Supporting long-term unemployed immigrants to labour market entry - Transnational action in Swedish ESF-project

Proposal Information

Summary Gävleborg region, North Middle Sweden, will implement an ESF project, called “Extra Support in Gävleborg”, aiming at bringing long-term unemployed men and women, born outside Europe, closer to the labor market. By transnational exchange, the project will gain experience from partners with previous experience in working within this field.  The project is looking for European partners who are interested in hosting one transnational meeting and supporting the project throughout the project period. The traveling costs, accommodation and meals are borne by the Swedish partner.

The 14th of September is the deadline for expression of interest. About the project Target group: people, born outside Europe, who are excluded from the labor market due to low or no basic schooling, that are experiencing challenges in learning Swedish language and are lacking experience of working demands in Sweden. Ten municipalities (the entire region) will try out different methods and working tools to motivate, train and educate the target group in order to bring it closer to the job market. Every municipality will work with people who are far from the labour market. The objective on the individual level is to bring the target group closer to a job or a training program. The overall objective is to find, test and implement effective tools and methods for supporting the target group.

What do we want? The project is carried out on a regional level. The regional partners will share experiences and learn from each other. But there is also a transnational part of the project, in which we intend to gain experiences from international partners, dealing with similar projects or programs, for similar target groups. We also want to disseminate our results and compare our findings with partners. The project is looking for European partners who are interested in hosting one transnational meeting and supporting the project throughout the project period.

How will we do it? We have identified three themes which we would like to discuss and compare. Our idea is to put together at least three groups, consisting of project members from different municipalities, who will visit at least three different partner organizations in Europe. The themes are: Language – how to effectively work with language learning/training and integrate it with work/work-practicing. How to effectively work with social enterprises, (we call these organisations work integrated social enterprises) Successful integration projects, towards further studies and jobs. The meetings would consist of study visits and some kind of workshop or seminar in which experiences can be shared, disseminated and discussed thus meaning to give useful input for both partners.

When will the transnational meetings take place? The project starts in August 2018 and will continue at least until June 2020. The ideal timing for the meetings would be in spring or early autumn of 2019 when the project is up and running. The exact dates for meetings will be planned between us. Practicalities Institutions all over Europe which are interested in our idea send a mail to the transnational coordinator (contact details below). After some consultations we contact the partners that have been selected for further information (we will send feed-back to every partner that has contacted us). A simple letter of understanding or likewise is set up between us and the partners for each of the themes mentioned above. We expect every visit to last for 2-3 working days. An agenda for the meeting is made up by the partner and the Swedish contact person. The costs for travelling, accommodation and meals are borne by the Swedish partner. The results of a transnational meeting could well be that deeper partnerships between us are established.

When do we want your answer or expression of interest? We look forward to having your answers on the 14th of September, at the latest. Contact details for questions or for expressing your interest Name: Peter Wåglund Title: Transnational project coordinator E-mail: peter.waglund@bollnas.se Phone: + 46 76 811 94 19

Duration of Project
August 2018 - June 2020
Partners Involved
The ten municipalities in Gävleborg region, North Middle Sweden
Deadline for Expression of Interest