NEWSLETTER - Nº 11

NOVEMBER 2015

EDITORIAL

1. Quaternaire Portugal participates, at different levels, in the preparation of the FEEI intervention in Portugal during the 2014 -2020 programming period. Initially this participation consisted of several ex-ante evaluation studies, namely of the Regional Operational Programmes of Alentejo and Centro, the thematic Human Capital Operational Programme and, more recently, the Financial Instrument for Social Policy.

In recent months, the company’s activity was more intense concerning the Integrated Approaches for Territorial Development. Considering the importance of the territorial dimension of the EU Cohesion Policy, these approaches are significantly valued as a driver for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

On the regional level, Quaternaire Portugal participated in the ITI – Integrated Territorial Investments preparation works. Particularly, the company has collaborated in the preparation of the Integrated Strategies for the Territorial Development of the NUTS 3 Cávado, Central Alentejo and Algarve. Later, the Quaternaire Portugal team participated also in the design and negotiation of the corresponding Pacts for Cohesion and Territorial Development. This process is currently near its completion, with the negotiation of the respective loan agreements and delegation of management skills.

Quaternaire Portugal also participated in the preparation of another kind of territorial strategies, the Community Based Local Development Strategy (DLBC), with a collaboration with ADRAT - Development Association for the Alto Tâmega Region. The Alto Tamega’s rural DLBC, prepared with the support technical of Quaternaire Portugal, has been recently approved.

Finally, Quaternaire Portugal developed an intense collaborative effort with several Municipalities (Braga, Guimarães, Famalicão, Santo Tirso, Matosinhos, Porto, Arouca and Mangualde) in the preparation of their respective Strategic Urban Development Plans, whose approval process and negotiation is currently underway.

Although it is not yet clear whether this is a public policy instrument with a strong spread in future strategies of the Intermunicipal Communities (CIM), Quaternaire Portugal developed a specific methodology of animation and technical assistance for the Pacts for Employability. In Portugal 2020 the theme of employability has numerous policy public instruments able for a decentralized and territorialized application. The CIMs intervene in territories that may be considered relevant units for the animation and development of institutional cooperation projects focused on matching efforts between skills supply and their demand by private companies. Quaternaire Portugal is currently developing for the CIM Cávado an experimental work in this field, on which future newsletters will report the results obtained.

2. The planning cycle is almost complete. So, we may consider that we are entering the implementation period of the Portugal 2020, especially in what concerns the implementation of public operations. At this stage, other concerns become relevant, especially those related with the effectiveness and efficiency in achieving results and targets.

In this context, there are several areas in which Quaternaire Portugal believes to have the skills and the ability to support various institutions, public or private, in the preparation and implementation of their projects.

First, we highlight our expertise related to monitoring and evaluation of action programs and individual projects. The Quaternaire Portugal’s capabilities are focused in combining evaluation and sectorial strategic planning, which allows the company to define follow-up or monitoring systems as well as external and independent evaluation activities, suitable for a wide range of types of operations.

But the programming, which is mainly focused on results, also involves a rigorous design, set up and project management, transforming the advice in projects design engineering into a relevant tool that Quaternaire Portugal can provide to its customers. This kind of intervention is in line with our experience, recent or historical, both isolated or in partnership with individual consultants and associated companies. We included in this domain issues related to functional programming and definition content, the planning of the entire project cycle, partnerships for promotion and management, feasibility and sustainability analysis, communication, management and financing models, etc.

Quaternaire Portugal is prepared to answer properly to these challenges. Once again, we hope to contribute to the quality of interventions through a positioning that is beyond consultancy and sees itself as a partner of the project promoters, our customers.

QUATERNAIRE PORTUGAL ACTIVITY

EVALUATION

One of the new characteristics of programming in Portugal 2020 is the mobilization of Financial Instruments (FI) for completing public policy in intervention areas in which the use of FI is residual or inexistent.

