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EQUAL lessons in rural and urban restructuring
November 2007
Restructuring by EQUAL @ Open Days
Hosted by the Committee of the Regions and the European
Commission's Regional Policy Directorate General (DG), the 5th
OPEN
DAYS-European Week of Regions and Cities featured solutions in proactive
restructuring of rural and urban regions developed by EQUAL projects. This good
practice was presented in a workshop on 9 October 2007 entitled "Regional
strategies for innovative and social inclusive restructuring", one of the 15
working sessions in the Open Days organised by the EQUAL Unit of DG Employment,
Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. The workshop, chaired by Mr. Joost van
Iersel, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, featured
presentations by representatives of two EQUAL projects -
MünchenKompetent and
Facilitation of Lifelong Education in Rural Conditions. These examples
were well suited and highly relevant for the regions and cities represented in
the OPEN DAYS as they presented grass-roots level practice and solutions to
restructuring both in rural and urban European regions. The presentations of
projects were preceded by a general introduction on how the projects financed by
the EQUAL programme tackle the issue of restructuring and what good practice
examples as well as lessons EQUAL can provide for the people allocating and
receiving financing from European Social Fund (ESF) in the future.
Linking EQUAL and Restructuring
The first presentation in the Restructuring Workshop was
given by Ms. Helen Tubb, Senior Consultant at GHK Consulting Ltd. (GHK), a
company which for the last five years has assisted the EQUAL Unit with
European-level dissemination of EQUAL good practice examples and results. Ms.
Tubb provided a short overview of the EQUAL programme, how it related to the
theme of restructuring and illustrated the "EQUAL approach to restructuring" in
Europe's regions with a number of examples from projects supported by this
Initiative.
During 2005 and 2006, GHK research revealed that 813 EQUAL
projects were working or had worked on various aspects of the restructuring
theme. After analysis of a project sample, GHK produced a number of documents
presenting the measures, approaches and good practice developed by EQUAL
projects to tackle the issue of restructuring. Publications "EQUAL:
Emerging lessons and insights on Restructuring" and "Restructuring:
curse or remedy?" invited readers to look at the restructuring as a
natural phenomenon, which needs to be addressed proactively in order for it to
be seen in a positive light. The publication "EQUAL
and ESF Article 6: innovative and socially responsible restructuring"
compiled EQUAL solutions to restructuring issues and was presented at the 3rd
'Restructuring
Forum', which took place in Brussels in December 2006. And finally the
'Policy Brief' entitled "Human
Capital and Restructuring: a focus on SME investment" was presented
during the Open Days workshop on Restructuring itself, thereby bringing to the
participants' attention a few good practices and lessons EQUAL projects may
offer in the restructuring process.
The rest of the time, the Restructuring Workshop was
devoted to the presentations of two EQUAL projects – the first addressing the
restructuring of a rural area in Czech Republic and the second, the adaptation
and development of Munich, the capital of the German Free State of Bavaria.
These examples offered an interesting mix of perspectives to restructuring in
the European regions as one concentrated on the promotion of lifelong learning (LLL)
as means to revitalise a predominantly rural area and other on holistic and
proactive strategies to preserve and improve the competitiveness of a large
city, tackling among other the needs and potential of marginalised groups. The
presentations were followed by a question-and-answer session.
Facilitation of Lifelong Education in Rural Conditions
The project Facilitation of Lifelong Education in Rural
Conditions operates in the North-East Liberec Region of Czech Republic, more
specifically in the District of Semily. The population of the region is
predominantly rural. However, after the decline of agriculture and textile
industries the area is becoming increasingly popular for mountain tourism.
Against this backdrop, the Czech project is working with people living in the
villages of the Semily District in order to help them with adaptation to these
recent structural, technological and economic changes.
