Initiative for innovative integrated interventions

Under the project Urban initiative for innovative integrated social services interventions in Miskolc (known as 4IM), the city developed and tested a coordinated model for several social and employment services in two deprived neighbourhoods.  

Key project achievements: 

• Five new service packages: 

1. Employment service for those who want to start jobs immediately,
2. Education and training service for those needing basic education or vocational skills.
3. Housing service to improve living conditions where they hamper employment.
4. ‘Open Door' service to improve employability when it is hampered by health, debt management, or other barriers.
5. Motivation and mobilisation service for those not engaged with other service packages, for example, children's activities with community discussions. 

• Improved access to employment and social services: Over 80% of the 300 local residents in the two pilot neighbourhoods participated in employment, training, or other activities. 

• Expanding the new service scheme: The approach will be extended to other neighbourhoods, and its adaptation has begun in the partner city of Košice in Slovakia. 

• Stronger collaboration: At the city level, links between organisations and service providers have been strengthened and the new cooperation structure established will ensure that partnerships are maintained. 

• Broader integration: Miskolc is joining a network of similar European urban initiatives. 

The 4IM project’s pilot model integrates service delivery, using a number of development tools, to expand and coordinate social and employment services in Miskolc. The process is embedded within the municipality system, to ensure the sustainability of the model.  

In June 2023, the Mayor established the Social Innovation Council to support the decision making process, identify policy gaps that may be barriers to accessing services, and to advise the Miskolc City Council on social inclusion. Members of the Council are experts in the social sector, health, education, and public administration. Their work is supported by its Resource Centre.  

The Resource Centre coordinates the work of institutions and NGOs, and promotes the self-organisation of local communities, through joint programmes and activities, and by encouraging the participation of local people. The Resource Centre informs the Social Innovation Council of the current situation in deprived neighbourhoods, and makes proposals for the development and introduction of new services. All these activities ensure an integrated approach. 

With the supporting activities of the Social Innovation Council Resource Centre, under the leadership of the municipality, the project reached out to all institutions and NGOs in Miskolc involved in social inclusion. Thematic working groups were set up to discuss challenges and solutions.  

The local population was engaged by a Community Coach, under the guidance of the Resource Centre, through regular workshops and citizens' forums. Representatives of community action groups formed by the self-organisation of the local population are also members of the thematic working groups. Focus group sessions were also held, at institutional and local level, to measure the effectiveness and progress of the model. 

Cooperation between actors is now effective and systematic, within a framework that ensures sustainability. Miskolc has tested and developed a forward-looking, integrated and sustainable service model, which has generated change at both policy and institutional level. 

The model directly reaches those in need, offering them appropriate services through household-level mapping to identify any obstacles to accessing a service. The project’s newly-created well-being indicator measures an individual's needs, skills, opportunities and social network, to help the community coach provide more effective support. 

Local involvement in decision-making has improved. The project, piloted on a small scale, brought more than 300 residents in a deprived area closer to employment, and to other services that enhance social inclusion. They participated in training or other mobilisation activities, making them active partners in the development of services. 

The project exceeded its target, with an average indicator delivery rate of 186%, and is extending its approach to other deprived areas of Miskolc. 

Miskolc’s welfare services model has also been piloted at small-scale in Košice (Slovakia). Representatives from Košice participated in the workshops and communicate regularly with the 4IM project to ensure the transferability of the model. The two cities worked together to look at the steps taken to engage the population, the tasks that social workers executed, and how social services could be further improved using innovative methods. 

The project team has also met with German and Italian partners, confirmed that the innovative methodology can be transferred and further developed to improve social services through cooperative actions in deprived neighbourhoods. This should be done using a bottom-up approach, with the active involvement of the local population. 

The project contributes to the implementation of: 

•  Hungarian national policy, law and regulations, on Social Administration and Social Benefits, the Protection of Children and the Administration of Guardianship, and on the Local Rules of Settlement Support and Other Social Benefits Provided by the Municipality. 

• European Pillar of Social Rights Principle 14 on the right to an adequate minimum income. 

• European Council Recommendation 2023 on the development of minimum income schemes. 

The 4IM project’s model was designed and implemented in such a way that its activities can be adapted and applied in other European cities, as shown by its small-scale transfer to Košice. Policy commitment and support from the municipality is essential for a successful transfer, which also requires the coordinated work of dedicated social workers, professionals in social inclusion, and public administrators.