Quaternaire Portugal won the public tender for the ex-ante evaluation of mobilizing Financial Instruments in social innovation, supporting microentrepreneurship and creation of own employment and credit support to higher education students, which are very innovative considering the programming history in Portugal.

In this brief note, we underline the Quaternaire Portugal’s capacity of developing innovative approaches for estimating market failures, investment and financing gaps and quantifying leverage effects, evaluating the justification and the feasibility of mobilizing FI for those fields of intervention. This innovation approach should be understood within a context in which the methodological guides proposed by the European Commission itself are very scarce. The IF programming in these intervention fields is strongly dependent upon the ex-ante evaluation results which is another factor enhancing the value of the Quaternaire Portugal’s contribution.

PROJECTS AND CULTURAL POLICIES

A Quaternaire Portugal developed, commissioned by the Atelier 15 – Architecture, the Study for the Enhancement of Águas do Porto’s Heritage. This company is heir and owner of a set of infrastructures that are a very valuable heritage, highly significant both in historical and cultural terms, which are currently being partially being put out of its regular operation

In this sense, the challenge was to draw up an inventory and assessment of this heritage, in order to identify its constraints and potential of use. After completing the conducting of site visits and the analysis of written and drawn documentation, it was proposed to Águas do Porto a global strategy for the enhancement and joint dissemination of this heritage.

This strategy aims to make this heritage accessible to the public enjoyment, to promote a greater public awareness of the history of Águas do Porto and the company’s social responsibility and to contribute to the affirmation of the theme of water’s strategic value. Also it seeks to improve the involvement of this heritage in the cultural, leisure and tourist offer of the city of Porto. Other elements were also analyzed, including the definition of preliminary aspects of the management and programming model and also the identification of funding opportunities.

Nova Sintra Central (Porto)

The team of architects Alexandre Alves Costa and Sérgio Fernandez developed preliminary architecture studies for three heritage sites – the Paranhos Water Streams, including part of the underground network; the tanks of Pasteleira (deactivated); part of the Rio de Vila underground (between the Mouzinho Silveira street and the São Domingos plaza), assuring this way the conditions needed to Águas do Porto move forward with the implementation of some of these proposals.

It has recently been initiated a collaboration of Quaternaire Portugal with the Higher School for Music, Arts and Entertainment (ESMAE) of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto, in order to provide technical support in identifying funding opportunities – at national, European or international levels – for the development of new projects and to artistic and cultural activities that the School already leads.

Working on a strategic interpretation of the School’s role, particularly in non-academic activities, this collaboration aims to strengthen the capacity of the institution regarding the use of available funding programs, including the strengthening of its integration in networks (namely Europeans).

It was completed by Quaternaire Portugal the Operational Programme to support the development and promotion of the tourist product “World Heritage in Alentejo”.

The work aims to strengthen this assets, not only in terms of their great quality in artistic, heritage and symbolic terms, but also regarding the quality of services provided to its visitors. Today this is a key aspect in order to make these destinations more competitive in the global tourism market, particularly in the cultural touring segment.

In this project the Quaternaire Portugal team worked in coordination with public and private actors operating in this territory, in order to consolidate an integrated tourism product and increase the level of trust and satisfaction of visitors and tourists, while protecting the integrity of the heritage assets and the benefits for local communities.

MACE –Elvas Museum of Contemporary Art

EMPLOYMENT, COMPETENCES AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING

Meeting to challenge of territorializing public policies to support employment and fight against unemployment, the Cávado’s Intermunicipal Community is preparing, with the technical support of Quaternaire Portugal, its regional pact for employment.

Based on the interinstitutional cooperation in the fields of education, training and employment and in the integrated actions of supra-municipal level, the Pact has already a first project: a Regional Diagnostic of the Skills Improvement Needs. The methodologies used by the Quaternaire Portugal team and the involvement of local and regional actors have produced worthy results, anticipating that the Pact could become an important tool in the territorial development strategy and in the institutional cooperation. Indeed, the mobilization and dialogue among regional and local actors has been a valuable aspect of the work carried out, involving local authorities, stakeholders from field of employment, education and training, business associations and employers and other relevant social actors.

