News
(Archives 2005-2006)
The Flemish ESF-Agency stimulates innovation
November 2006
The ESF-Agency Flanders strives to be a key player in promoting an innovative
employment strategy in Flanders. The ESF-Agency wants to encourage and stimulate
innovative solutions to employment and social problems that are challenging our
society today. An "I-Forum - Innovation from A to Z" was
recently organised.
Read more 
Top
France takes a deeper look at Social Enterprise
November 2006
France's leading support body for the social economy wants to stimulate the
growth of social enterprise. At its seminar, participants got the chance to
compare contrasting models from round the world, with their varying emphasis on
the individualist and collective dimensions.
Read more Top
Transnationality works for Gender Equality
October 2006
Cross-border cooperation – one of the key principles of EQUAL – has been put to
good use by the Development Partnerships (DPs) active on gender equality issues
in the 1st Round, and involved now in the 2nd Round. It is no surprise that
processes and products are the two main outputs related to desegregation,
work-life balance and gender mainstreaming.
Read more Top
European Week of Regions and Cities: EQUAL experience in "good governance"
strongly appreciated
October 2006
Hundreds of people with an interest in the management of the
structural funds in the next programming period (2007-2013) joined seven
workshops at the annual Open Days of the European Week of Regions and Cities.
Read more Top
Validation at the heart of the mainstreaming process in Belgium
October 2006
It is with the inspiration of the Portuguese methods that the
French speaking Belgian Managing authorities have decided to test - through the use of a
"Products Tree" - a validation system. Some "Flagship Products"
have already been validated.
Read more Top
Highlights in the Netherlands
October 2006
A broad overview on EQUAL implementation through the
Dutch programme: Development
Partnerships inventory, National Thematic Networks reports, good practice and a tool
developed to help DPs in making a cost-benefit analysis of their activities...
Read more Top
New regulations to tackle permanent challenges
September 2006
Legislative package on the new cohesion policy is available!
The EQUAL principles will be integrated in the new programmes.
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Luxembourg, Method and Results
August 2006
The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg succeeded in maintaining
economic growth and a higher employment level than that of its neighbours but
the very competitive context of the human resources of the Greater Region
justifies still difficult preventive action against the development of exclusion
and of discriminations.
Read more Top
Heading
for Italy
August 2006
Towards more effective planning and delivery: Project Cycle Management at
work
Pursuing better quality projects and more effective Programme
delivery is a strategic objective which has informed the second Round of EQUAL
in Italy. In keeping with the logic of the new ESF, the Italian Managing
Authority has delivered a set of capacity building actions aimed at upgrading
the skill base of project and programme managers in EQUAL, and possibly beyond.
Read more
Top
Thematic Networks in support of Mainstreaming: the Italian way to Action 3
The Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Security officially
launched Action 3 for the Round 2 of EQUAL in June 2006, organising 4 thematic
seminars in Rome. A total of 429 people from all over Italy, representing 280
DPs, took part in the events.
Read more Top
Farewell to Mutti-Land
August 2006
In Germany the EQUAL National Thematic Network (NTN) on Work-life-Balance
makes a substantial contribution to creating family friendly working conditions
and to overcoming traditional gender roles and stereotypes. EQUAL good practices
are being spread across the country, which has been labelled "Mutti-Land" or
Mummy-Land by a major weekly newspaper because 65% of women leave the labour
market when they become mothers.
Read more Top
EQUAL goes to the Congo
July 2006
Five words that represent a very special story about the successful mainstreaming of EQUAL good practices: A training programme for gender advisors developed by the Swedish Development Partnership (DP) "Gender Force" is currently being replicated by European Armies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Read more Top
ETG1 : New and continuing priorities in combating discrimination
July 2006
During Round 1 of EQUAL, European level thematic
activities guided by the
Employability Steering Group were focused on a number of topics including
ethnic minorities and immigrants, the empowerment of people with disabilities
and the role of the media. In addition, the Steering Group also recognised the
potential that EQUAL offered to assist with the integration of (ex-) offenders
and people from the Roma communities. Now a new series of thematic analyses has
been produced that give initial indications about what Round 2 Development
Partnerships are intending to do in relation to each of these five topics.
Read more Top
Getting Asylum Seekers into Employment – Challenges and Opportunities
June 2006
Over 100 participants from nearly all EU countries attended
an EQUAL Exchange Event in Chania, on the beautiful island of Crete (Greece) on 1-2 June 2006.
