Plenary Speakers at Barcelona 2010

OECD Deputy Secretary-General, AART DE GEUS is responsible for the OECD agenda in the areas of Employment, Labour, Social Affairs, Education and Public Governance and coordinates OECD activities on Gender and Diversity. He was Minister of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands from 2002 until 2007. An opening speaker at the conference, Mr De Geus will outline the challenges and opportunities presented by the current economic and social crisis.

CARME CAPDEVILA I PALAU, Minister of Social Action and Citizenship in the regional government of Catalonia welcomes delegates to the conference. Mrs Capdevila has extensive experience in the field of child protection, having formerly been Director of a child placement centre and of a residential educational activity, as well as being responsible for the resource area of the General Directorate for Attention to Children of Girona, the city for which she has been member of parliament since 2003.

Leading welfare analyst, GØSTA ESPING-ANDERSEN  joins the conference to discuss major themes from his new book, including the quest for gender equality and the role of families in reproducing social inequalities. Professor Esping-Andersen has been actively engaged in policy-relevant work for international organizations including the UN, OECD, ISSA and EU and is a member of EU President Barroso’s social policy advisory group.

DOMINIQUE SAVOIE is Deputy Minister for Employment in the Provincial Government of Quebec, Canada and Secretary-General of the Labour-Market Commission. At the conference she will describe how Quebec has succeeded in breaking down inter-service barriers to promote the effectiveness and efficiency of services and more active citizenship. She asks what similarities and differences may be found in the experiences of Canada and Europe.

ELIZABETH BIELBY is Global Business Development Manager of Microsoft. As Microsoft spokesperson on Health Initiatives, she is charged with defining and articulating the company's vision for the future of health and the role of Microsoft products, technologies and partner solutions in effecting this. Ms Bielby joins the conference to discuss, in particular, opportunities for management effectiveness and its benefit to service users.

WALTER KICKERT, Professor of Public Management at Erasmus University, Rotterdam and editor of Public Administration reviews the choices for public management in the financial crisis and looks at trends in relation to professionalism, governance and inspection and control. An invited panel of public social directors and providers will respond to the issues raised, joining Professor Kickert and members of the audience in a wide-ranging debate.

CONCEPCIÓN DANCAUSA TREVIÑO is Councillor for Family and Social Affairs for the City of Madrid. A leading political figure in the Conservative People's Party (PP) of Spain and a former lawyer, she has been President of the Assembly of Madrid for the past 4 years and was formerly Secretary General for Social Affairs. Mrs Dancausa joins our Round Table Debate on the future of social services in Europe.