Archives: September 2011

This EUR3.5 million Call, launched on 21 September under the PROGRESS employment and social solidarity programme, aims to promote evidence-based social policy experimentation to address challenges such as to ensure constant adaptation of schemes and measures to evolving social needs; to provide for the participation of stakeholders in all steps of the policy cycle; and evaluation of the social impact of decisions.
The Call focuses on the following topics:
* Social inclusion of vulnerable groups such as Roma, migrants and their descendants, the homeless and youth.
* The quality of child care.
* Active and healthy ageing.
* The transition from education to employment for young people.

Among the actions to be financed are:
* Design, management and evaluation methodology of social experiments.
* Strategies to expand social experiments and translate findings into broader policy measures.
* Cooperation and networking activities.

Activities of 18-24 months duration should begin during the second quarter of 2012.

Deadline: 15 December

Further details

A brochure has been published by the Committee of the Regions, European Commission and AGE Platform Europe, presenting the EU funding possibilities for regional and local initiatives to promote active ageing and inter-generational solidarity. It is hoped the brochure will make a major contribution to next year's European Year for Active Ageing, by showing what resources are available at European level and inviting regional and local stakeholders to make the best possible use of them, preferably by working in partnership with organisations from other Member States.

Brochure

DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion have published a Call to support up to five pilot projects on models for cooperation and partnership between public institutions and commercial and social enterprises. The aim is to create specific partnerships intended to increase effectiveness on issues such as applying corporate social responsibility in local communities and solving identifiable socio-economic problems.

Applications must be developed and implemented through a transnational partnership (at least three Member States) of consortia, each of whose membership reflects the three categories of organisation. Funded actions should be geared towards identifying, measuring and approving good practices which can be reproduced in other EU countries and regions.

Activities must reflect at least one of the following priority themes:
* Evaluation and modelling of innovative social structures, new relationships between employers and workers and between various civil society actors.
* Improving the matching of business demands to the supply of services from social enterprises.
* Dissemination of successful cases of this form of cooperation.
* Stock-taking and analysis of the social impact of social economy activities on the basis of actual examples in order to improve policy-making.
* Access to credit and tax relief tailored to the social economy.

Deadline: 15 November

‘’All-inclusive cooperation between public authorities and enterprises for social inclusion’’

The European Commission released a new Practical Guide providing information on the different funding sources and opportunities for regions to engage in research and innovation at the end of August. Covering the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the Competitiveness & Innovation Framework Programme (which includes the Intelligent Energy Europe, ICT Policy Support Programme, and Entrepreneurship & Innovation programmes), as well as the Structural Funds, the guide traces the scope and themes of each programme, eligibility rules for funded actions and application procedures among other matters. Further project development advice is also provided, including a Checklist and Scorecard which are intended to help stakeholders to identify, and mix, the appropriate funding programme(s) for their ambitions at every stage of developing and implementing a project.

'Competitive European regions through research and innovation'