Larger capital projects in poor neighbourhoods often do not lead to an improvement in the socio-economic situation of the local population. The USE-IT! project tested an approach that directly links the realisation of larger capital projects - here construction of a new hospital - with the improvement of the socio-economic situation of the population based on the existing local community skills, talents and ideas. 

Despite larger investments, urban regeneration programmes and neighbourhood management the socio-economic situation of those citizens, living in deprived neighbourhoods in Birmingham, could not significantly be improved. Thus, USE-IT! pioneered innovative approaches to inclusive urban development combating poverty in areas of persistent deprivation. The objective was to use physical interventions directly to combat poverty by improving the socio-economic situation of the inhabitants; this was achieved by linking larger, physical interventions with skills and potentials of the inhabitants. The main solutions implemented  are: matching people with overseas medical qualifications with job opportunities in the hospital to support employment and better health outcomes in the community, creating a community of social enterprises to support employment and boost social value, as well as  developing community research in the local communities to identify and enable better local connections, unlock local skills and insights and link them with opportunities emerging from capital investment.

Large and diverse partnership of larger public, private and civic organisations working together with local embedded neighbourhood organisations. The partnership was built to complement each other’s specialist skills, knowledge and services, so that no organisation had to reinvent its own work for the purpose of the project and synergies could be achieved.  The main target group are the local communities in the ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The governance/participation structure: Work Packages for each “solution” were set up. Each WP consisted of key partners who collaborated with local community organisations. Each WP was coordinated by WP lead who coordinated activities of their relevant delivery partners. 

Due to the large and complex partnership, the communication and information flow between the partners has been a challenge. The Partnership needed time to build trust between the larger and the locally based third sector organisations to enable equitable working relationship.  This also demanded a “cultural change” in the larger organisations and a change of the way they worked (change in institutional processes).  So far, the main results are 250 migrants with medical skills that are connected with job opportunities in the new hospital, five  new consortia of social enterprises, 1 new network of social entrepreneurs, 36 new and 39 established enterprises supported, £240,000 brought into the locality by supporting local organisations to access grants and new contracts,  as well as 85 individuals completing ‘Community Research Training’, implementing 24 community research projects and more than £ 300k secured for future work.

Urban poverty is one of the main topics of the Urban Agenda for the EU. USE-IT! created a unique model of economic development that is inclusive and results in lasting urban regeneration, by raising aspirations, building community resilience, and connecting people to local resources. It draws on and contributes to the theory of community wealth building. 
USE-IT! has demonstrated that creating the links between micro and macro assets is crucial to effective community wealth building, in effect ‘unlocking’ the potential of these assets. To transfer the USE-IT! approach, relevant partners have to learn to identify these assets and support individuals and groups to build on them to link them to the larger capital infrastructure/ investment projects. This demands an existence of a partnership of organisations responsible for the implementation of the larger capital infrastructure with locally based organisations that work with the local communities. All cities and neighbourhoods contain a range of assets. This include physical assets in the form of buildings and green spaces; financial assets in the form of businesses and investments; the financial assets of public, social and private institutions; community assets in the form of voluntary sector groups and social enterprises; and human assets. 

The project seeks to increase the competitiveness of advanced services sector of Bilbao (Knowledge intense Business Services – KIBS), preparing current or future workers of the KIBS sector, to acquire the needed skills, to supply digital transformation demands. Bilbao is leading a strategic alliance between businesses and universities, local service providers and entrepreneurs, to shape a collaborative pilot ecosystem based on innovative pillars and hosted in a tailor made space for experimentation and incubation of new services. New education programs for university students, entrepreneurs and professionals addressing the new challenges of the industry 4.0 and digital economy will be tested, while networking actions among the main stakeholders, supported by tailored IT tools, will ensure a good match between demand and supply. New business models will be prototyped to support specialised start-ups that will benefit from a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) test Fab Lab for the market validation of new products/services.
At the end of the project, KIBS providers from Bilbao will have access to AS-FABRIK, the “factory for the creation of advanced services for industry”, gathering in a physical space an integrated kit of tools to shape new products and services for the new industry needs, and reinforce their competitiveness. This new model will lead to create a new generation of young and advanced service providers able to supply the challenging digital transformation demands.