Read more Top
Social economy proves its worth in Warsaw
June 2006
EQUAL has enriched the ground for a renaissance of the social economy in Poland
by showcasing some of the most successful achievements in this theme in the
first round of EQUAL. Hosted in Warsaw on 10-12 May 2006, the Social Economy – a
Model for Inclusion, Entrepreneurship and Local Development seminar covered four
key aspects of the social economy – relations with the state, business growth,
support and the users. Participants analysed useful lessons from initiatives in
nine countries. Strong messages emerged about the benefits to be gained from
measuring social added value, the power of empowerment, and the need for more
attention to be paid to replication and franchising methods.
Read more Top
Integrating
the EQUAL experience into the new ESF Programmes: Guidance notes
June 2006
EQUAL has been organised as a learning programme for good
governance by applying the principles of partnership, trans-national
co-operation, innovation and gender equality. Mainly based on the lessons learnt
under EQUAL, working groups of Member State representatives have now drafted
guidance notes on how to integrate these principles into the new ESF Programmes
(2007-2013), and how to base their programming efforts on a sound planning
approach.
Read more Top
Focus on Ireland
June 2006
Three different aspects of EQUAL Implementation : Ideasbank, a programme
level output that includes all of the materials developed by Round I & II
projects to date ; a Round I project that has secured additional
mainstreaming funding from EQUAL and seems to be one of the best success stories
of the programme ; a Round II project that has been very effective in terms of
implementing its pilot activity and who is doing a truly innovative work in
terms of life long learning.
Read more Top
The Social Partners' Groundwork on Innovation
June 2006
The EQUAL Seminar "Social Partners' Groundwork on Innovation"
brought together on 30 May some 220 participants including a majority of sectoral and cross-industry social partners, academic experts in the field of
social dialogue and industrial relations, and Commission representatives.
Read more Top
Building the tools for opening up entrepreneurship to all
May 2006
At the end of March 2006, sixty five representatives from twelve
Member States met against the historic backdrop of the first Dutch stock
exchange in Amsterdam to discuss how entrepreneurship could be made more
accessible for EU citizens from all backgrounds. The seminar was organised by
the Dutch Managing Authority of the EQUAL Community Initiative with the support
of the European Commission and the active involvement of Germany and Flanders.
Read more Top
Spain
presents its national mainstreaming plan and launches Action 3
April 2006
On February 27th, Spain ESF Unit held a nationwide Conference
in Madrid to present its new Mainstreaming Plan for the second round of EQUAL.
More than 350 people attended the event, including one representative of each
DP, policy-makers, representatives of all regional governments, other relevant
public institutions at national and local level, third sector organisations, and
mass media.
Read more Top
Poland hosts EQUAL social economy showcase
April 2006
The social economy, comprised of organisations such as
co-operatives, voluntary associations, integration enterprises and development
trusts, makes up between 5% and 10% of developed countries' economies GDP.
Read more Top
Estonia: to trigger social innovation in the Care Sector
April 2006
The Baltic Sea was still frozen, but the 130 participants in
Tallinn didn't take long to break any ice that might have existed between them
during the EQUAL Exchange Platform. This event, which took place on 3rd and 4th
April 2006, was dedicated to disseminating good EQUAL practices in the field of
care, and it was jointly hosted by the Estonian Government and the European
Commission.
Read more Top
Building the tools for opening up entrepreneurship to all
March 2006
An exchange event will be held in Amsterdam next 30 and 31
March 2006 and will present some of the EQUAL lessons for creating
entrepreneurial ladders out of social exclusion.
Read more Top
The social partners' groundwork on innovation
March 2006
In the context of European Social Fund operations, the
social partners are key players in preparations, funding, monitoring and
evaluation. The ESF EQUAL Community Initiative underlines the importance of
social partner participation in sharing information and exploiting the outcomes
of innovative projects. A seminar is to be held on 30 May 2006 in Brussels.
Read more Top
EQUAL Initiative under evaluators' microscope
March 2006
All the contributions made by the different national and EU evaluators
during the recent conference on Evaluation are now available. And a
comprehensive report taking on board all the reports and discussions and bringing out the true substance
of the debates is announced as imminent!
