bringing down the walls
TRANSCRIPT
Bringing down the wallsInspirational practices in the field ofreintegration in Europe
www.stimulansz.nl
Foreword
Acknowledgement
Projects
• Austria: Career Moves
• Austria: Spacelab
• Belgium: Ankerfiguren
• Belgium Experience@work
• Belgium: Wegwijs
• Denmark: Mind your own business
• Italy: Social cooperatives
• Netherlands: WatTwest
• Netherlands: Webleren
• Slovakia: EPIC
• Sweden: IT Projects
• United Kingdom: Bike Back Derby
• United Kingdom: YouRock
Conclusion: Top 3 project features
www.stimulansz.nl
Bringing down the wallsTable of contents
Knowing the key role that social responsibility playsin the modern world, Stimulansz as a not-for-profitorganization aimed to support professionals andcitizens in the fields of employment, income,housing, healthcare and quality of life, has decided tomap the best practices and social innovationsthroughout Europe. Stimulansz would like to inspireEuropean countries towards implementation ofsustainable reintegration processes by closercooperation and sharing international experiences,hence contribute to the development of efficient andsuccessful best practices throughout Europe.
The intention of the international project and its relatedresearch was to highlight innovative projects within thefield of the labour market integration. As Stimulansz soonrealized, the labour market integration is in fact only asmall fraction of a much wider mosaic consisting of otheraspects of life. The common themes throughout allchosen projects for this publication consequently showboth social integration cases as well as labour marketintegration initiatives.
Social ResponsibilityThe goal of the project is to inspire the readers of thispublication and to visualize the layers and strata of thesocio economic scales of issues and build a steppingstone towards a future where ideas could be implementedin those spheres with maximal benefits and minimalstrains. Stimulansz also hopes with the overall publicationand presentation of the projects, to garner a networkwhich fosters international cooperation and exchange ofexperiences and ideas from the social domain.
New Trends in the Social DomainThe journey in choosing the presented projects was aninspiring exploration into the world of various sociallyaware organizations who have committed causes withinthe social domain. As much as it was an enjoyablejourney, Stimulansz selected those initiatives whosefeatures are implementable and relevant to all countriesand which target current crucial issues such as immigrantassimilation or youth unemployment. The essence of the
research by Stimulansz was centered on trending topics,including innovative ways of labour market integration,usage of modern technologies within the social domain,integrated approach in tackling multiple issues and lastlyencouraging private actions and self-activation.
Apparently due to the global economic crises that resultedin many vulnerable groups being unemployed, the pre-sented publication shows some clear forming patterns.The trends illustrate that the vast majority of the chosenprojects are focused on empowering individuals to set afoothold into their own professional and personal future.Many of the presented projects are therefore privateinitiatives and aimed towards encouraging entrepreneur-ship. Another trend emerging from the research is increa-se in usage of modern technologies to combat the socialissues at hand.
AppreciationStimulansz would like to thank all contributors to thispublication for their immense cooperation and time aswell as sharing their experiences.
Stimulansz also wants to thank Karolína Kroupová,International Intern at Stimulansz for creating this won-derful whitepaper. We are grateful for all her effort anddedication.
Gerrit Jan Schep,CEO Stimulansz
www.stimulansz.nl
Bringing down the wallsForeword
Methodology The following contains information regarding the
methodologies used within the process of conducting the
research as well as preparation of this publication by
Stimulansz.
Research Information presented within this publication was
gathered by general and individual ways of conducting
the research.
General way of conducting the research consisted of:
Contacting various organizations due to the
widespread network of Stimulansz partners
Usage of search engines (Google search)
Search within the database of projects available
on the official websites of the European
Commission
Search within the database of projects available
on the SozialMarie websites
Official websites of the BBC news
Individual way of conducting the research consisted of:
Direct contact with each respective
organization
Usage of unified questionnaire prepared by
Stimulansz to gain relevant information
regarding each presented project
Phone or Skype calls with project managers or
coordinators of each presented project
Respective documents presented by
organizations (annual reports, magazine
articles, professional publications)
Preparation of the Publication The content of each chapter presented within this
publication was approved by the respective managing
organizations and amended according to their
preferences before publishing.
Acknowledgment
Career Moves operates an Internet job search
platform specialized for people with disabilities. By
using specifically developed search symbols which
indicate whether a job offer is especially suitable for
people with certain disabilities, Career Moves
establishes an equal environment for disabled people
to find open job positions where their disabilities do
not play a role.
‘Our philosophy at Career Moves is that people with
disabilities have the same potential to work and perform
according to their strengths as anybody else. We focus
on their abilities, not disabilities’ says Gregor Demblin,
a co-founder of the job initiative Career Moves.
The Perfect Matching System The Career Moves search engine has developed four
different search icons which enables the perfect matching
system by bringing people with disabilities to job offers
which best suits their qualifications, education, specific
needs and other requirements. Besides a general symbol
through which employers can explicitly declare an
invitation for disabled job seekers to apply for the offered
position, people can further specify their job search
requirements by using three symbols indicating limitation
in vision, limitation in musculoskeletal system and
restriction in hearing or speaking.
Special search icons developed by Career Moves.
Career Moves is therefore much more than just a normal
job search platform as it facilitates opportunities for
people with various disabilities to find tailored-made job
offers in Austria.
In order to keep up with the modern trends, Career
Moves has developed a mobile application and adjusted
their official websites. As a result the job search platform
is accessible for everybody on any kind of technical
device. Career Moves search platform also uses a job
notification system; whenever there is a new open job
position which fulfils the prior-set criteria (e.g. job offers
available for people with limitation in vision within the
Vienna area), it automatically informs the job seeker via
e-mail.
Mobile and tablet application developed by Career Moves.
Coping with the Market Gap In Austria up to 15% of the population suffers from
different types of disabilities, while only one third of the
populace is actively participating in the labour market.
These numbers apply to disabled people with various
levels of education, qualification and work experience.
This means even highly qualified people struggle to make
their way to the labour market.
The idea of creating specialized search tools aimed at
supporting disabled people when searching for open job
positions was incepted in 2009 during a clients meeting
between Wolfgang Kowatsch and Gregor Demblin,
Career Moves: Job platform for disabled people with brilliant results
‘People with disabilities want to be integrated into society, perform in their jobs and live a normal life just like everybody else.
Physical barriers, but even more barriers in people’s heads, often stand against this wish and makes it almost impossible for
people with disabilities to be successful in life. This is what I want to change.’
Gregor Demblin, co-founder of Career Moves
founders of Career Moves initiative. ‘We realized that
people with disabilities are not sufficiently considered
within the general internet job search platforms’ says
Wolfgang Kowatsch.
Wolfgang Kowatsch and Gregor Demblin, founders of Career Moves.
The specialized job search platform was introduced
online in 2010 and due to its great success, what once
started as a private initiative is now fully funded by the
Ministry of Social Affairs in Austria. The main partner of
Career Moves is the mainstream job platform
Careesma.at which provides Career Moves with technical
support. Careersma.at is also a helpful partner in
advising Career Moves with important know-how about
the job platform business. ‘The idea behind Career
Moves initiative is to get people with disabilities into jobs
and thus enable everyone – supervisors, colleagues and
friends – to learn how to interact with disabled people
naturally. And our experience has been great so far!’
adds Gregor Demblin.
Employment before Penalties Career Moves activities are much more widespread than
just operating a specialized job search platform. Career
Moves closely cooperates with employers in order to
encourage them to hire workers with disabilities: ‘We
have adopted a rather innovative approach - our success
lies in the fact that we are not purely focusing on the
integration of people with various disabilities into the
labour market. We believe that raising awareness of this
topic at the business level is crucial as well. The key is to
show companies that employing disabled people is much
more advantageous than paying financial penalties’
Wolfgang Kowatsch comments on the overall trend in
Austria, wherein a vast majority of the business
establishments who are obliged by law to employ people
with disabilities through a quota system, rather pay
financial penalties instead of employing disabled workers.
Career Moves workers are therefore targeting potential
employers at the business level in order to enlighten and
convince them of the advantages of employing disabled
workers. With the same purpose, Career Moves operates
an advisory centre which is aimed to assist employers
with various issues related to employment of disabled
people. ‘We are trying to answer all their questions to the
best of our knowledge. As we are indispensable part of a
wider network consisting of NGOs working with people
with disabilities and other private and public
stakeholders, we have the possibility to refer specific
queries to our partners’ says Wolfgang Kowatsch.
The Overall Success Career Moves has already offered more than 10.000 jobs
for people with disabilities online since its foundation and
has achieved more than one million clicks on its job
offers in 2013 only. There are up to 250 companies per
year that actively post their job offers with explicit
invitation for people with disabilities.
Contact & Information
Official websites: http://www.careermoves.at/
E-mail address: [email protected]
‘Spacelab’ is an Austrian initiative aimed at young
people who are facing many difficulties during their
transition from school to the labour market. The
project provides them with comprehensive support
and professional assistance in planning their
educational or professional future. Low-threshold
approach combined with a complex modular concept
make Spacelab a unique program, wherein young
people living in Vienna have the opportunity to
improve their skills and competence, experience
work environment and obtain vocational training.
Spacelab places its focus on young people aged 15 to 25
with problematic background, who do not know what to
do with their lives. Many of the Spacelab participants
have not finished their education, are unemployed or
have unrealistic expectations about their future
occupation. Spacelab therefore aims to broaden their
horizons by developing personal and professional
perspectives and new life challenges.
