The Barcelona Provincial Council developed a tool for the transversal management of municipal development cooperation strategies
Public managers working in the field of development cooperation have been reflecting for a long time on the need to take a broader approach to this policy, which fosters the involvement of other areas and departments to become a crosscutting and citywide policy.
Globalisation and interdependence among countries and territories generates greater complex challenges that affect all humanity and have an impact at the local level. Therefore, these challenges require a more comprehensive approach and can only be effectively addressed from the local government as a whole. In this context, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development emphasises the need for development cooperation not to rely on a single department or area and to become more strategic and consistent.
What does it mean for cooperation to be crosscutting? Why is it important to move towards the mainstreaming of development cooperation strategies? What elements need to be taken into account for a crosscutting management of this policy at local level?
The Barcelona Provincial Council has developed a resource mainly addressed to those responsible for both cooperation and international relations as well as decision-makers within local governments that aims at answering these questions in a practical way.
It includes a practical Self-evaluating the transversality of development cooperation strategies tool to learn about the strengths and detect aspects to be improved in order to achieve the mainstreaming of this policy, which is available in Catalan, Spanish, French and English.
Designed in Excel format, the tool allows testing the degree of accomplishment and helps to identify a set of key elements that constitute the crosscutting for the local government. Its added value lies on making realistic and easy to achieve proposals seeking to adapt to the reality of local bodies.
An explanatory video is also available in Catalan, English, French and Spanish.
