GOVERNANCE, LEADERSHIP

AND STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
RECIPE 1
Recipe one
GOVERNANCE,
LEADERSHIP AND
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

to integrated
The occasion: The URBACT approach cities to explore and
n requires
sustainable urban development ofte
towards a long term goal and a
test new and different ways of working
make up their local action plan.
series of objectives and actions which
eholder
early stag es of thei r Del iver y Pilo t, that governance, leadership and stak
ESIMeC cities concluded in the
local action plans.
e to potential impact when delivering
engagement make a huge differenc
ance framework within
the suc ces s of integra ted dev elop ment projects depends on the govern
“A large part of ernment”.
ch they ope rate and on the cap acit y to involve all scales and tiers of gov
whi
and in
ator y pro ces ses ....) are tho se that succeed in sowing the seed of change
“Good practices (....in particip l micro projects as well
auth orities in reflectio n on the effe ctiveness of public participation in loca
engaging public
as in governance more broadly”
t in the European Union. Fifty
eme nts are take n from DG Regio’s Study “Urban Developmen
Both of these stat which includes
the Eur ope an Reg iona l Dev elop ment Fund between 2007 and 2013”
Projects supported by arch,
bad ) of inte gra ted pro ject delivery and is just one of the large body of rese
many examples (both good and
these interlinked themes.
literature and rhetoric which exists on
very in the ‘average’
ful and pra ctical are thes e find ings in the context of local action plan deli
But how meaning systematically reflect on their
size d city ? How man y municipalities, for example, actually
Europe an med ium text of limited public
han ism s’? Wo uld it be app rop riate for them do to so in the current con
‘governance mec on delivery of public services on
or wou ld they be bet ter concentrating their scarce resources
sector bud gets level governance task
wou ld it go dow n in you r city hall if you suggested setting up a ‘multi
the ground? How
and what this means?
force’? Would anyone even underst
e governance, leadership
t are the key ingredients needed to optimise the conditions for effectiv
So, wha
and stakeholder engagement?

Key ingredients for effective

governance, leadership and
stakeholder engagement:
Do you and your partners have the following
ingredients in your food cupboard? If so, you
are well on the way to cooking up an effective
approach to governance, leadership and
stakeholder engagement which are prerequisites
of success for the effective delivery of local action
plans in medium sized cities.
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Here is a list of ingredients to help you prepare your mixture and ensure that your local
action plan is cooked to perfection and ready to contribute to your cities’ smart, sustainable
and inclusive growth.

Ingredients to add to your shopping list  

A willingness by all to move from ‘government’ to ‘governance’ which supports inte-
grated approaches and forces all to see the whole picture

Acknowledgement that delivery of integrated local action plans is a complex challenge

and requires time, patience, resources and new and different ways of thinking and
working

Strong (collaborative) leadership and trust which is generated by people-to-people

contact and takes time

A willingness to consider ‘the salmons’ (those swimming against the tide) and reflect
upon how to engage them in action plan delivery, governance and leadership

Introduction of new structures which facilitate inter-departmental or inter-agency

communication, coordination and cooperation (e.g. inter departmental steering
groups, cross sectoral working groups)

Cultural changes within organisations where individuals move away from

traditional, sectoral or professional roles and structures and introduce new tools to
support integrated policy development and delivery

The ability to come together in a safe forum and honestly consider obstacles and
barriers to local action plan delivery - what is working and what is not - and then to
adjust the plan accordingly

Consideration of the new skills and capacities required to bring about change e.g.
communication and mediation skills

Shared clarity of the challenge / problem to be addressed and ideas on how it could
be addressed with different structures and approaches

Use of URBACT and other (visual) tools to map and understand different
stakeholders better and then to facilitate participative approaches to delivery

Open and honest discussions on who is benefitting from different actions being
delivered - identification of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ together

Delivery of a combination of short term gains within a clear, shared roadmap

leading to concrete long term results

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Utensils: So now you are clear about the
ingredients, what utensils do you need to blend
them together and effectively develop the
governance, leadership and stakeholder mix
needed to deliver a local action plan effectively.

HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION
The effective delivery of integrated local action
plans requires strong horizontal integration in
the form of greater and better interaction and
cooperation between people, sectors and
organisations working in the same city at the
same level. There are lots of barriers here, organisations who are charged with local
not least the deeply embedded traditions in action plan delivery. It is therefore important
professions and sectoral thinking: economists to regularly analyse and review stakeholders
and planners for example come from different - perhaps to physically ‘map’ them according
academic backgrounds and rarely habitually to the concepts and objectives in the local
reflect upon the impact of their actions on action plan. Cities should also be prepared
each other. to think ‘outside the box’ when considering
stakeholders and to be honest when reflecting
So cities need to consider institutional change
upon whether participative approaches are
leading to new decision making structures
genuine or hollow. They need to think about
within which different departments and
who has been left out and who is missing
agencies reflect upon and proactively consider
and to consider the ‘unusual suspects’. The
the impact of actions on all stakeholders and
URBACT stakeholder influence / interest matrix
on all levels. To kick start the process cities
is a useful tool to help this process.
may, for example, set up a new cross sectoral
or cross departmental working group. They
could organise a series of informal events
(brown bag lunches; lunch and learns, etc.)
where people share their approaches to
different city challenges. Cities may also
consider more radical approaches e.g.
departmental mergers to enable stronger
exchange; a job rotation programme to help
people better understand each others’ roles;
a central funding pot to which all stakeholders
contribute to deliver integrated actions or even
ringfenced budgets for a common purpose.

STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS AND REVIEW

Cities and the local action plans they deliver
are ever changing bodies. As the socio-
economic, policy and legislative context
changes, so too must the city’s people and

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NEW FORMS OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership does not have to be a single,
monolithic structure. Within the context of
an integrated local action plan, perhaps
collaborative leadership approaches are a
Cook
’s tip:
b u t I am
l itician ave
better fit. So, when analysing and mapping

a m a p o f u s h
stakeholders, it is also useful to consider
“ I S ome o
e a s t ;
not a b nd”
whether they have the capability and

e g r o u
on th
capacity to lead parts of the local action
plan. Leadership needs to be redefined as
ou r f e e t
uscle
a key public service and this requires new

i s a m
tion
ways of looking at challenges and finding

a b o r a
“Coll n g”
solutions through collaborative working on
r a i n i
eds t
shared strategies and integrated approaches.

a n d n e
i o n n e eds
rat
STRUCTURED REFLECTION

i n i s t
d m usic
What is clear when considering these
u b l i c a T h e m
inter-linked themes is that change will not
“P i t s role.
g e
to chan ifferent so the
happen overnight. Neither will it be an easy
or natural process. Structured reflection

d a y i s d n g e”
will be a prerequisite of success and the
t o c h a
URBACT framework and suite of tools provide
c e n e e ds to
an excellent opportunity for people and dan talonia
organisations to do this. , Ca
o f Ig ualada D Cities
o r 4
ty May etwork
a c o n . Depu URBACT n
Ch f the
Above all, success will require time, trust Angels d Partner o
d L e a
and patience. an

With thanks to:

Nils Scheffler
URBAN Expert
Laura Colini
URBAN Expert and Co-Author
of DG Regio’s Fifty Cases Study
Angels Chacon
Deputy Mayor of Igualada, Catalonia
and Lead Partner of the URBACT
network 4D Cities

5
 Good food guide listing*:
The Socially Integrative City (Soziale Stadt) is a
German national programme, partially financed
from the ERDF, that promotes participatory
sustainable urban development at neighbourhood
level, using a design that combines a tight spatial
focus, local participation, and the integration of
policies and human and financial resources.

This federal programme decentralises decision-

making, by delegating responsibility for small-
scale projects to residents living in deprived
areas. The city of Berlin has refined and extended
the original programme’s ideas. A distinctive *Taken directly from Urban
para-institutional structure known as Development in the European
Union. Fifty Projects supported
Neighbourhood Management is created in each
by the European Regional
selected neighbourhood, and manages five Development Fund between
types of Neighbourhood Funds, each covering 2007 and 2013
a different size and type of project and working
with the direct involvement of residents. The
Neighbourhood Management teams provide a
platform for networking and interaction, enabling
groups and actors to debate and identify local
needs, values and responses.

One of the anticipated effects of the programme

is the empowerment of citizens, through
collaboration and cooperation on projects.

Takeaway menu:
n and review on all levels
plan ning is a cyc lica l and itera tive process - it requires constant reflectio
• Action
l support
e-fits-a ll solu tion . All cities are different and all local action plans and loca
• There is no one-siz
groups are different.
ful for
to sup por t effe ctiv e dev elop me nt of Local Action Plans are also use
• The tools needed
analysis, etc.)
supporting delivery (stakeholder
grated approaches
to mo ve awa y from ‘go vern me nt’ to governance which supports inte
• Cities need
the whole picture
and forces all stakeholders to see
required
ctu res for cro ss dep artm ent al / cross organisational working will be
• New stru
in a clear shared
to achieve some short term gains with
• When delivering a LAP, it is useful
te long term results
roadmap which will lead to concre
constantly evolving.
regularly as the situation in cities is
• It is useful to map stakeholders
pects’ need to be considered
Within this exercise ‘unusual sus
ework
me tho ds are not alw ays eas y or relevant but URBACT provides a fram
• Participatory
in cities.
within which they can be tested
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