esf6cia by Stefano Panella

Sommario

Chapter 1 Descrizione della prima sezione Poi della seconda Ed infine della terza

Chapter 2 Descrizione della prima sezione Poi della seconda Ed infine della terza

Chapter 3 Descrizione della prima sezione Poi della seconda Ed infine della terza

Foreword Dear reader, … (purpose of the publication, information about the project and the partnership)

…to be written by Aufbauwerk

Introduction: The Demographic Challenge This chapter provides an introduction to Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demographic situation, including the main influences and current demographic predictions for the next decades. Demographic change, workforce aging and the management of older workers are increasingly becoming issues of policy concern for governments and employers. Social stability, physical security, improved living conditions and economic as well as medical progress have all contributed to longer life expectancy and improved quality of life (Commission Communication, 20061). Free movement of labour across EU member countries has further affected the demographic situation, leading to a decline of the proportion of people in work in many regions of the EU (De Jong and Eding, 20002). Thus population ageing is influenced by the complexities and trends of extended life expectancy, fertility rates and immigration (European Commission Ageing Report, 20093). Moreover, while currently demographic change may affect Europe and Japan most critically, it is soon becoming a more global issue:

Percentage of world population aged 60 years and above in 20004:

1 Commission Communication (2006) The Demographic Furtuer of Europe â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from challenge to opportunity. Commission of the European Communities. Brussels: 12.10.2006. 2 De Jong, A.H. and Eding, H. (2000), Main trends in the labour force in the European Union, Maandstatistiek van de Bevolking. 10: pp9-16. 3 European Commission (2009), 2009 Aging Report: Economic and budgetary projections for the EU-27 Member States (20082060), EUROPEAN ECONOMY 2009. <http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/publication14992_en.pdf> 4 US Census (2000)

Percentage of world population aged 60 years and above in 2025:

Firstly, related to fertility rates, current predictions forecast a modest recovery in the total fertility rate in the whole of the EU. The fertility rate is projected to increase in all Member States, except in the few where total fertility rates are currently above 1.8, namely France, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, the UK and Finland, where it is assumed to decrease but remain above 1.85, or remain stable. The largest increases in fertility rates are assumed to take place in Slovakia, Poland and Lithuania, which had the lowest rates in the EU in 2008. However, in all countries, the fertility rate would remain below the natural replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman needed for each generation to replace itself. This will result in slow growth and in most countries actual decline in the population of working-age. Secondly, mortality risks fell dramatically during the 20th century, bringing more years of active life for both men and women. For the EU as a whole, life expectancy at birth for men is predicted to increase by 8.5 years over the projection period, from 76 years in 2008 to 84.5 years in 2060. The largest increases in life expectancy at birth would take place in the most recent EU Member States and across Europe most children today would live into their 80s and 90s. Thirdly, over the projection period, annual net inflows to the EU are assumed to total 59 million people, of which the bulk (46.2 million) would be concentrated in the euro area. The trend is assumed to decelerate over the projection period, falling from about 1,680,000 people in 2008 (equivalent to 0.33% of the EU population) to 980,000 by 2020 and thereafter to some 800,000 people by 2060 (0.16% of the EU population). Migration already plays the predominant role in population growth today: in many Member States, the size of net migration determines whether the population still grows or has entered a stage of decline. Net migration flows are assumed to be concentrated in a few destination countries: Italy (12 million cumulated to 2060), Spain (11.6 million), Germany (8.2 million), and the UK (7.8 19 million). Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, which are currently experiencing a net outflow, would see it taper off or reverse in the coming decades.

As a result, the population of the EU as a whole is predicted to be slightly larger in 2060 than in 2008, but much older. The overall EU population would increase (from 495.4 million in 2008) by almost 5% by 2035, when it would peak (at 520.1 million). The number of elderly persons aged 65 years or above already surpassed the number of children (below 15 years) in 2008. In 2060, there would be more than twice as many elderly than children. However, there are wide differences in population trends across Member States: about half of them would gain in population size, namely Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, France, Cyprus, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the UK, while the population would fall in the other half, namely in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. The working-age population, which is conventionally defined as aged between 15 and 64 years, would start to decline as of 2010 and, over the whole projection period, it would drop by 15% in the EU. However, the following seven Member States would see their working-age population expand: Belgium, Ireland, France, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Sweden and the UK, mostly due to migration (except in the case of France and Ireland where fertility is relatively high). As a result of these unprecedented demographic trends, the old-age dependency ratio, calculated as the ratio of people aged 65 years or above relative to the working-age population aged 15-64 years, is projected to more than double in the EU from 25.4% to 53.5% over the projection period. Proportion of European countriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; population aged 65 years and over

Today with at least 16% of the population over 65 years old, Europe has the highest proportion of older people in the world, higher than the US and other developed nations (Haub, 20075). While the effects of demographic change on workforce ageing are currently still a predominately European issue, it will soon develop into one affecting the whole of the developed Western world characterised by high proportions of populations over 60 years of age by 2025 (US Census, 2000). This population ageing will affect health expenditure and calls into question both the sustainability of pension systems and the future of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 5 Haub, C. (2007), World Population Data Sheet, Population Reference Bureau, US. <http://www.prb.org/ presentations/07WorldDataSheet_presentation.ppt>

labour supply (Villosio et al, 20086). For the EU as a whole, the labour market participation rate (of people aged 15 to 64 years) is projected to increase by 3.5 percentage points, from 70.6% in 2007 to 74.1% in 2060. The biggest increase in participation is projected for older workers, aged between 55 and 64 years (around 20% for women and 10% for men in the EU27), and a slightly higher increase in the euro area (22% for women and 13% for men). However, as a result of increasing employment rates, on the one hand, and a decreasing number of people, on the other hand, overall employment in the EU is projected to shrink by about 19 million people over the entire projection period. Increasing labour force participation rates in most countries and rising net immigration levels in some can only moderate the fall in employment caused by the ageing of the population and the negative population growth of the period 2020 to 2060. As a result of these predictions European governments are increasingly recognising that older workers are important to the economy as their participation in the labour market could assist in securing economic productivity as well as sustaining social welfare and pension systems (Roseveare et al, 19967; Fougère and Mérette, 19988; Grant et al, 20049). Responses, such as the Lisbon European Council of 2000 and the Stockholm European Council of 2001 were developed and are largely driven by the economic arguments related to the funding of health care and retirement. The European strategic aims to strengthen employment, economic reform and social cohesion in a knowledge-based economy have the principal goal to increase the average employment rate of older people aged 55–64 years. However, as existing research studies show, in order to increase labour market participation rates throughout the lifecycle of employment, innovative and integrated measures are required (Jefferys and WinkelmannGleed, 200810). Particularly during the current economic downturn, any measures aimed at increasing and prolonging employment, such as flexible working arrangements, improving health at work and schemes aimed at maintaining a skills base need to be age inclusive for workers of all ages. They further need the integrated support from employers, line managers, trade unions, regional and national key stakeholders. The 2-year INTERREG IVC funded capitalisation network addressed workforce ageing project and provided positive examples and case studies of how good practices were developed, exchanged among regions within Europe and then embedded into regional strategic plans.