Combining Advanced Modular Concept with Low-Threshold Approach ‘We soon realized that it is necessary to adapt our
methodologies in order to capture the interest of young
people and correspond with their impulses to do
something about their situation. We have therefore
implemented a very open approach towards young
people within Spacelab. They can come to us voluntarily
and whenever they want to, as a referral by the social or
employment services is not required,’ Christoph Trauner,
the main coordinator of Spacelab, comments on the low-
threshold approach implemented within the initiative. The
most important element of this approach is that it allows
youngsters to re-join Spacelab even after having
interrupted their participation. ‘This feature makes
Spacelab very distinctive from other projects with similar
focus as our participants are not required to full and
continuous commitment. This is based on the realisation
that sometimes young people’s priorities are different and
hence they can’t pay full attention to Spacelab,’ further
explains Christoph Trauner.
The complex modular concept is implemented in
accordance with the low threshold approach as it offers a
wide range of activities with various levels of personal
commitment. ‘Young people are not obliged to get
involved in our activities immediately or even to
systematically join every module offered within Spacelab.
They can freely join us in our premises during opening
hours or at the Information day which is organized every
week and learn more about our activities and offers.
Additionally youngsters have the opportunity to discuss
their particular situation with prospect coaches and based
on their professional advice, decide how they would like
to get involved within Spacelab,’ says Christoph Trauner.
Participants of the ‘Workshop training’ module at Spacelab_creative.
Varying Level of Personal Commitment Spacelab offers a number of different modules to young
people with various activities. For instance within the
module ‘Open and detached youth work’, youth workers
approach the targeted youngsters in public places and
offer free counselling and information on educational
programs by Spacelab. The module ‘Developing
prospects’ places its focus on formation of professional
and personal visions for the future. Participants can
improve necessary skills for steady professional career
growth in the module ‘Education’. Most importantly,
young people can obtain real work experience within
‘Daily training’ and ‘Workshop training’ modules.
Spacelab: Low commitment model aimed at young people with fruitful results
‘Sometimes young people are facing many issues at once and therefore can’t pay full attention to Spacelab as their priorities
are different. In such situations we remind them that Spacelab’s doors are always open and that they are welcome to
(re)join. As we like to say, Spacelab is not the first or the second chance for young people, but even the fifth or the sixth
one!’
Christoph Trauner, the main coordinator at Spacelab.
There are four Spacelab locations in Vienna – each
focused on different topics, wherein participants can join
practical training sessions:
Spacelab_environment offers various workshops on
gardening and ecology
Spacelab_creative is centred around media projects
and improvement of creative skills
Spacelab_girls provides young women with a wide
range of educational and vocational activities, including
creative designing or handicraft
Spacelab_design aims to improve participants’ skills
in the fields of culture and technology
Participants at career information day at Spacelab_creative.
Social Media: The Future of Counselling Young People Youth workers who are active in the module ‘Open and
detached youth work’ use social media, mostly
Facebook, to promote the activities of Spacelab among
targeted young people. ‘The vast majority of young
people nowadays utilize Facebook as the main
communication platform with the outside world,’ explains
Christoph Trauner. Spacelab workers therefore created
their own Facebook accounts in order to easily approach
targeted youngsters. ‘Due to Facebook friendships, youth
workers can actively observe if young people face any
particular problems. They can directly speak to the
youngsters and possibly offer them support and advice.
However we have been noticing that even young people
actively ask workers for their help through Facebook, for
instance with getting feedback on their CVs,’ continues
Christoph Trauner. In addition social media are a great
tool to keep in touch with people who finished or
interrupted their participation within Spacelab.
Wide Network: Connecting Experience Spacelab is one of the projects of the Vienna’s
Vocational Training Guarantee and is implemented by a
consortium of five non-profit organizations. Each of the
involved organizations has valuable experience with
certain type of integration activities and contributes to the
accomplishment of Spacelab objectives. The initiative is
funded by Vienna Employment Promotion Fund (waff)
and Public Employment Service (AMS).
Success of the Low Commitment Model In 2013 there were 380 young people participating in
Spacelab, while 36% of them commenced educational or
vocational programs, apprenticeship or started their
professional careers. Moreover Spacelab was awarded
with the European Social Fund Award for Innovations in
2013. ‘We believe that Spacelab could serve as an
inspirational model for low-threshold programs aimed at
youngsters who have dropped out of the system. The
success of Spacelab lies in an integrated approach in
combination with modular concept allowing different
levels of personal commitment. This model is therefore
resulting in a high acceptance by youngsters,’ Christoph
Trauner concludes.
Contact & Information
Official websites: www.spacelab.cc
E-mail address: [email protected]
The Belgian low-threshold project, Ankerfiguren,
places its focus on unemployed people of Slovak and
Bulgarian origin living in Ghent. By involving ‘anchor
persons’ – mediators, who guide jobless individuals
towards social and employment authorities, the
initiative significantly contributes to the prevention of
precarious situations within certain neighbourhoods
of Ghent as well as to the inclusion of Slovak and
Bulgarian migrants into the Belgian society.
The city of Ghent is currently confronted with large
inflows of Slovak and Bulgarian citizens, mostly of Roma
origin, who are looking for better job opportunities. ‘For
the total of 250 thousand inhabits of the city of Ghent,
there are up to 10 thousand migrants with Slovak or
Bulgarian roots. The vast majority of them are facing
many difficulties in accessing the labour market as they
are burdened with a rather problematic background;
unfinished basic education, weak labour skills or non-
existent work experience. Most of the people do not
speak Dutch and therefore feel afraid or are even
embarrassed to register themselves at the Belgian
authorities’ explains Jan De Mets, coordinator of the
initiative at the city of Ghent.
Complex Initiative Pursuing One Objective The project Ankerfiguren is an indispensable part of a
more complex initiative ‘Link to Work’ aimed at the
integration of citizens migrating from Eastern Europe.
Along with the project ‘Go Between’ focused on provision
of a comprehensive support to families facing various
social problems, the overall objective of the initiative is to
explore effective methods of integrating the target group
into the Belgian society. All participating organizations as
well as the workers involved within the initiative closely
cooperate, share their experience and know-how and
regularly evaluate the partial success of both projects.
The outcome of the Link to Work initiative will be a
publication containing a detailed description of the
methodology and successful features of both projects.
‘The edition will be published in July 2015 and distributed
amongst the employment and social offices to serve as a
valuable tool for all social workers in coping with the
target group,’ explains Jan De Mets.
Trustworthy and Reliable Bonding The Ankerfiguren project is based on a personalized
approach towards the target group. Two natively
speaking mediators, who are of Slovak and Bulgarian
origin, stay in daily contact with the unemployed
individuals. Their efforts consist of assisting unemployed
people with everyday matters such as housing or health
care, answering their various questions and guiding them
towards the employment or social office, professional
counsellor or language courses. ‘Since our anchor
persons are of the same origin, the Slovak and Bulgarian
group are more likely to put their trust in them and to rely
on them. Our mediators have therefore been of a
substantial help in approaching the target group, as they
constitute a valuable link between the Eastern European
job seekers and the Belgian authorities,’ further explains
Jan De Mets.
The purpose of the Ankerfiguren project was primarily
a labour market integration; to guide job-seekers from
Eastern Europe towards official employment services.
However due to their great popularity among the Eastern
European communities, people turn to the mediators with
other various issues: ‘Because I am of a Roma origin and
from Slovakia, people perceive me as somebody who is
Ankerfiguren: Social integration through stronghold of native mediators
‘So far the Ankerfiguren projects has proved to be very successful. Both mediators became so popular that they can’t cope
with that many people having such confidence in them. The living prove is the mediator for the Bulgarian group, who
became a full time worker due to her enormous popularity among the community.’
Jan De Mets, coordinator of the initiative at the city of Ghent.
capable to help them in coping with everyday issues –
from finding a doctor to dealing with legal and
administrative requirements,’ says Martin Balogh,
a mediator for the Slovak group of unemployed people
within the Ankerfiguren project and continues: ‘In my
opinion the main contribution of my work is that the new-
comers from Slovakia can communicate in their mother
language. I provide them with relevant information about
housing, health care and employment policies. Moreover
social workers at the employment office can contact me
anytime to translate and interpret documents.’
Widespread Public Network The initiative ‘Link to Work’ was implemented by the
Integration and Employment department of the city of
Ghent in March 2013 and will cease in December 2015.
The initiative is financed by public resources; mostly from
the European Social Fund and the Flemish Government.
The city of Ghent is further cooperating with other public
and private stakeholders in pursuing the objective of the
‘Link To Work’ initiative: ‘Our main partners within the
Ankerfiguren project are VDAB – the Flemish service
provider of vocational training and career guidance, and
Ghent City at Work that operates many projects aimed at
local employment policies. We further cooperate with a
non-profit organization De Sloep, that places its focus on
young families in precarious social situations within the
project Go Between,’ further comments Jan De Mets.
As the target group of unemployed people of Slovak and
Bulgarian origin are generally facing a wide range of
problems from various fields in the social domain,
including housing, medical care or education, the city of
Ghent is currently building a broad network consisting of
various mediators. These are professionals in particular
fields of the social domain and are of a substantial help to
the anchor persons: ‘Our mediators within Ankerfiguren
were immediately overwhelmed by the complexity of
issues of the target group. Cooperation with other
mediators from different fields within the social domain
will therefore reduce their workload and facilitate their
efforts in pursuing labour market integration of the target
group,’ adds Jan De Mets.
