The World Cities team included the following experts:
Coordinator / Team Leader: Pablo Gándara
Pablo coordinated the overall project including contents, experts, logistics and financial management in all five countries involved. He was the main contact point for interested cities and multipliers from EU and non-EU countries (Australia, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam). Pablo has managed a variety of EU projects dealing with regional and urban development in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the MENA region. Contact: info@world-cities.eu.
Project Manager GIZ: Juliana Izquierdo
Juliana coordinated for GIZ the activities with South Africa, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Project Manager Ramboll: Roxana Jensen.
Roxana coordinated for Ramboll the activities with Australia and the Republic of Korea.
Senior Expert for Africa and South East Asia: Andreas Sieren
Andreas holds a M.A. in International Relations and B.A. (Hon.) in Politics from Brock University, Ontario, Canada. He has managed large-scale in-country or multi-country programmes in the area of governance and health for the United Nations and other international organisations in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia, predominantly for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He has years of project coordination experience including the facilitation of dialogue between stakeholders. Andreas is based in Johannesburg and coordinates all activities in South Africa. He has published on the African continent, urban development, infrastructure, energy, resources, and governance. Within the World Cities team, Andreas was the main focal focal point for the activities in South Africa and South East Asia.
Project Coordinator Australia: Bruce Wilson
Coordination and expertise in Australian regional and urban policies were provided by Prof Bruce Wilson, director of the RMIT Centre for Urban Research in Melbourne. Bruce will liaised with the EU Delegation to Australia as well as with relevant multipliers from public authorities, business and research. Bruce coordinated selection of Australian cities and will support the identification of pilot projects.
Project Coordination Republic of Korea: Felix Kalkowsky
Cooperation with South Korean cities was coordinated by Felix Kalkowsky. Felix is urban planner and works at at CityNet’s Secretariat in Seoul Global Centre. Felix has a strong record in organizing events and sessions at major international conferences such as PrepCom3, Habitat III and the International Forum on Urban Policy for the Sustainable Development Goals. Furthermore, Felix supports CityNet’ capacity-building programmes by preparing workshops for government officials and technical experts.
Project Assistance South Korea: Dong Hoon Shin
Senior Advisory for South Africa: Professor Ivan Turok
Ivan was Senior Advisor to the project facilitating coordination especially with relevant South African central government authorities. Ivan is the Executive Director in the Economic Performance and Development Unit of the HSRC. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Regional Studies, and Chairman of the City Planning Commission for Durban. He is also Honorary Professor at the Universities of Cape Town and Glasgow, and has a PhD in Economics, MSc in Planning and BSc in Geography. Before returning to South Africa and joining the HSRC in 2010 he was Professor and Research Director of the Department of Urban Studies at Glasgow University.
Senior Expert for Urban Development Policy in the EU: Iñigo Bilbao
Iñigo is an architect and urban development specialist, brings along over 20 years of hands-on project management experience. As head of strategic projects on the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, Iñigo leaded the application of Vitoria Gasteiz to become EU’s Green Capital 2012 and managed the international agenda of the city, including monitoring of European projects (URBAN, MOVESMART, etc.), as well as organising capacity building and training measures for municipal staff and international partners on climate change and sustainable mobility issues. Iñigo supported the city selection mechanism.
Senior Advisor for EU Policy: Ambassador Juan Prat y Coll
Juan is a former General Director of the EU Commission and a former Spanish Ambassador to Italy, the Netherlands, NATO and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Juan was in charge of ensuring World Cities policy coherence with other European and international initiatives.
Communications Manager: David Zeller
David is a senior communication and business development professional. He has advised public regional and local authorities in clusters and innovation issues in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. David coordinated World Cities external communication and shared with Pablo the overall coordination of the project.
Senior Expert China: Oscar Prat van Thielcoovels
Oscar has supported the project activities in China and Europe, including the organisation of several high-level delegations as well the developemnt of pilot projects between Chinese and European cities.
The World Cities project was implemented by GIZ International Services and Ramboll.
GIZ Project Direction: Stefanie Klein
Stefanie Klein is Regional Manager at GIZ International Services. Stefanie was in charge of ensuring the high quality of services, the institutional support of GIZ and the necessary backstopping during implementation. She has a strong experience in European projects in Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Ramboll Project Direction: Raul Daussa
Raul is Senior Environmental Consultant in the International Project Management of Ramboll. He and has over 15 years of experience with international technical assistance cooperation. Raul has a wide experience of working with multi-disciplinary teams in different technical fields.