6 Villosio, C., Di Pierro, D., Giordanengo, A., Pasqua P. and Richiardi, M. (2008), Working conditions of an aging workforce. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Dublin: <www.eurofound.europa.eu> 7 Roseveare, D., Leibfritz, W., Fore, D. and Wurzel, E. (1996), Aging populations, pension systems and government budgets: Simulations for 20 OECD countries, Economics Department Working Chapters No. 168, Paris: OECD. 8 Fougère, M. and Mérette, M. (1998), Population aging and economic growth in seven OECD countries, Working Chapter No. 1998–03, Ottawa: Department of Finance, 1998. 9 Grant, J., Hoorens, S., Sivadasan, S., Loo, M. van het, DaVanzo, J., Hale, L., Gibson, S. and Butz, W., (2005) Fertility and population aging. Causes, consequences and policy options, Santa Monica-Leiden-Cambridge-Berlin: RAND Corporation, 2004. 10 Jefferys, S. and Winkelmann-Gleed, A. (2008) Creative Approaches to Workforce Aging, ESF Art. 6 Funded project report. Coordinated by WLRI, London. Nov. 2005-Nov. 2008. <http://www.workinglives.org/wlri-project-websites/cawa-en/cawaen_home.cfm>

Chapter 1: Identifying Good Practices Background information ESF6 CIA is a network of partners that either had before participated or observed projects funded as Innovative Actions under Article 6 of the European Social Fund (ESF) in the previous financial period. Already in a first meeting on 23 October 2007 at Brussels, participants discovered the large potential of transfer of solutions developed in ESF Article 6 projects and decided to build an interregional network. About eight months later, the ESF6 CIA network was approved for funding under the INTERREG IVc programme and the transfer could begin. The partner structure of the ‘ESF6 CIA’ project had the objective of matching less experienced with more advanced regions. Thereby, facilitating that all partners benefit from each other in one of two ways. Firstly, partners (especially from the new Member States) with less experiences related to the management of demographic change chose from a pool of good practices developed under the previous ESF Article 6 funding stream those that provide the best match to their regional demographic situation. Secondly, partners providing these good practices further exchanged these with other partners who offer equally good practices. Thus each partner region benefited from another’s work related to workforce ageing and demographic change. A good practice is defined as anything that has been tried and shown to work in some way - whether fully or in part but with at least some evidence of effectiveness - and that may have implications for practice at any level elsewhere. Three possible levels of good practice flow from this: promising practices, demonstrated practices, and replicated practices.

Interreg IVc definition of a good practice To have a good understanding of what we mean with a good practice in ESF6 CIA, we kept the definition of a good practice according to the InterregIVc Programme Manual (p.5) in mind. In the context of the INTERREG IVC Programme, a good practice is defined as an initiative (e.g. methodologies, projects, processes, techniques) undertaken in one of the Programme’s thematic priorities which has already proved successful and which has the potential to be transferred to a different geographic area. Proved successful is where the good practice has already provided tangible and measurable results in achieving a specific objective. The benefits from identifying and sharing good practice will: • Identify and replace poor practices or give better alternatives, • Decrease the learning curve of participants in the good practice, • Reduce rework and prevent “reinvention of the wheel”, • Improve services

1.1. Good practices made available for transfer Selection of good practices A first selection of good practices - resulting from the Article 6-projects Files, Fit4Work, OWL and CAWA suitable for transfer to another EU-member state was already made during the preparatory phase of the project. Each best practice offers different possibilities to handle demographic change. The partners from AICCRE created in their ESF Art. 6 project OWL an open-source based software to analyse, monitor, interpret and forecast factors contributing to the employability of company workforces to measure the impact of ICT training and changed work arrangements on older employees. FIT4WORK, realised in Saxony, Northeast Germany, Abruzzo and Catalonia, awareness raising activities and tool box–like approaches to assist small and medium-sized companies impacted by demographic change were developed and successfully piloted. The approaches integrated personnel management, coaching and health improvement tools. Other good practises to adjust to demographic change were developed and presented by the CAWA project. For economic sectors important to regions in GB, ES, SE and AT awareness raising activities were carried out (including documentary movies) and possible measures communicated. During the first half of the project some partners added other good practices which they thought could also be of interest for the other participants in the project. The idea behind this was that one can never have enough good examples to learn from, especially not when dealing with such an important theme as demographic change and its impact on the labour market. RESOC Mechelen, the Flemish partner, suggested two more good practices that also dealt with tackling the challenges of demographic change: the diversity plans and the Compas methodology. They based their choice for also wanting to transfer these good practices on the following lessons they had learned when they developed and implemented these good practices: - It’s important to have a good social dialogue when you want to transfer an project, - It’s necessary to have a good network consisting of consultants, public labour services, social partner representatives, intermediary organizations ..., - Keep in mind what the ‘legal’ framework is (restrictions, social dialogue, financial measures, …) - Actions need to be ‘made-to-measure’ otherwise they’re doomed to failure, - Demographic change is not often a priority for employers: you have to convince them with economic benefits.

Good Practice Workbook As a first step, the available good practices were categorised and synthesised following a common template into a Good Practice Workbook. This document allowed partners to initiate analysis of Good Practices of potential interest. The Workbook also acted as the point of reference when taking the other steps in the capitalization process: sensitizing workshops with stakeholders, feasibility studies, negotiations with Managing Authorities … It was made available in a paper version and on the projects website to ensure the user-friendliness of the instrument. Each good practice was described as follows:

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Title of the good practice (A short descriptive title that can be accompanied by a short abstract)

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Precise theme/issue tackled by the practice (Where is this applicable? What problems does it solve?)

