Telecom and Networking Specialist Representative of the Municipality of Heraklion Good Practice City For the Smart City Strategic Plan

Gabriela is a coordinator of the URBACT National Dissemination Point in Lithuania. Since 2011 she has been working as a consultant on environment and energy issues in Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania which also plays a role of URBACT NDP. Within her position her main responsibilities include representation of general interests of municipalities in the fields of urban development, energy efficient refurbishment of buildings and landscape protection at local (Ministries, Parliament, Government) as well as international level. She is also one of the delegates contributing to a national block renovation project called “Energy efficient renewal of urban areas in Lithuania” being implemented in co-operation with Germany. Gabriela has a one-year experience in working on a voluntary basis for a Local Democracy Agency in Serbia on various democracy, regional cooperation and local community related issues. She holds two Bachelor’s degrees in Business studies and administration from Athlone Institute of Technology (Ireland) and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania) and MBA in Real Estate Management from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.

Joe is currently the Head of Commissioning at City of York Council in the UK. Where he has responsibility for early intervention, prevention and community development. He is leading the city’s work on asset based working and embedding social action within public services, including their Cities of Service strategy ‘People Helping People’ . He has over 20 years experience of managing change programmes in local government and community regeneration, previously as the Head of Stronger Communities at Barnsley Council where he led their Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and award winning neighbourhood management and community engagement initiatives. A key player in the region and nationally, Joe leads the UK Cities of Service Network and is passionate about active citizenship and inclusion. He worked previously in the voluntary and community sector and was a national executive member of the UK Urban Forum and Community Matters networks. His hobbies include still just about playing football, rock music and his family. He volunteers as the Coach of his son’s Junior Football Team.