How could European cities promote a solid active inclusion model – Zoom-in 1
Gabriel highlights the EU and the Finnish approach to active inclusion, discusses the models that the GSIP Vantaa Project has applied so far to develop a sound local active inclusion agenda for unemployed persons, and summarizes key learning points and major challenges of interest to local policy makers and stakeholders across Europe.
This is the first Zoom-in of the EU (Urban Innovative Actions - UIA) funded GSIP (Growth and Social Investments Pacts) Project, one of the main instruments used by the City of Vantaa in Finland to develop a solid local jobs and skills agenda applying a labour market innovation discourse that interrelates innovation with inclusive business growth. It was compiled by the UIA Expert of the Project within the context of the Task B’ “Capturing knowledge” (development of documentation and outputs that will capture and disseminate the lessons learnt and good practices for a wider audience) that UIA Experts shall perform during their activities.
The main aim of the UIA Initiative is to provide urban authorities across Europe with space and resources to test bold and unproven ideas addressing interconnected challenges and experiment how these respond to the complexity of real life. It relates to the topics that EU Member States, local authorities, NGOs, European and national associations of cities have identified within the frame of the European Urban Agenda. The GSIP Project is focused on the topic “Jobs and skills in the local economy”, a key challenge for sustainable inclusive growth in Europe. It started in November 2018 and will continue till October 2021.
Zoom-ins are complementary to the information included in the Expert Journals and web articles. They offer the possibility to Experts and urban authorities to explore a cross-cutting dimension of the Project, to analyze a specific component of the Project and/or to highlight an aspect of the Project which is less visible but particularly important.
In this respect, the first Zoom-in of the GSIP Project concerns a more or less neglected issue in the overall debate about the development of local community jobs and skills agendas in Europe: the role and the contribution of European cities towards a solid active inclusion model through inclusive labour markets for unemployed persons.
The Zoom-in has six thematic Chapters across a number of sections. The first Chapter summarizes the discussion about local active inclusion discourses in Europe. The second Chapter describes the main features of the EU Active Inclusion Strategy. The third Chapter presents the Finnish approach to active inclusion, both at national and local level, paying emphasis to the key challenges that municipalities encounter. The fourth Chapter discusses the ways that the GSIP Vantaa Project has used so far to develop a sound local active inclusion agenda for unemployed persons. The fifth Chapter provides a brief presentation of the Project’s active inclusion implementation progress during 2019-2020, highlighting the major achievements and accomplishments. The last Chapter summarizes key learning points and discusses major challenges.
Jobs and skills in the local economy