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Objectives (Why was the good practice developed, rolled out …? Who was the main target group?)

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Location (Was the good practice widely spread or did it only take place in a small environment/on a small scale?)

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Detailed description of the good practice (A description of the approach and methodology used in developing the good practice. What resources and skills are needed to carry out the good practice? What are the processes and steps involved?)

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Evaluation/Lessons learnt from the practice (What proved to be difficult? What would the originators of the practice do differently if they were to do it again?)

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Relevant factors/ conditions for the transfer of good practices (What conditions need to be fulfilled to carry out the good practice?)

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Implementing organizations (Who was involved? Which organization or service implemented the good practice already? What are the characteristics of these organizations?)

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Contact information

On the basis of this description the good practices were presented at the Kick-off Meeting in Leipzig in October 2008. In an informal setting the partners could exchange ideas on how the different good practices could be transferred. Some of the partners present already discussed how they could learn from each other and made arrangements for further contacts.

Good Practice Example: Interdisciplinary Tools for SME (“FIT 4 WORK”) Aufbauwerk (Leipzig, DE) had been lead partner of two projects that have developed and tested integrated approaches to assist SME in the mitigation of impacts of demographic change on their workforce. The project brought partners from different disciplines located in the broader Leipzig region together that collaborated to find an integrated approach to give assistance to SME. This included personnel development tools, company health management and training modules for employees. Due to the collaboration with the major health insurance and the public labour safety organisation, a number of analytic tools were available to sensitise businesses to take action which were again offered by the partners. The advantage of the approach was that a tool-box of measures by different service providers was offered at once. The business’ personnel manager thus have to deal with one person only that co-ordinates interventions of different bodies and helps to acquire public funding as incentive.

Video clips To enhance the effect of the description of the good practices also video clips were produced. These video clips visualized the effect of the selected good practices on relevant stakeholders. The idea was to give the

partners an extra instrument to negotiate with their Managing Authorities on the chosen good practices. Testimonials of participants, beneficiaries â&#x20AC;Ś always give more evidence of the success rate of a project and its outcomes than a second hand plead. These video clips were presented to the partners in June 2009 at the Midterm Conference in London. They were also put on the website to illustrate the text material on the good practices.

SUGGESTIONS •

A Good Practice Workbook should be carefully prepared to ensure that language is clear, level of detail is sufficient and that key information on potential transfer is included.

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The Good Practices can also be shared on other platforms. RESOC Mechelen for example has put some of the video clips on the USB-stick that goes with their manual on a diversity-sensitive HRpolicy based on competency management. In this respect sensitization about good initiatives on demographic change goes further than the original scope of the project.

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The use of video clips is of a not to be neglected importance. By using them in regional stakeholder meetings we found them to be very useful for expressing the possible impact of a good practice. The Greek partner for example had some testimonials of women who had taken part in their good practice, this showed very well how the offered training was perceived by the final target group.

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Make contact to the provider of the good practice easy.

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Good practice evolves constantly which doesn’t always make it easy to transfer it .

1.2. Good Practices selected for import Stakeholder involvement After the presentation of all the good practices available for transfer via different media the time had come to make a selection. The selection process varied from partner to partner depending on regional criteria and collaborations with the Managing Authority and/or stakeholders. The level of stakeholder involvement in the selection process varied, not only from region to region, but also from one Good Practice to another, depending to some extent on the partner’s role in regional decision making. Obviously, the Managing Authorities that were partner in the project needed less steps in the process.

Criteria for transferability When looking at which good practice was suitable for transfer the partners got feedback from regional stakeholders and managing authorities which leads to a number of criteria. Each good practice that should come into consideration for transfer needs to fulfil at least the criteria below: •

Simplicity – the Good Practice must be user-friendly and easy to understand; there must be the potential to implement it without making large scale changes to regional programmes and policies;

We noticed that discussing the Good Practices influenced the ideas partners had on what could be suitable for their region. Even though some good practices didn’t get transferred to another region or didn’t ‘undergo’ the capitalization process, they appeared in some of the action plans of the partner regions. For example the Action plan of the Region of Saxony and of the one of the Abruzzo region mention the good practice of RESOC Mechelen on the training for counsellors of public labour market services. •

Generalness – the theme must be wide enough and not focus on one aspect, one sector or one target group in order to allow the receiving party to be creative with it;

For the South Transdanubian region a successful implementation of the chosen good practice (training for employment centre counsellors) can have very beneficial economic impacts. If the result of the practice is that, the counsellors can match the employers’ needs to the employees’ competence more effectively, more people can be placed in open vacancies, thus decreasing unemployment rate while having other positive outcomes as well. If the effectiveness of such a practice continues on the long run it creates a certain trust towards the employment centre that convinces the employers to rely more and more on their services. This is beneficial for both employers and employees since on one hand employers do not have to waste time and energy on the selection process, and on the other hand employees do not have to face refusal as frequently as in a normal ‘attending a job interview’ situation. At the end the system finds the right person for the right job opening and that is a win-win situation we all crave for. •

Inspiring

The good practice of the UK partner, the Working Lives Research Institute, focussed on the sensitization of stakeholders and especially social partners on an ageing workforce. Therefore the CAWA project was a ‘popular’ good practice to transfer since most European countries still have a long way to go when it comes to changing peoples minds on having longer carreers. As EEDA, their regional managing authority, had not been part of the CAWA project coordinated by the WLRI, some of the good practices developed under CAWA also feed into the regional capitalisation processes. •

Link with existing plans, intentions or ideas – the initiative must have a level of originality, but needs to have a link with already existing ideas or with known deficits.

In Flanders the social partners already had the idea to launch a sensitization campaign on an ageing workforce and on the necessity to work longer. Therefore the CAWA project provided some very interesting ideas on how to begin with such a campaign. •

Possible impact – the transferred good practice must be able to ensure a wide impact, the scope shouldn’t be too narrow or too specific.