Seminar “Internationalization Strategies of Agrifood Row”, held on 11 June 2015 at the Santarém’s Agricultural Fair, where it was presented a balance and the preliminary results of the external evaluation carried out by Quaternaire Portugal the project “Flavours of Portugal”

The project “Flavours of Portugal”, co-financed by Operational Competitiveness Programme COMPETE, part of the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 and framed in Incentives Systems to Enterprise Investments, specifically in the SME Qualification - Incentive Scheme for the Qualification and internationalization of SMEs, was the first experience of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal in developing joint projects for participation of SMEs in the agro-food sector for international exhibitions with the aim of supporting their internationalization.

The project runs for 18 months in the period from January 2014 to June 2015 and supported 105 national companies through the organization of collective participations in 12 international exhibitions of the agro-food sector covering 7 distinct international markets (Russia, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, France, Belgium and USA).

The “Flavours of Portugal” external evaluation exercise carried out, focused on the analysis of expected and non-expected results achieved and on a critical reflection on the overall framework of the Action Plan execution that allowed to make recommendations for improving results.

SPATIAL PLANNING

Detailed Plans of Anjos and Praia Formosa in Vila do Porto (Santa Maria Island, Azores) were approved by the Municipal Assembly, and were published last October 19th in the Official Journal of the Azores, after 4 years of work and discussion sessions and intense public participation.

Santa Maria island, Azores

These plans – which are a strategic orientation of the Spatial Plan of the Coastal Zone of Santa Maria Island – concern two privileged areas of the island, from environmental and landscape point of view and fundamentally aim at developing a sustainable urban model which is compatible with the environmental vulnerabilities that characterize these two bathing areas of great importance for the touristic sector in the municipality.

The Public Discussion Review of Lourinhã’s Municipal Master Plan, whose coordination is shared between the Municipality of Lourinhã and Quaternaire Portugal (project started in 2012), took place during August and was widely participated, with several public sessions to present the Plan and approximately 300 written comments.

Quaternaire Portugal will collaborate with the Municipality of Lourinhã in the evaluation of the public discussion process and the production of the final version of the Municipal Master Plan, which is expected to be approved by the Municipal Assembly by the end of this year. The Lourinhã’s Municipal Master Plan is one of the first Municipal Master Plans to be reviewed in the light of the West and Tagus Valley Regional Plan and, simultaneously, in the light in the new Law for the Soil Policy, Spatial Planning and Urbanism.

Panoramic view of the island of Corvo

Quaternaire Portugal is elaborating the review of Corvo Municipal Master Plan (Azores) which project has been taken up by the current Municipal Executive, after 15 years since the beginning of plan review.

The priority of this work results from the recognition of the strategic importance of having an upgraded planning instrument, able to face the challenges of economic, social and environmental development and which contributes to an effective and efficient management of the territory.

The study is at the stage of Evaluation and Diagnosis / Preliminary Proposal which includes a preliminary model sustained in four areas of development: i) the consolidation of the urban center of Vila do Corvo; ii) the building-up of a rural development model; iii) the establishment of an environmental and cultural protection system and iv) promoting infrastructure networks and equipment sustainability.

Last July has been completed the development of the supporting legislation to the elaboration and implementation of the Cape Verde’s Coastal Border Planning Plans.

This project was awarded to Quaternaire Portugal by the Cape Verde Ministry of Infrastructures and Sea Economy following an international tender, having started in February 2015. The study was developed in two phases and was accompanied by a working group appointed for this purpose, composed of representatives of several entities of the Cape Verdean Public Administration with relevance in the Coastal Zone and chaired by Ms. Minister of Infrastructures and Sea Economy.

