Oriol Barba – Techincal Director of MedCities The cooperation between universities and local authorities towards employability and innovation. Oriol Barba – Techincal Director of MedCities Barcelona, 29 September 2016

Summary About MedCities State of the art MedCities approach Policy recommendations

About MedCities MedCities is a network that gathers more than 40 cities from all shores of the Mediterranean basin. Who can be a member? Local authorities located in Mediterranean coastal countries, Portugal and Jordan, that carry out or promote activities aligned with the objectives of the network.

About MedCities To reinforce the role, competences and resources (institutional, financial and technical) of mediterranean local governments in the adoption and implementation of sustainable local development policies To launch and develop direct cooperation projects and partnerships between its members and with other cities and organizations. To develop awareness and common responsibility with regards to policies of sustainable development, environmental conservation and social cohesion of mediterranean cities To develop citizens' awareness and involvement in the sustainable development of their towns and cities

About MedCities Implementation of urban projects and strategies Technical assistance for the implementation of projects and strategies Training and capacity building for elected representatives and municipal staff Explore funding opportunities for members Promotion of bilateral and multilateral cooperation projects Promotion of knowledge transfer between cities Advocacy for the role of local authorities in the Mediterranean region Representation of the interests of Mediterranean local authorities in international debates

State of the art Little interaction between local authorities, universities and innovation clusters. Employability not recognised (and not assumed) as a local competence. Youth employability is on the top list of priorities of local authorities but no strategies are presented to face it. Lack of resources to undertake policies.

Is it true that there is nothing local authorities can do? State of the art Is it true that there is nothing local authorities can do?

MedCities approach Promoting changes in local governance is a fist step towards matching university, economic actors and local authorities towards employability  City Development Strategies Knowledge sharing in order to changing mentalities towards promoting action despite lack of competences. Redirecting resources towards pilot action (scaling-up)

MedCities approach City Development Strategies Joint identification of priorities of the city Creation of multi-stakeholders project groups Interaction between local governments and the actors of the city. Towards the definition of city priorities rather than municipal priorities. Increase appropriateness of city challenges and the definition of unique and shared strategies Promotion of public-private partnerships

MedCities approach City Development Strategies: the example of Sousse

MedCities approach City Development Strategies: the example of Sousse

MedCities approach City Development Strategies: the example of Sousse

MedCities approach Changing mentalities: knowledge sharing. Within the city At national level With other cities in the region

MedCities approach Changing mentalities: knowledge sharing. Within the city: Sfax and the SMOT Project.

MedCities approach Changing mentalities: knowledge sharing. At national and regional level: networking

MedCities approach Pilot actions Supporting small actions that can be scaled-up by other international or national actors Pilot projects need be embedded in larger programmes and strategies Cooperation with other partners is a must.

MedCities approach Pilot actions Vocational training centre in Saida Other pilot projects within EU and other international calls

Policy recommendations Local authorities can act as facilitators rather than promoters of projects. Their role is to make actors meet. Need to create common spaces between the different actors involved. Need to draw joint strategies within the city and make sure they are implemented. Greater collaboration between networks of universities and networks of cities (promising UNIMED-MedCities partnership)

Contact us: obarba@amb.cat RESUME RESeaU Méditerranéen pour l’Employabilité Thank you! Contact us: obarba@amb.cat