After carefully examining the results from the feasibility study the Bulgarian project team concluded that the transfer of the ESF6CIA good practices was possible but only as a general framework and elements giving orientation in Bulgaria. The project team’s participation at the thematic seminars further consolidated this conclusion as the presented good practices were too small for their direct transfer to the nationwide operational programmes in Bulgaria. Therefore, when transferring the Greek good practices, they have for example enlarged the number or participants from around 50 up to several thousands.

SUGGESTIONS •

Ideally, the decision on Good Practices to be transferred should be made on the basis of input from political stakeholders. Their involvement helps build wide-scale support and trust for the initiative. Furthermore, their knowledge helps to ensure that existing regional initiatives are not duplicated and that Good Practices are complimentary to them.

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The transferring process should allow for variety and for adaptation to different contexts

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It should be possible to transfer a mixture of tools to achieve two-folded results in the areas of awareness and quantitative outputs.

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When organizing the sensitizing workshops that would facilitate the selection process, it became clear that certain good practices were of higher interest than others. The reasons for this were not very clear, but it indicates the need for very well defined criteria that are the basis for selection arguments.

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Good practices are not a quick-fix solution and setting up the required processes and infrastructure can be resource intensive.

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With a capitalization project the danger might be that the focus lies on the preparation of the capitalization instead of on the real transfer. Do not make the mistake of focusing on capturing good practices for the sake of capturing them.

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In contacts with decision makers it is necessary to demonstrate the benefits of a good practice and the evidence that it works. Use case examples to show the benefits of sharing good practices, and as far as possible, demonstrate how a good practice has contributed to a better service.

1.3. Impact of external factors on the selection of good practices Economic crisis During the running time of the project two external events forced some of the partners to review their choice of good practices. Since the labour market is highly influenced by the economic situation in a region the financial crisis had a large impact on some of the participating regions. For some regions the economic crisis and its effects on the labour market convinced them thatthey had chosen the proper good practice(s) to transfer, but for other partners the situation changed so drastically that they had to investigate the possibilities of other good practices.

In Catalonia, given the dramatic increase of closing businesses/unemployment in the area, the action will be addressed to unemployed people with important difficulties to be included again in the labour market (usually low qualified people). In the Abbruzzo region the general economical crisis is inducing the companies and also the public sector to invite people to retire as soon as possible to give chances to young people. Nature disaster In the Abbruzzo region the particular crisis due to the earthquake produced new unemployment and at the same time also new chance for innovative works.

1.4. Role of the providing partner The partner structure was realised under the objective of matching less experienced with more advanced regions. Providers, meaning advanced partners in the development and improvement of best practices, formed the basis of the partner structure as they could guarantee and offer their experiences through the development of good practices. The receivers on the other side were in the position to take over well proved good practices. The accompanying function of the providers during the whole time of the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s realisation was significant for further activities in the receiving regions.

Descriptions of the Good Practices made available for transfer can be found at www.esf6cia.eu.

Chapter 2: Awareness Raising & Stakeholder Activation Interregional Cooperation Projects are expected to involve regional stakeholders. Besides the regional Managing Authorities of each partner, which should ideally support the project from the preparation phase to the very end, it is recommended by Capitalisation projects to involve other stakeholders throughout the lifetime of the project, who are going to bring different points of view to the project and will allow networking among different actors in the region. The kind of stakeholders mostly depends on the theme tackled by the specific project. In the case of the ESF6CIA, the phocus is demographic change and its challenges in society and the labour market, so most stakeholders involved by the different partners are: -

local and regional authorities

economic development agencies

universities and research organisations

trade unions

business organisations

chambers of commerce

Each partner needed to have on board some of such actors in order to ensure successful implementation of the good practice(s) transferred. However, in order to involve them it was necessary to raise awareness on the subject tackled by the ESF6CIA. Though demographic change has become a reality in all EU member states, the perception of labour market actors is different. Whereas larger companies have already begun reversing their age structures, smaller businesses have not taken any mitigating measures yet. Therefore, an important element of ESF6 CIA has been to sensitise stakeholders of the necessity to take action and the availability of solutions as well as support offers. To that aim, Sensitising Workshops took place in all partner regions to address all relevant labour market stakeholders. Each partner decided individually about the most suitable format of these events. Most of the workshops were also attended by representatives of the interregional partners of ESF6 CIA that came to present their good practices in person.

Such Sensitising Workshops proved to be very useful to disseminate among regional actors some of the good practices the project was working with, to realise the challenges due to demographic changes and

to involve some of such stakeholders to participate in regular meetings to get updated on the project progress and to discuss any related issues.

After these first sensitising events, partners also involved stakeholders in the Feasibility Study, which helped raising further awareness on the specific regional situation; how one or several good practices from other regions could be transferred and implemented; and which good practice(s) were more appropriate and feasible to the receiving region. By the time all the partners started organising the Thematic Seminars on the good practices provided and the good practices transferred, stakeholders were already aware how the project tackles demografic change issues and the possibilities offered by the good practices pooled by it, and they also had an idea of what kind of practice they would recommend for the Action Plan of their region, so their participation in the Action Plan became more natural as they realised what kind of support their organisations were able to provide.

Stakeholders involvement has been an important aspect of the esf6cia. Due to the character of the theme tackled by the project, the sensitising actions were extremely important and all the partners can, in the end of the project count on the collaboration and support of several relevant stakeholders in their regions in view of the implementation of their respective Action Plans resulting from the project.

Chapter 3: Interregional Learning (DDTG) At the opening conference in Leipzig it was possible to get to know and get in touch with partners. As representatives from several fields in several countries participate in the project, it was possible to have an extremely wide range of surveys and professional exchange of experience among those who already had good practices worked out and those who did not have good practices for the time being and wished to transfer and apply others’ practices. The “Good Practice Work Book” featuring the best practices (see http://www. esf6cia.eu/goodPractices.php), as the first tangible product of the project, was an excellent starting point for the filtering out of the respective topics and directions of developments and for making partners with similar problems met each other. In possession of the good practices, the negotiations and consultations with the local participants and stakeholders could be started in each region, so that the concepts addressing the most urgent issues of the respective regions and best fitting into the structure of the operating systems should be selected. The number of workshops targeting an as broad as possible range of stakeholders with theoretical and practical experiences and even more so the Managing Authorities varied by regions, partners and nations. The selection of the good practices designated as a result of the workshops did not only determine the main examination aspects of the feasibility studies but at the same time also defined the range of partners with whom a deeper professional consultation and an active exchange of experience is necessary.

