling can be compared in terms of mutual support with the European sentiment.

Until recently, cooperation relations between Europe and Latin America lacked balance, but the world’s present circumstances have shown that we share downturns although our underlying historical processes are different. URB-AL III has taught us that the relationship can be achieved between peers. And Wray ended saying: “in Latin America we hope someday Europe will learn from us.”

B-41601/2010

Another point that was highlighted, speaking of the methodology of URBsociAL 2012 workshops, known as World Café, was the value of coffee as a cross-cutting theme and as an excuse

“In Latin America, the problem is not resources, but we need to create spaces for shared reflections”

for sharing. He even narrated how coffee and meeting places are one of the key topics on the agendas concerning town planning. He noted that “the most important product that must be protected in the cities is conversation, and that can be achieved starting from a bonding element such as coffee.”

Wray stressed the fact that we must also carry the results in our hearts. Beyond the achievements in terms of economy,

public policies and citizen participation, the project focused on human values, as well as on the possibility of strengthening bonds of friendship and cooperation with shared necessities as a starting point. Wray said that after four years of learning, an essential challenge is not to forget our lessons in order to face the future of our regions.

Finally, Wray stressed the importance of moving forward with the achievements attained so far and of continuing to expand the network that was constructed. In order to keep on responding to the communities’ needs, the South-South cooperation should be strengthened. It is no longer a matter of resources, and through URB-AL the bridges for sharing knowledge and experiences will help Europe find solutions in Latin America. •

URBsociAL Organization: OCO-URB-AL III OCO Consortium: Diputación de Barcelona, International Foundation and for Latin America of Administration and Public Policies FIIAPP (Spain), Province of Santa Fe (Argentina), Mayor of Bogotá (Colombia), Municipality of San José (Costa Rica) and Region of Tuscany (Italy).

Diputación de Barcelona, October 2012. Coordination and supervision: Coordination and Orientation Office URB-AL III Program. Editorial and layout: Albert Garcia and Cuático! Estudio.

Photos: Diputación de Barcelona, Angélica Chimbi, OCO and URB-AL III projects archive.

URBsociAL Newsletter // Agenda

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UPCOMING MEETINGS UPCOMING MEETINGS

The Office of Coordination and Orientation has worked since its inception for and with local and regional governments based on their knowledge of the municipalities and territories. The constant work of the 25 persons who make up the inter-disciplinary OCO team has made it possible to fulfill the mandate of providing technical assistance to the projects, stimulating reflection and promote training and sharing of best practices.

Novembre 2012

Summit of Cities on Climate Change From November 18th to 21st, Bogotá will host the Summit of Cities, which will bring together the Mayors of the Caribbean, Central America and South America. The objective of the event is to present and discuss the tools and procedures available to local communities to promote urban development with low carbon emissions. www.ciudadesycambioclimatico.org

January 2013

7th Summit of the EU – Latin America and the Caribbean Chile will be the host country of the summit to be held in January of 2013, which will bring together 60 heads of state from Europe and Latin America. The agenda includes the objective of deepening bi-regional relationships and developing a strategic alliance for the sustainable development of member countries. www.eeas.europa.eu

March 2014

Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank The Assemblies of the Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and of the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) will hold their annual meeting from March 14th to 18th of 2013 in Panama. As usual, the event will include sessions that are especially devoted to civil society aimed at broadening existing cooperation links between civil society, the IDB and the local governments. www.iadb.org

The URBsociAL organization and the contents shared during the event have been possible thanks to the work performed within the network by all those who form part of the OCO team, distributed among five offices on both sides of the Atlantic: Barcelona, Madrid, Toscana, Rosario, Bogotá and San José, in addition to two itinerant field experts in Latin America.

Thanks to the leadership of Diputación de Barcelona and the efforts of the Bogotá Regional Office, this third and last edition of URBsociAL has made it possible to review the projects’ results, think about their sustainability and consolidate the exchanges that were made.

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URBsociAL Newsletter // Back page

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Frases del día

We must take on our own responsibilities within a setting of cooperation”

We must view the network created in URB-AL III as the key to the future and to opportunities”

Jorge Rojas

Jordi Castells

Private Secretary of the Mayor of Bogotá

Social cohesion, strong institutions, and respect are the basis for reconciliation” Massimo Toschi

International Cooperation Advisor for the Regione Toscana and representative of OCO consortium

International Affairs Director.

Diputación de Barcelona

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URB-AL III leaves a legacy of politicians and administrators passionate about the common good” Vittorio Tonutti

Europe-Aid, European Commission