Great Popularity among the Community ‘At the moment we are not able to determine whether our
efforts within the initiative lead to decrease in
unemployment of the target group as the labour market
integration is rather a lengthy procedure. The majority of
the unemployed people will need to first undertake
language courses or trainings aimed at improving their
work skills and only after that we will be able to measure
the success of the initiative,’ explains the Jan De Mets
and continues: ‘However we noticed a considerable
increase in numbers of Eastern Europeans that are
registering with the official Belgian authorities. This is the
first step towards social integration.’
Contact & Information
Official websites:
www.gent.be
www.gsiw.be
E-mail address: [email protected]
Experience@Work, a Belgium project initiated and
implemented by a consulting company
HazelHeartwood, constitutes an innovative solution
to the growing problems revolving around aging
population. The initiative places its focus on 50+
workers and aims to enliven their work motivation in
order to prevent them from an early retirement. In
addition, due to a Multi Company Mobility Centre – an
employment platform enabling an exchange of
experienced employees on temporary basis between
involved companies, the initiative significantly
contributes to the maintenance of important know-
how within business sectors.
Despite their potential, valuable knowledge and
experience gained throughout the years, elderly workers
are rather neglected in terms of opportunities for further
career growth. Educational courses are not adapted to
their needs and skills, their workload remains unchanged
and there are barely few new professional challenges
offered to them. All these factors result in a loss of
motivation and an early retirement of the aged workers.
‘This trend is not sustainable for the future as there is a
growing need to keep elderly workers active on the
labour market for a longer period of time, because of
major demographical changes that many European
countries are currently facing. We have therefore realized
that it is necessary to formulate an effective solution to
tackle this precarious situation,’ explains Els Verlinde, a
coordinator of the initiative Experience@Work at
HazelHeartwood.
Eliminating Obstacles and Formulating Correct Incentives ‘Senior workers rather chose a premature retirement than
change their current job. The reason is simple - there is
too much to lose - employment benefits as well as their
annual earnings. At the same time the Belgian labour law
poses high financial requirements on employers
employing senior workers, which means that many
businesses are not stimulated to hire experienced
employees,’ Els Verlinde comments on the findings of a
research carried out by HazelHeartwood within the
initiative and continues: ‘We have therefore realized that,
if we remove all obstacles and create the right incentives
we can develop a system which will be beneficial for all
involved parties.’
Innovative and Flexible Platform for Exchanging Senior Workers The ‘Multi Company Mobility Centre’, an employment
platform designed for effective exchange of senior
workers on temporary basis among involved companies,
is currently being developed within the project
Experience@Work. ‘The mobility centre is a perfect
example of killing two birds with one stone. While senior
workers have the opportunity to participate in a wide
range of interesting projects undertaken by different
companies, hiring businesses can access scarce human
resources without additional expenses,’ explains Els
Verlinde. The mobility system is based on a presumption
that senior workers keep all their employment benefits
and labour contracts with their current employer during
their temporary assignment within a different company.
While the hiring company provides the exchange senior
workers with remuneration corresponding to the market
standards for similar positions, the current employer may
cover the difference in the amounts in order to meet the
workers’ current salary. ‘This way, neither of the involved
parties has anything to lose,’ adds Els Verlinde.
Senior Workers’ Temporary Placement
The mobility centre allows participating companies to
post temporary job offers as well as to present CV’s of
their senior employees to other companies. In order to
find the right match between open job positions at hiring
companies and the senior employees with required
competences, Experience@Work will use an online
recruiting platform. ‘It will significantly contribute to
searching for the perfect matches. We will be also able to
create a database with profiles to closely monitor and
evaluate the whole selection process,’ adds Els Verlinde.
By creating this broad and diverse experience pool, the
initiative Experience@Work serves as a flexible and
innovative model that is beneficial for all involved parties.
Experience@Work: Platform to maintain the wisdom of senior workers
‘As the issues revolving around ageing population are becoming more and more serious in many European countries, we
are convinced that the concept of Experience@Work will prove to be functional European-wise as well.’
Els Verlinde, a coordinator of the initiative Experience@Work at HazelHeartwood.
The mobility system will help senior employees to
(re)gain their work motivation, form new professional
challenges and (re)experience the overall feeling of
appreciation during their temporary assignments. In
addition, involved employers will have a unique
opportunity to optimally utilize skills and competences of
the exchanged workers in order to facilitate the
productivity of their company. ‘The initiative will strongly
contribute to minimization of the public social expenses
and maximization of the tax income, as the tendency of
an early retirement will slowly diminish,’ Els Verlinde
further points out the advantages of the Multi Company
Mobility Centre.
Private Initiation before Public Action ‘It is estimated that by the year of 2020, one of five
Europeans will be older than 55. This is a very serious
social problem that will cause severe consequences in
the near future. Several companies are already struggling
to effectively tackle changes in the age pyramid, that is
resulting in a relative shortage of experienced employees
for certain technical positions – for example in the energy
and transport sectors. We therefore find it striking that
there are not many schemes aimed at activation of the
senior workers,’ Els Verlinde reacts on the lack of public
actions in this regard. Experience@Work is a private
initiative supported by four large companies AXA,
Belgacom, KBC and SD Worx and a non-profit
organization Business&Society. All involved companies
are closely cooperating on development of the mobility
platform. ‘If each organization had to solve the issue on
its own, it would be a rather costly affair,’ says Els
Verlinde. The fostered partnership will therefore
significantly contribute to pursuing the objectives of the
initiative.
Immense Support Experience@Work is purely financed by the four partner
companies, while the organization Business&Society
promotes the mobility platform among Belgian
companies. Additionally VDAB, an employment agency
of the Flemish government provides HazelHeartwood
with substantial support and valuable know-how.
The Overall Results ‘The initiative is currently at its beginnings; hence we
can’t present the overall results of the mobility platform
yet. However we hope that in three years from now, the
platform will prove to be both successful and effective,’
says Els Verlinde and concludes: ‘We would like to
expand the project afterwards; the mobility model could
be applicable to workers of all ages or even blue-collar
employees.’
Contact & Information
Official websites: http://hazelheartwood.com/en/
E-mail address: [email protected]
The project ‘Wegwijs’, implemented by a non-profit
organization Mentor vzw based in Belgium, places its
focus on unemployed low-skilled individuals who fail
to follow regular training programmes. By offering
easily accessible and understandable trainings with a
defined and adaptable structure, Wegwijs
significantly contributes to the inclusion of low-
skilled people into the society, and more importantly
increases their chances in the labour market.
‘We have realized that low-skilled people including
individuals with basic education, illiterates, people with
learning disabilities or even elderly people are grossly
neglected in terms of training opportunities, despite
extremely high unemployment figures of this group. Vast
majority of standard courses are not adapted to their
skills and needs - trainings are too difficult, trainers are
not familiar with working with this group and didactic
materials are simply not suitable, as they are too
complicated,’ explains Justien Jonckheere, a project
manager at Mentor vzw.
The course ‘Finding your way among documents and services’
Outreaching Approach: Two Birds with One Stone ‘We soon come to the realization that the labour market
integration of low-skilled people is just a small part of a
much more complex mosaic. Finding or keeping a stable
job is naturally of high importance, however there are
numbers of other issues that these individuals are facing
within their everyday life,’ Justien Jonckheere comments
on the comprehensive approach adopted within the
Wegwijs project and further continues: ‘Our main goal
was to offer interactive and visualized trainings presented
in an easily understandable language. We focused purely
on practice - no theory at all and developed the courses
in order to reflect interests and common issues of the
target group.’
Mentor vzw organized 5 different trainings adapted for
low-skilled people that were repeated on a regular basis
during the 2 year period. The course ‘Finding your way
on the computer and the internet’ was aimed to improve
computer skills of participants, while ‘Finding your way
among documents and services’ was a training focused
on how to deal with public authorities and services as
well as communicate with banks or the post office.
Another course was ‘Finding your way to organize
yourself’, which taught participants how to find a daily
care for children or what to do when they fall sick. The
training ‘Finding your way between spending and saving’
helped participants to efficiently manage their finances.
And lastly the training ‘Finding your way to a suitable job’
focused on improving basic work skills such as applying
for open job positions, behaving at a job interview or
preparing a resume.
Participants could choose courses they wanted to follow.
They received a certificate after attending each course
and when they gained at least 3, they got a second-hand
computer from the charity for free. Additionally
unemployed participants received 1 euro per each hour
spent on the trainings on the top of their social benefits.
‘As the participants followed the project voluntarily, these
little rewards contributed to their motivation and boosted
Wegwijs: Buddy system and life coaching aimed at low-skilled people
‘We have developed a very personalized approach towards participants of the Wegwijs project and created trustworthy
environment, in which partcipants could feel safe. This method has proved to be very successful as participants felt that they
can fully trust us and truly rely on us.’
Justien Jonckheere, a project manager at Mentor vzw.
their self-esteem,’ adds Justien Jonckheere. In addition
to the specialized training courses, Mentor vzw
developed an easy-to-read brochure including the city
map with relevant highlights: ‘We shortly described in this
brochure, how to get to places such as the town hall,
hospital, train station or a public centre for social welfare
and employment office,’ continues Justien Jonckheere.
