Human Capital and Entrepreneurship
A major challenge that has been aggravated by the financial and economic crisis is how to maintain Europe’s social achievements in the face of an ageing population. In the long term it is clearly neither socially nor economically sustainable to do this by forcing more people into low paid, low productivity jobs. 
So the URBACT projects focussing on this issue are exploring another vital avenue of approach. This involves a much more subtle process of working on the ground to untap the human potential of social groups and neighbourhoods which are usually discarded as part of the problem.
OPEN Cities, led by Belfast, is investigating how cities can build the kind of diverse, creative environment that retains and attracts the pool of talent that is available in migrant communities. WEED, led by Celje, points out that women’s participation in the economy plays a vital role in the sustainable development of cities and is exploring practical methods of mobilising their potential in the knowledge economy. Both projects all have much in common with other URBACT networks focussing on the active inclusions of particular groups such as migrants in the case of MILE, young people in the case of MY GENERATION and aging people in the case of Active AGE.
Stimulating entrepreneurship figures strongly in many of the networks in this group. Urban N.O.S.E led by Gela is exploring how to create social economy incubators, which can help structure a series of city services which both meet social need and create jobs. FIN-URB-ACT led by Aachen—Germany is testing out how cities can improve the support they provide to small and micro enterprises and projects.
Finally, URBAMECO, led by Lyon, shows that different kinds of neighbourhood fulfil different functions within the larger city and these two-way linkages offer an important opportunity for tapping the unused potential of both.
To find out more about the aims, methods, events and outputs being planned by these networks read the synthesis of their baselines studies.