STRATEGIC PLANNING

The Action Plan for the Development of Endogenous Resources (PADRE) is a planning instrument created by the Management Authority of the Regional Operational Programme Algarve 2014-2020 to integrate in a unique regional framework the Local Development Strategies (LDS) and the correspondent Action Plans submitted by the Local Action Groups (LAG) leading the three rural DLBC in Algarve (Costa Vicentina, In Loco and Baixo Guadiana).

This integrated framework aims at encompassing the public municipal and intermunicipal projects designed to complement in a coherent way the LAG action plans. It’s an innovative planning instrument and Quaternaire Portugal team is proud to work on it.

The elaboration of the Strategic Plan for the municipality of Loulé in Algarve region is coming to an end. The methodology practiced by the Quaternaire Portugal team emphasizes the strong interaction between our team and the political and technical representatives of the municipality and the fact that the Strategic Plan covers all the relevant territorial planning unities of Loulé’s territory; the coastal touristic area; the urban triangle composed by the city of Loulé, Almancil and Quarteira, the area of Barrocal and the inner and low density territories.

It is not very common within a Strategic Plan to develop the interaction between thematic and sectorial issues and the pertinent planning territorial unities. The work led by Quaternaire Portugal team follows this innovative planning approach.

After having elaborated for the Association of Municipalities of Algarve Region (AMAL), now organized as an Intermunicipal Community, the Strategic Plan AMAL 2014-2020 in strict conformity with the Regional Strategy Algarve 2014-2020 led by the CCDR Algarve, the Quaternaire Portugal team has been invited by AMAL to elaborate a Strategic Positioning Plan for the institution itself.

AMAL is the unique Intermunicipal Community in Portugal whose territory corresponds to a NUTS II (Algarve region) territory, which is a very singular characteristic. The positioning strategy aims at conceiving a solid place within the regional actors system, identifying and coming up with a set of projects and initiatives able to implement the targeted positioning and a more proactive regional visibility. It aims also to fix the capacitation needs (in technical, human and organizational terms) in order that AMAL can achieve its objectives. Through this work, Quaternaire Portugal will improve its methodology for organization strategic planning.

Brainstorming session with local entities on AMAL's strategic positioning, 28 October 2015

The Quaternaire Portugal team has concluded in October 2015 the update of the strategic analysis of the wine sector of Região Demarcada do Douro (RDD) contracted by the Association of Port Wine Enterprises (AEVP).

In this study, is particularly important to underline the comparison between the several impressive signs of the strong prominence of the RDD, principally through the specialized international press and the recognition of the excellence of Douro and Port Premium wines and the still active structural bottlenecks identified through exhaustive and rigorous statistical analysis. Several interviews with RDD’s representative entrepreneurs complete this updated study.

Is now coming to an end the approval process of the Alto Tâmega’s 2020 Rural Community-Based Local Development Strategy, which will be managed by a Local Action Group (LAG) led by ADRAT - Alto Tâmega Region Development Association.

Quaternaire Portugal provided technical assistance to the two phases of the project: the creation and accreditation of the LAG and the structuring of the intervention strategy and action program. The Rural Community-Based Local Development mobilize financial support for rural development (EAFRD), the development and planning (ERDF) and support to entrepreneurship and job creation in rural areas (ESF and ERDF).

The Tourism Strategic Plan for Mafra will be presented to the Tourism Local Council, on the 4th November, 2015, concluding the revision of the previous Strategic Plan, developed by Quaternaire Portugal in 2007.

Mafra's National Palace

This Plan intends to give some guidelines to the future work of the local authority and agents, through the implementation of a Strategy which consolidates Mafra as a tourism destination, in the present national and international environment. This Plan recommends, among other actions, a set of qualification and differentiation actions, communication and promotion, stakeholders articulation and investment attraction.

The study was developed in close collaboration with the technical team and the Tourism Local Council, which represents the local organizations and stakeholders.