For Bilbao economic renewal is of paramount importance. The city is recovering from the global financial crisis, and despite having an unemployment rate significantly lower than the Spanish average, numbers are still high, and the city now faces the challenge of reinforcing its knowledge-based economy. The AS-FABRIK project is a coin with two sides: on the one side, it promotes “smart specialisation”, aiming to make manufacturing –a traditionally strong sector in the city- and related knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) services more competitive. On the other side, it is an instrument to improve the spatial conditions of the local economy, through the regeneration of the Zorrotzaurre area, a former industrial zone that will be turned into a knowledge-based new part of the city.
City government is a key player when it comes to the creation of favourable spatial conditions in which the local economy can flourish; Bilbao has a key role to play on the labour market, to improve the match between supply and demand, and in retraining the workforce; Also, Bilbao can pursue smart specialisation policies:  in close collaboration with local stakeholders, promoting specific promising fields of economic development, in alignment with other policy levels, the private sector and knowledge institutes, which helps to guide investments into the most productive direction.

The main objective of the project will be possible thanks to the design, development and validation of a demonstrative model of a “Factory for the creation of advanced services for the industry” (AS-FABRK), based on a public-private collaborative process that will allow the achievement of the following specific objectives: to identify the mind-term, needs of the manufacturing industry regarding Industry 4.0 concept. Through Research Center and Public Agency; to carry out different interdisciplinary programmes for students, entrepreneurs and professionals so they can acquire the necessary skills to answer to the industry demands. Through University; to build a collaborative working methodology to match the education and expertise needs from the industry with the service providers (individually or in cooperation). Through University and Research Center; to create more and more specialised jobs in Bilbao as a result of the launching of new start-ups and new services. Through Business Support Center and Private Companies 
The organisational structure of the Consortium comprises the following Consortium Bodies: the project coordination was done by the MUA who designated project coordinator; the Steering Committee has been responsible for the “major decisions” affecting the implementation and success of the project; the Technical Committee has been in charge of supervising the implementation of the work program and is for taking all decisions related to the operational management.

The project has contributed to the development of the advanced services sector of Bilbao in several ways. First, +70 local KIBS have been involved in the definition of Bilbao’s advanced services roadmap, co-creating strategic opportunity spaces to be exploited. From such opportunity spaces, 32 collaborations between SMEs-startups-entrepreneurs were stablished, based on the Partnership Brokering mentoring process, to develop and commercialise new technological services 4.0. Also 36 technological services 4.0 ventures were launched, and 12 of them finally consolidated their services in the market with the support of the Startup Boosting mentoring process. Beyond those numbers, +500 professionals were trained in data cycle technologies (embedded systems, IoT, data science, HMIs) as well as in digital business transformation drivers (e.g. smartisation, servitisation), thus significantly increasing their competences to foster new technological services 4.0 opportunity spaces, collaborations and ventures in the near future.

AS-Fabrik has achieved a very significant success in transforming Bilbao. This has been possible due to three essential reasons: (1) Cities can leverage the smart specialisation strategy of their regions, (2) Cities can have an active role in the manufacturing sector, and (3) Cities must create landmarks of their transformation that generate a tangible asset in which to leverage a city-wide transformative process. Thanks to the URBACT project In Focus, Bilbao created a methodology to create its own smart specialisation strategy at a city level aligned with that of our region. One of the Basque Country’s strategic economic sectors is Advanced Manufacturing, and AS-Fabrik is the materialisation of that. –AS-Fabrik postulates a new way of supporting manufacturing industry from an urban perspective, and brings back many industrial concepts to the urban environment.  Postindustrial cities are widespread through Europe. During their respective de-industrialisation phases, many cities have expelled the factories from their administrative boundaries, and have turned their backs on the manufacturing sector. Bilbao followed a similar path, but has been working for several years in bringing back the industry to the city, not by bringing back the factories themselves, but rather by grouping training and research; creating a network hub where different companies can collaborate in order to access new markets or create strategic partnerships; and finally creating a startup ecosystem.

Koszalin is a city in northwest Poland located 12 km south of the Baltic Sea coast. The three most important sectors of the economy are industry, construction and tourism.

Koszalin had already worked with Preston (UK) as a partner in the 2015-2018 URBACT network ‘Procure’, in which it had sought to understand if and how procurement could really be used to create jobs, support SMEs, and address environmental challenges - and whether procurement bureaucracy could really be reduced.

