Active Inclusion
The active inclusion theme focuses on ways that specific groups in society can be included both in the labour market and in wider society. 
Certain groups in the city are particularly prone to social exclusion in all its forms. There are particular problems for people at the start of their working lives to make the bridge from education into work. European cities have increasing concentrations of young people who have dropped out and are not in education, employment or training. This topic is being tackled by MY GENERATION which takes a particular interest in engaging young people in the development of new solutions and challenging traditional top-down governance structures.
As people near retirement age their level of economic activity starts to fall. This is an increasing problem in the demographic transformation as more and more elderly people are being supported by fewer and fewer working age population. The onus is on societies to enable people over 50 to remain active for longer so that they continue to earn income into old age. This is a major focus of the ACTIVE AGE project which also explores other areas of municipal life including labour markets, housing markets, social security systems, infrastructure, urban/spatial planning, education, budgets and finances. Remaining active for longer has become more and more important because National pension systems and people’s own savings and pension arrangements are often unable to provide adequate incomes for retired people. This pension crisis has been exacerbated by the financial crisis which is seeing the end of many private sector final salary pension schemes and the erosion of pension values by stock market fluctuations. Activity for all groups including young and older people is important for promoting wellbeing, a sense of worth and a connection to social life.
This work involves partnership, empowerment, coordination of departments, agencies and sectors and communities. It includes efforts made to build better bridges for young people between education and the world of work.
Migrants represent a third major challenge in the labour market. Although most migrants are active in the early years of their migration the overall proportion working tends to fall over time as issues arise and as dependants are brought over to reunite families. MILE which stands for ‘managing migration at the local level’ has explored the role of measures to stimulate and support labour market activation through employment. The project also worked on enterprise and to assist migrants with employment as part of its work on managing migration at the local level.
MY GENERATION is exploring effective strategies in promoting the positive potential of the young generation. The objective is to develop strategies and sustainable local action in promoting positive potential and active transitions in the life of the young generation in terms of employment and human capital.
Recognising lower activity rates among women WEED is working on women in employment and economic development. The network focuses on women and entrepreneurship, women in research and knowledge economy and gender inequalities in the workplace and the labour market.
Urban N.O.S.E is working with social enterprise incubators which offer a protected environment in which start-up social enterprises can develop their business plan, grow their market and build their businesses. Incubators can take a number of forms, some providing workspace and others operating more virtually. Work Inclusion Social Enterprises (WISEs) focus on creating employment and supporting the integration of specific groups within society such as the disabled, long term unemployed and people with drug or alcohol dependency.
Common themes that emerge in URBACT projects focusing on specific groups include the need to integrate national, regional and local services (vertical and horizontal integration), the need to provide wrap around support such as childcare and guidance. A particular issue for local authorities in cities is the problems of integrating budgets so that those who invest in parts of the activation chain (e.g. childcare) are rewarded for their contribution by those that achieve savings (often the national social protection ministry). As part of specific approaches to inclusion for groups in the labour market many projects have a strong emphasis on empowerment and participation.
To find out more about the aims, methods, events and outputs being planned by these networks read the synthesis of their baselines studies.
Open Event on Migration and the Crisis, Brussels, 26 May 2009:
- Migration, cities and the crisis: a synthetic report on the event written by Peter Ramsden, Thematic Pole Manager
- Programme Background & Agenda of the Open Event
- OECD LEED: Strategic approaches to immigration at the local level – powerpoint presented in Brussels
- QeC-ERAN: Online integration services for third country nationals – powerpoint presented in Brussels
- Dublin City Office for Integration: Integration Framework – powerpoint presented in Brussels
- IntiCities: Benchmarking integration governance – powerpoint presented in Brussels
- Open Cities: Benefiting from migration – powerpoint presented in Brussels