The course ‘Finding your way to organize yourself’
Motivation Through a Buddy System In order to increase motivation of participants to properly
follow offered courses, Mentor vzw implemented a single
point of contact methodology (buddy system). As Justien
Jonckheere explains, every participant was associated
with one contact person throughout the whole training
program: ‘The contact person was in majority of cases
their counsellor from the welfare organization who stayed
in close interaction with the participant during the whole
training period. For instance if the participant did not
show up for the course, the assigned mentor tried to find
out the reason of his or her absence and if possible to
help the participant with the situation. This was a way of
showing participants our interest in them as well as
proving the fact that we would not be simply giving up on
them.’
Private Initiative with Public Support The Wegwijs project was initiated and carried out by
Mentor vzw between the years 2009 and 2011. It was
mainly financed through the European Social Fund and
the Flemish Community. In order to achieve better
results, Mentor vzw joined forces with both private and
public stakeholders. ‘We were closely cooperating with
many organizations to accomplish the goals of the
Wegwijs project. For instance our partner organization
Open School Basiseducatie, the Flemish education for
adults, provided us with professional trainers. Public
Flemish authorities, including welfare centre and the
employment service helped us with the promotion of the
project among the target group’ continues Justien
Jonckheere.
Success of Used Methodology ‘At the beginning of the project, we distributed
promotional leaflets around the whole city and
encouraged our partner organizations and social workers
to inform low-skilled people about Wegwijs project.
However after some time, most participants joined the
program spontaneously as they learned about Wegwijs
from their friends who followed some of the courses. At
the end we had 136 low-skilled participants joining the
project, and up to 48 of these individuals have been
employed either in a regular job or in a social enterprise,’
Justien Jonckheere comments on the overall results of
the project Wegwijs and concludes: ‘The combination of
adapted training courses along with a personalized
approach towards the target group proved to be very
successful. We continued using this methodology within
other projects as well.’
Contact & Information
Official websites: www.mentorvzw.be
E-mail address: [email protected]
Private initiative ‘Mind Your Own Business’
implemented by a non-governmental organization
Danish Refugee Council places its focus on young
boys of ethnic origin, who are living in Denmark. By
utilizing the method of ‘Learning business by doing
business’, the initiative provides young boys with a
supportive and inspiring environment, wherein they
can realize their own business ideas through serious
work. As the comprehensive range of activities
involved within Mind Your Own Business facilitate
their educational and social skills, the initiative
significantly contributes to the overall activation and
social inclusion of the target group.
Mind Your Own Business focuses on young boys aged
13 to 17, who are burdened with a rather problematic
background. ‘The vast majority of our participants live in
marginalized areas with high rates of criminal activities,
face difficulties in finishing primary or secondary
education or don’t speak Danish very well. In addition,
most of the young boys have quite unclear notion of their
future vocational or educational career. Mind Your Own
Business therefore aims to broaden their horizons and
allows the young boys to explore their life perspectives,’
explains Maria Kavita Nielsen, the programme director
and founder of Mind Your Own Business.
Micro-enterprise presenting their accounts.
Safe and Trustworthy Environment ‘Mind Your Own Business is based on the presumption
that, if we create a trustworthy environment and provide
the youngsters with sufficient support, they will be
enthusiastic to develop their own ideas into successful
business models,’ comments Maria Kavita Nielsen. The
young boys participating within Mind Your Own Business
work in teams of 8 to 12 persons on establishment of
their own micro-enterprises during a seven month period.
Each team member joins different departments including
communications, production or economics according to
his preferences. They all closely cooperate throughout
every stage of the whole process; from product
development and market placement to marketing and
sales. ‘All business ideas and inputs emerge from
participating young boys. This is a core feature of Mind
Your Own Business as it allows the boys to employ their
own imagination and to independently realize
themselves,’ adds Maria Kavita Nielsen. The teams
meets on a weekly basis to discuss numerous topics;
from various struggles to new ideas, achievements and
further goals. After the 7 month period, all products are
presented during a big workshop, wherein the most
successful business models are awarded.
Learning Business by Doing Business Having a business idea and implementing it in practice
are naturally two different things. Mind Your Own
Business therefore utilizes the ‘step by step’ approach -
all activities involved within the process of establishment
of the micro-enterprises are somewhat educational and
help the boys to improve their soft skills. For instance, by
working in teams, boys learn how to effectively and
constructively communicate with each other. They
improve their presentation skills, as they need to express
their ideas. Additionally they learn how to write Facebook
updates or reports.
The initiative is entirely funded by the private Danish fund
TrygFonden that provides the micro-enterprises with
initial capital of approx. 3.350 Euros. ‘The boys however
do not receive all the money at once as they need to
claim every single expense during the whole process of
establishing the micro-enterprises. This is of course very
educational for the boys, because they have to describe
the reasons why they need the money and further explain
the way they will utilize them,’ adds Maria Kavita Nielsen.
Mind Your Own Business: Inspiring empowerment model for young boys of ethnic origin
‘Through the process of starting and succeeding with their own micro-enterprises, the boys gain confidence in themselves.
By meeting other peers in the same situation and being acknowledged by our venture pilots and professionals, their beliefs
and ambitions are strengthened for the future.’
Maria Kavita Nielsen, the the programme director and founder of Mind Your Own Business.
Enhanced Support Each team closely cooperates with venture pilots –
graduated students mostly from business universities.
Venture pilots support the boys during the 7 month period
and by assisting them with creation of business plans,
product placements and marketing strategy, they help the
boys to successfully bring their ideas into the practice.
‘The pilots encourage and motivate the boys in their
activities. Moreover the volunteers contribute to
broadening the boys’ horizons, by acknowledging their
talents and skills. In many cases, the pilots become new
role models for the boys. This is a very important feature
of Mind Your Own Business,’ further explains Maria
Kavita Nielsen.
Mentoring Private Ventures In addition, each team within Mind Your Own Business is
supported by a mentor corporation. ‘We are working with
big corporations like UPS logistics or Microsoft as well as
smaller enterprises. They don’t provide us with finances,
but with their valuable expertise, know-how and
professional consultation,’ comments Maria Kavita
Nielsen. Mentor corporations invite participants for visits
to their headquarters, wherein the boys can experience
the real work pace and have the opportunity to see the
actual work environment. ‘We have received very positive
reactions from both - the participants and the mentoring
organizations. Especially the companies are very excited
to meet the boys, because they perceive them as their
possible future employees,’ adds Maria Kavita Nielsen.
Stronghold of Local Partnerships Mind Your Own Business is based in Copenhagen, but
its activities are widespread across Denmark. ‘In order to
ensure a successful course of our initiative, we closely
cooperate with our local partners – various organizations
who are active in marginalized areas, we primarily focus
on,’ says Maria Kavita Nielsen. As a close personal
contact has an essential importance in motivating the
young boys to participate within the initiative, Mind Your
Own Business workers individually approach the targeted
young boys. ‘Face to face contact has proved to be very
fruitful, as the boys are motivated since they are
surrounded by encouraging people,’ further adds Maria
Kavita Nielsen.
A very successful micro-enterprise G for Gentleman – not gangster.
Examples of Successful Enterprises Since 2010, when the Mind Your Own Business initiative
was established, ten micro-enterprises have been
founded throughout Denmark. Most of the micro-
enterprises were focused on tackling various social
issues of public concern. ‘For instance G for Gentleman
was an enterprise operated by five boys, whose main aim
was to change negative perception of youngsters of
ethnic origin. They designed T-shirts with motivational
slogans and were very popular in Denmark’ says Maria
Kavita Nielsen and concludes: ‘The most inspiring feature
of the micro-enterprises is the way the boys use them as
a platform to contribute to society with their own ideas.’
Contact & Information
Official websites: http://www.myob.dk/
E-mail address: [email protected]
The social economy sector in Italy has been
successfully evolving for decades. Nowadays it
embodies an elaborated system wherein private
stakeholders have the possibility to contribute to the
general welfare of society. Due to rich history and
long tradition, social cooperatives are now key
players in the Italian economy.
‘Social cooperation in Italy was established
approximately 30 years ago with the aim to deliver social
services to communities and to create job opportunities
for individuals who have difficulties in accessing the
labour market’ says Laura Pucci from SOLCO Brescia,
consortium of social cooperatives based in the Lombardi
region.
Private Entities Delivering Services of
Public Interest In general, social cooperatives pursue public interests by
promoting social inclusion and by raising awareness of
issues revolving around community concerns. Social
cooperatives are private enterprises whose conduct is
not heavily burden by public bureaucracy. As a result,
cooperatives are much more flexible in answering
specific local needs of the community in comparison to
other - governmental institutions active in this field.
While the vast majority of cooperatives are established in
order to deliver social, health or educational services
(‘A Type’ cooperatives), a growing number of social
cooperatives (‘B Type’ cooperatives) focus on integration
of socially disadvantaged individuals into the labour
market. ‘This type of cooperative is obliged by law to
employ a minimum of 30 % of individuals with
disadvantaged backgrounds including drug or alcohol
addiction, ex-imprisonment or physical and psychological
disabilities. However the overall number is usually much
higher in practice as cooperatives employ people with all
kinds of social disadvantages, such as long-term
unemployment, that are not recognized by law and
therefore do not fall under the 30 % threshold’ adds
Laura Pucci.