URBAN PROJECTS AND POLICIES

Within the framework of urban policies, urban regeneration still is one of Quaternaire Portugal’s main market priorities, continuing to develop the Urban Rehabilitation Strategic Programs (PERU) for the Urban Rehabilitation Areas (ARU) of Vila Nova de Famalicão Urban Center (ARU already published in Official Gazette), or the ARU of Vila de Arouca, Escariz‑Fermedo and Alvarenga, both in the Municipally of Arouca (already published in the Official Gazette ) and the ARU of Matosinhos and Leça da Palmeira (recently published in the Official Gazette).

Boundaries of the Urban Rehabilitation Areas of Matosinhos

In the meantime, following the preparation of Braga’s Urban Strategic Development Plan (PEDU Braga 2020) Quaternaire Portugal is now working in the process of delimitation and justification of the ARU of Braga South and demarcation of the ARUs of Braga North and Braga East.

Finally, we have initiated a technical assistance to the Municipality of Póvoa de Lanhoso in the process of delimitation of the village of Póvoa de Lanhoso Urban Rehabilitation Area and definition of its strategic program. This technical assistance also includes supporting the preparation of the Action Plan for Urban Rehabilitation, within the available Portugal 2020 city policy instruments.

Quaternaire Portugal is involved in the preparation of the Atlantic Axis Urban Agenda, a project recently launched by the trans-border Association of Local Authorities Eixo Atlântico. Until the end of 2015 it is running the phase of design, discussion and approval of the Agenda framework, which will be developed between 2016 and 2017.

In this context, Quaternaire Portugal coordinates the work axis designated as Organized Urban System: the New Territory, encompassing the following areas:

The internal territorial cohesion in the Euroregion.
Functional areas: the planning matrix of the new territory.
An urban planning for attractive, dynamic and inclusive cities.
Intermodality and connectivity in transport and communications systems.
New models for accessibility to urban services

PUBLICATIONS

PUBLIC POLICIES, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

António Manuel Figueiredo participated in this collective work coordinated and edited by Professors Paulo Neto and Maria Manuela Serrano of Evora’s University, with a paper called “Internationalisation and innovation public policies: market failures, governance and pertinent territories”. This work extends and develops previous research of the author on the territorialisation of innovation public policy.

Cover of Public Policy , Economicsand Society (coordination Paulo Neto and Maria Manuela Serrano).

PUBLICATION OF THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TEACHER BENCHMARK - EFD GROUP

It was recently published by the National Agency for the Qualification and Professional Education the Baseline Study on the development of a Skills and Training Benchmark for Teacher / Trainer of Vocational Education. The study was led by Quaternaire Portugal and it develops a proposal for a competency framework for the qualification and certification of teachers / trainers of vocational education and a proposal for a training benchmark.

These two instruments aim to support a qualifying strategy for teachers of the vocational education which will increase their capacity to answer the challenges that the vocational education is facing and, particularly, to improve their pedagogical and didactic skills in vocational teaching and learning contexts. The development of the study was supported by an extensive process of collecting data information from teachers, schools and experts and it includes an analysis of international best practices.

THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL IN CRISIS – IS EUROPE LOSING ITS SOUL?

In collaboration with the colleague Maria Pilar González (Porto Faculty of Economics), the President of the Board of Directors of Quaternaire Portugal, António Manuel Figueiredo, is co-author in this collective work, coordinated by Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead (ILO) and published jointly by ILO and by the very representative editor Edward Elgar of London of a paper called “The European Social Model in a Context of Crisis and Austerity in Portugal”. Presently, this research, now enriched with the collaboration of Luís Delfim Santos (Porto Faculty of Economics) and Hugo Figueiredo (University of Aveiro), culminated in a new paper called “Still holding on? Inequality, labour market and middle-income groups in Portugal”, which it will also published in a collective work to be edited by Edward Elgar in 2016.

The detail of the European Social Model cover in Crisis - Is Europe Losing its Soul (ed. Daniel Vaughan- Whitehead)

CLAIMING THE FUTURE: PUBLIC POLICIES FOR PORTUGAL

They were recently published, in two volumes, the Proceedings of the Conference Claiming the future: public policies for Portugal, which took place at the headquarters of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, between 6 and 7 October 2014. Curated by Viriato Soromenho-Marques, and organized by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in partnership with the Institute of Public Policy Thomas Jefferson-Correia da Serra, the conference sought to raise a critical reflection on the current context and the challenges it poses to public policies, in times of crisis in Portugal and Europe.