Example: The Feasibility Study for the South-Transdanubian Region In the case of the region of South Transdanubia the aim of the study was the summarising analysis of the situation in the region, on the one hand; on the other hand, it was the introduction of the possible adaptation in the Hungarian region of two labour force and training practices already operating successfully in Belgium, targeting in the first place certain handicapped social groups, with special regard to those over fifty years of age, immigrants and those with disabilities. The practices involve the training of the job centre consultants, the introduction of new practical training methods in education, the assessment of the demand of the employers concerning professional courses, and also the management of the issue of the occupations in demand. Several forms of communication among the partners could be seen in the next phase of the project, because a wide range of concerns were raised from minor technical issues to topics requiring an in-depth explanation. Making a maximum use of the possibilities offered by modern technical devices, and bridging the geographical distances, a really intensive dialogue began among the extremely interested receiving and the very helpful providing partners, but in addition to daily keeping in touch it was inevitable to have face-toface meetings as well. Accordingly, a total of eight thematic seminars were organised among the partners, hosted by the providing partners. These seminars did not only allow theoretical discourses among the providing partners and their local partners representing different segments of the labour market (employers, employees, job centres, associations, Managing Authority, practical experts, planners and consultants etc.) but also featured on several occasions result achieved by the good results, together with the introduction of concrete locations and training institutions. The introduction of the concepts and projects founding the good practices from several aspects provided a more complex picture also for the receiving partners in the examination of – non-negligible – issues such as which competent institutions must be included, how much society must be integrated into the introduction of the respective practice and what difficulties are expected during the implementation. As a summary of the thematic seminars we can say that although the problems and the national structures of the partners were often rather different, each partner returned home with useful and utilisable experiences

and alternatives, allowing them to start the elaboration of the action plans, the main results of the project, with a sound conceptional background.

Example: Thematic Seminar for Hungarian Stakeholders at Mechelen, Belgium The thematic seminar organised by the Belgian partner RESOC on 2 December 2009 in Mechelen, with the participation of partners from Hungary and Bulgaria, was an extremely important and useful station in the preparation of the action plan and its strategic definition. In addition, the seminar allowed a direct communication with the inventors and the implementers of the good practices to be transferred, together with a deeper professional insight into the topic, and a dialogue. The major topics of the thematic seminar were as follows: introduction of the RESOC and the good practices, with special regard to the process of the establishment of the welding training centre, the newly written apprenticeship training book and its results, and a programme promoting the career orientation of the youth. Using the experiences of the thematic seminar we can state that the practices applied in the Mechelen region offer splendid alternatives for the management of the problems of the labour force and the shortages present in training in the South Transdanubian region. Concentrating solely on the practices to be transferred, the preparation of the action plan of South Transdanubia could be started.

Chapter 4: Action Plan Development Action Plans were foreseen as the key outcomes of the ESF6 CIA operation. They indicate how transferred good practices are implemented. They entail information about the addressed deficit, the solution found, the institutions concerned, and estimate the financial envelope necessary for their implementation. Furthermore, success indicators and an evaluation method are given. In ESF6 CIA, Action Plans were drafted by the project partners and thereafter discussed with ESF Managing Authorities from their regions and countries. Though all relevant Managing Authorities had been involved early in the project, partners had to modify their Action Plans to receive their endorsement. Modifications became necessary in order to match the proposals resulting from the project to the priorities and funding lines of the Operational Programmes, to the availability of financial resources after most ESF resources had already been earmarked for specific actions, and finally to political priorities of the decision-makers.

4.1 Introduction ESF6 CIA aims at the transferability of best practices analyzed in ESF Art.6 operations to new member states. Demographic change is a subject which affects our society daily. Elderly people become a more important and outstanding group in our daily life, with a great potential of knowledge available for the transfer to younger generations. In best practices this resource was identified and will be allocated and transferred to regions facing the same issue of demographic change. The partner structure is realised under the objective of matching less experienced with more advanced regions. Providers, meaning advanced partners in the development and improvement of best practices, form the basis of the partner structure as they guarantee and offer their experiences through the development of best practices. The receivers on the other side are in the position to take over well proved best practices, and to be at the end at the same level as the providers. Following the first step, the development and improvement of best practices in ESF Art.6 projects, the second logical step concern the capitalisation and transfer of identified best practices to other regions with the need to address demographic change. Through the involvement of managing authorities and other relevant stakeholders, the third step, will be the implementation of the best practices analyzed and formulated in action plans.

1.2 The road to Action Plans The background to the realisation of the Action Plans followed a pre-defined approach, during which important milestones and outputs were remarked. In the first and second working periods, the main outcomes were the sensitizing workshops in the receiving regions. The immediate results of these sensitizing workshops were an intensive exchange between the partners to understand the regional needs and the analysis of the transferability of the best practices in the receiving regions. For the first two working periods, six sensitizing workshops were planned and realised so as to raise the awareness for demographic change. An equally important output in the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first period was the production of an information catalogue about the best practices transferred in the project. Therefore seven best practices were identified in the field of demographic change. The result of the identified best practices was the transfer of at least one best practice in the receiving regions. Partners acting as providers and receivers in the project were in the

position of giving and receiving best practices. During the second working period (January – June 2009) eight feasibility studies were produced under the support of external experts in the receiving regions. The results of the studies were built on the outcome of the sensitizing workshops. Following, in the third working period (July – December 2009) the providers organised seven joint thematic seminars (according to the needs of transfer of the best practices). Built on the outcome of the feasibility studies, the seminars offered the essential knowledge gained during the realisation of the best practices in former ESF Art.6 projects. The output of the final working period (January – June 2010) is characterised by eight action plans. The ideal result is the implementation of the action plan in each receiving region after the projects end.