The ‘B Type’ model cooperatives are more advantageous
for all involved parties. The enterprise hires and trains
employees for lower costs, while the employees are
given the opportunity to build their own work history and
improve their working skills. ‘During this experience,
employees have the support of tutors and can attend
various trainings that will eventually contribute to their
professional and personal growth’ continues Laura Pucci.
Phenomenon Social cooperatives are a phenomenon that is
widespread around the whole of Italy. ‘For example only
SOLCO Brescia consortium has 85 member cooperatives
of both types with up to 4000 workers. Needles to say,
their social value isn’t merely about inclusion of
disadvantaged people into the labour market. Many
cooperatives are raising awareness of significant issues
of public concern by undertaking various activities on
behalf of municipalities. For instance cooperative CAUTO
is active in the field of waste prevention or cooperative
CERRO TORRE in renewable energy sector’ adds Laura
Pucci.
Employees of the consortium of social cooperatives SOLCO Brescia.
The Key Elements of the Social Model The status of social cooperatives in Italy is governed by
a comprehensive legal framework designed to support
cooperatives in pursuing their activities of public interest.
Social cooperatives: Successful model of thriving social enterprise sector
‘Social cooperatives embody the right of individuals to organize themselves to the benefit of the society as whole as well as
a possibility of private organizations to contribute to the sustainable distribution of social services. Social cooperatives can
be therefore regarded as an effective alternative coping with failures of traditional employment policies.’
C. Borzaga, A. Santuari: Social Enterprises in Italy. The experience of social co-operatives. Working paper n. 15, July 2000
For instance, the Italian law provides for financial and tax
regulations beneficial for the cooperatives. These include
lower income tax charges or rates of VAT on some
services delivered by cooperatives. The law also enables
close relationships between municipalities and
cooperatives as the public authorities can directly
empower the ‘B Type’ cooperatives with delivery of
goods and services by derogating from public
procurement rules, provided that the economic value of
these procurements are below the threshold established
by the European Commission.
Strong and Widespread Network But as Laura Pucci points out, beneficial regulatory
framework is not the only key to success: ‘Close
cooperation between cooperatives and other
stakeholders in the field is of a major importance.’
Majority of cooperatives are therefore members of the
local consortia – unions of cooperatives. Besides general
services such as management, accountancy or project
planning aimed at sustainable development of member
cooperatives, the consortia act as legal, strategic and
financial advisors as well. In order to enhance the social
inclusion activities of the ‘B type’ cooperatives, some
consortia even established work agencies. ‘Being a part
of social cooperative network is very beneficial as it gives
us the opportunity to undertake various integration
projects with different partners who have experience in
the field. We have sort of a privileged relationship’
continues Laura Pucci.
The local consortia can further join national networks of
cooperatives. These have an advocacy role for the social
economy sector in Italy and are aimed to promote
entrepreneurial development and know how
advancement of its members. Furthermore. social and
other cooperatives are obliged to donate 3 % of their
profits resulting from the approved balance sheet to the
‘Solidarity Fund’, which is subsequently utilized as
a financial source to support the overall system of
cooperation in Italy.
Transferability of the Social Model ‘Our work is based on solidarity and close cooperation.
I believe that when there is a will on both sides – the
government level as well as in the private sector – the
model of social cooperation can be successfully
implemented in other European countries as well’
concluded Laura Pucci.
Contact & Information
Official websites: http://www.solcobrescia.it/
E-mail address: [email protected]
The private initiative 'watTwest' implemented in the
city of Tilburg in the Netherlands is focused on
facilitating the chances of jobless people on the
labour market as well as augmenting the welfare of
the general community. As the label 'watTwest' which
stands for 'Work for the future of Tilburg West'
suggests, along with the labour market integration,
the activities involved within the initiative are also
significantly focused on urban renewal. The
watTwest initiative therefore offers a unique
opportunity for all inhabitants of Tilburg West to
develop themselves, while contributing to the well-
being of the society.
'Tilburg neighborhoods wherein we are active, show
alarming figures of unemployment rates in comparison to
other areas of the city. The vast majority of our
volunteers are therefore unemployed. Most of them suffer
from rather disadvantaged backgrounds due to the lack
of professional qualification, education or work
experience. However, there are also many participants
over 50 years old, who are jobless simply because of the
bad economic situation,' explains Gerhard Hup, the
project manager of the initiative watTwest.
Participation Ladder: Methodology of Learning by Doing 'Our main goal is to provide our volunteers with a
trustworthy environment, wherein they can increase their
self-esteem and develop both - professional as well as
personal skills,' continues Gerhard Hup. Participation
within the watTwest initiative is purely dependent on
voluntary basis; participants receive 1 euro per work hour
on the top of their social security benefits. 'The majority of
unemployed people feel rather left behind as they lack
the feeling of being somehow useful. WatTwest therefore
offers various possibilities on how to spend their free time
with socially meaningful activities,' adds Gerhard Hup.
All activities involved within the watTwest initiative are
based on a participation ladder – a method consisting of
several steps with different levels of personal
commitment and responsibility, which the participants
follow. Volunteers are professionally guided and can join
a wide range of courses to gain theoretical knowledge as
well as practical experience.
Volunteers of the watTwest initiative develop personal as well as professional skills.
Volunteers of the watTwest initiative usually begin
working in a safe environment. These voluntary jobs
include various activities mainly concerning maintenance
of the building premises. Due to this experience,
participants gain practical work knowledge and moreover
learn how to cope with different kinds of people including
customers, colleagues or head workers. Afterwards
volunteers join educational seminars and trainings,
wherein they can learn for instance about private
entrepreneurship. 'Considering the diversity of the
participants, we manage our activities in such way that all
involved volunteers work closely together in groups. Like
this they have a chance to meet other people, who deal
with similar situations, create their own network of friends
and moreover learn from each other,' adds Gerhard Hup.
Contribution to the Social Well-Being: Helping People to Help People 'WatTwest is a reaction of local inhabitants on diverse
social problems in the western part of Tilburg. These
include high rates of unemployment and criminal
activities, lack of maintenance of public spaces, but even
issues such as elderly people lacking social interactions.
We simply wanted to change the overall situation,' further
WatTwest: Tilburg - the city we can all learn from
'The main principles of the watTwest initiative are social valuable self-activation and self-realization.watTwest offers a wide
range of products and services aimed at professional as well as personal development of the participants and broadens their
horizons by showing them new possibilities, teaching them new skills and increasing their ambitions. In addition, our
activities have a positive effect on all inhabitans of Tilburg West and other parts of the city, as our efforts are strongly
focused on well-being of the society.'
Gerhard Hup, the project manager of watTwest
explains Gerhard Hup. Activities involved within the
watTwest initiative are therefore strongly focused on the
maintenance of public spaces as well as practical help
within the Tilburg neighbourhoods. Moreover in order to
preserve safety within the area, there is a neighbourhood
watch. Volunteers of the initiative watTwest also run a
dinner and internet cafe, wherein locals and especially
elderly people can connect, eat healthy food and
eventually undertake interesting educational courses
such as improvement of IT skills. 'Our main motto is
simple - help people by helping people,' says Gerhard
Hup.
The initiative watTwest involves a wide range of socially beneficial
activities.
Inspiring Self-Activation Model The initiative watTwest is publicly funded: 'We received
the initial capital of 900 thousand euro due to our close
partnerships with the local government and three housing
companies called Tilburg Akkoord. The capital was
primarily utilized for launching the initiative, hence we are
able to offer a wide range of socially beneficial activities,'
explains Gerhard Hup. The funding will be granted during
the pilot phase of the duration of five years. Afterwards
the initiative should transform into the regular financially
self-sufficient organization. 'As the granted capital was
aimed at urban renewal in Tilburg West, we invite all
inhabitants to join us and to contribute to the well-being
of the society. Moreover after the initial phase is
completed, watTwest will become a social cooperative as
all Tilburg inhabitants will have the opportunity to join us
as members of the company,' adds Gerhard Hup.
Great Success and Popularity The initiative watTwest was joined by 273 participants
within the last three years. In total 36 volunteers started
working in a regular job, 19 young participants undertook
vocational or educational trainings and moreover up to 5
volunteers established their own businesses. 'We believe
that the positive outcomes of our efforts lie in the fact that
our volunteers realize that their work is meaningful and
beneficial for the entire society. I am convinced that the
model of watTwest could be easily implemented in other
countries, because it is based on offering a wide range of
products and services that are targeting the common
social problems and hence contributing to society as a
whole,' concludes Gerhard Hup.
Contact & Information
Official websites: http://www.wattwest.nl/
E-mail address: [email protected]
Webleren (weblearning) is a Dutch e-learning
platform offering several courses and trainings
specifically designed for unemployed people
receiving social benefits. Specific features, including
unlimited accessibility, wide range of topics and
varying level of difficulty of the courses, make
Webleren an unique tool to help jobless individuals
with their professional self-development and hence
facilitate their chances on the labour market.
‘Unemployed people can use Webleren independently
and simply follow the courses from the comfort of their
homes. This means that they do not need to find a day
care for their children or incur extra expenses for
travelling. They have 24/7 access to the platform and can
start immediately after they lose a job or apply for welfare
benefits. This way - no time is lost,’ explains Hanneke
Bakker, a coordinator of Webleren at Stimulansz.