Imagem gráfica da Conferência e Publicação Afirmar o futuro: políticas públicas para Portugal

Bringing together a broad panel of experts (economists, geographers, sociologists, etc.), coming mostly from national academia, this publication presents a collection of articles that cover a diverse range of topics related with public policies today. Among these articles, which consolidate the publicly presented oral communications, we highlight the contributions of the three Executive Directors of the Quaternaire Portugal.

António Manuel Figueiredo and Elisa Pérez Babo sign an article entitled “Policies’ Territorialization: Innovation and Culture”, under which they seek to explore the concept of territorialization of public policies, applying it to the Portuguese context. The fields of innovation and culture are particularly explored in this text, with the presentation of the state of the art in both this fields, an analysis of the main challenges facing the public policy system and governance and the formulation of a set of proposals for a new agenda for the territorialization of public policies in Portugal (considering transversal and specific aspects).

Ana Baroco contributes presenting a comment to the chapter “The territory and the cities in Portugal. Children of a Lesser God?”, authored by the researchers and university professors João Seixas (ICS-UL, Lisbon) and Teresa Sá Marques (CEGOT-FLUP, Porto). Ana Baroco builds his argument from the reflections of these two geographers, but also its own experience in the field of policies and land-use planning projects, claiming that this new cycle of public policy, which is now beginning, must be able to focus on the complementarities between territories and to invest in building networks, with a view to strengthening its competitiveness and cohesion.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATIONS

The President of the Quaternaire Portugal’s Board of Directors, António Manuel Figueiredo, participated at the IX National Meeting of Territory Planners, integrated in the International Conference “Meanings of the Rural – between social representations, consumptions and rural development strategies”, organized by the University of Aveiro, with a presentation called “A Development Perspective for the Inner Territories”. The main topics of the presentation have been: (i) a development’s view on inner territories; (ii) some figures; (iii) the deconstruction of rural space and its implications for spatial planning; (iv) the demographic fall and the non reproduction of entrepreneurship; (v) two models in confrontation: Built it and they will come versus Let them come and they will build it (Paul Romer).

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE «MEANINGS OF THE RURAL – BETWEEN SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS, CONSUMPTIONS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES»

The President of Quaternaire Portugal’s Board of Directors, António Manuel Figueiredo, presented in Porto, at the Associação dos Jornalistas e Homens de Letras, last September, the book “A Demografia e o País - Previsões Cristalinas sem Bola de Cristal” [The demography and the country - Crystalline Forecasts without Crystal Ball] which was recently published by Gradiva, The authors of the book are Eduardo Anselmo Castro, José Manuel Martins and Carlos Jorge Silva, teachers and researchers at the University of Aveiro. This session was also attended by Professor Joaquim Azevedo and the engineer Rui Sá.

THE DEMOGRAPHY AND THE COUNTRY - CRYSTALLINE FORECASTS WITHOUT CRYSTAL BALL

Once again Quaternaire Portugal was present at the Porto Urban Rehabilitation Week, organized by Vida Imobiliária and Promevi, with the support of the Municipality of Porto and Porto Vivo SRU, which was held at the Ateneu Comercial do Porto between 26 and 31 of October.

Elisa Pérez Babo, as technical coordinator of the Strategic Plan for Urban Development of Porto, intervened in the debate “New horizons for Porto’s urban regeneration”, held on October 30, which was chaired by Daniel Miranda.

PARTICIPATION IN CEDEFOP’S SEMINAR ON LEARNING OUTCOMES – EFDS GROUP

Quaternaire Portugal was invited to participate in the Policy Learning Forum on defining and writing of learning outcomes for VET qualifications, organized by CEDEFOP. This forum opens a new CEDEFOP strategy of mutual learning network dynamic and it’s included in the strategy to increase the support of member states in the developing of innovative policies.