1.3 The Action Plans of the partners

4.3.1 Saxony, Germany (Aufbauwerk Region Leipzig GmbH) The Action Plan for the Region of Saxony will be concentrating on the following actions: Action 1: Innovation in Health Services Action 2: Change Management Action 3: Women Entrepreneurship Action 4: Activation of Young Persons More specifically for Action 1 (Innovation in health services), particular emphasis will be given into new demand patterns and service networks in the light of achieving the objective of process and product enhancement. Resources will be sought by the ERDF for products and ESF for the training of staff. The implementation of the action lies within the Regional Cluster for Health and Wellness. The Action 2 will be concentrating on life-long learning, mixed age structures, health at work and familyfriendliness. The objective of this particular action is to adapt SMEs structures to changed demography and to achieve the previous, a special programme for SME (Mittelstandsprogramm) will be utilised. In terms of mediators responsible for the action’s implementation those will be from the area of economic development’s promoters. Moreover, Action 3 will be creating start-up enterprises run and directed by women and similarly, the objective here is to provide adequate support to female entrepreneurs. Financial resources for the action’s realisation will be attracted by ESF National Programme (approximately budget: €600.000). The Business Innovation Centre (BIC) of the area together with employment agencies will form a consortium for the implementation of the action. Finally, Action 4 will be focused on the area of Activation of Young Persons, targeting the inclusion of young persons within labour market as well as apprenticeships. The overall objective here is to create a public option for apprenticeships. The Action will be financed by an ESF-financed pilot project (currently in negotiation) and responsible actors are the State of Saxony and a Local Training Centre.

4.3.2 East of England, United Kingdom (Working Lives Research Institute – London Metropolitan University)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Action plan for the East of England Within the context of an ageing population, the aim of the East of England action plan is to progress the integration of best employment practices related to the employment of an age-diverse workforce in the East of England region. We have included an analysis of the demographic and economic situation but recognise that with the fast changing political and economic landscape, the evidence base will evolve. Our action plan was informed by: •

A discussion dinner hosted by The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) with employers and key stakeholders to develop and exchange good practice in the region;

•

A European conference hosted by the Working Lives Research Institute (WLRI) in London;

•

Thematic workshops with input from other European project partners and in-depth consultation with stakeholders in the East of England region.

The participation of the University of L’Aquila based in the region of Abruzzo highlighted the importance of research informing good management policy. This constitutes a key element of the approach chosen by EEDA and our action plan aims to develop this type of interdisciplinary cooperation further. Our action plan focuses on the following three key themes: 1. Skills – development of a regional Skills Priorities Statement, setting out overall priorities for the East of England to ensure the region’s competitiveness with a global reputation for innovation and business growth. 2. Flexible working – covering the full spectrum of flexible working options and use of new technologies to facilitate remote and agile working 3. Health and Well-being in the Workplace – increasing employee motivation and productivity, whilst reducing absence due to ill-health

4.3.3 Flanders, Belgium (RESOC Mechelen)

Input for the action plan ‘Samen op de bres voor 50+’ (Into the breach for the over 50’s) In October 2008, the Flemish social partners signed the agreement ‘Samen op de bres voor 50+’. An important part of this agreement is preventing the outflow of older workers from the workforce (section

1 of the agreement). In order to achieve this, the social partners cooperate with the Flemish Government to realise (quote): “a broad sensitization campaign to make employers aware of the importance of an age aware personnel policy and a preventative retention policy, and to make workers aware of the importance for employees to develop their skills in order to improve their own employability (1.1.). The sensitization campaign that is aimed at the employers will be backed up with a free Toolbox that is based on existing knowledge and is in line with the skills agenda. The employees involved will be offered a checklist and will be made aware of professional support through career counselling and information. (1.2.)”. In February 2009, the Expertise Centre for Age & Work (eL&W) was asked to list a number of sensitization activities in support of the agreement, and to examine the advantages and disadvantages. These were put in a memorandum that was handed to the office of the Flemish secretary of state for Labour on 27 February 2009. Central points mentioned in the memorandum are: •

An activation policy for older people (50+) can only be effective if it is accompanied by a campaign that sensitises and supports employers, employees and job-seekers.

•

This campaign must be positive and non-stigmatising, and must focus on workers and working conditions.

•

Everyone is responsible: employers, employees and job-seekers, as well as prevention consultants, social secretariats, field workers...

•

The expertise centre already has important elements for sensitisation and support at its disposal. Therefore, the first phase can be initiated very soon. However, a successful campaign will take up a lot of time and will also involve other domains, such as welfare, pensions, ... (To illustrate: In Finland an integrated campaign led to 50% more older people (55+) finding jobs in 8 years time.)

•

The campaign needs to be coordinated by a broad taskforce.

The memorandum was first put forward at VESOC on 11 March 2009. During the VESOC meeting of 28 May 2009 the compositing of the taskforce was approved. It consists of: -

a representative of the Prime Minister,

a representative of the secretary of state for Labour,

SERV partners and SERV secretariat,

Expertise centre for Age and Work (eL&W),

VDAB and

ESF;

Under the chairmanship of SERV and the secretariat of eL&W, the first meeting of the taskforce took place on 9 December 2009. In order to convert this action plan into concrete activities, the Taskforce ‘Samen op de Bres voor 50+’ will join forces with RESOC Mechelen to work on a transnational ESF-project. Within this project enough attention will be paid to embedding the good practices that are to be converted in order to guarantee longterm results.

4.3.4 Western Greece (Region of Western Greece) The proposed Action Plan is based on the Feasibility Study elaborated for the Regional Development Fund of Region of Western Greece under the ESF6-CIA/INTERREG IVC Program. The core objective of the Project was to identify and propose selected practices that have already been implemented in various regions of the European Union towards combating the demographic challenge. Among the proposed practices, one has already been selected as the most suitable for the Region of Western Greece and it is the basis of the current integrated Action Plan. The social threat to be faced refers to the term “Demographic Challenge” which stands for the gradual ageing of the workforce and its impact to the local labour market.

The strategy proposed in the feasibility study is maintained through three Priorities: The First Priority consists of thorough investigation actions concerning stakeholders’ needs and threats. The Actions of this Priority are: •

Action 1.1: Identifying the economic sectors experiencing the problem of the demographic change

•

Action 1.2: Data collection from the real market (via structured questionnaires).

•

Action 1.3: Dissemination of the results / Discussion Conference where the survey results will be presented and specific measures will be proposed.