Free and Independent Skills Training Webleren offers its users a wide variety of online courses
and trainings that are in tune with their own educational
level. All Webleren courses are adapted according to the
needs of unemployed people and designed to be both
interactive and entertaining. ‘For instance participants
can learn how to use LinkedIn to find open job positions,
how to write a letter of intent or how to behave during a
job interview. There are also basic Dutch language
courses or internet and computer trainings. Moreover
Webleren offers a specialized course for people in an
unstable financial situation on how to effectively manage
their finances,’ adds Hanneke Bakker. Users can further
follow specialized trainings aimed at development of
suitable skills necessary for working in the hospitality
industry or a supermarket. Webleren has also created a
short informative video in order to inform jobless people
receiving social benefits about their legal rights and
duties: ‘It helps Webleren users in understanding their
overall situation and assessment of legal and other
consequences of their unemployment,’ continues
Hanneke Bakker.
Valuable Tool for Job Coaches Additionally Webleren serves as a valuable instrument for
job coaches, who can include the online courses and
trainings within the re-integration process of their
unemployed clients: ‘Job coaches can adopt a
personalized approach towards each client, as the
training programs included within Webleren can be
adjusted according to the needs, skills and level of
education of each user. They can combine Webleren with
individual sessions and other training programs, hence
easily monitor their client’s progress’ says Hanneke
Bakker.
Webleren: E-learn your way towards independence
‘Webleren is about independent online learning. It is an innovative project as the traditional re-integration practice usually
consist of individual meetings between unemployed individuals and their job coaches. The model is new, because online
learning aimed at unemployed people has not been done in such an enormous scale in the Netherlands before.’
Hanneke Bakker, a coordinator of Webleren at Stimulansz
Self-Activation Before Public Action ‘The current trend in the field of social welfare is centred
around self-activation, i.e. using peoples strengths and
capacities to get back on their feet without relying on
government’s actions. And Webleren helps people to do
just that,’ Hanneke Bakker further comments on the
advantages of the e-learning platform. Webleren is
therefore based on a completely new model as the
traditional integration processes mainly consist of
individual meetings between jobless people and their job
coaches: ‘Unemployed individuals can start immediately
with the online courses – even before the actual
appointment in the job centre! They can choose the
courses and trainings they find most useful for
(re)entering the labour market. Webleren is suitable even
for people with low computer skills as they can get
professional support from the volunteers in the
community,’ adds Hanneke Bakker.
The new method of enhancing work skills by online
learning is based on long distance educational
programmes: ‘Unlike traditional lessons in a classroom,
e-learning enables students to study at their own pace.
Stimulansz finds it equally helpful for unemployed job-
seekers to learn by simultaneous reading, listening and
watching cartoons or videos. It makes learning enjoyable,
which is very important for those who don’t have happy
memories about their schooling.’
Full Support by Dutch Municipalities The Webleren online platform was developed by
Stimulansz in cooperation with 24 Dutch municipalities
and funded through a grant by the Gak Institute
Foundation, that financially supports projects in the fields
of social domain in the Netherlands. The municipalities
who join Webleren can offer the content for free to their
citizens. ‘Financial contributions and a close cooperation
with the partner municipalities enable Stimulansz to
maintain the online platform and to develop the content of
Webleren by creating new videos and courses,’ further
explains Hanneke Bakker. When municipalities join the
program, their job coaches will be trained in the use of
Webleren by Laurens Bouw, an education manager at
Stimulansz.
Successful Tool of Labour Market Integration ‘The 24 municipalities have organized pilot-groups
consisting of unemployed clients who experimentally
used Webleren. Based on their feedback and inputs,
Stimulansz further developed the platform,’ Hanneke
Bakker comments on the beginnings of the Webleren
platform. Webleren is now available to unemployed
people receiving social welfare benefits. However as
Stimulansz hopes, Webleren will be accessible to all job-
seekers in the near future: ‘It is of high importance that
unemployed people start their re-integration process as
soon as possible. The longer they are unemployed, the
more difficult it is to find a job, because the distance to
the labour market gets greater throughout time,’ says
Hanneke Bakker and further continues: ‘The Netherlands
is not the only country that needs to cope with increasing
unemployment figures and lower budgets. Therefore I
believe that Webleren could be an inspirational project for
other European countries as well.’
Contact & Information
Official websites:
http://www.stimulansz.nl/producten/productpaginas/weble
ren
E-mail address:
Hanneke Bakker: [email protected]
Laurens Bouw: [email protected]
The project ‘Support of municipality social business’,
implemented by a non-profit organization EPIC
Slovakia, is aimed at promotion of the social
economy among Slovak municipalities. By offering a
comprehensive support in recognition of business
opportunities and cooperation with experts and
volunteers from the private business sector, EPIC
Slovakia helps municipalities to enliven their social
economic sectors and therefore facilitate the local
job opportunities for individuals with disadvantaged
backgrounds.
‘Our main focus is placed on municipalities with very high
unemployment rates in and around the central and
eastern regions of Slovakia. We believe that these
alarming figures can be significantly decreased by
establishing sustainable municipality enterprises that will
consequently enhance job opportunities for unemployed
local inhabitants,’ says Zuzana Polačková, regional
coordinator for Europe at EPIC Slovakia.
Vladimír Ledecký, the mayor of Spišský Hrhov municipality with Michal Smetanka, expert for social business within the EPIC team.
Professional Assistance in Identifying Local Business Opportunities There are many challenges that municipalities face in
their efforts to establish a thriving and financially
sustainable social economic sector. EPIC Slovakia
therefore offers a comprehensive range of supporting
activities, including professional assistance in identifying
the local business opportunities and elaborating business
plans and financial strategies. ‘Our main objective is to
fully support municipalities in formation of their business
plans that will subsequently serve as a quality basis for
operating successful social businesses,’ adds Zuzana
Polačková.
EPIC team visits Dravce municipality with volunteers- experts for IT technologies, wine and coffee distribution and beekeeping.
‘A large majority of Slovak municipalities lack the actual
experience with undertaking business. Another big issue
is that they have no capacities to identify the real
business opportunities in their area,’ Dagmar Mokrá,
a project manager at EPIC Slovakia, comments on the
main obstacles for a successful development of the
municipality businesses. EPIC Slovakia together with its
partner organization therefore created ‘Catalogue of
business opportunities’, which contains 23 business
opportunities identified directly in the municipalities.
These include possibilities in the fields of gardening,
construction or even milk production, with detailed
descriptions of the financial, material and human
resource requirements. The mayors can select examples
from the catalogue and with the active assistance of
highly qualified advisors who have extensive knowledge
of the social economy sector, transform these ideas into
solid business plans. ‘EPIC Slovakia has also organized
trainings for participating municipalities focused on
acquiring the knowledge necessary to elaborate the
sustainable business plans, such as market research,
financial calculations or product analysis,’ adds Dagmar
Mokrá.
EPIC Slovakia: Developing municipality social businesses with professional assistance asassistanassistanceassistance
‘We believe that our activities aimed at the establishment of social economic sector by municipalities is applicable in other
European countries as well. We see a big potential in connecting volunteers from private business sector and municipalities.
This can strongly contribute to identification of sustainable business opportunities.’
Zuzana Polačková, regional coordinator for Europe at EPIC Slovakia
Expertise by Private Ventures Furthermore EPIC Slovakia is closely cooperating with
volunteers from the private sector who are running their
own businesses: ‘At the moment we are working together
with 14 volunteers who are willing to share their valuable
knowledge and experience with the municipalities,’ says
Dagmar Mokrá. The volunteers provide the municipalities
with the ‘outside’ view, know-how on undertaking
businesses, expertise and supervision during the process
of preparation of the business plans. The volunteers
together with the EPIC Slovakia team pay individual visits
to the Slovak municipalities, which serve as a great
opportunity for the mayors to discuss their concerns
revolving around running social business. ‘This
cooperation has proved to be very fruitful as the
volunteers have a plethora of experience and strongly
contribute to the motivation of municipalities in building
local social enterprises,’ further continues Dagmar Mokrá.
Spišský Hrhov: Inspirational model of Flourishing Social Business Sector According to Zuzana Polačková, EPIC Slovakia efforts
were strongly inspired by the successful story of the
municipality Spišský Hrhov: ‘The social business sector
evolved there more than 15 years ago. Ever since then,
the population of Spišský Hrhov has almost doubled
while the numbers of employees in the municipality
businesses rapidly increased. Nowadays, Spišský Hrhov
employs about 50 people and is regarded as the most
successful social business in Slovakia.’ EPIC Slovakia
and Vladimír Ledecký, the mayor of Spišský Hrhov,
therefore closely work in a partnership for a continued
successful outcome: ‘For instance Vladimír Ledecký gave
a lecture to other mayors about his success story of the
social business. Moreover he provided us with valuable
inputs concerning the content of the Catalogue of
business opportunities,’ continues Zuzana Polačková.
The ‘Support of municipality social business’ project is
financed through the Swiss-Slovak Cooperation
Programme and is administered by Ekopolis Foundation
in Slovakia. The project partner is a Swiss organization -
Social Business Earth. This partnership has the potential
to bring to Slovakia a new view of financing the social
businesses and solutions for the common problems. The
role of Social Business Earth in this project is to ensure
correct identification of the business opportunities within
Slovak municipalities.