Strengthening the paradigm of learning outcomes in vocational education and training policies is a priority assumed jointly by CEDEFO and the European Commission and it’s inscribed in the strategic documents that guide training policies in the European Union. Quaternaire Portugal was invited to participate in this reflection taking into account the experience of the company in this area, particularly considering the experience taken from the work developed within the tourism sector.

PORTO URBAN REHABILITATION WEEK 2015

Debate “New horizons for Porto’s urban regeneration”, held on 30 October, at Ateneu Comercial do Porto.

ALTO TAMEGA EMPREENDE

The Alto Tamega Empreende 2015 t was an even held at Chaves, from 17 to 20 September. It includes a set of debates and the presentation of entrepreneurial experiences in the region. The main topics addressed were rural development, youth and cooperation. Quaternaire Portugal team was present with Lourdes Cunha and Artur Costa, who moderated the panels devoted to rural development conducted over the 18th September..

More informations here.

Debate moderated by Arthur Costa , held within the event “ Alto Tamega undertakes “ in Chaves, the September 18th, 2015.

IATM – INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS MUSEUMS CONFERENCE

Quaternaire Portugal consultant José Portugal participated in the 40th IATM Conference held at the Museum of Transport and Communications, in Porto, between June 28 and July 1. José Portugal was responsible for the opening Conference of the Session 1 - “Museum sustainability” with the theme “Visions

Pictograph detail of40th IATM Conference (Porto , 2015)

STRATEGIC PLANS FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Considering intervention priorities set out in the “Sustainable Cities” strategy and the calling on policy instruments dedicated to the qualification and rehabilitation of urban environment, it was launched last July a call for Strategic Plans for Urban Development (PEDU) for the top-level Urban Centers of the Regional Operational Programmes North, Centre, Lisbon and Alentejo.

The PEDU were only required for the municipalities that, within the Partnership Agreement 2014-2020, wish carrying out projects related with urban mobility, urban regeneration and the integration of disadvantaged communities. These Plans are, in turn, a support for the negotiation of these municipalities with the Managing Authorities of the respective Operational Programmes, with a view to contracting an investment plan, as well as its goals and results to be achieved.

Quaternaire Portugal recognized experience in the field of urban policies and its ability to mobilize partners (individual consultants and other companies, namely SOPSEC, SA) with complementary expertise enabled the company to organize a significant answer to the market needs in this domain. Thus, it was developed the work corresponding to the first phase of preparation and submission of applications from PEDU of Arouca, Braga, Guimarães (in partnership with Geoatributo), Mangualde, Porto, Santo Tirso and Vila Nova de Famalicão. Also, the Quaternaire Portugal team gave technical support in this domain to the Municipality of Matosinhos.

Currently these processes find themselves in the evaluation of the Plans by the respective Managing Authorities. After this phase it will follow a final negotiation phase for the respective contracting. During this assessment and negotiation phases Quaternaire Portugal maintains the support to the municipalities.

Meanwhile it is expected new Calls for Applications to the development of the Urban Regeneration Action Plans (PARU) for municipalities with complementary urban level and Integrated Action Plans for Disadvantaged Communities (PAICD) in the Operational Programmes of Alentejo and Algarve, Thus, Quaternaire Portugal, with its know-how on urban policies and the experience acquired in previous PEDUs, is already in the process to star new projects in these domains and available to undertake further work with other municipalities.

Finally, it should be noted that the PARU (whether or not inserted into PEDU) must inserted in areas that fall within the Urban Renewal Areas (according to the assumptions set out in the legal regime of urban rehabilitation), which are already approved or in the process of adoption. For this reason, it may be justified an articulated and simultaneous work of preparation of the respective Strategic Programs for Urban Rehabilitation (PERU) for Urban Rehabilitation Operations. In this case, Quaternaire Portugal believes that its working methodology already tested in several PERU - Braga, Chaves, Maia, Matosinhos, among others – may bring benefits in terms of economies of scale and efficient use of resources in the involved municipalities.

