Guide for Development Partnerships Learning from the experience of EQUAL partnerships Employment & European Social Fund Employment & European Employment social affairs European Commission EQUAL Guide for Development Partnerships Learning from the experience of EQUAL partnerships Employment social affairs Employment & European Social Fund European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Unit B4 Manuscript completed in 2004 The EQUAL Guide For Development Partnerships was written by a Working Group compris- ing experts from several Member States (Sweden, France, Belgium, Portugal, United Kingdom, Austria, Ireland) and the European Commission services with the help of an exter- nal consultant, Mrs Leda Stott. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. 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Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2005 ISBN 92-79-00135-3 © European Communities, 2005 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER EQUAL Guide for Development Partnerships CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE EQUAL GUIDE FOR DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS . 5 2. PARTNERSHIP LEARNING PROCESSES AND SKILLS . 9 3. PREPARATORY WORK:ASSESSING THE POINT OF DEPARTURE . 13 4. PREPARATORY WORK: LOOKING FOR PARTNERS . 17 5. INITIATION: PLANNING FOR PARTNERSHIP . 21 6. INITIATION: FORMALISING AND BUILDING TRUE PARTNERSHIP . 25 7. DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING: USING COMMUNICATION, REPORTING AND EVALUATION SYSTEMS . 29 8. DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING: MAINTAINING INVOLVEMENT AND COMMITMENT . 33 9. MAINSTREAMING AND FURTHER ACTION . 37 ANNEX WITH FURTHER EXPLANATION AND EXAMPLES . 39 3 1 EQUAL Guide for Development Partnerships • Briefing Note n° 1 1. Introduction to the EQUAL Guide for Development Partnerships This collection of briefs is designed to offer guidance on the ing the creation and development of EQUAL partnerships development of successful EQUAL Development and and what strategies might work best to deal with these. Transnational Partnerships. It is based on the outcomes of a short learning project with a group of eight Development Partnership learning Partnerships (DPs) from across Europe that aimed to: The project examined learning experiences that were • identify key areas of relevance for the development of considered to be of most importance to the DPs involved successful partnerships, in the project as they developed their partnerships. As a result the findings are not exhaustive and do not include all • explore preliminary learning experiences about possible partnership-building issues and challenges. At the partnership, and same time the tools and techniques that are suggested in this booklet are not the only possibilities for working in • make recommendations for other EQUAL partnerships. partnership. DPs may develop and use other methods that Through the formation of a Partnership Learning have not been examined here and that are equally valid Group, DPs were encouraged to reflect upon the issues for addressing partnership issues. It is also important to and challenges they faced during the processes of prepara- note that the project concentrated particularly on the tory work, initiation, development and testing, mainstream- processes of preparatory work, initiation, and development ing and preparation for further action. and testing. On-going research, which further explores mainstreaming Defining success and preparation for further action, as well as more detailed investigation into some of the issues raised, will enable Central to the learning project was the need to arrive at an greater insight into EQUAL partnerships and contribute to understanding of what “success” means for EQUAL part- their effectiveness. nerships. The project addressed this issue by seeking to assess the benefits of a partnership approach as the The eight DPs that were chosen to participate in the proj- best way to achieve EQUAL goals.This involved examining ect came from seven different countries.The primary aim in the value of the partnership for: choosing them was to ensure that each country which sub- mitted a project was represented, all the EQUAL themes • partner organisations - how different partners gain were covered and the partnerships offered variety in terms from working together in partnership; of partner numbers and sectors. They included: • people who are disadvantaged in the labour • Austria: RepaNet - Reparaturnetzwerk market and other stakeholder groups - how far Österreich (AT-3-08/135) outcomes of project activities for target groups and the wider community are recognised as being effective and Aims to bond social and labour market policy strategies sustainable; and with environmental policy by opening up higher profile fields of business to those segregated from the employment • policy level and institutional change - how far pro- market, particularly in the field of appliance reuse and ject activities are having an impact on institutions, and being mainstreamed into employment and social inclu- repair. sion policies to ensure long-term impact and integration. • Belgium: Décrire (BEfr-20) Acknowledgement and understanding of “mistakes” and/or Established to assist workers who have suffered collective “failures” and ensuring that other partnerships learn from redundancies in Wallonia by offering redeployment guid- these is important in identifying success factors. By explor- ance and support to assist their reintegration into the ing both what worked, and what did not, the project sought labour force.Works principally with trade unions which are to tease out what specific issues and challenges emerge dur- key actors in supporting these workers. 5 1 EQUAL Guide for Development Partnerships • Briefing Note n° 1 • France: De la précarité à l'emploi durable Additional information was also gathered from other DPs (FR-BRE-2001-10825) such as: Aims to provide an innovative response for the profession- • Portugal: ConVidas (PT-2001-164) (Permanent al insertion of fragile groups into the labour market by Platform for Reconciliation) working with training centres and a temping company. • Portugal: Mudança de Maré (PT-2001-230) Priority groups are provided with employment training, lit- eracy and language skills, and professional support through • Italy: SONAR (IT-IT-G-PIE-012) workshops and sponsored activities. • Ireland: Equal at Work - The Dublin Employment Methodology Pact (IE-15) Central to the project methodology was the use of an A Dublin-wide initiative involving 48 partners from different Action Learning Approach that based inquiry and learn- sectors who are working to develop new and more inclu- ing on experience and action, drew on the knowledge and sive models of recruitment and in-work progression in experience of the participants and emphasised reflection order to break entrenched patterns of labour market and analysis: exclusion and long-term unemployment. They also seek to contribute to the development of an open and diverse Research into partnership resource materials employment culture in Dublin. Relevant materials from EQUAL and the eight DPs, as well • Ireland: Sonas DP Ireland Ltd. (IE-21) as other sources, were used to ascertain what key issues and themes were important to explore during the project. Aims to improve the quality of life for select groups of asy- This process also enabled the identification of key support- lum seekers at identifiable phases of the asylum determina- ing resources for EQUAL partnerships. tion process and, in so doing, to contribute to the develop- ment of best humanitarian practice.Through outreach serv- Introductory Meeting ices and information provision a better quality of life is pro- At the start of the project a meeting was held to enable the moted for asylum seekers from Eastern Europe,Africa and DP representatives involved to meet and obtain a clear idea Asia. of the project and what would be expected of them. A pre- liminary learning exercise to identify key issues during the • Portugal: Públicos Diferentes. Iguais preparatory, initiation, and development and testing phases Oportunidades (PT-2001-310) of partnership-building was carried out, as well as establish- Works for a comprehensive approach to difficulties experi- ing ground rules for working together virtually. enced by the most vulnerable groups of the population in E-learning network entering the labour market with particular emphasis on promoting positive images of socially responsible compa- An e-learning network was established