Newly Arrived
International
Organisations

Profiles

Climate Infrastructure Partnership (CLIP)

CLIP is a ground-breaking South-South-North initiative that aims to de-risk investment in sustainable infrastructure in urban and rural areas. Sub-optimal investment environments in developing countries have resulted in a multi-trillion-dollar annual shortfall on what is needed to finance sustainable infrastructure – which is the backbone of economic activity, climate action and sustainable development. Partnering with the public, private, and voluntary sectors, CLIP promotes the enhancement of institutional capacities and investment frameworks, the replication of successful de-risking models, and the improvement of corporate responsibility in sustainable infrastructure.
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Mission

CLIP’s mission is to enhance the institutional capacity of governments and sub-national authorities to identify and address investment barriers, with the aim of transforming the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals into sustainable infrastructure projects.
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Vision

CLIP’s vision is a future where de-risked private and public investment can flow to critical infrastructure sectors, governments are empowered to work with lenders and the private sector, and investors are empowered to invest in sustainable infrastructure without uncertainties.

Higher Education Alliance For Refugees (HEAR)

HEAR was recruited to Barcelona via the BCN Action Plan and is being supported by BIPP HUB as an incubation project.

HEAR arrived in Barcelona in January 2017. HEAR is a new organisation dedicated to policy research to promote education for those forced to flee their homes by war, climate change and natural disasters. HEAR aims to harness expertise in universities around the world to create innovative approaches to education.

Among the first three projects HEAR working on are:

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Portable Qualifications

Refugees often flee without documents that prove past educational attainment. Block chain technology and peer-to-peer certification offer some technological prospects to resolve the issue but the wider legal, political and educational environments need to be considered if any system is to be successful.
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Vocational Education

Many refugees face limited prospects of returning home any time soon. Many well-qualified Syrians have worked in the Gulf States, and there are opportunities for other forms of employment if training can be established.
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The Future of Syrian Education

Syria’s universities are still functioning in government-controlled areas but many academics and students have fled the country or been internal displaced. There is a need to start considering what role education will play in the reconstruction of Syria and what needs to be done to create a successful university system after conflict.

Needlab

Needlab is a design research organization aimed at solving sustainability issues for communities using human-centred design strategies. With a team of architects, engineers, designers and artists sharing the belief that design is responsible for making lives better, Needlab focusses on unveiling new ways of creating a dialogue between local materials, social customs, cultural heritage, and the environment. They work for and implement design solutions with communities around the world and reachable to all.

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Philosophy

Needlab aims to explore the interaction between nature and technology, between tradicional craftsmainship and digital fabrication.

Needlab voices a movement that demands more from design. We question how design functions and who it serves. We find new ways to tell the whole story of design processes, the people who build, and the communities and individuals who are affected. Learning from the way they do things traditionally, contrary to imposing new methodologies. We believe that fostering public awareness of the way design can hurt or heal is essential to changing what people expect from the built environment.

We work towards creating what’s needed for the community; of the people, by the people, for the people.

With the ideology of “Think global, Act local”, we focus on unveiling new ways of creating a dialogue between local materials, social customs, cultural heritage and environment. The solutions are drafted in interaction with the community involving them in the conversation connecting them with other communities/ makers. We aim at empowering, training the community, doing hands-on skill building. Developing maker values in the community, building a network with them and other makers.

REVOLVE

REVOLVE is a communication agency and media group fostering cultures of sustainability. REVOLVE publishes a quarterly international magazine focusing on the themes of water (winter), nature (spring), energy (summer) and mobility (fall). REVOLVE coordinates publications, curates photo exhibitions and organizes forums. REVOLVE also offers graphic design, data visualization, content development, branding and marketing, social media engagement and media relations to maximize outreach and impact reporting for EU projects and other partner campaigns. REVOLVE works with partners to accelerate the energy transformation for a cleaner world.
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Mission

The core mission of REVOLVE is defined by the meaningful and effective creative work that solves our partners’ challenges. We help our partners develop growth-driving communication campaigns. We use data to understand behavior, creating business value for our partners. We influence and engage people for long-term results.

Why Barcelona?

Barcelona is in so many ways an obvious destination for an international non-profit organization. It is possible to attract great staff not only from the large, multi-lingual local talent pool but internationally because people want to live here. Costs are low, the environment predictable and the city has an open and international atmosphere. An uncrowded airport less than half an hour from the city center with direct global connections makes it perfect for travel. Few European cities have the same mix of cost, convenience and amazing quality of life, something that is increasingly important when you are recruiting.

For the Higher Education Alliance for Refugees, there were additional reasons. Barcelona has been welcoming to refugees. Tens of thousands of people came out on to the streets to call on the Spanish government to admit more refugees. People here feel a personal connection given their own history. There is a sense of compassion out there. It is a diverse and open environment with few of the tensions we are seeing emerging elsewhere in Europe. That open and international outlook was particularly important to us. Barcelona is also an increasingly important international education hub with some of the best universities and research centers in Europe.

The BCN Action Plan was hugely important in the decision to establish in Barcelona. It opened the door to the city and provincial governments and helped provide all the information we needed. Having an immediate set of links to businesses, universities and different levels of government was very useful and knowing that there was this alliance supporting you very encouraging. This sort of private and public sector engagement with social organizations is very innovative and encouraging and it reflect the dynamism you find in Barcelona.

International non-profits and think tanks rely on connections and there are few places where it is easier to make connections than in Barcelona. The city is international, outward looking, cosmopolitan and superb at breaking down barriers. There are few places where government, business and the social sectors work together more effectively and you can see that in the superb management of the city. Few cities work as well as Barcelona. No other city has the combination of efficiency, low costs and amazing quality of life.

Robert Templer


Professor of Practice
SPP/CEU

Director
The Shattuck Center

Director
The Higher Education Alliance for Refugees

Barcelona is an attractive city for many reasons. It has a great quality of life, it is very well connected internationally, has a vibrant international community and plenty of talent. These qualities make it easy to attract even more talent. And it’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with an active cultural. It’s easy to fall in love with Barcelona.

Barcelona is actively addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainable development. Already a leader in smart cities and
innovation, Barcelona is experimenting with mobility and urban layouts, water and waste management, electricity and inclusive policies. Barcelona has the potential to become a living lab for sustainable urban infrastructure. More than 70% of global greenhouse gases come from cities, yet urban infrastructure projects face investment risks, and there is a need for institutional capacity to overcome investment barriers and unlock projects. As a compact city with an extremely high population density, Barcelona is comparable to many cities in Asia and around the world, sharing with them many of the challenges that CLIP is tackling. In other words, Barcelona is in line with our mission and vision.

The Barcelona Action Plan was fundamental in the decision to establish CLIP in Barcelona. The plan provides us with the necessary enabling conditions to turn our vision into a reality. The engagement of the private and public sector through the Action Plan is crucial. The plan and CLIP are great examples of creativity and innovation that Barcelona can share with the world.

Dr. Luigi Carafa


Director
Climate Infrastructure Partnership (CLIP)