Paula MacLachlan

Paula has worked in European policy and funding for over 15 years. She is a specialist in trans-national projects, and joined Zennor from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, where she spent over 3 years as Contact Point for the INTERREG IIIB Programme, promoting co-operation in spatial planning between regions in different EU Member States. During that time she played a key role in securing €27 million for planning, transport, environment and heritage projects led from the UK. She remains involved in the Programme, and has an excellent knowledge of how European funding will change from 2007 onwards.

Before joining ODPM, Paula worked with the South West Regional Development Agency to develop its European Social Fund and Equalities interests, as well as contributing to the strategic management of the ESF regional Programme.

Paula worked for many years in local government, where she established a track record in ESF project development and winning funding. She took part in scoring and appraisal of applications, and sat on regional Working Groups to improve the Programme and supervise labour market research. She also led a sub-regional network linked to the introduction of co-financing. As a Policy Officer she developed European and International Strategies for local authorities, and monitored EC policy for local opportunities.

Paula is a linguist by background and, together with her experience of spatial planning Programmes, she has a sound understanding of the differences in institutional and legislative frameworks in different Member States, as well as helping clients overcome cultural and linguistic differences

Paula speaks fluent French and German and also works in Spanish. She has worked as an interpreter for conferences, public meetings and informal political meetings, and has acted as personal interpreter to leading City politicians.

As well as her first Degree and qualifications in Management, she has trained in International Relations, Youth Work and Counselling, and worked professionally in the voluntary sector for several years before joining local government. She has completed recent training in ERDF and ESF project monitoring and auditing.

Example Assignments

Project Development and bid-writing

• Paula has successfully promoted the INTERREG programme and developed excellent relationships with project leaders, coaching and mentoring where necessary. She specialises in assisting clients with project development, ensuring that plans meet funders’ criteria, and in building solid enduring partnerships.

Trans-national Partnerships.

• Paula has extensive experience of cross-cultural working and displays political sensitivity and a strong personal commitment to international understanding. She has been responsible for managing links with 5 twin towns in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and set up new twinnings in India and China. She has initiated professional training exchanges on race relations, social policy, planning, transport and the environment with European partners.

Project Management

• Paula delivers training in managing trans-national projects and has conducted pre-audit checks and remedial financial action planning. She has contract –managed ESF projects and has assisted projects in difficulty to achieve their outputs and financial targets.