Great Popularity among the Slovak Municipalities ‘Based on the current experience we have seen a greater
interest taken by the municipalities in the social business
sector. Although we cooperate with the selected 12
municipalities with the highest rates of unemployment,
there are always new ones, who express their interest in
the involvement of the project’ says Dagmar Mokrá and
further explains: ‘Currently the business plans are being
prepared and we expect to have the first 5 business
plans completed and submitted to the local municipality
councils by the end of September. But only after
establishment of social businesses and starting the real
activities, we will be able to measure the number of newly
created jobs.’
Contact & Information
Official websites: www.epic-org.eu
E-mail address: [email protected]
Catalogue of business opportunities is available at:
http://epic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/katalog-
prilezitosti-epic-.pdf
IT-Piloterna and IT-Lyftet, two interconnected
projects implemented by The Göteborg Region
Association of Local Authorities, link younger and
older generation by one common objective –
improvement of IT standards within the elderly care
sector in Sweden. By utilizing informal knowledge of
the modern technologies of jobless young people,
the initiative strongly contributes to the enhancement
of the basic IT skills of aged people as well as
employees within the elderly care sector.
‘The vast majority of young people do not realize how
much extensive know how of modern technologies they
possess. Even activities such as installing mobile
applications or downloading e-mails and documents on a
tablet require specific skills. We have realized that by
discovering this hidden potential in young people, we
could effectively tackle seemingly unrelated issues,’
explains Sandra Goll-Rasmussen Nielsen, the project
manager of both - IT-Piloterna and IT-Lyftet.
Participants of the IT-Piloterna sessions.
Connecting Generations The main objective of the initiative was to promote
employment possibilities in the elderly care sector among
young people, which also contributed to the gender and
age balance of the elderly care personnel and most
importantly, to diminish the gap between the younger and
the older generation in regards to their IT knowledge.
‘The IT initiative was a unique opportunity for young
unemployed people to discover the advantages of
working in the field of elderly care. At the same time
young participants obtained a valuable work experience,
hence facilitating their chances on the labour market,’
continues Sandra Goll-Rasmussen Nielsen.
After receiving an introductory course, which also
included general information about elderly care and
ethics in treating aged people; jobless participants
performed educational activities aimed at improving the
knowledge of modern technologies within the elderly care
sector. Included were various trainings on internet skills
or sessions on how to use tablets or play video games
like Nintendo Wii or PlayStation. While IT-Piloterna was
purely aimed at facilitating IT skills of elderly people, IT-
Lyftet placed its focus on employees working with the
elderly people. As Sandra Goll-Rasmussen Nielsen
further explains: ‘Activities within IT–Piloterna consisted
mostly of individual sessions between an aged person
and the assigned participant. On the other hand within IT-
Lyftet we organized mostly group seminars designed in
such a way that participating employees were also able
to spread their fresh IT knowledge among their
colleagues.’
Both, IT-Piloterna and IT-Lyftet, were implemented
together as mutually connected and dependent projects.
‘It was necessary to consider both projects as one - in
order to achieve the best results and to maintain the
improved level of IT knowledge within the elderly care
sector,’ further explains Sandra Goll-Rasmussen Nielsen.
Therefore most of the IT-Piloterna participants
subsequently became trainers of elderly care personnel
within the IT-Lyftet.
Numerous Problems, One Solution Youth unemployment is currently one of the biggest
issues in Sweden, and especially in the Göteborg
Region. However the general trend is that jobless young
people are not attracted to the employment possibilities
within the elderly care sector. At the same time IT skills of
retired people are rather poor, even though modern
IT-Piloterna and IT-Lyftet: Younger and older generation working together in IT
‘The most heartwarming moment of the IT Projects was to see generations of all ages bond over one thing and giving each
other new life perspectives and exchanging energy. And this is exactly what we tried to achieve. The smile on elderly
people’s faces when they learned how to listen to their favorite music was just a cherry on the top.’
Sandra Goll-Rasmussen Nielsen, the project manager of both - IT-Piloterna and IT-Lyftet.
technologies are currently an essential part of a daily life.
But it is not just elderly people not knowing how to use
tablets or smart phones, even elderly care personnel is
way behind the common standards with their IT
knowledge. The initiative is therefore based on revealing
informal knowledge of modern technologies of
unemployed young people and linking it to the
necessities for facilitating IT standards within the elderly
care sector. ‘It was a win-win situation as on one hand
we motivated young people to consider the elderly care
sector as a potential pool full of employment
opportunities and at the same time we managed to
increase the IT knowledge of the elderly care personnel
and the aged people,’ adds Sandra Goll-Rasmussen
Nielsen.
Participants of educational seminars within IT-Lyftet.
Widespread Public Network Both IT projects were in February 2012 and mainly
funded by the European Social Fund. The project IT-
Piloterna lasted until December 2013, while IT-Lyftet was
effective until April 2014. One of the main partner
organizations was the Swedish labour office who
promoted both IT projects among young unemployed
people. Seven municipalities from the Göteborg region
participated within the IT projects. ‘Due to their valuable
experience with tackling various issues revolving around
elderly care and labour market integration, their efforts
strongly contributed to the successful outcome of both
projects. For instance the involved municipalities helped
to create internship positions for IT-Piloterna participants
in the elderly care sector or provided premises for
trainings within the IT- Lyftet,’ adds Sandra Goll-
Rasmussen Nielsen.
Positive Attitude towards Elderly Care In total 80 young unemployed people undertook short-
term internships within the elderly care sector during the
IT-Piloterna project. In addition, up to 31 of them were
offered to become one of the trainers within IT-Lyftet.
There were nearly 500 employees from the elderly care
sector that took part in the courses organized within the
IT-Lyftet. In order to maintain the newly gained
knowledge, some of the participating municipalities
created an IT network and are further cooperating with
the ongoing activities. ‘In my opinion, one of the most
important achievements of the IT projects was the fact
that we changed the generally negative attitude towards
working in the elderly care sector of the vast majority of
the young participants. In addition we have received very
positive reactions from both - the elderly people and the
employees, who were enthused by their new IT skills,
knowledge and possibilities. The project also proved how
important modern technologies are to improve health
condition and quality of life for the elderly,’ concludes
Sandra Goll-Rasmussen Nielsen.
Contact & Information
Official websites: http://www.grkom.se/
E-mail address:
When thinking of the term 'inmates', one conjures a
rather negative vibe to the word. However, this
stereotype does not apply to the city of Derby in
England, wherein the charity organization Life Cycle
UK implemented an inspirational bike recycling
scheme. The dynamo of the initiative 'Bike Back
Derby' is run by highly motivated inmates with
horned skills who give old bikes a makeover and
craft a communally helpful way by providing
affordable bikes for those who live, study or work in
the city. In addition, due to a close cooperation with
the Derby City Council’s 'Connected' team and other
crucial partners, the refurbished bikes have been of a
great help to any who work, live or study within the
city.
On a greater scale, Bike Back Derby aims to promote
more sustainable transportation options within the city of
Derby and follow the 'go green' policy by reducing the
carbon footprint of city commuters. At the same time the
initiative plays a key role in providing inmates with
vocational job skills which help to improve their prospects
in the wider job market as the Bike Back Derby initiative
collects unwanted abandoned bikes destined for the
scrapheap and with the help of inmates at prison in
Stocken give each cycle a new lease of life. Prisoners
engaged in the cycle workshop gain an internationally
accredited City & Guilds qualification in cycle mechanics.
'As well as reducing the flow of bikes to landfill, and
giving new life to old bikes, the project provides
productive employment, training and qualifications for
prisoners,' says John Hughes, the project manager of the
Bike Back Derby project in Life Cycle UK.
'Our partnership with Jon Hughes and Bike Back Derby is
very important to us for a number of reasons. Firstly,
being allowed to re-build and repair cycles for the project
gives our prisoners a constant supply of purposeful work.
It allows us to deliver industry relevant qualifications that
can used to help employment prospects on release and
simply builds a sense of pride in the quality of work they
produce. Being able to volunteer to work within the
project once released gives them direction and helps
them integrate back into society without the fear of being
judged. Bike Back Derby gives them confidence that
people in the outside world are willing to accept and
support them in their attempt to change their lives,' Russ
Truman, Deputy Governor at prison in Stocken, points
out the main advantages of the Bike Back Derby
initiative.
Comprehensive Scheme Involving People from all Facets of Life project consists of volunteers who mentor the inmates
who in turn based on qualification upgrade their skills and
are hence able to mentor fellow inmates. ’The basic idea
behind the Bike Back Derby project is to collect old bikes,
repair them with the help of participating inmates and
provide them to any who work, live or study within the city
and are seeking an alternative means of affordable,
sustainable transport for their daily commuting,' continues
John Hughes. In other words, the initiative is about
refurbishing bikes, getting rid of the waste, encouraging
people to cycle and more importantly, to give inmates
opportunities to learn new skills. This scheme leads to
creation of a safe and trustworthy environment between
the inmates and volunteers; the inmates gain a feeling of
competency and by the time they leave prison they are
equipped with skills that will help them to adapt more
quickly to the workplace, customers facing scenarios,
and most importantly, in becoming employed.
The bikes are largely donated from an array of sources.
'We totally rely on donations of unwanted bikes from the
public, the police, Derby train station, university and
college campuses and also through organized donation
days,' says John Hughes. The bikes come into the
project in a range of conditions; some require extensive
work and some very little, to make them roadworthy and
safe. The inmates work on every aspect of the bike to
make them safe and fit for purpose. 'We have a thorough
system of quality control and every bike goes through a
detailed and rigorous checklist by three separate
mechanics before being released to the end user. Our
aim is to offer high quality bikes and to keep the end
users safe,' explains John Hughes.