As explained by the project representatives Mr. Jan Rychlík
(Labour Office in Semily) and Ms. Kateřina Baladová (association "Bridge to
Education"), Facilitation of Lifelong Education in Rural Conditions
focuses on facilitating education for inhabitants of remote rural locations with
limited public transport services and limited opportunities for LLL. The large
majority of the people benefiting from these activities are women. The project
offers the opportunity to attend courses in Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs), foreign languages, business management basics and many
other courses currently in demand in the regional labour market, such as welding
or logging. All training is free of charge and is delivered in close proximity
to the beneficiaries. Apart from this classical face-to-face education, the
project also offers possibilities of distance learning.
During the presentation, Mr. Rychlík emphasised that
it is important to bring together all the relevant partners and to ensure their
commitment. Facilitation of Lifelong Education in Rural Conditions
project unites 20 partner organisations of different types (public, private and
NGOs), cooperating with separate competencies and activities, but shared
responsibility for the success of the partnership. Many of these have had a
previous experience of cooperation with each other on a bilateral basis.
However, the project has enabled them to cooperate multilaterally, creating
effective synergies, new stimuli and experience that would not have been
possible had the partners worked in isolation. This unique partnership made it
possible to test new ways of making learning an important, integral and
accessible part of rural life.
All the activities of the partnership are focused on the
specific needs of the target groups, identified through a survey conducted in
ten selected villages in the Semily district during the initial phases of the
project. This research identified the cost, accessibility and manageability of
further learning as the main barriers to the development of the region's
population. Foreign languages, ICT, economic and technical skills were
highlighted as most important in terms of the needs of both the target groups
and the regional labour market, in order to foster the desired socio-economic
change. The training system, based on the needs of beneficiaries and the various
interests of the project partners, is constantly being improved. Ms. Baladová
notes: "As the project life cycle is centred on the target group – the
villagers – it is really essential to collect feedback from the beneficiaries
and the partners also during the implementation phase and to adjust the project
accordingly."
The training system developed by the Czech project is based
on a modular format, comprising short, 90-minute lessons that take place once a
week over several months. Courses focusing on technical skills, of which
practical training is an integral part, comprise longer, usually 8-hour sessions
at weekends. This training offer is characterised by flexibility – the courses
offered are outside working hours and during the weekends and the reconciliation
of learning with other work or family commitments due to the provision of other
support services such as childcare. The knowledge and skills gained through the
training are certified and the participants are provided with the opportunity to
influence the format, organisation and the content of the courses.
Facilitation of Lifelong Education in Rural Conditions
project also has a
transnational dimension, a requirement for all undertakings financed by
EQUAL. In fact the project is involved in two transnational partnerships, which
has enabled its partners to see how similar problems are addressed in other EU
Member States, enabling the comparison of measures and enriching the project
through exchange of good practice.
The project coordinators of Facilitation of Lifelong
Education in Rural Conditions have received great feedback both from the
participating partner organisations and the training participants about the
value of the courses. The training system model is now being presented and
tested in other rural regions in the Czech Republic. The project partners also
seek ways to transfer the practice to other EU countries, especially the "new"
Member States through new transnational partnerships.
MünchenKompetent – Development of the region's competences
As explained by Maria Rauch (Equalmünchen
GmbH) and Michaela Pichlbauer (SIM),
the MünchenKompetent project on the other hand is an instrument of
anticipation and change in Munich – the third biggest city in Germany.
MünchenKompetent has the total budget of 4.5 million Euros, a considerable
part of which is provided by the city of Munich and the project partners,
signalling not only the practical commitment but also the financial engagement
of the actors involved in the project.
The city region is characterised by relatively good growth
and low unemployment rates (5-6%), as well as a mix of traditional and new
industries - the so called "Munich mix". However, there are still around 70,000
unemployed in the city and the positive development of high-technology
enterprise clusters in the region unfortunately also implies that the people
with lower skills are ever more excluded. The economic landscape of the city is
also dominated by big companies, resulting in the situation of SMEs being
neglected. Furthermore, the decline in traditional industries and some negative
factors of globalisation, such as delocalisation of the production processes
have the hardest hit on the most vulnerable and excluded groups, resulting in
ever increasing social inequalities.