As a result, the city already had a local Integrated Action Plan (IAP) to improve its approaches to procurement and was convinced of the power of procurement to prompt both local economic change and pursue sustainability objectives.

In 2018, Koszalin was looking for help to implement their ambitious new IAP, and particularly objectives  around understanding more effectively their procurement spending, encouraging local SMEs to bid for procurement opportunities with Koszalin City Council,  including social and environmental considerations in decision-making; and influencing the procurement behaviour of other anchor institutions”.

The approach developed by Preston for procurement addressed local (economic), social and environmental considerations, while seeking to promote local products, social enterprises, local SMEs and environmentally friendly products. At the same time integration is key within municipalities and in the cites to ensure that these criteria are correctly identified and addressed.

Through their URBACT Local Group (ULG), Koszalin City Council transferred the spend analysis tool to anchor institutions within the city, such as the Regional Hospital, Technical University of Koszalin, and Koszalin District Administration. This enabled them to explore alongside the city authorities how much they spend, and where that money goes geographically, sectorally and in business type terms.

Across all procurers within the city, they collectively identified an annual spend of over EUR 100 million making procurement a significant contributor to Gross Domestic Product. The City Council was pleasantly surprised by the extent to which procurement spend was already spent with organisations in the Koszalin Functional Urban Area (83%) and SMEs (91%).

Addressing the other side of the procurement dynamic, Koszalin strengthened relations with business representative bodies and SMEs. They surveyed business chambers to identify challenges and how they could be addressed to support SME participation in procurement.

The city adopted Preston’s spend analysis tool and achieved the core objective of their previous URBACT network and IAP: to understand the scale of procurement spend in the city and to use this evidence to shape wider procurement practice.

Koszalin has presented their procurement activities and results at events organised by the Polish National URBACT Point to showcase their example as a city that has realised real incremental change. They also shared their learning bilaterally with the Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area and they feature as a case study in URBACT’s strategic procurement training programme.

The involvement in Procure and Making Spend Matter has been “incredibly beneficial” for procurement in Koszalin and the city representatives are convinced that this is only the beginning of a new journey around procurement. Indeed, they recognise that progressive procurement is integral to the future economic, social and environmental destiny of Koszalin.

Groningen (NL), like many university cities, is becoming increasingly international. This is driven by demographic need and opportunity in the knowledge economy. The good practice represents an integrated approach to internationalization to ensure a sustainable future for the city. Groningen is small and traditionally regionally oriented, thus the large-scale internationalization is a relatively new phenomenon for the town. The city manages complex processes included in an integrated and participative programme which addresses four key aspects: housing, work, city living and communication. The programme aims at attracting, retaining and integrating new residents while maintaining a high level of social cohesion and liveability. It contributes to a sustainable economic, demographic and cultural future and makes Groningen an attractive home for locals and internationals.

Our good practice addresses both the external objective of remaining competitive in a globalized knowledge economy, and the internal objective of maintaining the high social cohesion and livability that make Groningen such an attractive city. Thus we provide an integrated practice for achieving resilience in a global setting. We achieve these goals by actively managing internationalization along four key dimensions: housing, work, city living and communication. Projects address problems in these areas as follows: • combined on- and offline platform will improve access to local housing and housing support, • a broad regional programme “Make It in the North” will open up access to the local SME sector and international knowledge migrants (through jobs portal, internship programmes and network events), thereby also adding to the innovative capacity and global reach of local enterprises, • several “city living” projects will make the cultural and physical life of the city more accessible to new residents by improving way-finding off- and online, • matchmaking organisation and events, to provide language support and social integration between locals and international residents, • a new city site will provide English-language information for prospective and new residents of the city, and contribute to Groningen’s international profile. These projects are coordinated and managed by a multidisciplinary team with local and international members.

Our integrated good practices for managing internationalization represent sustainable urban development by contributing directly to the demographic resilience, economic vitality and social cohesion of the city and its surroundings. In particular, we address inclusion by a calendar of events to stimulate and facilitate interaction between old and new residents and are exploring the possibility to include refugee groups in these too. Indirectly, we contribute to the knowledge areas prioritized by the local educational institutions: energy, sustainable society and healthy ageing, all of which are underpinned by sustainable development goals. In terms of our approach, the scope and coordination of the International Groningen programme represent both horizontal and vertical integration. The projects combine physical interventions in the city (e.g. street signage, clubhouse), with community building programmes and coordinated, online information channels to improve access to local facilities, networks and (job) opportunities, and interaction between internationals and locals. The deep vertical integration of the programme is evidenced by the support of the “Akkoord van Groningen”, a high-level strategic partnership between the municipality and the higher educational institutions, as well as the broad participation of regional bodies and the private sector in sub-projects such as the Make It in the North initiative.

