Freelance policy expert and researcher specialised in heritage, culture and the creative industries sector. 
She has worked extensively from local and regional to European level in the conception, implementation, reporting and evaluation of diverse policies, programmes and organisations. Cristina has also been lecturing, training and participating as speaker and moderator in various universities, public discussions, academic conferences and workshops across Europe, USA, Africa and Middle East.
She is interested in the strengthening of the role of culture and creativity in governance and development; the promotion of international cooperation and mobility; and the building of capacity, advocacy and entrepreneurship among professionals.

For 27 years, Cristina's work has been focusing on how cities and regions may make strategic use of culture, in varied ways:

-Strategic Planning: mapping, diagnosis and development of cultural and cross-sectorial strategies; 

-Urban Regeneration and Development: creative hubs, creative industries, cultural heritage; cultural routes/tourism;

-Governance: consultation and participatory processes; 

-Evaluation and monitoring: impact assessment, criteria and indicators;

-Localisation of SDGs (sustainable development goals/Agenda 2030)

-Events and Festivals: cultural management and leadership; programming; outreach and audience development

-European cooperation and internationalisation: partnerships; networking; mobility; cultural relations

Experience with European programmes, initiatives and projects: European Capitals of Culture; European Urban Initiative; Horizon Europe; Erasmus+, Creative Europe, Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe; Cultural Heritage in Action; Archipel.eu (outermost regions and overseas countries and territories); EU4Culture (Eastern Partnership)

As for URBACT, I was Member of External Assessment Panel for the URBACT IV Cooperation Programme Action Planning Networks Call in 2023.

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More than 20 years of experience in employment and local development strategies, research on the labour market and foresight of Vocational Education and Training (VET) needs.

I have provided support to local and regional authorities in the design and conduction of territorial cooperation processes and strategies for local development, employment, labour inclusion, social policies, youth policies, economic revitalization, VET needs analysis, urban planning or support to entrepreneurship among other topics. I have designed and applied participatory processes, engaging citizens and local agents.

Over the years I have participated as partner or coordinator in many European projects and initiatives (EQUAL I and II, Youth in Action, Equal Opportunities, Leonardo, Erasmus +, EaSI, URBACT) and I have managed projects co-financed by ERDF, ESF, EAFRD and EGF.

I have worked for two URBACT networks: UrbInclusion (Municipality of Barcelona) and Kairós (Municipality of Mula), providing support for management and knowledge transfer to their Urbact Local Groups (ULG).

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I have been working with European local governments for the last 20 years with a particular focus on energy and more recently community energy. I was lucky enough to qualify as a lead expert for Zero Carbon Cities within the previous Urbact programme and was introduced to the world of Integrated Action Plans and Urbact local groups. Although I had already been working for many years on participative planning it was great to enter this structured world of tools and cooperative experts where everyone is doing their best to help cities of all shapes and sizes progress in planning for better futures.

Ph.D. in Social and Psychological Sciences, Simone's efforts in recent years have focused on connecting local economic, social and administrative stakeholders in transnational networks, with the goal of creating sustainable tourism ecosystems.

Training and exchange meetings, including those organized online with the use of creative approaches and collaborative tools, can greatly facilitate the transfer of knowledge among all actors in local economies and the sharing of best practices. Participation in the Genoa ULG's activities for the URBACT III "Tourism-Friendly Cities" project, for example, enabled Simone to identify sustainability criteria later adopted for the area by the international short-rental platform Fairbnb.coop: dozens of tourism service SMEs gained direct access to the market in innovative ways that generate a positive impact for the whole territory.

Simone's expertise in the fields of digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, and sustainable tourism has been recognized by various chambers of commerce and local governments, within the framework of several European projects:
- Smart Tourism (Interreg - Marittimo-IT FR-Maritime)
- European Tourism Going Green - ETGG 2030
- I- STARS (Insuleur)

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Sustainable City Expert, with a focus on mobility and transport. Creator of a EU-wide project about railway stations and sustainable cities, the "Sustainable City Promoter".