RegioStars award for the Eurocity Chaves-Verín

The European prizes RegioStars were instituted by the European Commission to distinguish the most inspiring and innovative projects supported by the European cohesion policy funds. In 2015 The Portuguese-Spanish project of the Eurocity Chaves-Verín won in the category of Citystar – change cities to face the challenges of the future. The jury felt that this project demonstrates “that the institutional, economic, social and cultural integration of two border cities is possible and generates real benefits to its citizens”.

Today, the Water Eurocity is a reality in full consolidation. The origins of this project was an initiative of the two municipalities and the Atlantic Axis Association which led to the development, in 2008, of a Strategic Agenda. Quaternaire Portugal integrated the cross-border team of consultants that ensured technical support of this agenda. Thus, we would like to congratulate the technical staff and the policy makers that transformed into reality this proposals.

Promotion Action of the Eurocity Chaves-Verín

WORKSHOP “DESIGN AND AND IMPLEMENTATION OF TERRITORIAL PLANS – OPERATIONAL ISSUES RAISED BY THE NEW LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR LAND POLICIES, LAND USE PLANNING AND URBANISM”

Quaternaire Portugal participated, on October 19th, in a brainstorming session organized by the Portuguese Association of Town Planners, with the support of the Municipality of Porto, dedicated to the discussion of the main doubts and new developments following the entry into force of a set of legal instruments that imply a substantial changes in the activity of spatial planning and urban planning – an important domain of the company’s activity. The workshop was attended by technicians of different municipalities and private companies that operate in this field. During the workshop were discussed possible ways of interpretation and answering to new aspects of the law, as well as the consequences of these changes in the ongoing planning processes. With this debate, it became clear, on one hand, that the changes still requires a great deal of adaptation and innovation by teams and, on the other hand, that meetings and debates like this are extremely important for the evolution of the practice.

THE CONVERGENCE/DIVERGENCE PROCESS OF THE PORTUGUESE REGIONS: THE CASE OF THE NORTH AND CENTRE REGIONS

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policies, taking into account the conclusions of recent studies that demonstrate the process of divergence of some regions from the average EU-28 with consequences for the widening of regional disparities in the European Union, agreed to develop, in partnership with the National Authorities via AD&C, an analysis centered on two Portuguese regions. This analysis aims to identify key factors for regional growth and investment, and the main bottlenecks to the convergence process, with impacts on the effectiveness of policy cohesion. Taking in account the divergence profile of the Portuguese regions in growth, it was decided to study in depth the North and Centre regions.

The following key issues were identified:

i) What is the impact of changes in the macro-economic framework for growth and investment?

ii) What is the evolution of structural reforms and their impact on growth and investment in the regions? (labor market, education, taxation, health, pensions, ...)

iii) What is the impact of the quality of public administration in growth and investment in the regions?

This reflection took as its starting point a visit of a European Commission delegation to Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto, on 26, 27 and 28 October 2015.

On the first day of this visit were discussed some cross-cutting issues related to regional dynamics, governance and the evolution of the macroeconomic framework. The President of Quaternaire Portugal’s Board of Directors, António Manuel Figueiredo, has been invited to participate on the governance panel, held on the 26th, at the AD&C offices, in Lisbon.

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Quaternaire Portugal is a corporate society created in 1990 and working on the following fields of expertise: Evaluation; Culture; Employment, Competences and Vocational Training; Strategic planning; Spatial Planning; Urban Projects and Policies.

Our approach integrates the development of territories with the improvement of capabilities of private and public organisations. We aim to produce solutions that fit the specific needs of clients and to generate and diffuse pertinent strategic knowledge. In doing so, our multidisciplinary and increasingly qualified group of full time consultants regularly interacts with a network of high-skilled and well known national and international shareholders as well as with a regular and flexible group of external advisers in various fields of expertise.

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