The International Groningen programme is fundamentally participatory in its nature. At a strategic level the entire programme is supported by the Akkoord van Groningen, a unique partnership between the municipality and the higher educational institutions in the city. For relevant sub-projects, such as the Make It in the North to open up the regional job market to internationalisation, a much wider group of stakeholders is actively involved, including SME organisations from the surrounding provinces, the provincial government etc. The projects which comprise the programme have been developed and implemented by mixed teams of municipal and university employees, international residents operating on a freelance basis, international students and interns. In the development phase we have worked extensively with focus groups consisting of international residents and local student project groups to better understand how internationalisation is experienced and what the key challenges for the city are. Additionally, the proposed projects have been presented in diverse contexts, such as to the University’s Council and Advisory Board, the municipal board, Dutch diplomats from northern Netherlands and regional representatives.

It is difficult to show hard evidence of the effectiveness of the policies, as during the life-time of the policies (2017-2021) 2 mayor trends happened: the Covid -pandemic put an effective halt to migration, and, even during the pandemic, the number of internationals is growing faster than we can cope with. We have to prioritize in order to make sure that all newcomers can actually live in the city. Due to the migration-saldo, Groningen has a growing population, with a greater growth than average with comparable cities. So, attractiveness is there, but the policies are strained due to lack of sufficient structural funding and due to increasing demand for services. We do see local impact along several key lines: • The topic has risen on the local and regional political agenda, thanks to the Akkoord van Groningen, • Internationals are becoming more engaged as we ask them to join project teams and focus groups, • Cultural stakeholders and companies are seeing ‘the international’ more and more as a potential interesting target group they have to facilitate in new ways, • The municipality starts to embrace internationals in other policy fields as well, such as public transport, health care etc, • We have outside interest from other secondary Dutch cities

Groningen led the Welcoming International Talent Network over 2.5 years, transferring its practices to 6 other cities: Magdeburg (Germany), Parma (Italy), Bielsko-Biala (Poland), Debrecen (Hungary), Zlín (Czech Republic) and Leuven (Belgium). You can, in particular, check Debrecen‘s Good practice here. The approach was based on 5 themes on which Groningen focused and adjusted to each partner city: Cross-cutting issues ( effective governance: stakeholder co-ordination, empowering and engaging the internationals effectively), Facilities (access to housing, medical services, amenities, help with bureaucracy), Branding and marketing, Improving integration/incorporation and mutual appreciation, and Improving labour market integration

In 2013, Preston City Council (UK) and six other anchor institutions embarked on a project to identify how their wealth could be understood and harnessed more effectively for the benefit of the local economy. An element of wealth that anchors institutions can influence their procurement spend. Central to the work in Preston has been the analysis of these institutions’ procurement (1 billion euros), to understand where that spend goes geographically and on which types of business type, and what happens to it once it reaches suppliers. The anchor institutions then used the evidence gathered to inform how they undertake procurement. Some institutions have revisited the spend analysis: evidence suggests their spend has increased in the local economy and with small to medium-sized enterprises. The work demonstrates the importance of using evidence to shape policy change and the role of procurement in addressing challenges.

The good practice offered by the Preston City Council and the six other anchor institutions is a methodology and means of changing behaviour around procurement so that it generates more local economic, social, and environmental benefits. The methodology consists of three parts. First, it enables cities and institutions to understand where their procurement spend goes. So, the methodology measures the extent to which the annual 1 billion euros of procurement spend of the anchor institutions is with: businesses based in Preston and Lancashire, SMEs and social enterprises, and with businesses in particular industrial sectors. Second, it enables cities and institutions to understand the extent to which their procurement spend occurs elsewhere in the UK and across Europe and in which sector and to explore the scope for that money to be spent with different types of business, for example.. Third, it enables cities and institutions to identify the extent to which their suppliers are creating jobs or apprenticeships and find out about their practices around social sector engagement or environmental management. Effectively this activity develops an evidence base through which cities can understand the existing contribution their anchor institutions make to a local economy and assists in developing policies and practices through procurement which can enhance those contributions and further harness the potential or wealth of anchor institutions.

