Led by the Municipality of Nyíregyháza (Hungary), the project brings together partners from Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Bosnia and Herzegovina to address common labour market challenges and develop more coordinated local employment policies.
Network4Work focuses on transferring and adapting Nyíregyháza’s “Employment Forum” good practice, a proven governance model that brings together municipalities, employers, education and training providers, employment services and civil society organisations. Through structured cooperation, the model helps local actors respond more effectively to challenges such as skills mismatches, labour shortages, unemployment, workforce transitions and talent retention.
As an URBACT Transfer Network, Network4Work is not about creating solutions from scratch. Instead, it builds on an existing good practice that has already demonstrated its value in Nyíregyháza and supports partner cities in adapting the model to their own local contexts.
Over the course of the project, each partner city will establish a local stakeholder group involving key labour market actors. These groups will analyse local employment challenges, test new forms of cooperation and contribute to the development of locally adapted Transfer Plans. Through transnational learning activities, study visits and peer exchange, partners will work together to identify how the Employment Forum model can best support their communities.
The Network4Work partnership consists of:
- Municipality of Nyíregyháza (Hungary) – Lead Partner
- Municipality of Stara Zagora (Bulgaria)
- Municipality of Pavlos Melas (Greece)
- Municipality of Lousada (Portugal)
- Municipality of Vilanova i la Geltrú (Spain)
- Municipality of Varberg (Sweden)
- Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency – SERDA (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
The project is structured around three implementation stages: “Understand”, “Adapt” and “Re-use”. During these phases, partners will deepen their understanding of the good practice, adapt it to local needs and ultimately share the results and lessons learnt with their local audience.
By strengthening cooperation between public authorities, employers, education providers and civil society organisations, Network4Work aims to contribute to more effective local employment governance and stronger labour market opportunities across participating cities.
Network4Work runs from 1 November 2025 to 30 April 2028. The total budget of the project is EUR 690,577.51, of which EUR 538,686.79 is funded by the European Union through the URBACT IV Programme.
Follow Network4Work as the partnership begins its transfer journey and explores how stronger stakeholder cooperation can lead to stronger local employment.
