Welcome to the fourth edition of the European Social Network (ESN)'s e-newsletter dedicated to promoting social inclusion. This time round, we take a look at the following:

Second ESN Inclusion Seminar// Venice, 20-21 July 2006: Antidiscrimination and Integration

Building on the success of the Barcelona seminar, this second seminar in our inclusion programme will bring together representatives of social services and experts in the field from all levels of government to exchange best practice and experience. We will also review the preparation of the National Action Plans on Social Inclusion 2006-2008 and examine local and regional strategies and plans in this area. Our speakers include Walter Zampieri of the European Commmission and Jan Klienbannink, a national expert in the Netherlands on integration issues. Delegates will also discuss how ESN as a network can best disseminate the lessons learned from the seminar to the attention of European and national policy-makers and to their colleagues in social services.

We have some places available for this seminar and would be happy to hear from you if you are interested or know a colleague who may be interested. Contact: helen.thorn@socialeurope.com.

Good practice examples// Antidiscrimination and Integration

As part of our preparatory work for the Venice seminar, we present here examples of good practice from local and regional social services in the area of antidiscrimination and integration of minority ethnic groups and immigrants. We are grateful to our members and other contacts for providing these examples.

Community Mediation Services, Barcelona, Spain

The Diputació de Barcelona provides a community mediation service (CMS) to the local municapilities in Barcelona. A municipality's social services can request that the CMS intervene where they wish to use mediation as a way to resolve conflicts in community, e.g. between neighbours of different ethnic or cultural groups. The CMS assesses the request for intervention and draws up a work plan lasting 4-6 months. The CMS offers translation services to ensure that information is understood by all parties and socio-cultural interpretation so that all parties understand the cultural characteristics of the conflict situation. Ultimately, the CMS serves to facilitate negotiation between the parties to ensure an acceptable solution for all. Contact Mar Masachs, Diputació de Barcelona: masachslm@diba.cat

Social Services Staff Diversity Plan, Willebroek, Belgium

This diversity plan consists of 10 action points, designed to promote employment opportunities for people from minority ethnic groups, immigrants and people with disabilities. The plan adapted recruitment methods to these groups, provided for a welcoming and mentoring scheme once employed and offered special promotion opportunities. The objective was to offer permanent employment to people from minority groups after a year with the organisation on the dedicated diversity plan. Willebroek is now holding an evaluation of how they reach out to immigrants and to people from minority ethnic groups to encourage their employment. The plan was identified as a best practice in Flanders. Contact Christian Fillet, OCWM-Willebroek: christian.fillet.owi@cipal.be

ARF Films against Racism, Malmö, Sweden

ARF began in Malmö in 1993 by a group of organisations interested in cinema and race relations. . Since then ARF festivals have spread across Sweden to Gothenburg, Stockholm and Uppsala and have been supported by local social services, which are involved together with NGOs and schools through the networks which organise the festivals. Film is a powerful medium and the main audience for the festivals is children, teenagers and the adults around them. The festivals are designed to raise their awareness of racism, xenophobia and discrimination. The hope is that the seminars, in the end, will contribute to an increased understanding and tolerance between people. Besides year-round seminars, a special five day festival is held in October every year and focuses on a given theme, e.g. the use and meaning of the word "respect" (for what, for whom and in what ways?). ARF has also organised encounters between groups which seldom meet, e.g. between police, politicians and young people who feel excluded from society ("dare to meet" sessions). ARF has also produced a manual for teachers and others on how to use film when tutoring in topics like racism, xenophobia and discrimination. Contact Anna Garpestad or Anna J Ljungmark, ARF: info@arfarf.se Website: http://www.arfarf.se (Swedish only). This example was put forward by Gunnel Rydell, Malmö's ethnic relations officer: gunnel.rydell@malmo.se

Integration of Refugees through Sport and Culture, Egaleo, Greece

The Egaleo municipality and the Red Cross's Refugee Support Centre sought to improve the integration of refugees through participation in cultural activities. The partnership took the following action with the aim of favouring refugees' participation in local sporting and cultural activities: events within the framework of Environment Day; support for refugees' football team; donation of 200 tickets for local cultural events; participation in the annual Egaleo run, local athletics clubs, art groups. Refugees were also able given a forum for expression in a special art exhibition and a concert. This helped to raise awareness among the settled population of the refugees' cultures.

Monitoring// The Preparation of the NAPs/Inclusion 2006-2008

Each national government in the European Union has to draw up a National Action Plan on Social Inclusion (NAP/Inclusion). These NAPs are preceded by a consultation process which seeks input from service providers, local authorities, NGOs and other stakeholders. ESN is monitoring the preparation of the NAPs across the EU: you can see our latest update on the preparation of the NAPs as well as a contact list of responsible officials in your country by clicking here.

ESN would like to hear from you about your organisation's participation in the NAPs consultation process in your country. We would like to feature of this in the June or July e-newsletter. If you would like to contribute, please contact Stephen Barnett: info@socialeurope.com

German National Action Plan// First draft published for consultation

A first draft of the NAP has been made available for consultation by the German government to a wide range of stakeholders. The priorities chosen by the government conform to current political priorities in Germany and relate to policy and governance. In policy, the priority areas are: to increase labour market participation; to combat disadvantaeg in education and training; establishing the building blocks of a modern children and family policy; giving special consideration to child poverty; strenghtening the integration of immigrants; and overcoming discrimination and integration for people with disabilities. Better governance was also an aim of the new NAP, which noted that progress had been made in bringing all actors (from the public sector and NGOs) together through various networks.

EU and Social Services// European Commission moves closer to defining "social services of general interest"

The free movement of persons, goods, services and capital is the cornerstone of the European Economic Community, which was later to become the European Union. Certain sections of social services too could - if such laws were passed - be subject to free movement across the EU member states.

Social and health services are so far not affected by evolving legislation but as these services modernise in many EU member states and are now spanning the public and private sectors, their unusual position requires clarification under European law. A recent communication on this issue ("Implementing the Community Lisbon Programme: Social services of general interest in the EU", COM(2006)177) presents a tentative definition, referred to as "specificity criteria", of social services, which is of interest not only for its legal implications, but also as it demonstrates the common ground of the different social models in the Union.

The Commission identifies two main types of social services: firstly, social security schemes covering, insuring against, for instance, unemployment, old age or disability; secondly, personal services, assisting citizens facing personal difficulties such as unemployment, debt, drug addiction. These services present the following characteristics: non-equivalence between benefits and contributions; universality; not-for-profit; participation of voluntary workers; rooted in cultural traditions; an asymmetric provider-beneficiary relationship (i.e. not a normal consumer/supplier relationship).

The Commission will begin to publish biennial reports on modernisation trends and case-law on this issue. The first report - announced for the end of 2007 - will consider whether EU regulation of this area is necessary. For further information, see the Commission's website.

The next e-newsletter will come out at the end of June. It will feature:

• a further update on the consultation process for the NAPs/Inclusion
• a section on ESN members' participation in the NAPs.
• a small report on the European Social Network's annual conference in Vienna
• an update on the Venice seminar on antidiscrimination and integration