Wide experience in urban planning and mobility, first working in french railways (SNCF) and then at the EIT Urban Mobility, always helping cities in implementing sustainable transport projects, tests and pilots of innovative solutions, and addressing the policy and governance gaps. 

Strong business development skills combined with an entrepreneurial attitude and strategic thinking for developing and managing innovation, and create impact. Self-starter, able to link stakeholders to create added value and new projects. Successful in leading new ideas and activities between R&D and business.

C-Level access, able to develop and maintain relationships with clients, and deeply understanding clients’ needs. Excellent operational leadership facilitating fact-based decision-making and guiding communication. 

PhD candidate on the topic of urbanism and railway stations for more sustainable cities at TUM Munich, already published a paper focussed on mobility issues: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667091723000031

 

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Passionate about sustainable urban development and innovation applied to places, I am an independent consultant with over 15 years of experience working with cities, research & innovation organisations, universities and businesses, providing strategic advice and expert support in designing, developing and delivering collaborative projects and strategies, helping them develop successful funding applications  across Europe and in the UK. 

I have been involved in the URBACT programme in various capacities including for capacity-building as an expert at the URBACT e-University 2022 delivering a webinar on fundraising strategies for cities, as  a trainer at the 2019 URBACT Transfer Network Campus for local authorities, and a facilitator of a transnational workshop on participatory action planning at the 2013 URBACT Summer University; working with Networks as ad hoc expert supporting the Resourceful Cities Network Integrated Action Plan peer review and as a project partner and ULG coordinator for URBACT Markets.  I also led programme-level studies for URBACT and Urban Innovative Actions. I have extensive experience working as an assessor for European programmes. In my work, I use design thinking and participatory policy and action planning methods and tools, always advocating for a collaborative exchange and learning approach.

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Architect /urban planner. European Master degree in the Town Regional and Urban Design in 1994-1995 at the INEAA, European Institute of Urban planning, Rouen University, France

I have more than twenty years experience as project coordinator in EU funded projects, involving EU and non-EU countries in the world, in  Strategic urban planning, Mobility, Climate adaptation and Multi-level governance, New urban economies, Green economy, Urban resilience, Social Inclusion. 

I am particularly proficient in the thematic area of Urban innovation, with in-depth knowledge of urban trends and challenges in a wide range of countries. Since 2001, I have coordinated multidisciplinary teams as head of European Unit within Risorse per Roma, in-house company of the City of Rome. In 2017, I submitted to the URBACT Secretariat the case of Rome, RESILIENT URBAN & PERI-URBAN AGRICULTURE.

http://remakingthecity.urbact.eu/resilient-urban-and-peri-urban-agriculture-rome-italy--78.case

As a result, Rome was awarded the URBACT Good Practice label for its participatory urban gardening project. Then, I have coordinated RU:RBAN Network project on behalf of the City of Rome from 2018 to 2022 (RU:RBAN first wave and second wave).

I have been promoting innovative workshops to develop integrated and participatory policies in the field of urban sustainable development in all countries I worked with under European Programs focused on territorial cooperation, by involving local authorities , civil society and stakeholders (Interreg, Asia-Urbs, Urb-Al, TACIS, CIUDAD, ENPI CBC MED): 2003-2005 in Beijing, China, 2004-2005 in Lʼviv, Ukraine, 2004-2009 in many cities of Latin America, 2008-2012 in Kiev and Moscow.

All this experience enriched me greatly in terms of methods and tools of citizens participation, adapting and adjusting them in accordance to the local situations and cultural realities. In addition, this experience allowed me to increase my capacities and ability in the field of territorial cooperation activities and transnational meetings.

