European Social Fund in action SUCCESS STORIES European Commission European Social Fund in action SUCCESS STORIES Active Labour market Social Inclusion Lifelong Learning Adaptability Women’s participation European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Manuscript completed in February 2005 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. The individual success stories can also be accessed online in English, French and German at following Web addresses: http://europa.eu/comm/employment_social/news/2004/jan/esf_in_action_en.html http://europa.eu/comm/employment_social/news/2004/jan/esf_in_action_fr.html http://europa.eu/comm/employment_social/news/2004/jan/esf_in_action_de.html If you are interested in receiving the electronic newsletter "ESmail" from the European Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. The newsletter is published on a regular basis in English, French and German. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed. A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2006 ISBN 92-79-01575-3 © European Communities, 2006 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER European Social Fund in action 2000-2006 Contents 1. Active labour market . 5 1.1. Repairing furniture offers way back into the community for ex-prisoners, Austria . 7 1.2. “Opening Pathways” for those at risk of exclusion, Spain . 8 1.3. Combining old and new approaches to employment support, Finland . 9 1.4. Promoting local commerce and craftsmen, France . 10 1.5. Business creation as a motor for exonomic development, France . 11 1.6. National traineeships for new and emerging occupations, Ireland . 12 1.7. Employability for all: training for young job seekers, Luxembourg . 13 1.8. Stepping stone to professional and social integration, The Netherlands . 14 1.9. Local traditions and flavours revive a rural economy, Portugal . 15 1.10. Encouraging the long-term unemployed back into work, Sweden . 16 1.11. Re-training long-term jobseekers, United Kingdom . 17 II. Social inclusion . 19 2.1. Computer training for the deaf or hard of hearing, Austria . 21 2.2. Promoting social responsibility among local businesses, Belgium . 22 2.3. Tolerance in the future workforce, Germany . 23 2.4. Opening up the labour market to young immigrant school-leavers, Germany . 24 2.5. Promoting diversity in the nursing profession, Denmark . 25 2.6. Emphasising the positive helps unemployed youngsters, Denmark . 26 2.7. Job support for people with disabilities, Spain . 27 2.8. National programme for the Spanish Roma Community, Spain . 28 2.9. Fighting exclusion in small towns and communities, Finland . 29 2.10. Guiding deaf people on the professional path, France . 30 2.11. New network helps socially-excluded access the labour market in Greece, Greece . 31 2.12. Greek language training for immigrants, Greece . 32 2.13. A second chance for early school leavers, Ireland . 33 2.14. Promoting an active working life for the over 45s, Italy . 34 2.15. Starting a new life after serving time, Italy . 35 2.16. Closing the gap through networking, Luxembourg . 36 2.17. People with mental disabilities acquire skills for the workplace, Luxembourg . 37 2.18. A helping hand for asylum-seekers, Luxembourg . 38 2.19. Opening up the job market to people with learning difficulties, the Netherlands . 39 2.20. Professional integration of people with disabilities, Portugal . 40 2.21. Integrating immigrants into the Swedish workforce, Sweden . 41 2.22. Career choices for people with disabilities, United Kingdom . 42 2.23. Bytes centres make IT learning fun and creative, United Kingdom . 43 III. Lifelong learning . 45 3.1. International standards for Human Resource Development, Austria . 47 3.2. Learning at the heart of human resource management, Belgium . 48 3.3. Harnessing the learning potential of new technologies, Belgium . 49 3.4. Berlin develops lifelong learning network, Germany . 50 3.5. Tailored ICT training for transport companies, Denmark . 51 3.6. Filling the training gaps in remote areas, Denmark . 52 3.7. Transparent and comparable qualifications in Ireland, Ireland . 53 3.8. Navarran business take steps in training, Spain . 54 3.9. Upgrading skills and qualifications in the audiovisual sector, Finland . 55 3 European Social Fund Success Stories 3.10. Empowerment by improving computer literacy, Italy . 56 3.11. A company culture of lifelong learning, The Netherlands . 57 3.12. National scheme helps under-qualified adults fulfil their potential, Portugal . 58 3.13. Learning to work, at work, United Kingdom . 59 IV. Adaptability . 61 4.1. Helping parents with childcare obligations, Austria . 63 4.2. Reaching out to the farming community in Belgium, Belgium . 64 4.3. From cleaner to school steward: building a new generation of service staff, Denmark . 65 4.4. Holistic’ business support for SMEs, Finland . 66 4.5. “Holistic” management leads to improved workforce performance, France . 67 4.6. Training helps to modernise Greece’s tourism industry, Greece . 68 4.7. Networking students and teachers in Greece, Greece . 69 4.8. Training and qualifications in the Irish meat industry, Ireland . 70 4.9. Bridging the gap between industry and research, Italy . 71 4.10. Training experts in intellectual property for innovation, Italy . 72 4.11. Flexible work arrangements to complement private life, the Netherlands . 73 4.12. Creative jobs for young people in Madeira, Portugal . 74 4.13. Using and developing skills among care workers, Sweden . 75 4.14. Job rotation gives career boost to local authority employees, Sweden . 76 V. Women’s participation . 77 5.1. Young women break the gender employment mould in Austria, Austria . 79 5.2. Coaching to support sustainable jobs, Belgium . 80 5.3. Equal-IT-y: Changing women’s attitudes towards technology, Germany . 81 5.4. Getting women into work in the Basque country, Spain . 82 5.5. Women electricians: the face of the future, Finland . 83 5.6. Creating more flexible and equal workplaces, France . ..