Miren Estensoro and Xabier Otxandiano believe that the people involved in Bilbao Next Lab (BNL) over the last ten years have influenced the laboratory's development and brought it to its current position. One morning in December, three individuals currently involved in this urban competitiveness policy laboratory — Javier Garcinuño (Director of Bilbao Ekintza), María Jesús del Blanco (Director of the Business Promotion, Employment and Talent Department), and Claudia Icaran (Pre-Doctoral Researcher at Orkestra) — met to discuss the following questions:
- How does Bilbao Next Lab work today?
- How can we design and facilitate collaborative governance for Bilbao’s Advanced Services?
This post is the result of that conversation, in which we discussed the areas on which governance focuses, as well as three key challenges for BNL’s day-to-day operations: inter-institutional and inter-territorial stakeholder collaboration; organisational cohesion and adaptation to facilitate collaborative governance; and building the capacity of Bilbao Ekintza staff to collaborate. Based on our respective roles in the project, we have identified several concerns related to these challenges.
As an ambassador for collaborative governance, Javier has realised, with Xabier Otxandiano, that institutions and local stakeholders are calling for collaborative working. This is why there are "high expectations" for this process. To meet these expectations, it is crucial that the Bilbao Ekintza's management facilitates the process, along with other team members from the agency.
Acting as a meta-facilitator, Marije has realised that "internal coordination is not something that can be taken for granted but it's key". In order to foster coordination and collaboration within the Bilbao Ekintza team, she has established herself as the link between the agency’s various teams of facilitators, each responsible for a different working space. She ensures that the process runs smoothly and looks after the team throughout.
Finally, Claudia is working to enhance the capacity of Bilbao Ekintza's team to design and implement collaborative governance. By equipping the team with the necessary tools to act as facilitators of collaborative governance, she acknowledges that "this task takes time, and we are short of it".
Despite these challenges, all three of us recognise the positive aspects of our roles. We are certain that the team is truly motivated and enthusiastic and "fully believes in the initiative", and that advanced services could represent a new way of working.
In conclusion, we could argue that these three elements are just as important as the specific action areas within the field of advanced services for developing collaborative governance. Discussing these elements enables us to understand how we perceive them in our respective roles, build a shared understanding of their impact on our processes, and prepare to address them.
Claudia Icaran
Claudia works as a predoctoral researcher at Orkestra. She has a degree in International Relations from the University of Deusto and completed her studies with a Master's Degree in Governance, Development and Public Policy at the University of Sussex.
María Jesús del Blanco
María Jesús holds a Business Studies degree from the University of the Basque Country. She is currently Director of the Economic Development Department at Bilbao Ekintza, overseeing the Invest in Bilbao, Smart Specialisation, and Bilbao International Convention Bureau business units.
Javier Garcinuño
Javier holds a degree in Economics and Business Studies, and boasts an impressive professional track record in companies within the service, distribution, and industrial sectors. In August 2019, he was appointed as the managing director of Bilbao Ekintza, a development agency overseen by the Department of Economic Development, Trade and Employment at Bilbao City Council.
