Call for good practice// Social Inclusion

ESN is looking for examples of good practice from local and regional social services on a number of issues for inclusion in this enewsletter and/or for possible presentations at future events. These examples should concern the following:

• Local and regional strategies for social inclusion or other local plans/strategies of which social inclusion is an element.
• Strategies and projects to combat child poverty and good practice on the protection and care services for children.

Please contact us for further details.

National Action Plans// Social services review the NAPs/Inclusion 2006-08

What are the social inclusion priorities in your country? Read your NAP!

Would you like to help ESN to review the NAPs/2006-08 in a report we will publish in early 2007? If so please e-mail us - we welcome your input.

The National Reports on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2006-2008 (incorporating the NAPs/Inclusion) have now been published by most EU governments and are available on the European Commission website. There has been a delay in submission by Hungary and Italy due to general elections earlier this year.

ESN will begin to review the completed NAP process and the content of the action plans in the coming months. This review will carried out with support from network members in local and regional social services across Europe. The review process will feed into "Social Services Promoting Social Inclusion in Europe, A Report by the European Social Network 2006" which will be published at the end of the year. The will be disseminated and publicised to the European Commission, national governments and other stakeholders in the NAP process and other EU institutions.

ESN launched this review at the third social inclusion seminar of this year. We will contact ESN members and inclusion seminar participants to request their feedback in early November.

Third ESN Inclusion Seminar// Metz, 25-26 October 2006: Social and Employment Activation

The final inclusion seminar of this year was held in Metz on 25-26 October. The full seminar programme and presentations will be available later this week on our activation webpage. The first 'open day' of the ESN seminar was hosted as part of the biennial congress of our French inclusion partner, the UNCCAS, the union of local social welfare centres.

This 'open day' was attended by around 600 French delegates who are local councillors and directors of social services from around France. This gave ESN the opportunity to promote social inclusion generally and activation in particular as a key issue for European and national policy-makers.

ESN was pleased to invite representatives of the European Commission, the French and Norwegian national governments and local service providers from Sweden, Poland, Italy, Estonia and France to give their perspective on social and employment activation as an element of the European process for social inclusion in contemporary Europe. This was a useful opportunity to exchange ideas, practice and learning on activation among social (and employment) services in Europe.

ESN will produce a full seminar report and publish a set of key recommendations on this issue to feed into the social inclusion process at European and national level.

Local and Regional Strategies for Social Inclusion

The National Action Plans for Social Inclusion are intended to bring together in a strategic document measures to combat poverty and social exclusion by the national government. Local and regional authorities are major providers of services and widely responsible for implementation of national policies. They are also knowledgeable about particular local or regional problems of deprivation or exclusion. What scope is there for the development of local and regional strategies for social inclusion? Here, we present an example of a local strategy to combat poverty and exclusion.

Case-study: Dublin City Council

Dublin is in the process of developing a social inclusion strategy. Social inclusion is a core principle in the city's corporate plan, which states: "while respecting and promoting diversity, the Council will, in dealing with the economy of the city, seek to promote and realise social inclusion". Dublin's approach is made in the national policy context of Ireland's National Anti-poverty strategy and the NAP/Inclusion and recognises that local authorities are key to delivering on the NAPs.

The Council established a social inclusion unit in 2000 to coordinate policy and action across the Council and has close links with various council departments. The unit has a number of roles, including to:

• assist the Council to incorporate social inclusion objectives in the authority's corporate plan
• develop data on poverty and exclusion, including the creation of local poverty profiles
• raise awareness of the social inclusion perspective among staff
• identify new and innovative practices in combating exclusion

In the next few years, the Council will assess and review progress on social inclusion in the corporate plan, in other policy areas, and in the implementation of the national anti-poverty strategy and the NAP/Inclusion 2006-08. Some of the key challenges in Dublin's evolving strategy are to:

• Building customer-friendly consultation mechanisms to improve services
• Furthering an inter-agency approach to combating poverty and exclusion
• Continuing to raise awareness among front-line staff
• Embedding social inclusion in all policies, strategies and actions across all city departments.

Overall, Dublin's approach is to build an inclusive city and inclusive services to Dublin's communities. This is led by a social inclusion unit which seeks to mainstream inclusion across all services and strategies.

With thanks to Terry Madden, chief welfare officer and John Hanley, senior housing welfare officer, for their presentation.

ESN will take forward its work on local/regional strategies in its 2007 inclusion work programme.

News from the European Commission

EU calls on social partners to join the flexicurity debate

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, together with Commissioner Vladimír Špidla and Member States' representatives called on employers' and workers' organisations to participate actively in the debate on flexicurity. The informal Tripartite Social Summit was organised jointly by the Finnish Presidency and the Commission to encourage high-level trade union and employer representatives to examine ways of combining active labour market policies, flexible contractual arrangements, lifelong learning and social protection. It was the first opportunity for the social partners to provide input to discussions on flexicurity at the European level.

Five ways to defuse the demographic time bomb

Europe's ageing population is an unprecedented challenge for the whole of society, but it is a challenge we must rise to, and we must rise to it now, concludes the European Commission's new Communication on “The demographic future of Europe – from challenge to opportunity". It underlines Member States' ability to meet the challenges of a shrinking workforce and an ageing population. The keys to success are the promotion of demographic renewal, more jobs and longer working lives, higher productivity, integrating migrants and sustainable public finances.

News items taken from DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities news page.

Coming up in the November e-newsletter:

• Summary of Metz seminar on social and employment activation
• Good practice: social and employment activation
• Good practice: local and regional strategies for social inclusion

Previous editions of the ESN inclusion e-newsletter from 2006:

February // March // April // May // June // July // August // September