Public Spaces Consultant

Result of Service The products to be developed by the Consultant (Public Spaces) are part of the Program to Support Municipalities in Alagoas for Sustainable Urban Development, which aims to engage, train and prepare Local Action Plans for Sustainable Urban Development, in two scales and under two lenses: that of the city, aligned to global development agendas, and that of public spaces, guided by the practical location of these agendas, with emphasis on crime and violence prevention.

The Local Action Plan should be a set of synthetic and strategic documents, prepared from evidence-based diagnoses and participatory processes, which will serve as a practical tool to identify public problems, prioritize actions, establish processes and articulate actors, with the aim of achieving the vision of sustainable urban development defined for a city in its different scales.

The Public Spaces Consultant will be responsible for preparing four City Action Plans, one for each city participating in the Program (Maragogi, Penedo, Santana do Ipanema e União dos Palmares), which must be composed of two documents: i) Evaluation of Public Spaces: document with a synthetic evaluation of a public space selected by the Program, based on the CPTED method (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design); and ii) Intervention Guidelines Booklet: document with general intervention guidelines for the evaluated public space, including good practice recommendations for similar contexts in the city.

Work Location Home based, with travel

Expected duration Three (3) months upon the signature of the contract.

Duties and Responsibilities Background

The main mandate of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is to promote sustainable development of human settlements and policies conducive to adequate housing for all. Within this framework, UN-Habitat supports central and state governments, as well as local authorities and other partners for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, the 2030 Agenda with the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.

UN-Habitat helps the urban poor by transforming cities into safer, more inclusive, compact, integrated, resilient and connected places with better opportunities where everyone can live with dignity. It works with organizations at every level, including all spheres of government, civil society, and the private sector to help build, manage, plan and finance sustainable urban development.

The Regional Office for Latin American and the Caribbean – ROLAC – is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Agency puts emphasis in developing and managing activities in the host country. Indeed, for the past years, UN-Habitat has expanded its portfolio in Brazil by working with the three tiers of government in order to support the formulation and implementation of more effective, sustainable, participative and socially fairer urban economic, social and environmental policies.

Through a partnership with the Government of the State of Alagoas to improve institutional and technical capacities of State and municipal stakeholders on sustainable territorial and urban development, UN-Habitat is now setting up the second phase of the project named “Sustainable and inclusive urban prosperity in the State of Alagoas”. This second phase shall lead to enhance State of Alagoas engagement toward sustainable and inclusive urban prosperity, through a better understanding of the urban setting, and the establishment or improvement of its public policies, plans, and actions.

In order to properly implement this project, a Consultant (Public Spaces) is required to ensure a good execution of the work programme.

Report to UN-Habitat Manager

The Consultant (Public Spaces) will report to the National Officer for Brazil, who will evaluate him/her.

Responsibilities

Under the overall supervision of the National Officer for Brazil and the project team, the Public Spaces Consultant will be responsible for delivering the two (2) following products in the expected delivery date:

Product 1: Evaluation of Public Spaces Activities: The product comprises a report with the systematized content of the evaluations carried out in four public spaces in Alagoas, containing the objectives, methodology of the participatory workshops, profile of the participants, results of the field forms applied and evaluations of the public spaces based on the CPTED method (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). The consultancy should take part in preparatory meetings with the local UN-Habitat team to define the methodology and the field form to be applied. The "Evaluations of Public Spaces" should have a strategic content, with suggestions for visual information that illustrates the content addressed and that can be diagrammed by UN-Habitat later. The 4 public spaces workshops will be led by UN-Habitat local team and the consultant should support these activities, systematizing the information for the report. The consultancy should also produce the materials that will be used in the workshops, such as presentations and site plans, based on satellite images and photos provided by the local UN-Habitat team and local partners. The drawing should indicate the streets and sidewalks around the public space, its floor covering, street furniture, trees and other plant elements. Expected Completion Date: Until November 30th

Product 2: Intervention Guidelines Booklet Activities: The product comprises a report with the systematized content of the Intervention Guidelines Booklet, including: i) general guidelines for the four public spaces evaluated, as well as at least four illustrated perspectives, one for each city, to provide a preliminary illustration of the proposed guidelines; and ii) recommendations for good practices for the public spaces evaluated that can be replicated in similar contexts in the city (this material can be prepared in the format of a "moodboard" or other format to be defined in conjunction with the local UN-Habitat team). The "Intervention Guidelines Booklet" should have a strategic content, with suggestions for visual information that illustrates the content addressed and that can be diagrammed by UN-Habitat later. An executive summary should also be delivered, systematizing the general content of P1 and P2, in the template format adopted by UN-Habitat. Expected Completion Date: Until December 15th

Other Consultants’ responsibilities comprise:

