Boris Meggiorin
BRGM, the French geological survey, is France’s leading public institution for Earth Science applications for the management of surface and sub-surface resources with a view to sustainable development. As an EU funding consultant, I conceived and produced a quarterly newsletter with its team, presenting the EU calls for proposals in line with the research and development topics of the BRGM.
La Baule is a French seaside resort that consolidated its position as a national tourist hub growing into a small size city. The shift from leisure destination to an organic urban area required an upgrade of its infrastructure. In addition, being the home of one of the most beautiful French bays, the threat of environmental risks prompted the project for a complete renewal of its seafront. My role has been to explore and define the European funding opportunities that could co-finance the urban redevelopment of the promenade.
https://www.labaule.fr/municipalite/les-ambitions-de-la-municipalite/promenade-de-mer-1
On behalf of the innovation agency Conexiones Improbables (Spain) in 2021 I gave support to their application as a member of the New European Bauhaus, the interdisciplinary platform for innovation and sustainability of the European Commission. After ensuring their spot in the partnership, I contributed to the production of a cycle of international events to define the role of cross-sectoral innovation in different sectors of the economy and the society.
DeuS is an Erasmus+ Vocational Educational Training (VET) project, coordinated by the Matera – Basilicata 2019 Foundation, that aims to co-create a European-wide learning and training approach in critical thinking and entrepreneurship to find participatory, creative, and cost-effective solutions to local challenges, by unlocking the potential of the cultural and creative sector. The project brings together relevant players from the cultural and creative sector from Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Slovakia and UK.
The DeuS project is shaped around the unique Open Design School, a pillar project of Matera 2019 (Italy), European Capital of Culture. It is a design laboratory using a peer-to-peer challenged based approach, where professionals of any discipline work together and share knowledge and expertise while designing, prototyping, delivering and testing design solutions.
The Open Design School methodology goes one step further than existing design thinking processes by applying real solutions to real problems, validated by real people: it transforms applied research in the real domain. In the process, DeuS works as a “think and do tank” where professionals with different backgrounds can upskill and re-skill while responding collaboratively to current societal and economic challenges.
My role in 2021 was to support the production of 10 Living Labs, one for each partnering organization, to test and integrate the Open Design methodology in solving local challenges.
In the frame of the Deus project financed by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU, I have conceived a new format to rebrand the final conference of the project, in the shape of a pop-up radio, featuring radio shows led by each partnering organization. The event took place in 2021.
In 2009, while working on the cross-border projects of the Euroregion Pyrenees -Mediterranean, I had the mandate to promote the results of projects that were already in their execution phase. That was the case of the transnational mountain hospital built thanks to an EU Interreg fund, at the border between France and Spain, in the Cerdanya valley.
https://interreg.eu/interreg-highlights/people/medicine-knows-no-borders/
“Territorial Cooperation Fostering European Integration: Cities and Regions Linking across Borders” was the title of the first congress of Smart Cooperation taking place in A Coruña (Spain) in 2012.
My role was to support the organisation and the logistics of the event. More than 400 delegates from all over Europe enjoyed the knowledge sharing and networking programme on how to improve practices for effective cooperation between public authorities.
https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/fr/newsroom/events/2012/06/1st-congress-on-smart-cooperation
http://www.espaces-transfrontaliers.org/en/the-mot/evenements/first-congress-on-smart-cooperation/
For five years I had the chance to share my expertise as a guest teacher and virtual campus coordinator of the Master in Cultural Cooperation of the University of Barcelona(Spain).
My experience in European Union funding and in project coordination and financing proved to be a valuable resource for the students from Asia, Europe, and South America enrolling to this higher education programme in the Catalan capital.
The experience was extremely rewarding, thanks to the quality of exchanges with colleagues, and the interest of the students for an aspect that was often overlooked by other master degrees.
http://www.ub.edu/cultural/postgrau-en-cooperacio-i-gestio-cultural-internacional/?lang=en
In 2009, I developed a connection between the Euro Region Pyrenees Mediterranean and the Euro Region Baltic. This was made thanks to the enrolment in the Capacity Building Programme for local authorities of the South Baltic area, as an expert of access to EU funding.
At that point, the Euro Region Pyrenees-Mediterranean was already an established player for cross-border actions in the field of culture. On the other hand, the Euro Region Baltic was a relevant actor in the field of environmental sustainability.
The partnership promoted a set of joined events in France and Sweden, as well as a project application to the Interreg Europe programme.
In 2013 and 2014, the DG Education Audio-visual and Culture of the European Commission was analysing the impact of its previous actions. It turned out that a great amount of good practices detected in past projects were followed by a low degree of transfer capacity.
From this take, the European Commission launched the Culture for Cities and Regions project, and subsequently for the participating cities.
My role as Head of International development of SAMOA, an agency for urban redevelopment in Nantes, was to contribute to the renown of Nantes as a European hub for urban planning and creative industries. For this reason, together with the staff of the Nantes Metropolitan Authority, we applied as a case study to be visited.
This €1 million project funded under the Creative Europe programme (DG EAC) aims to take stock of existing practices all over Europe in order to exchange and promote transfer of knowledge, to better understand successful cases of cultural investment, and to go into the details of policy planning and implementation. By making sure that cities and regions involved in the project place culture at the heart of their territorial development strategies, we aim for long lasting results that will be widely shared and showcased widely in Europe.
The purpose of the project is also to go beyond the study visits – on the one hand, with the provision of follow-up coaching to cities/regional administrations, which took part in the visits, in order to maximize its impact; and on the other hand, by reaching a larger number of interested parties through a broad dissemination of information (development of an online catalogue, website, newsletter, use of social media).
Three main dimensions will be explored throughout this project:
-culture and the creative industries for local economic development and urban regeneration
-cultural heritage as a driver for economic growth and social inclusion
-culture for social inclusion, social innovation and intercultural dialogue
During its three years, the project produced a catalogue of 70 case studies, organised 15 thematic study visits, and provided expert coaching for 10 cities/regions.
