Conference of the Assembly of European Regions

‘Building inclusive societies’ was the theme of the European conference organised by the Region of Valencia and the Assembly of European Regions in Valencia, Spain, on the 12 December. The conference brought together around 90 delegates from European and regional level to discuss what role regional government plays in promoting a socially inclusive society and what challenges regional and local actors face in implementing and replicating successful social inclusion initiatives. The conference also touched on the topic of social investment, social innovation and the use of ICT, as key concepts and tools for building an inclusive society. The European Social Network (ESN) was represented at the event by Lars-Göran Jansson, the Secretary of the Swedish Association of Social Directors (FSS) and ESN’s Chair.

How to promote social inclusion in the regions?

The meeting was opened by the Regional Minister for Social Welfare in Valencia, Asuncion Sanchez Zaplana: “Building an inclusive society is much more than a political responsibility (…) It involves the setting up of an inclusive culture that takes root in our society, determining the involvement and co-responsibility of each organisation and institution, each social stakeholder, and each citizen with respect to groups of people who could find themselves in a situation of vulnerability.”

Below are some ideas from the event for ensuring vulnerable and marginalised people are included in society:

• Empowerment – having a voice in society, access to employment, and the tools to participate in social life
• Consideration – incorporating their needs in the policy making process
• Equal rights – access to basic services such as housing, employment, education, health care and social services
• Community participation – access to social interactions and participation to social, cultural or political activities

ESN’s Chair Lars-Göran Jansson spoke at the panel session of the conference. He pointed to the European Commission’s Social Investment Package as a positive initiative which underpins and supports early interventions in social services as a way to meet coming demographic and financial challenges. He also argued that social services play a significant role as the drivers for the necessary modernisation of the welfare sector.

How to implement social inclusion at the local level?

The event featured a number of practice examples looking at the key challenges for implementing social inclusion at local level, including the issue of making successful practices more transferrable.

ESN’s Lars-Göran Jansson presented an example of an IT pilot project from the Gothenburg region in Sweden which trains unemployed young people to help and teach older people how to deal with their everyday ICT problems. During the project young people receive ICT training as well as training on working in a care environment. They are then sent to elderly care homes or day centres to support care staff and elderly people to learn how to deal with different ICT problems.

Other projects included:

• SMARTCARE, an open ICT platform enabling the delivery of integrated care to older European citizens across 10 pilot regions;
• ESTHER project from Jönköping in Sweden, which aims to improve the way patients flow through the system of care by strengthening coordination and communication amongst providers;
• Arctic Light E-Health Conference (ALEC 2014), discussing how to use patients as a knowledgeable and active co-partner in the health care sector.