The Second Priority includes actions related to the awareness of the labour force concerning the problem, the threats and the possible long term impacts. Action 2.1: Qualified Advisors are going to deal with the employed people of the selected target group (on a personal or focus group basis). The Third Priority refers to the Training Program applied to elderly workforce (main target is the group of workers over 45 years old). Action 3.1: Three Training Programs are going to be proposed to the stakeholders. Based on the results, several Training Programs on different topics may follow the first training attempt.

The project’s budget has been formed on the basis of the Priorities and Actions that already have been analyzed. Given the nature of the project and the upcoming revision of the Operational Programmes of the Greek NSRF, the inclusion of funding for some of the existing Sectoral Operational Programmes and Regional Operational Program in the Peloponnese, Western Greece and Ionian Islands seems to be not feasible for the current year. Consequently, it is more feasible for the proposed program to be incorporated to the National Contingency Reserve Budget, with the amount of € 289.600,00. After the review of sectoral programs of the NSRF it should be explored the possibility of the Project to be financed from the sectoral program of the Ministry of Employment, along with the proposed involvement of the “Employment Service”. Given the nature of the Project and the upcoming revision of the Operational Programmes of the NSRF, the Region of Western Greece has already identified the most appropriate sources of funding. The Region of Western Greece is planning to submit the proposed Action Plan to one of the following possible funding Programs: •

The Sectoral Operational Program of the Ministry of Employment

•

The Regional Operational Program in the Peloponnese, Western Greece and Ionian Islands

•

The National Contingency Reserve Budget

4.3.5 Catalonia, Spain (Roses City Council)

The Action Plan for the area of Girona in Catalonia (Roses City Council) will be formulated around the following two Actions: Action 1: Pilot Action Action 2: New Pathways for Unemployed People More specifically, Action 1 will be dealing with the thematic fields of empowerment, training, guidance and new pathways for employment. It is anticipated that 60 unemployed citizens in Roses will be enabled to access emerging labour market sectors, entrepreneurship and formal education. The funds that will be allocated to this particular Action will be in the area of €25.000, a financial amount that will be covered by Roses City Council. In terms of Action 2, that will be focusing around the identification of New Pathways for Unemployed People in an effort to encourage empowerment, training and guidance towards new employment pathways in emerging sectors of the economy. It is expected that 500 persons from the area of Girona (2 City Councils) will be benefited to access emerging sectors. As a whole, the Action will attempt to mobilize the labour market and create educational and entrepreneurial networks. It is anticipated that this model will be also utilised for transfer to other regions of the country. The budget of Action 2 is estimated at a value of approximately €180.000 and is currently pending approval by SOC – Employment Service of the Catalonia Government (ESF + SOC). The actors responsible for the action’s realisation are the Roses City Council and the Salt City Council.

4.3.6 Bulgaria (Institute of Sociology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences & Bulgarian Ministry for Labour and Social Policy) The Institute of Sociology in Bulgaria will be applying the following 2 Actions as parts of its Action Plan: Action 1: Back to Work Action 2: Development The 1st Action is focusing on employment measures through specialized training sessions, so as to secure employment prospects for people in pre-retirement age. The funds that will be allocated in that particular Action will be in the area of BGN 64 million and will be covered by the Human Resources Development Operational Programme. The responsibility for the Action’s implementation lies within the Bulgarian Employment Agency. On the other hand, the 2nd Action will be concentrating around the thematic field of life-long learning and the objective here is the security of people’s employment and in particular for those people coming from vulnerable groups of the population. The total funds that will be allocated for Action 2 are BGN 250 million and will be attracted by the Human Resources Development Operational Programme (similarly to Action 1).

The Bulgarian Employment Agency will be the responsible for the implementation of the Action.

4.3.7 Abruzzo, Italy (Regione Abruzzo & University of L’Aquila & AICCRE)

The Region of Abruzzo will be implementing the Action under the title “Coping with the Crisis and Public Expectations”. More specifically, the concepts that will be examined and the thematic fields, which will be targeted, are the crisis, the social and economic reconstruction,

the recent devastating earthquake, the management of

disasters and the needed cooperation between local authorities. The objective of the Action can be summarized as “The Integration of FIT 4 WORK / OWL Good Practices” and more specifically:

1. Health Management (health conditions of the workforce, of the workplaces, of the work organisation, etc.)

2. Knowledge Management (qualifications measures for the workforce targeted as well as the elderly people)

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Skill Management (preservation and transfer of fundamental skills) Coping with Existing Prejudices (social, generational, etc.) Detecting the critical situations in order to improve the working life Making the management more sensitive towards the main problems Exploiting the useful tool provided by OWL for a better company management and creation of synergies between employees and management

8. Changes in the regional economy and consequent higher and more specified requirements by regional companies

9. The increased number of unemployed people belonging to priority groups (foreigners / immigrants, disabled persons and people over 50) due to general crisis and the recent earthquake

10. Increased and changed competences and knowledge required for Counselors of public employment agencies about economic development The region of Abruzzo will be responsible for the realisation of the Action, through its Regional Operating Programme EFS (Priority 1: Adaptability and its specific objectives – 1b: Promoting Innovation and productivity through a better organisation and quality of work and 1c: Developing policies and services to prevent and manage the change, to promote competitiveness and entrepreneurship). The total financial resources that will be allocated will be amounted to €2.6 million and will be distributed via Calls for Proposals (anticipated beneficiaries: Partnerships rooted on ESF6-CIA actors).

4.3.8 South-Transdanubian Region, Hungary (DDRF - South Transdanubian Regional Development Financial & Servicing)

Action: Strengthening the employment of the socially disadvantaged

The action Plan for the STRDF & S will be dealing with issues arising from the most disadvantaged regions, long-term unemployment, increasing educational level, and practical trainings, social and occupational rehabilitation. Moreover, the objectives of the Action are focusing on implementing activities that are able to create jobs on a small scale, based on local level needs, and opportunities; to create self-sustainable workplaces for socially disadvantaged people which can operate on a long-term basis (with the help of ERDF type infrastructural investment projects). The financial resources that have been scheduled are coming from SROP, HRDOP, STOP; 2011-2013/20142020. The actors responsible for the realisation and implementation of the Action Plan will be the SouthTransdanubian Regional Development Agency and the Ministry of National Human Resource. 1)