Other relevant experience  can be found in my coordination in 2020-2021 of videoconferences and calls sessions for the Innopolis Initiative to support the Inter-American Development Bank in the cooperation among teams of City administrations from Latin America and Europe in the field of urban agriculture, in particular, involving the cities of Sao Paulo (Brazil), Tuxtla Gutierrez (Mexico), Lima (Peru), Loures/Lisbon (Portugal), A Coruna (Spain), Rome (Italy). During Covid time in 2020-2021 I also ensured my technical assistance to the City of Barranquilla (Colombia) & stakeholders involved in the implementation of the urban garden pilot in the disadvantaged peri-urban area of Villas de San Pablo: backstopping provided to the pilot project through videoconferences and calls on behalf of GIZ, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit.

 

 

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Dr. Bernard GINDROZ is, since 2014, an independent consultant on Energy, Environment, Climate Change, Smart Cities and Communities and Transport, with a special focus on innovation, policies, standardization and digitalization.

Dr. Bernard GINDROZ is very active in standardization, as Chairman of several Technical Committees and bodies, including in the energy sector (CEN/CENELEC SFEM), smart cities (ISO TC 268 and CEN/CENELEC/ETSI SF SSCC), hydrogen (CEN/CENELEC JTC6), blockchain.

Among its smart and sustainable cities and communities related activities, he is chairing an international club of cities (ISSCC), contributing to UN SDGs and towards carbon neutrality.

He is also active in the Coordination Groups for, respectively, Circular Economy, Eco Design and resources efficiency.

He coordinated an international consortium of stakeholders towards developing battery swappable systems for urban e-mobility (Light cat of vehicles).

Bernard is an EU expert in Adaptation to Climate Change, hydrogen technologies and infrastructures, as well as in circular economy and smart & Sustainable Development of Cities and Communities (with several mandates, including in support of setting national circular economy strategies and framework programs), a projects’ evaluator of several EU research and innovation programs, and initiative leader in the Smart Cities Market Place, former EIP SCC (European Innovative Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities), on Integrated Planning, Management, KPIs and benchmarking (Best practices towards replication and scaling-up). He has been the EU representative of EEA – European Energy Award – for 10 years.

Dr. Bernard GINDROZ has been involved in Innovation, policy and competitiveness issues for more than 30 years. He has been working for the French Navy, then the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) as Regional Director, Head of Industry and innovative technologies Department, Deputy Director Sustainable Cities and Territories and Director Energy, Air and Noise.

Dr. Bernard GINDROZ is a Mechanical Engineer (EPFL). He got a master in applied/industrial mathematics and a PhD in the field of energy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL).

Dr. Bernard GINDROZ has been teaching and leading research programs as Professor in several technology Institutes, engineering schools and at the French Naval Academy.

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In my work, I am inventive and creative, I think outside of the box and dare to go against the mainstream. I am sincere, reliable and motivated to support good causes selflessly. I would rather focus on others and work on common goals, than putting myself first. This will help me to be a good Lead Expert for any type of URBACT-project. I would like to coach and assist (public) organisations in developing strategies for development of diversity, equity and inclusion. It is a skill I have learned also because I myself belong to a minority, and therefor am familiar with this topic.

Through my experience with the European Regions of Gastronomy network I have been able to share my knowledge on the agricultural sector and the transition taking place in that field. Any food-related project will be in good hands with me.

Last but not least, with 30 years of experience in public administration (about half of that period I was involved in EU project as well) I als know my way around organisational development, mainly focussing on the cultural aspects of any organisation.

For me open mindedness is key, getting to know new points of views and angles, with a good sense of humour. A day without a smile simply is not an option for me!

Besides fulfilling my professional duties I spend most of my time with my teenage children and walking with our dog Pip. Further, I like a good evening out (dancing, just go out for a drink, a movie or theatre, all fine by me). I am a big football fan (#PSV EINDHOVEN) and although it says nothing of my qualities an expert for URBACT-project I would like to finish saying that I am an absolute chocolate lover (#guilty pleasure).

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