• Support four participatory workshops to evaluate public spaces in four cities in the state of Alagoas (Maragogi, Penedo, Santana do Ipanema and União dos Palmares), based on the CPTED method and involving public managers, representatives of civil society, academia, and local residents;
• Presenting the preliminary results of the evaluations and proposals for the public spaces evaluated to local partners at technical meetings;
• Support the local UN-Habitat team in preparing the workshops and systematizing the results;
• Prepare the material for facilitating the workshops, including sites plans to be assessed, PPT presentations and suggestions for communication and support materials to be designed and printed by UN-Habitat;
• Support the definition of the participatory methodology for the workshops, including a proposal for group dynamics, an adapted field form, a profile of the participants and other information needed to carry out the activities;
• Supporting the establishment of the schedule and monitoring the preparation of the workshops;
• Support the local UN-Habitat team in the activities required to prepare the workshops;
• Systematize and consolidate the reports.

Outputs/Work Assignment

The Public Spaces Consultant shall deliver the above-mentioned products according to the responsibilities indicated above and in close contact with the project coordinator.

Qualifications/special skills Academic Qualifications:

• Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning is required, or additional three (3) years of relevant experience to the post, beyond the requirement.

Experience:

• A minimum of six (6) years providing technical support for the development of participatory urban design projects.
• Professional and academic experience on themes related to urban planning and design, with an emphasis on public spaces.
• Experience in planning, design and/or work with children or migrant communities is highly desirable.
• Previous experience within the UN System would be an asset.

Skills:

• Excellent writing and proof-reading skills in Portuguese is required;
• Good computer skills in Windows, as Microsoft Office, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Web search engines is required.
• Good command of AutoCad is required.
• Good command of 3D modeling software is required (e.g. SkecthUp).
• Good command of Illustrator and InDesign is required.
• Good command of geographical information systems (GIS) software, such as QGIS, MapInfo and ArcGIS, is desirable.

Knowledge Management

• The person must know the processes, procedures and norms of UN-Habitat, in order to guarantee an adequate quality of the activities described above, following the standards of the organization.
• The person will propose formats and procedures that allow the efficient implementation of the activities related to the project development.
• The person must know the file of the Office, work with it and ensure its proper maintenance, accessibility for all staff and due updating.
• The person will prepare databases related to the project running.
• The person will make sure that all relevant technical information will be adequately shared with the correspondent staff.
• The person will ensure that all produced material will be fit-for-purpose and delivered, in an organized way, for posterior consultation and use of the Agency.

Competencies

• Professionalism: Experience working in an inter-institutional environment, project management, monitoring-evaluation; approaches and strategies with regard to good urban governance and local and regional development.
• Planning and organization: Professional approach to work, strong sense of responsibility, operate with minimal supervision; proven organizational skills and ability to manage a workload efficiently and within set deadlines.
• Communication: Ability to write clearly and effectively; listen to others, interpret messages correctly and respond appropriately; show openness in information sharing and keep everyone informed; solid abstract reasoning skills together with a proven capacity to write documents for diverse audiences.

• Teamwork: Ability to work with teams, demonstrate leadership, conflict management and consensus facilitation skills; ability to work in a multicultural and multi-ethnic environment, and to respect diversity; sensitivity to the main streaming of vulnerability; willingness and ability to work in difficult environments.

  Languages - Fluency in Portuguese is required;

• Good command in oral and written Spanish is required.

• Good command in oral and written English is required.

  Additional Information Remuneration SB-3/5 (UNDP Brazil Salary Scale)

The consultant will receive an amount of BRL 15.011,44, to be paid in two (2) instalments, upon the presentation and approval by supervisor of the following products:

• Payment 1 (50%): Upon delivery and approval of Product 1 (BRL 7.505,72);
• Payment 2 (50%): Upon delivery and approval of Product 2 (BRL 7.505,72);

Travel details

The Public Spaces Consultant must be available to travel to the places related to the activities in the municipalities of the project.

Appointment against this post is on a local basis and only nationals from Brazil or external candidates who hold a permanent visa in Brazil may apply.

It is required for all the curricular information to be inserted in the system, which may take a few hours. Only complete applications in English will be considered.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. Due to the volume of applications received, receipt of applications cannot be acknowledged individually. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

Applications should be submitted through INSPIRA and must include all documents required at the system, please be ready to include the following information at the “Candidate Profile” (CP) at Inspira:

1. Cover memo (maximum 1 page) 2. Educational Background (incl. dates) 3. Professional Experience (assignments, tasks, achievements, duration by years/ months) 4. Expertise and preferences regarding location of potential assignments 5. Other Experience and Expertise (e.g. Internships/ voluntary work, etc.)* * Please note that Internships, self-employment and part-time count as 50%. In addition to it, note experience not relevant to the position will not be considered.

All applications should be submitted to: Inspira

Deadline for applications: UN-HABITAT does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions concerning persons or companies claiming to be recruiting on behalf of these offices and requesting the payment of a fee, please contact: [email protected]

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.