Gérard Combe and Jack Kruf, board members of the international PRIMO Europe association, proposed the idea at their May 2013 meeting in Brussels to bring global developments to local governments through a think tank model.
Union des Dirigeants Territoriaux de l’Europe (UDITE), the foremost professional network for Chief Executives and senior managers in the public sector in Europe and Public Risk Management Organisation (PRIMO), the leading international network for the development of products and the dissemination of knowledge and strategic information for the public sector in Europe, joined forces to launch the Think Tank ‘From Global to Local’. It is considered a formal joint project between the two organisations. It was elaborated and applied in the first Think Tank, held in Amsterdam.
The first Think Tank in March 2014 was organised by Jack Kruf, in close cooperation with Eric Frank (director of PRIMO Nederland), and Ronny Frederickx (member of the Executive Committee of UDITE). He was accompanied by Marie Dequae (University of Gent), Ed Mallens (ISO 31000 expert and risk manager), and John O’Dea (president of PRIMO Malta).
It was agreed that it would be a formal collaboration where content meets craftsmanship, and that global risks should be discussed from the perspective of local and regional governance.
This project aims to promote greater understanding and exchange of knowledge, ideas, and expertise on the impact of global public risks on local communities and cities.
The Think Tank was actively introduced and promoted throughout the PRIMO Europe and UDITE networks in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
This initiative focuses on local strategic governance and (risk) management related to public values. It is designed to develop and enhance the ingenuity and resourcefulness of local communities and cities across Europe, and the management skills of local government chief executives and senior professionals in particular.
The Think Tank was initially inspired by the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risks Reports and was strongly motivated by the understanding that, in the view of PRIMO Europe and UDITE, global risks are not well connected to or embedded in local public governance.
The Think Tank was designed to raise awareness of the relevance, knowledge, and practice of strategic risk management as an integral part of good public governance, which involves much more than preventing losses and reducing costs. The results provide concrete action recommendations for governance and management.
The Think Tank comprises a series of roundtables with a select group of representatives from government, non-government, business, and science. The results are internationally presented and published on their websites and in the media. Both organisations sought partnerships with selected public organisations.