In the recovery, local communities can boost economic growth and sustainability by investing in a skilled workforce which is less expendable, more adaptable to change and better able to contribute to productivity growth and the creation of new jobs. In order to contribute to this agenda, employment and training organisations need to align their services effectively with local conditions and with broader local economic development strategies. 12 OECD countries are being reviewed by the OECD to understand how this can best be accomplished, while ensuring the achievement of national policy objectives. The OECD will release the results of this work and some of the participating countries will highlight their experiences.

In co-operation with the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish Ministry of Employment, SALAR- Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and WAPES – World Association of Public Employment Services the event will be held from 24th – 25th April 2014 in Stockholm, Sweden. The previous day (23rd April 2014) there will be a pre-event workshop on “Reducing school dropout rates”.

The wide activity of EMES in the field of Social Innovation and related issues such as welfare, the third sector and social enterprise will be illustrated by Bernard Enjolras, Norwegian member of EMES, who will introduce the recently launched EU project “Third Sector Impact” (TSI).

The workshop “Eco-systems for Social Innovation: Which challenges?” is co-organised by the OECD Forum on Social Innovations in partnership with the WILCO Project (Welfare Innovations at the Local Level in Favour of Social Cohesion). Adalbert Evers, one of the leading researchers of WILCO and co-editor of the WILCO e-book on Social Innovations will participate.
Registration to this event is now open via the event webpage until 31st March 2014.
See the draft agenda and the description of the workshops here.