Social Affairs Forum strategy for 2021-2022 Chair Utrecht Politician: Maarten van Ooijen Officer: Imara Antonius E-mail: [email protected] Vice-chair Glasgow Politician: Baillie Annette Christie Officer: Joe Brady E-mail: [email protected] Aarhus • Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropole • Amiens Metropole • Amsterdam Members (145) • Angers Loire Métropole • Antwerp • Athens • Banja Luka • Barcelona • Belfast • Belgrade • Bergen • Berlin • Beylikdüzü • Bialystok • Bilbao • Birmingham • Bologna • Bonn • Borlange • Bordeaux • BrabantStad • Braga • Bratislava • Bremen • Brighton & Hove • Bristol • Brno • Brussels • Brussels Capital Region • Budapest • Burgas • Bydgoszcz • Cardiff • Cluj-Napoca • Cologne • Constanta • Copenhagen • Dortmund • Dresden • Dublin • Dusseldorf • Edinburgh • Eindhoven • Espoo • Essen • Florence • Frankfurt • Gaziantep • Gdansk • Genoa • Ghent • Gijon • Glasgow • Gothenburg • Grand Paris Sud • Grenoble Alpes Métropole • Hamburg • Helsinki • Istanbul • Izmir • Karlsruhe • Karlstad • Katowice • Kharkiv • Kiel • Kyiv • Leeds • Leipzig • Lisbon • Ljubljana • London • Lublin • Luxembourg • Lviv • Lyon • Madrid • Malmö • Manchester • Mannheim • Metropole Europeenne de Lille • Milan • Munich • Munster • Murcia • Nantes • Netwerkstad Twente • Newcastle- Gateshead • Nice Côte d’Azur • Nicosia • Novi Sad • Nuremberg • Odessa • Oslo • Osmangazi • Ostend • Oulu • Palermo • Paris • Pendik • Pilsen • Porto • Poznan • Prague • Rennes Métropole • Reykjavik • Riga • Rome • Rotterdam • Sarajevo • Seville • Sheffield • Sofia • Solna • St Etienne • Stockholm • Strasbourg • Stuttgart • Sunderland • Tallin • Tampere • Tbilisi • Terrassa Metropolitan Area • The Hague • Thessaloniki • Timisoara • Tirana • Toulouse • Turin • Turkish Cypriot community of Nicosia • Turku • Uppsala • Utrecht • Valladolid • Vantaa • Varna • Venice • Vienna • Vilnius • Warsaw • Wroclaw • Yerevan • Zagreb • Zaragoza • Zurich Contents Introduction ................................................................................................... 3 1. Our vision: Inclusive Cities for All ............................................................... 4 Contributing to the Eurocities strategic framework 2020-2029 ................................................ 4 2. SAF priorities for 2021-2022 ....................................................................... 5 1. Build Back Fairer Together – social recovery through reducing inequalities......................... 5 2. A Home for Everyone ............................................................................................................. 6 3. Welcoming everyone in our cities – managing diversity and social cohesion ....................... 6 3. SAF advocacy plan for 2021-2022 ............................................................... 7 4. Working methods ...................................................................................... 13 Forum meetings ....................................................................................................................... 13 Social Innovation Lab............................................................................................................................. 13 Working Groups ....................................................................................................................... 14 Steering Committee ................................................................................................................. 14 Our mutual learning programme for cities in partnership with DG EMPL .............................. 16 5. SAF workplan for 2021 .............................................................................. 16 Actions for 2021 ....................................................................................................................... 17 Calendar of SAF meetings and events in 2021 ......................................................................... 21 SAF strategy 2021-2022 eurocities.eu 2 Final version: 4 March 2021 Introduction Eurocities has a dedicated Social Affairs Forum that brings together over 150 cities to work jointly to address major social challenges that European cities are facing now and in the future, by means of mutual learning, capacity building, co-creation of social innovations and contributing to EU policies. The Social Affairs Forum supports cities to improve urban policies to reduce poverty and inequalities, foster inclusive labour markets and promote social inclusion and equal opportunities for all people in line with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals. Fighting poverty and promoting equality and inclusion are at the core of our work in social affairs. We adopt an integrated approach to inclusion and equality by working to ensure equal access to education, employment, housing, healthcare and overall, good quality public services accessible to all. To achieve this, we work with all levels of city policy-makers: • We engage deputy mayors to ensure political support for driving further inclusive city policies; • We work with city directors for social services to coordinate strategic approaches to social policy; • We involve staff from city services to provide thematic policy expertise in our nine working groups; • We engage managers of city projects to share lessons and know-how from innovative actions. In all our work we place a strong focus on building inclusive cities for all people, with targeted support to vulnerable groups, especially children in poverty, migrants and refugees, people with disabilities, Roma people, homeless people, unemployed, the elderly and people living in deprived urban areas. Our main activities in the Social Affairs Forum are: • knowledge exchange, capacity building and mutual learning activities based on effective tools and methods to bring policy changes. Members learn from each other by sharing knowledge, comparing different approaches, testing innovative solutions and identifying best practices. • policy and advocacy work to represent the interests of cities to the EU institutions. We actively contribute to the development and implementation of European policies, legislation and programmes that are relevant for cities. We work with the European Commission, both at political and technical level, as well as with the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the European Council and EU Member States, to ensure that European policy is fed with front-line experience of cities. Our SAF aim is to bring a strong urban dimension into the EU social agenda and to mainstream the social perspective into top EU policy priorities such as the EU Green Deal. • communication and raising awareness: we profile urban social issues and good practices from cities to the EU institutions, European stakeholders, other European networks and the media; as well as to communicate European initiatives and policy priorities to members. We engage our members in direct dialogue with the European Commission to get first-hand information on how to access EU funding. Social innovation is at the core of our work. We support cities to learn, share and transfer innovative solutions to address social challenges such as child poverty, homelessness, integration of migrants, Roma inclusion, access into the labour market for vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, and promoting active ageing. We do so through mutual learning, peer reviews, knowledge transfer and capacity building between cities, including training on how to access and use EU funding. SAF strategy 2021-2022 eurocities.eu 3 Final version: 4 March 2021 1. Our vision: Inclusive Cities for All SAF contributes to the Eurocities mission of a sustainable future in which all citizens can enjoy a good quality of life in a socially inclusive, fair and cohesive society. We strive for a Europe where cities are genuine partners with the EU to create a better future where people take part in an inclusive society. We put people first in all our work. Our long-term vision is to build Inclusive Cities for All where: • everyone feels at home: diversity of backgrounds is welcomed as a source of strength for social mixing and social cohesion while discrimination and racism are deplored; • no one is left behind and everyone has opportunities to fully participate in society with equitable access to affordable education, childcare, housing, healthcare, social services; • equal opportunities for well-being in which the area where one lives does not affect their chances of graduating school, finding a job, getting healthcare or residing a safe and warm home; • inclusive growth where everyone can access inclusive labour markets, gain a fair pay, develop useful skills for now and the future, and get support for up-skilling, re-skilling and career transition; • sustainable cities where social investment is guiding just transitions to green and digital economy; • social innovations where new technologies are used to foster social and digital inclusion, improve access and quality of services, and engage people in co-creating the city. Our long-term vision is based on a life-cycle approach to ensure that the needs and interests of all people in our cities are well taken care of at any age or stage of life. This involves children having sufficient places in nurseries and schools, young people getting support to move from education and training to work, working-age adults being prepared to face changes in the world of work, all people even those