Bike Back Derby : Integration through bike recycling scheme
One of the inmates - undertaking the final check-up before releasing the
refurbished bike into the market.
Once the bikes are refurbished and checked for safety, the bikes are for sale to the public at various events throughout Derby city: 'We hold regular events at Derby venues, such as the University and Derby Train Station The Bike Back project also has an actual shop, wherein the customers can select the bike according to their needs, requirements and preferences,' further explains John Hughes.
Far-Reaching Positive ConsequencesBesides the significant contribution of a graduated release and smoother reintegration of inmates engaged in the scheme as they near the end of their sentences, the Bike Back Derby project also has a positive influence on other aspects. As John Hughes points out: 'Due to the fact that we are reusing and recycling old and damaged bikes that would be otherwise just thrown away, we help the environment in terms of efficient waste disposal. Additionally, we are also encouraging people to use different means of transportation, that improves the sustainability of local transport and that has positive results on people's health condition'.
The Story of How Refurbished Bikes are Helping Jobless People to Get a JobThe Bike Back Derby initiative is also helping jobless people in their efforts of finding sustainable jobs. How? John Hughes further explains: 'We work in a close
partnership with the Derby City Council and all of the Connected partners, such as Sustrans and Wheels To Work.' Both partners, offer financial contributions of up to £100 to those wishing to take up cycling as a means to get to work, a job interview or a training. Job seekers are therefore able to use the 'pedal power' to search for employment and training further afield. It gives them a cheap means of locomotion; like this they are not dependent on public transport or lifts from friends or cars. Jon Hughes continues: 'As most of our bikes are around £70, the allowance actually covers not only the bike but also the cost of locks and lights.' This has proved to be a very successful feature of the initiative. Especially job seekers, who often do not have enough finances for travelling to various places for job interviews or vocational or educational trainings find using refurbished bikes more than useful.
Inspiring Project with Fruitful ResultsBike Back Derby was launched in July 2013 and is funded by the Derby City Council’s Connected project. 'We are continually looking for opportunities to make the project more sustainable and less reliant on grant funding,' says John Hughes and concludes: 'The project is currently funded until March 2016. We hope that during this period, we will grow our activities and will expand the numbers of inmates gaining Employment and thus cut re-offending rates.
Contact & Information
Official websites: www.lifecycleuk.org.uk
E-mail address: [email protected]
'Bike Back Derby is an initiative that is beneficial for everyone. It has positive influence on many aspects of life – from efficient waste disposal, limiting the air pollution to social and work reintegration of the inmates as well as jobless people.'
John Hughes, the project manager of Bike Back Derby within the Life Cycle UK.
YouRock is an online employability platform aimed at
young people across Europe without a work history
or low career profile. By using a specialized
‘diamond’ graphic scheme, the YouRock platform
helps its users to explore their pre-existing work
skills and establish a dynamic professional profile
accessible to various employers across Europe.
‘YouRock helps young people to identify their working
skills that they might not realise they already have. For
instance volunteering in a community organisation
involves development of organisational skills or being
member of a school committee requires among other
negotiation skills’ says Ian Clifford, CEO & Founder of the
YouRock initiative.
Professional Profile by Self-Exploration The YouRock employability platform is based on two key
technological innovations. The skills matching system
enables employers to find perfect candidates with ideal
skills for their open job positions, while the translation
interface allows youth mobility across Europe.
In order to establish their professional profiles, users can
choose from dozens of day-to-day activities falling under
20 diverse categories. These include community, sports,
crafts, technology and even animal care or gaming. The
system then links these activities to the business or work
skills and organise them into the six main groups by
creating a ‘diamond’ graph that demonstrates their
dominant skills. As Ian Clifford says: ‘Users can include
as many activities as they like, creating a visual depiction
of skills that will be unique to them. Moreover they can
add links to other online content that shows their talent,
and get each individual skill endorsed by a third party.’
As YouRock aspires to contribute to the cross-border
youth employment, all profiles can be displayed in 15
European languages. ‘This is a key technology
innovation as the multi-lingual feature of YouRock
platform allow employers to search for suitable
employees in other European countries as well,’
continues Ian Clifford.
An example of the ‘diamond’ scheme of registered users profiles.
Failure of ‘Trending’ Career Networks ‘In countries with high rates of unemployment, young
people fear that being without a job is their destiny and
they may never find work’ Ian Clifford comments on
growing figures of jobless young people in many
European countries. As Ian points out, a vast majority of
them avoids online career networks such as LinkedIn,
even though most of the employers often utilize these
networks for recruitment. It is estimated that only 13 % of
the young people use career networks, while only 7%
YouRock: Discover your hidden talent with the new youth employability platform
‘YouRock wants to be synonymous for empowerment. It wants to be the catalyst for a movement of young people that want
to take control of their careers, encouraging them to look wider, see further and believe that they have value and something
to contribute.’
Ian Clifford, CEO & Founder of the youth employability platform YouRock
intend to: ‘They say their profiles look weak, because
they have no employment history’ continues Ian Clifford.
YouRock therefore aims to fill this gap between young
people in search of a job and employers by enabling
users to build a professional profile even before they
have a work experience, hence facilitating their chances
on the labour market. ‘YouRock focuses on skills rather
than employment history. This is the key innovation as all
users end up with a dynamic profile, even if they have no
education or work experience,’ adds Ian Clifford.
Participants of ‘Hackaton’ developing the prototype of the YouRock
platform.
Crowdfunding Support YouRock Online Ltd is a private social enterprise that
was established in the United Kingdom in August 2013.
In order to pursue his vision of creating a job platform
specialized for jobless young people across Europe, Ian
Clifford has successfully raised €14,400 in
‘crowdfunding’. The prototype of the YouRock platform
was developed during a ‘Hackathon’ held in Lithuania
and was further upgraded and refined pursuant to fruitful
inputs and suggestions by diverse youth groups from
various European countries. Moreover Liberty Global, an
international cable company, has sponsored the
development of the beta YouRock website from the
prototype and greatly contributed to launching a social
media campaign.
European Partnerships YouRock is an inevitable and valuable tool for
international and national networks which facilitate
employment support among young people throughout
Europe. Ian Clifford says: ‘We are forming partnerships
with a number of European campaigns aimed at young
people, including eSkills for Jobs Campaign and Get
Online Week. We are also going to participate in
European and national conferences and events targeting
young people, education, careers, technology or
employability.’
Success of the YouRock Platform The YouRock beta went online in March 2014 and has
been promoted by many stakeholders across Europe
ever since. The YouRock initiative was even chosen as
one of the top ten finalists in the European Social
Innovation Competition launched by the European
Commission. ‘At the moment there are 730 registered
users who have created their professional profiles via the
YouRock platform. Approximately 65 % of them are from
southern European countries. There is also a relatively
even gender balance. Users currently fall into 20-30 age
range and tend to be a mix of students and unemployed’
comments Ian Clifford on the success of the platform so
far.
Contact & Information
Official websites: http://yourock.jobs/
E-mail address: [email protected]
AustriaCareer Moves
• Special job search internet platform for people withdisabilities
• Perfect matching supported by unique search icons• Raises awareness in the private sectorSpacelab
• Offers drop-outs a second (and third) chance• Skills development for steady professional career• Uses social media to communicate
BelgiumAnkerfiguren
• How to deal with integration of citizens migrating fromEastern Europe
• Prevents social isolation and marginalization• Social workers provide stronghold and bridge socialinclusionExperience@work
• Keeps 50+ workers from early retirement• Safeguards valuable work experience and skills forbusiness
• Private sector initiative and sponsored by private sectorWegwijs
• Dedicated to low-skilled people• Alternative interactive and visualised trainings• Example of public private partnership (PPP)
DenmarkMind your own business
• Learning business by doing business• Micro-enterprising for young boys of ethnic origin• Mentored and financed by private sector
ItalySocial cooperatives
• Socio-economic engine that creates jobs for sociallydisadvantaged individuals
• Private sector driven solidarity model• Financed by tax benefit system
NetherlandsWatTwest
• Volunteers start initiatives in socially weakneighborhoods
• Win-win for the local society and the unemployed• Boosts self-esteem and supports professional and socialskillsWebleren
• Professional tool for self-development• 24/7 access – no time is lost• Cheap alternative for expensive re-integrationinterventions
SlovakiaEPIC
• Private sector helps municipalities to enhance socialenterprising
• Catalogue of local business opportunities• Great help for municipalities in fighting highunemployment
SwedenIT Projects
• Encourages older people to use modern technology• Offers young unemployed people new IT skills and jobopportunities
• Reduces social isolation of elderly people
United KingdomBike Back Derby
• Win-Win situation for inmates at the labour market• Certified new skills and work experiences to improvechances to survive ‘outside’
• ‘Pedal power’ to search for employmentYouRock
• Tool for self-exploration of hidden qualities and skills• Promotes cross-border employment for young people• Financed by crowd funding
www.stimulansz.nl
ConclusionTop 3 project features
www.stimulansz.nl
ContactStimulanszP.O. Box 27583500 GT UtrechtThe Netherlands
Edition© Stimulansz, September 2014
AuthorKarolína Kroupová
All rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced in any form, distributed,or transmitted in any form or by any means,including photocopying, without the priorwritten permission of the publisher.