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Mayor’s Office
Corporate Communication and International Relations Department
PROPOSAL OF ACTION PLANNING NETWORK -­‐ URBACT PROGRAMME Project of the title: Innovation for a 2nd chance (TBC)
Key words
Social Innovation
Innovative Education
Social Cohesion
Research and innovation Long Life Learning Digital Skills
Digital Inclusion Living-­‐lab Youth unemployment Demand driven skills training 2nd chance education
PROBLEM
Viladecans has been significantly affected by the crisis. The city has a high unemployment rate, especially among young people, and a low education level in comparison with the average of the surrounding area. In the last few years, however, the City Council has managed to attract a number of companies and projects at metropolitan scale which represents an important opportunity for direct and indirect employment for unemployed young people, both short and long term. However, this sector of the population needs to be in line with the business needs as quite often those companies cannot find people with the proper skills. In addition to this, this sector also needs to adapt their curricula to changes in technology, changes in the way we live and relate with other people as well as to the globalisation effects. CHALLENGES These are the challenges identified in this context: • The need to foster a policy of rapid increase of the employability of young people unemployed with no qualification or with a low level of education so that they can get access to high-­‐quality jobs that will be generated in the city and surrounding areas during the next years of economic recovery. • The need to adapt the strategies and programmes of professional guidance, inclusion and training to the technological changes (digitalisation, mobility, programming, etc.), to the new trends in the way we live and interact with each other (sharing economy and consumption, social networks, focus to the user experience, etc.) and to the globalisation effects (importance of global languages, knowledge of international standards, increase of contacts as well as the collaboration and mobility with other territories). 04/05/2015
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Mayor’s Office
Corporate Communication and International Relations Department
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The need for the city to incorporate research and innovation activities and talent in the field of learning (mainly in terms of open and collaborative learning), personalised learning based on the individual and his/her needs and an intensified use of ICT. The need to meet specific needs of the companies in the city when it comes to training in specific skills. Quite often it is difficult for companies to find people with the required profile. The need for an evolution of the governance between different levels of administrations in order to address the critical competences to the optimal level. Even though the role of cities is key for their knowledge and proximity to both local business and citizens, in some European countries such as Spain (where Education is a regional competence), the current distribution of competencies on education and vocational training does not take them into account quite enough. Taking into account the aforementioned challenges and taking also into account the experience of Viladecans in innovative practices both in employment and education policies, we consider that the city can be an optimal environment for the implementation and application of research and innovation activities for the development of new products, services and solutions in the field of education to employment. This would help to improve the expertise of our young citizens, as well as to reduce the inequalities in access to professional development and to foster social cohesion. OBJECTIVE
To increase the employability and the professional competence of unemployed young people with no qualifications or with a low level of education (2nd chance). The project proposes to tackle this objective by means of an innovative working methodology based on 3 important elements: • R&D: in the process to increase the employability of our unemployed young people and to adapt their education curriculum, R&D stakeholders and activities must play a key role. In this respect, R&D centres (especially universities), but also businesses (private R&D) must be involved when defining their training. • Businesses: it is important to ensure that the training meets the specific needs of the companies, that is, training focused on the demand side. Businesses need to be actively involved in the design and development of new solutions in the field of learning for employment. • Cities: are key players when it comes to increasing the employability of our young people and adapting them to the real needs, cities have an unique knowledge of both, local companies and citizens. 04/05/2015
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Mayor’s Office
Corporate Communication and International Relations Department
The project proposes then to attract the relevant research and innovation activities and stakeholders through an innovation ecosystem specialised in the field of policies and programmes of open and personalised learning with an intense use of ICT. The project would like to analyse how local entities, with the support of all relevant local stakeholders, can work to improve the training of unemployed young people with no qualifications or a low level of education so that they can adapt their training curriculum to the current business demands. In this respect, the shared design of local living-­‐labs would allow the adaptation to the future challenges posed by the changes in ICT, the globalisation of the human activity and the new social and cultural trends. The project aims to tackle common problems such as youth unemployment, from an innovative point of view: approaching R&D (in the field of learning) to the specific learning demands and challenges of unemployed people. Innovative activities in the field of education and professional training in cities should produce profits in terms of employability and better skills of the unemployed young people. WHY URBACT? Viladecans believes that taking part in an Action Planning Network within the URBACT Programme would offer the possibility to reflect, learn and exchange knowledge and experiences with other cities with similar realities and interests. It would also ensure the possibility to count with the support of experts at European level. The Action Planning Network will be an optimal context to reflect and try to provide innovative solutions to tackle this challenge. The creation of a Local Support Group is a key element to achieve the aforementioned objective: the involvement of research centres (universities) and education centres, as well as businesses, public administrations and representatives of the young people, is essential in preparing these youngsters and ensuring that they acquire relevant skills and they adapt their education curricula to real business needs. The URBACT experience and the research and innovation ecosystems generated from the working dynamics with the local support groups would also offer the possibility to go further and to develop a living-­‐lab at European level. This Living-­‐Lab would incorporate the projects of businesses, the relevant public administrations and the research entities – especially universities -­‐, education centres and representatives of the young people of all the European partners. That is, a multiregional critical mass of public and private entities, businesses, entrepreneurs and researchers discovering new opportunities together, developing innovation projects and meeting the social challenges of preparing our young people for the jobs of the future. 04/05/2015
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Mayor’s Office
Corporate Communication and International Relations Department
VILADECANS Viladecans is located 12 kilometres south from Barcelona (within Barcelona Metropolitan Area) with more than 65,000 inhabitants. Unemployment rate is Viladecans is 15.30 whereas youth unemployment s 17.70%. In the last few years, the City Council has managed to attract a number of companies and projects at metropolitan scale which represents an important opportunity for direct and indirect employment for unemployed young people, both short and long term. The city Viladecans has carried out several actions in order to improve the employability of the young people. Dual Vocational training; identification of needs of the local businesses and tailor-­‐made training for young people; or the School-­‐job transition network are some examples. Quite often these actions are quite expensive for the city, so there is a need to find efficient and sustainable solutions for the future. The city wants to exchange experiences with other cities and to learn new solutions in order to be able to implement competitive initiatives to improve the employability of our young people with no qualifications or very low education. PRACTICAL INFORMATION Programme and call: Deadline: Entity: Contact person: URBACT III -­‐ 1st Call for Action Planning Networks
16.06.15 – Submission of the project proposal for the first phase. Viladecans City Council
Sonia Domínguez– Email : international_relations@viladecans.cat -­‐ Telf: +34 93 635 18 00 – Ext : 8551 Partners searched: Viladecans is looking for partners sharing the same interests and willing to develop innovative solutions to improve the skills of young people so that they adapt their training curriculum to the current demands of business. We are looking for cities active in the field with interesting experiences in promoting the employability of young people with no qualification or a low level of education. Viladecans is also looking for a city that would be interested in joining the project as Lead Partner. Duration of the project: 1st Phase– 6 months (2nd Phase: 24 months) More information on the http://urbact.eu/urbactiii-­‐1st-­‐call call: 04/05/2015
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