It spawned the largest triennial gathering on development, culture and peace. The Universal Forum of Cultures in 2004 drew some 2.5 million people, including more than 77,000 delegates to its dialogues, over four months.

The event took place in Barcelona, considered one of the most livable cities, a fashion capital, and a leading tourism, sports and cultural center. Now add emerging development hub to that list.

International cooperation has been a policy focus of Barcelona’s city government since 1994. The capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia operates a humanitarian and emergency aid committee as well as a public office for development cooperation — the Technical Directorate for Cooperation and Solidarity — independently from the federal government. The city council partners with many overseas counterparts on community rehabilitation and school construction, for instance, and fully or partially funds nongovernmental organizations implementing international cooperation activities in the Balkans, Latin America, the Mediterranean and Near East.

The growing development community in Barcelona includes major United Nations initiatives, project management and engineering firms, and quite a number of NGOs mainly focused on Africa and the Americas. Spain’s second-largest city is also the European base of Devex.

Here are some of the largest Barcelona-based groups engaged in global development work, based on total staff size, including staff working on unrelated causes. For career opportunities with these and other organizations, head to the Devex jobs board, the most comprehensive online database of its kind. For grants and other business opportunities, visit our projects & tenders database.

ACC1Ó
Staff: more than 250 (2010)

ACC1Ó seeks to improve the global competitiveness of Catalan enterprises. It has an international cooperation department, whose efforts focus on bolstering the private sector in emerging economies. Specifically, ACC1Ó organizes activities to explore the role of the private sector in improving living standards, as well as promotes, manages and cofinances annual grants to encourage Catalan companies to share their know-how and cooperate with local groups in these countries. It had a 2010 budget of €110.7 million ($146.3 million)

Barcelona Center for International Affairs
Staff: 44

CIDOB, the organization’s acronym in Catalan, is the oldest and one of the most influential think tanks in Spain. Formed in 1973, it conducts research, promotes debate and shares information on international relations and development. In 2010-2013, priority areas include migration and conflict, human security, development, environment, energy, and democratic governance, as well as four regions: Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Mediterranean.

Center for European Initiatives and Research in the Mediterranean
Staff: 45

CIREM specializes in applied research and consultancy in the social sphere. Its core research areas are human resources and training, work and social policies, and cities and territories. It has collaborated regularly with the European Commission in research projects and has rendered technical support within the European Union, the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe.

CICSA
Staff: 130

CICSA is one of Catalonia’s top civil engineering firms. It has a long history of managing large construction projects such as highways, railroads and sewage systems.

Ingal
Staff: 50

Ingal focuses on markets that have recently joined the European Union as well as emerging and developing countries in Africa and Latin America. The company provides advisory, consultancy and training services as well as performs studies and monitoring and evaluation for international projects. In 2010, its budget was at least €2 million.

Intermon Oxfam
Staff: 1,364 (401 in Spain, as well as 99 expatriates and 864 in developing countries)

Intermon Oxfam is part of Oxfam’s international confederation of NGOs carrying out development and emergency programs as well as advocacy and fair trade campaigns. In 1956, it commenced operations in Bolivia, India and Chad; it is now active in 48 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Its budget for 2010-11 reached €79.8 million.

Medicos Sin Fronteras
Staff: 120

Barcelona is the home of the Spanish chapter of Médecins Sans Frontières, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning international humanitarian group. Created in 1986, MSF-Spain works in more than 60 countries and territories worldwide. In 2010, it received €102.87 million in funding, with private sources accounting for 93.1 percent.

PAU Education
Staff: more than 50

PAU Education designs and implements education and social development projects for public agencies and European private companies as part of their social responsibility programs. It has been engaged on numerous occasions by the European Commission, including as a member of the consortium managing the AfriCAN Climate project, which aims to provide a knowledge platform for disseminating research results and good practices about climate change in Africa.

Quality Institute
Staff: 200

QI offers technical assistance in the areas of infrastructure, environment, private sector development, rural development, trade and export promotion, tourism, education and training, human resources management, and social development. Target clients include multilateral development banks and the European Union.

Scytl Secure Electronic Voting
Staff: 200

What began as a spinoff from one of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’s research groups is now the world’s leader in developing secure election technology. Scytl has won numerous awards for its innovative technology, which has been adopted by national and state governments in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Other notable global development groups in Barcelona:

Associations

• Alternativa3  
• Centro Iberamericano de Desarollo Estrategico Urbano    
• Entrepueblos  
• Federació Catalana d’ONG per al Desenvolupament   
• United Cities and Local Governments

Consultancies

• BAa Consultors    
• Base of the Pyramid Laboratory     
• Cluster Development     
• Competitiveness    
• DFC     
• Global CAD    
• IBER-GEO Consulting      
• Ibinser       
• Ideaborn       
• Idom (branch)      
• Kinsolar       
• Spora Sinergies      
• Trama TecnoAmbiental

Funding agencies

• Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament

Institutes

• Environmental Management Research Group

Investment & finance

• Oikocredit Catalunya

NGOs

• 180º para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo      
• Ajudant Ajudar      
• Arquitectos sin Fronteras     
• Asociación WAFAE      
• Consejo Interhospitalario de Cooperación       
• Cooperació       
• Educacion Sin Fronteras      
• Global Humanitaria       
• GRAIN      
• Mercy Ships Spain      
• Món-3      
• Nuevos Caminos     
• Nutrition without Borders     
• Regional Activity Center for Cleaner Production     
• Servei Civil Internacional de Catalunya    
• UBUNTU World Forum of Civil Society Networks     
• Veterinarios Sin Fronteras      
• Xarxa de Consum Solidari       
• Yamuna

Service providers

• Everis (branch)

U.N. and other international initiatives

• European Forest Institute’s Mediterranean Regional Office      
• European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade     
• United Nations Millennium Campaign (chapter)      
• UNDP ART Global Initiative      
• UNESCO Center of Catalonia      
• UNU International Institute for the Alliance of Civilizations

Did we forget any major aid organizations in Barcelona? Please let us know by leaving a comment below! Also check our lists of top aid groups in other global development hubs such as London, New York, Paris and Washington.