3 June 2025
- Orkestras senior researcher shared the territorial strategy of the Basque Country, highlighting the importance of promoting multilevel collaborative governance structures.
- The meeting brought together policy makers and authorities from subnational governments in Latin America.
Miren Estensoro, senior researcher at Orkestra, gave the opening speech at the International Seminar "El rol de los gobiernos subnacionales en las políticas de desarrollo productivo, sostenible e inclusivo", held in Quito and organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL), the Prefecture of Pichincha and the Mayor's Office of Quito, with the support of the German Cooperation, GIZ and CAF- Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
This meeting brought together policymakers and authorities from subnational governments in Latin America to strengthen institutional capacities for the design and implementation of productive development policies from the territory. The seminar also served to launch the Network of Subnational Governments for Productive Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which seeks to stimulate dialogue, the exchange of best practices, cooperation and the development of joint projects between the subnational governments involved and their corresponding territories. Orkestra participated as a witness in this act of creation of the network. 
Collaborative governance, key to the transformation of territories
In her presentation, available on YouTube (in Spanish), Miren Estensoro shared the transformative research approach promoted by Orkestra, as well as some key lessons learned from the territorial strategy of the Basque Country.
The Basque Country is one of the few regions that has proactively and consistently built a successful territorial strategy industry-focused over several decades, with an approach based on public-private collaboration and continuous adaptation to economic, social and environmental challenges. Estensoro shared some keys to the transformation of the region in recent decades, which generated special interest among the attendees.
The Orkestra senior researcher also emphasised the vital role of multilevel collaborative governance in fostering innovation in public administration and supporting SMEs. She highlighted the Territorial Development Laboratory of Gipuzkoa and Bilbao Next Lab, the laboratory for competitiveness policies in Bilbao, as examples.
Orkestra's participation in this type of international forums reflects the Institute's commitment to the exchange of knowledge and the promotion of territorial transformation, while also contributing to the international positioning of the Basque Country.