Chapter 6: Moving Forward (Implementation) The purpose of the Action Plans as final output of ESF6 CIA is to prepare activities and programmes for implementation on local, regional and national levels of the participating regions. Whereas other partners were concentrating on the preparation of projects that could be implemented in the framework of Regional Operational Programmes, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Bulgaria already moved much further and opened two new funding lines that were largely inspired by ESF6 CIA’s interregional exchange and the Greek FILES good practice. In middle 2009 the Bulgarian project team held various meetings with representatives of the Managing authority of the Bulgarian Human Resources Development Operational Programme. It was agreed that the Bulgarian project team in coordination with experts from the Managing Authority will start the preparation of two measures focused on training of unemployed based on the FILES good practice. As a result of the joint team work criteria for selection of operations for two grant schemes were developed. The main objectives of the first funding line “Back to work” are to provide employment for unemployed persons mainly in preretirement age as well as to support young mothers to continue their professional development. The operation is planned to be implemented in three phases. During the first phase parents with children of age 1-3 will submit applications to the Employment agency requesting childcare services. During these phase unemployed persons registered at the labour offices also submit applications to participate in the project. In the second phase selected unemployed persons undergo a special training course developed by the Bulgarian Social Assistance Agency. Transport costs are covered when trainings are carried out in a settlement different from the one where the resident address of the unemployed is. Unemployed persons who successfully complete training are employed in the selected families. Costs for remuneration and social security payments are covered for a period until the children complete the age of 3. The aim of the second funding line “Development” is to secure employment for unemployed persons putting specific focus on unemployed from vulnerable groups. The operation foresees the use of a highly innovative voucher mechanism for the provision of trainings. Relevant steps towards amendments in the national legislation were undertaken by the managing authority and as a result the voucher system is set in Council of Ministers Decree № 251 as of 21 October 2009. According to the voucher mechanism the operation is conducted in three phases. During the first phase employers submit applications to the Employment agency describing their specific needs for personnel including the required skills and qualification. The employers requirements are summarised in a public list published on the website of the Bulgarian employment agency. Employers also submit declarations for their compliance with the rules for state aid. In the second phase unemployed persons choose to undergo specific trainings based on the list of available positions. They first choose a training institution and submit an application at the Employment agency in order to be included in training for acquiring or updating their vocational qualification. The unemployed person may choose a training institution among a list published on the website of the Bulgarian Employment Agency. The unemployed should meet the requirements for minimal education level for the selected training. If the application is approved, the unemployed person receives personal voucher for training. In order to promote the training process the unemployed persons receive a scholarship for this period. Transport costs are covered when the training is carried out in a settlement different from the one where the resident address of the unemployed is. The second phase ends with the successful completion of the training course.

Unemployed persons who successfully completed training are employed in the selected enterprises. Costs for remuneration and social security payments are covered for a period of up to 1 year. By middle June 2009 the criteria for selection of operations for both grant schemes were planned to be included in the ESF 6 CIA action plan as project deliverables. However, the latest developments in the Bulgarian economy and the rising rate of unemployment as a result from the negative consequences of the global financial crisis forced the Managing authority of HRD OP to go ahead and present the newly elaborated criteria for selection of operations at the Monitoring committee meeting on 11 November 2009. After all relevant checking procedures were performed the criteria for selection of operations were sent for information to all members of the Monitoring committee. As a result the criteria for selection of operations were approved unanimously at the Monitoring committee meeting. The next step in the implementation of the two grant schemes was the elaboration of application guidelines and accompanying package of documents.  The invitation to the direct beneficiary under the “Back to work” operation was sent in January 2010 with application deadline 1 March 2010. The project proposal was submitted by the project beneficiary on 22 January 2010 and the contract with the beneficiary was concluded in the beginning of March 2010. By 15 June 2010 more than already more than 150 unemployed persons are providing childcare services.  The invitation to the direct beneficiary under the “Development” operation was sent in January 2010 with application deadline 1 March 2010. The project proposal was received on 19 February. The contract with the beneficiary was concluded on 5 March 2010. By 15 June 2010, more than 250 employers expressed their willingness to participate in the operation by submitting applications for over 11 500 available positions. The list with available positions is expected to be published on the website of the Employment agency in the beginning of July 2010. The implementation period of both operations is ending in the end of 2012. The two operations should provide employment for 60 000 persons. Apart from the measures to be implemented under the Human Resources Development Operational Programme, the Ministry of labour and social policy of Bulgarian has undertaken steps to develop a National programme for active aging in order to insure complete access and participation of older people in the social life and on the labour market. The National programme for active aging is developed in an interinstitutional working group consisting of representatives of all key stakeholders. The order of the Minister for the establishment of this working group is in place since the beginning of January 2010. The development of the programme is expected to start in the second half of 2010.

Example: Action Plan Bulgaria

Topic / Theme Training of unemployed Provision of employment

Deficit addressed Increased number of unemployed due to the result of the financial crisis Increased number of children of age 1-3 Insufficient establishments to provide childcare services in major cities

Activity Training for unemployed persons in preretirement age to provide childcare services to families with children of age 1-3.

Responsible Bulgarian employment agency

Time scale 2010 - 2012

Financing Human Resources Development Operational Programme Priority axis 1.1 Integration of vulnerable groups on the labour market Buget: BGN 64 mln.

Outpu Indicato Implementa indicator: Number of persons wh enter trainin acquiring ke competenc 8500

Result indic Share of persons wit acquired ke competenc 95%

Topic / Theme Training for unemployed Provision of employment

Deficit addressed Increased number of unemployed due to the results of the financial crisis Unadequate qualification of unemployed persons - 64% of unemployed persons of age 50+ do not have any special qualification

Activity Training for unemployed Provision of employment

Responsible Bulgarian Employment Agency

Time scale 2010 - 2012

Ou Indic Human Impleme Resources indicator Development Number Operational persons Programme enter tra for acqu Priority axis or upgra 1.1 Integration the voca of vulnerable qualifica groups on the 65 000 labour market Number persons Buget: BGN 250 included mln. employm after com of trainin 000 Financing

Result indicator Share o persons acquired upgrade vocation qualifica 80%

utput cators entation rs: r of s who aining uiring ading ational ationÂ -

2) Annex: ESF6 CIA Network Partners

Evaluation

Please use texts and contact info as on website

Independent evaluation after the end of the measure implementation

r of s d in ment mpletion ng - 52

rs: of s with d or ed nal ation -