The good practice fits with URBACT principles because it is about harnessing the wealth of anchor institutions through procurement spend which can help to create wealth in the local economy, thereby reducing poverty and social exclusion through increased employment opportunities, the creation of new businesses and supply chains, skills development, and dealing with environmental issues, for example, by reducing carbon footprint, waste etc. It is also based on an integrated and participatory approach whereby the anchor institutions (public and social sector) work together to ensure that their procurement spend is used to bring additional economic, social, and environmental benefits to their local economies. The recent inclusion of stakeholders from business networks ensures that the voice of the private sector, and also supply chains, are involved in the process. Whilst the good practice initially focused specifically on the Preston local authority area, it has now been broadened to encompass the wider functional urban area (of Preston and South Ribble) and also the wider Lancashire region, ensuring that the horizontal, vertical, and territorial integration aspects have been taken into account.

The work around anchor institutions and spending analysis in Preston commenced in 2013 and continues in 2017. Over the last four years a range of stakeholders has been involved and the whole project is framed by a cooperative desire across the institutions to use their wealth to create greater benefits for the local economy. Stakeholders have been involved throughout the work. 1) The chief executives and political leaders (where appropriate) were visited to secure their buy-in to the principles of harnessing the wealth of institutions. 2) Procurement officers in each of the institutions were engaged to share data around their procurement spend and their suppliers to enable the analysis to take place. 3) The chief executives, politicians and procurement officers were brought together to share the findings of the supply chain analysis and to develop a collective statement of intent as to how they were going to change practices around procurement in light of the analysis. 4) The procurement officers have continued to meet through a procurement practitioners group and now an URBACT local group (as part of the Procurement Network) to discuss how they are changing practice around procurement. 5) The supply chain of some of the anchors has been engaged to identify the wider impact they are bringing through the delivery of goods and services. Engagement has been sustained over the course of the last four years with the stakeholders described above.

The overall achievements of Preston have been: 1) It has positioned Preston as a progressive place for local economic development and addressing poverty. 2) It has led to a much more effective relationship within and between institutions in Preston. 3) It has enabled a range of baseline data to be collected about the existing impact of anchor institutions and the wider business base in Preston. 4) It has secured the buy-in of senior stakeholders and enabled the development of a collective statement of intent. 5) Through the analysis of where spend goes and in what sector, it has enabled a much greater understanding of Preston’s business base and those which could potentially deliver goods and services. 6) It has changed behaviour around procurement in each of the institutions and enabled enhanced impact. For example, the proportion of spending of Preston City Council with Preston-based businesses through procurement has increased from 14% to 28%. 7) It has recognised that this is a long-term approach to addressing key challenges. 8) It recognises the importance of scale when implementing wealth-building initiatives. 9) It has had an impact on addressing wider issues including low pay and deprivation. The core impact has been in the behaviour of anchor institutions and the realisation that spending analysis and procurement can be utilised as a lever or way in which challenges facing cities can be addressed. 10) The approach has enabled more effective engagement with SMEs and subsequently a greater proportion of SMEs being successful. 11) There is a more collective approach to not only delivering local economic benefits through procurement but also to Social Value. 6) It has changed behaviour around procurement in each of the institutions and enabled enhanced impact. For example, the proportion of spending of Preston City Council with Preston-based businesses through procurement has increased from 14% to 28%. 7) It has recognised that this is a long-term approach to addressing key challenges. 8) It recognises the importance of scale when implementing wealth-building initiatives. 9) It has had an impact on addressing wider issues including low pay and deprivation. The core impact has been in the behaviour of anchor institutions and the realisation that spending analysis and procurement can be utilised as a lever or way in which challenges facing cities can be addressed.

Over 2.5 years, Preston has led the Making Spend Matter network, transferring its practice to 6 other cities: Pamplona (Spain), Kavala (Greece), Bistriţa (Romania), Koszalin (Poland), Vila Nova de Famalicão (Portugal), Schaerbeek (Belgium). You can, in particular, check Koszalin’s Good practice here. The approach was based on Preston’s four areas of work adaptable to each city’s reality: Advanced Spend Analysis, Business Database Development, SME Capacity Building, and Social and Environmental Criteria. The final outputs are all available on the URBACT website.