Read more Top
National thematic networks: a key for tackling "racial" discrimination
March 2006
Three new documents show, in the field of discrimination
based on racial or ethnic origin, the important role that can be played by
active National Thematic Networks (NTNs ) in mainstreaming EQUAL outcomes and
mobilising key actors. A helpful reading to underpin and stimulate current and
coming work in this crucial field.
Read more Top
Stronger together
March 2006
Partnership, which is one of EQUAL's guiding principles,
doesn't only apply inside its Development Partnerships (DPs) - it is also a tool
for mainstreaming the results of these projects. Although different in their
approaches, National Thematic Networks (NTNs) in Austria, Finland, France and
Ireland have all succeeded to mobilise key players to promote gender equality by
pooling experience and outcomes and providing convincing evidence to policy
makers and other practitioners. Two detailed reports, on
Work Life balance and
on Gender mainstreaming are available.
Read more Top
Innovative approaches to sustainable reintegration of (ex-) offenders
March 2006
New approaches to improving access to education and training
for prisoners and facilitating their reintegration into the labour market will
be a particular focus for EQUAL thematic mainstreaming work in the period
2006/7. A programme of European cooperation is being launched to identify and
validate the outcomes from Development Partnerships (DPs) that are active in
this field and to support the mainstreaming of their good practices.
Read more Top
Newly released on Asylum seekers: "Capacity Building" & "Mainstreaming"
March 2006
Focussing on two of the key objectives of the EQUAL
programme, these two papers are meant to be particularly useful for new Round 2
partnerships, especially in the New Member States. Partnerships continuing from
Round 1 will also find these documents to be a valuable resource when looking at
how to improve and strengthen their capacity building and mainstreaming
strategies.
Read more Top
Promoting employment opportunities for all in Great Britain
March 2006
The UK Presidency of the European Union ended in December
2005. It culminated in an event celebrating the achievements of the European
Social Fund (ESF). Keynote speaker James Plaskitt, Parliamentary Under Secretary
of State for Work and Pensions, stated that a job remains the best protection
against poverty and social exclusion.
Read more Top
Holding a job - Having a life
March 2006
Tallinn, March 2006 - Needs-tailored, affordable, quality
care for children and other dependants is an essential element of any policy
that aims to help women and men to find a better balance between their work and
their family obligations. In cooperation with the European Commission, Estonia
is hosting an Exchange Platform that will showcase those good practices from
EQUAL that have enabled people with care responsibilities to hold on to a job
and, at the same time, to lead a satisfying private life.
Read more Top
Relying on the evaluation of EQUAL to build the future
February 2006
Evaluating the activities and the programmes implementation is essential for
good governance, for drawing stragegic lessons. When it is about "experimental"
activities like in EQUAL, the need for evaluation is all the more important. A Conference
will be held the 23-24 February 2006 in Brussels, in
order to mainstream in the ESF new programming period the proposals for action
made by the Evaluators of EQUAL at National and European level. The main topic
will be
their evaluation of the implementation of the main principles that have
guided the EQUAL programmes: Partnership, Empowerment, Innovation, Mainstreaming
and Transnational cooperation.
Read more Top
Incorporating and disseminating results: two examples in France
February 2006
Two projects illustrate in an exemplary way the actions of integration and of
dissemination of EQUAL results in France. The first, Gepetto, chose, in the
field of 'Reconciling family and professional life', to carry out a territorial
networking so that all the actors concerned are involved from the beginning and
throughout the whole experiment. The result obtained is a recognition by the
Caisse National d'Allocations Familiales (CNAF) of a new method of childcare.
The second, Atout TPE, in the field of the Entrepreneurship, chose to gather all
the projects related to the creation of very small enterprises in a wide-ranging
national action destined to local representatives and decision-makers.
Read more Top
EQUAL Asylum Seeker theme: Who is in for the Second Round?
February 2006
The EQUAL Second Round started in January 2005. Development
Partnerships (DPs) have had almost a year to set up networks, negotiate roles,
define principal tasks, and obtain commitment of the actors involved. The
purpose of this article is to summarise the priorities, innovative developments,
and potentially interesting approaches of the DPs receiving financial support
under the Asylum Seekers theme in the EQUAL Round 2. This review pays specific
attention to thematic changes of the DP programmes in comparison to Round 1. It
also looks in detail at how the participation of the New Member States has
changed the priorities of the EQUAL partnerships.
