Piloting a project takes time and investment, which doesn’t always directly result in success. Nevertheless, when the reason for a pilot is urgent, as is the case with addressing the social and labour market inclusion of displaced people fleeing the war in Ukraine, identifying ways to fast track the process, while staying focused on outcomes, can make all the difference.  

This is why the ECSILI Project Consortium, spearheaded by the European Social Network (ESN) with the partner municipalities of Warsaw, Poland and Arad, Romania, is so important. Working over an 18 month timeframe to create, pilot, and evaluate a social innovation project that focuses on social and labour market inclusion, ECSILI is modelled on a tested social innovation method, ERACIS, implemented in Andalucia since 2018.  Founded on ESN’s core principles of community care and service co-production, the project has been making strides.  

Rooted in an integrated, community-driven approach to social and labour market inclusion and driven by cooperation across organisations including NGOs, social services, employers, and labour offices, ECSILI has now progressed from the planning to pilot implementation stage.   

Charting a route to success 

So far, the project has seen the involvement of over 40 stakeholders, as well as direct input from refugees displaced by the war with their views on existing labour activation services. Staff training on new procedures and technological tools introduced by the project have also taken place. 

Through its emphasis on co-creation within the pilot creation strategy, the project has ensured that Local Action Plans for labour market inclusion have been developed, not as a ‘top-down’ approach, but where all stakeholders help shape it to meet individual refugee’s needs. 

Inclusion is often stymied by a lack of communication and coordination between stakeholders and with those accessing services, leaving people unsure of where to turn when support is needed. ECSILI is designed to help avoid such pitfalls.  

Shifting from needs analysis to action plan 

The needs analysis process for ECSILI has culminated in the creation of new standard operating procedures for social services in both municipalities to work with refugees.   

In Warsaw, the procedure introduced by the process foresees the Labour Office for foreigners and the Family Support Centre to be co-responsible for accompanying Ukrainian refugees in the creation of their individualised plans. These plans are meant to outline the most suitable solutions based not only on their needs but also on their wants. For example, referring them to useful courses for increasing their qualifications, achieve their aspirations, or provide psychosocial support resources that are much needed in situations of fragility such as displacement. This is all being done through continuous inter-institutional consultations, but also at an individual level with the subject of the plan. 

In Arad, language courses in Romanian were identified by displaced people as a primary need, resulting in the Directorate of Social Support partnering with a local NGO to provide appropriate courses. In addition, referrals across different service providers were streamlined thereby speeding up the process and improving access. For example, once a case is registered and screened, individuals identified as unemployed can be directly referred to the public employment service, ensuring quicker activation of labour-market support saving time and effort for the user and making support institutions more proactive instead of reactive when it comes to support provision. 

These are just some examples of how ECSILI’s approach is having an early impact on the lives of Ukrainian refugees, empowering them to shape the systems that there to help them, all while providing encouraging indicators for the remainder of the pilots.  

Conclusion 

ECSILI – Empowering Communities, is designed to foster the key ESN principle of community-based based care, defined as the need for care services to be rooted in the community and in a service culture that prioritises quality. 

This is reflected in the consortium’s engagement in driving inclusion in a practical way through the collaboration between agencies and individuals. Crucial to this is the principle of co-production, involving people affected in all phases of service provision, from creation to evaluation.   

These principles help ensure that displaced people are part of the community, aided by formal frameworks designed by and for them and based on immediate needs.  

Although the road towards the social and labour market inclusion of Ukrainian refugees does not end with the conclusion of this piloting phase, ECSILI lays the foundations for a structural shift in approach—one that mainstreams multi-stakeholder involvement and strengthens referral mechanisms. The ECSILI Project Consortium will continue working to ensure that the commitment generated and the changes initiated extend beyond the project’s 18-month duration, with the ambition to contribute to systemic and sustainable transformation by translating inclusive practices into long-term policies rather than confining them to the lifespan of a single initiative. 

For further information on the project’s outputs to date, please consult the current project deliverables available in the Resources section of the ECSILI webpage ECSILI | ESN.