The "MünchenKompetent" project intends to alleviate
the negative consequences of these developments by creating a number of
strategic projects, including anticipation and re-integration programmes,
adapted to the new labour market reality and promoting new employment policies,
which need to be flexible and linked to the European Employment Strategy on the
national, regional and local levels. The MünchenKompetent project
responds to the Munich labour market analysis described above by focussing on
the encouragement of new businesses start-ups, promotion of LLL and
organisational, as well as personnel development in companies.
The promotion of entrepreneurship and support for new
businesses are efficient tools to create jobs. However, self-employment
continues to be a male domain in Bavaria – 14.8% of all gainfully employed men
are self-employed, whereas this percentage is only at around 7% for women. In
order to raise the proportion of women amongst the self-employed,
MünchenKompetent advocates for the removal of barriers for business
start-ups and offering customised coaching, in particular for women in order to
increase their potential to set up new businesses. MünchenKompetent is
also working on an applicable concept for LLL designed to encourage the
readiness of all social groups to undergo training as early and constantly as
possible. This strategy has a particular focus on the disadvantaged groups in
the Munich labour market, such as the (long-term) unemployed, migrants, young
and elderly people. It also has to focus on the requirements of Munich's SMEs,
who could potentially offer employment to a proportion of these people. The
project is also working on a cooperation model between schools, companies and
young people. It has created a system, facilitated by the City of Munich, which
puts the schools in contact with the companies, informing the first about the
latter's recruitment needs. This part of the project is also specifically
focused on assisting young people, in particular those with bad marks, in their
way to employment.
Finally, MünchenKompetent reinforced the
competitiveness of the local SMEs by promoting new forms of strategic alliances
and network cooperation. The individual SMEs as a rule operate as individual
players in the market, which places them in an environment of fierce competition
against large corporations and high market risks. SMEs that team up in networks
benefit from the improved transfer of information, experience and synergies,
while the City gains from a more competitive and diverse market. The
Organisational development in companies – a sub-project within
MünchenKompetent – developed several networks between SMEs and tested
whether they are suitable as a local labour market instrument. One of these
networks united small organic food shops. The project was carried out in close
cooperation with the Health and Environment department of the City of Munich
within the framework of the "BioStadt München" ("Organic Munich") initiative.
This network not only anticipated the current changes in the economic
environment, but also created common strategies for dealing with these changes
(e.g. building common identity (logo), reinforcing cooperation and the relative
market weight). This MünchenKompetent sub-project gave the small shops a
possibility to grow and to take an active part in the restructuring of a whole
organic food sector. It secured and reinforced the SME position in this market
niche and the employment related to it - the impetus that will have positive
effects well beyond the project life of MünchenKompetent.
Conclusions through recommendations
Despite the apparent differences between the projects
presented in the Open Days 'Restructuring Workshop', the presentations converge
in surprisingly similar recommendations - among these was the idea of the
crucial role that the networks and strategic choice of partners play in the
successful process of restructuring in a region. The presenters were united on
the idea that it is crucial to involve and empower the project beneficiates and
partners by encouraging their active participation and responsibility from the
very outset of the project.
Other preconditions for successful restructuring were
pre-developed culture of networking, involvement of social partners, and
mainstreaming – working with project partners and policy makers to establish a
sustainable institutional framework for the project activities and ideas to
continue also after the project comes to an end.
Finally, the representatives of both projects presented in
the workshop emphasised that the people who benefited form the EQUAL
restructuring-related activities confessed having a better understanding of the
EU, its policies and ideas, as they had personally experience how these can be
useful in practice. This way EQUAL programme has helped to spread the good word
about the Union in its regions. To conclude the Open Days workshop on
restructuring, Mr. van Iersel noted: "Today's workshops presented both
solutions for restructuring in urban and rural areas. These activities have
brought the flag of the European Union to its regions."
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