Read more Top
ESF seminar on "Integrating Partnership and Gender Equality into ESF
Programmes for 2007-2013"
January 2006
Partnership and gender equality will be essential features
of the next generation of ESF programmes (2007-2013) and it is essential that
these principles are effectively integrated into their new ESF programmes to
support their reform agendas. To provide a platform for exchanging ideas, the
Commission, in co-operation with Member states' working groups, organised a
seminar in Brussels on January 19-20.
Read more Top
EQUAL provides pointers in Prague
January 2006
"Employment Works", a conference held in Prague at
the end of November, gave many EQUAL Development Partnerships and some of the
new EQUAL National EQUAL Offender Networks a chance to showcase their
activities. It also made the first links between the European Offender
Employment Forum and EQUAL's European Thematic Work on the topic of
ex-offenders.
Read more Top
Promoting EQUAL's principles
January 2006
The
European Commission is attempting to create a legacy for its EQUAL Community
Initiative and wants to build EQUAL's four main principles of Partnership,
Innovation, Transnationality and Mainstreaming into the operations of the
mainstream European Social Fund (ESF) after 2006. A recent
UK Presidency "ESF at Work" Conference provided a major opportunity to
promote these principles and to demonstrate them in action, as the audience
contained 350 delegates from across the European Union involved in either the
policy or the practice of implementing the Social Fund.
Read more Top
Coming from Afar -
Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden
January 2006
More than 200 participants from several EU countries
attended the conference 'Coming from Afar' which was organised in Gothenburg,
Sweden, on 24-26 October 2005. During the years 2002-2005 innovative practices
have been developed all over Europe under the EQUAL programme to help asylum
seekers get a job and integrate in the society. At the conference, which was
built around five themes covering the different aspects of asylum seekers'
integration - or possible return (reception, health, education, employment and
return), successful practices developed both under EQUAL and the European
Refugee Fund (ERF) and up to-date research were discussed in around 20 seminars
under the five themes. The conference ended with a lively panel debate on the
conclusions and recommendations of the seminars. The panel members, amongst them
the Swedish Members of Parliament Gustaf Fridolin and Mauricio Rojas, strongly
supported many of the recommendations and expressed their interest in future
work.
Read more Top
Education and work life
Paving the way for asylum seekers in Denmark
January 2006
Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in Denmark. Temporary work permits are
only granted to few applicants from selected professions and access to the
educational system is limited. There is a risk that many resources and labour
market skills will be lost during an often lengthy and inactive waiting period.
Maintaining and using these skills is necessary for the applicants' future
existence regardless of where his/her future lies.
Read more Top
ESF seminar on "Integrating Innovation and Transnational co-operation into
ESF Programmes for 2007-2013"
Brussels, December 2005
Innovation and transnational co-operation will be essential
features of the next generation of European Social Fund (ESF) programmes
(2007-2013). But how do Member States ensure that these principles are
effectively integrated into their new ESF programmes to support their reform
agendas? To provide a platform for exchanging ideas, the Commission, in
co-operation with Member States' working groups, organised a seminar in Brussels
on 8 December. This enabled more than 80 representatives responsible for the
design of the new ESF programmes from Member States, and delegates from Bulgaria
and Romania, together with staff from the ESF and EQUAL units of the
Commission to share experience and identify issues and solutions.
Read more Top
A special issue on Age management in Europe
December 2005
The proceedings of the EQUAL Agora "Experience is Capital"
are available.
Read more Top
Social Economy represents a Social and Economic Asset in Greece as
elsewhere in the rest of Europe
December 2005
This was one of the conclusions of a two-day event
including a Conference and a Round Table Discussion recently held in Athens to debate and explore the "Prospects of Social Economy in
Greece: Experiences and policy proposals from the implementation of the EQUAL
Community Initiative". This event was supported by a large
National Network of Development Partnerships active in this
field.
Read more Top
Transnationality boosts gender equality
November 2005
Cross-border cooperation has
strengthened EQUAL gender equality Development Partnerships (DPs) and has also
improved their capacities for innovation and mainstreaming. This was one of the
lessons that emerged from a seminar, held in Brussels on 15th and 16th November
2005. The remit of this Exchange Forum was to explore the impact of
transnational work on the promotion of equal opportunities for women and men
throughout the European Union.
