We are very saddened at the news of the death of Fernando Barreiro, a member of AEIDL, a long-standing friend and colleague, an unfailing local development activist.

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Fernando Barreiro Cavestany was born in Uruguay, moved to Spain in the 1970s as a refugee during the time of the Uruguayan Dictatorship and lived in Barcelona.

Fernando was an engineer, specializing in local and regional development, development planning and management of public policies. Since 1988, he devoted his professional activities to local development.

Responsible for economic affairs in different municipalities, he managed and coordinated local development projects, regeneration of neighbourhoods, job creation, support for the social economy, while being active in various networks and European exchange programmes.

As the founder of the NGO ‘Proyecto Local’ (1989) and Director of Research at CIREM (Centre for European Initiatives and Research in the Mediterranean) from 1993 to 2001, Fernando participated in international cooperation projects in various Latin American countries and Morocco.

As consultant for the European Commission (ESF, DG REGIO), he worked with the OECD’s LEED Programme since its creation, the Inter-American Development Bank and the UNDP.

An expert for European programmes on urban development such as URBACT and URB-AL III, Fernando was a manager of ‘Territorios y Organizaciones’, a consultancy to local governments for economic development policies and employment, good governance and decentralization.

He published papers on local strategies for economic development, new sources of employment, territorial pacts, the third sector, international cooperation, development planning, networks and social capital, citizen participation. He was a member of the Latin-American territorial development network, DETE-ALC.

Fernando’s wisdom and commitment to local development that were an inspiration to us all will be greatly missed!