Read more Top
ESF seminar on "Exchanging experiences in sound planning"
Vilnius, Lithuania, 17-18 November 2005
At the eve of a new financing round of the Structural Funds,
it was essential to reflect on the planning process for the future European
Social Fund (ESF) programmes, notably on the basis of the lessons learned from
the EQUAL Community Initiative. The seminar
brought together politicians and managers: to clarify the programming process,
to learn about specific methods and tools for sound planning and to share
experience from across the whole of Europe.
Read more Top
Revisiting EU work about Equal opportunities in a transnational perspective
November 2005
A seminar to be held in Brussels on 16th and 17th November
2005 will reunite members of the European Thematic Group on Equal Opportunities
(ETG 4). Together, they will explore how transnational cooperation, which is one
of the guiding principles of the EQUAL Community Initiative, has advanced the
cause of gender equality within the European Union.
Read more Top
Sexual
orientation on the agenda in Sweden
October 2005
The DPs have not only successfully put this issue on the
agenda for both DP-partners and other actors in the Swedish working life, but
also contributed to the area of discrimination based on sexual orientation
at EU-level.
Read more Top
New EQUAL guide just released: "Partnership Development Toolkit"
October 2005
A partnership oriented planning, monitoring and evaluation guide for facilitators of EQUAL Development and Transnational Partnerships.
Read more Top
EQUAL and Roma
September 2005
Roma people form the largest ethnic minority group in the enlarged EU. At the
same time, this is a group that has to face the greatest degree of exclusion and
the highest level of discrimination in most Member States. EQUAL has already
tested a number of measures to promote the inclusion of the Romani community and
many more will be explored by Development Partnerships that have been selected
in the second round.
Read more Top
Cooperation and collaboration are the key principles for success in
programmes like EQUAL
September 2005
The pursuit of the objectives of transnational cooperation
and mainstreaming of results requires the establishment of concrete strategies
for action and collaboration at all levels.
Read more Top
Finding out EQUAL results : new facilities...
September 2005
Since a couple of weeks, the documents on EQUAL results have expanded and the search facilities improved.
Read more Top
"Mainstreaming": a peculiar word covering a big challenge
September 2005
To assist with this complex process, EQUAL has just published 'Making Change Possible
- a practical guide to mainstreaming under EQUAL'.
Read more Top
First impressions from the EQUAL Policy Forum "Gender Equality: a Key to Change"
June 2005
For a moment, the 270 conference participants turned the opening session into a
sea of waving red fans overprinted with both the conference logo and motto, and
created a symbolic image of what the Forum was all about.
Read more Top
Agora 2005 - "Experience is Capital":
the preparatory documents are available
June 2005
The European event on Age management, organised in Paris on 23 and 24 June 2005,
is approaching.
Read more Top
The Gender Equality Policy Forum in Madrid: preview the discussion papers
May 2005
The Policy Forum on "Gender Equality: a Key to Change" will be held in
Madrid, on 9-10 June 2005 and the four Policy Briefs that will steer the
discussions in each of the respective workshops have just been made available
and can be downloaded here.
Read more Top
Searching for the ideal transnational partners...
April 2005
The process of establishing transnational co-operation agreements is heating up.
Almost 2000 Development Partnerships have already entered data into ETCIM in
order to obtain approval for their transnational co-operation from the Managing
Authorities. This process was supported by the Transnationality Clearing House
held on 25 and 26 of April in Prague and by the web based transnationality
survey.
Read more Top
Agora 2005: Experience is Capital
March 2005
A European event, organised jointly by the European
Commission and the Ministry for Employment, Labour and Social Cohesion on the
theme of Age management is to be held in Paris on 23 and 24 June 2005
at the Carrousel du Louvre.
Read more Top
"Gender equality" Policy Forum in Madrid
March 2005
Spain, as part of the Steering Group of the European Thematic Group on Equal
Opportunities (ETG 4), will be organising a Policy Forum "Gender Equality: a Key
to Change" in Madrid, on 9 and 10 June 2005.
Read more Top
Warsaw conclusions stress the future of experimental activities in the ESF
Warsaw - 25 and 26 February 2005
First
feedback from the EQUAL event: At
the recently held conference in Warsaw a number of interesting outcomes emerged
regarding the future of innovative, transnational work conducted in partnerships
between actors in the Member states.
Read more Top
