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EQUAL Community Initiative
EQUAL was a Community Initiative within the European Social Fund of the European Union. It concerned “transnational co-operation to promote new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in connection with the labour market”. It ran from 2001 till 2007 with a budget of some €3 billion of EU resources, matched by a similar sum from national resources. EQUAL was part of the European Union's strategy for "more and better jobs" and for ensuring that no-one is denied access to them. It tested new ways of tackling discrimination and inequality experienced by those in work and those looking for a job. From 2008 it has been discontinued, but its principles were intended to be incorporated into the mainstream Structural Funds. In practice, in the 2007-2013 period transnational work in the ESF was virtually limited to the 17 Learning Networks or Communities of practice that were established under the ''Learning for Change'' programme. These involved the 117 ESF Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Social Fund
The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs), which are dedicated to improving social cohesion and economic well-being across the regions of the Union. The funds are redistributive financial instruments that support cohesion within Europe by concentrating spending on the less-developed regions. It is the European Union's main financial instrument for supporting employment in the member states of the European Union as well as promoting economic and social cohesion, created by merging the existing European Social Fund with the EU Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) and the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) in 2021. ESF+ spending amounts to around 10% of the EU's total budget. The particular aim of ESF+ spending is to support the creation of more and better jobs in the EU, which it does by co-funding national, regional and local projects that improve the levels of employment, the quality o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asylum Seeker
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and might have fled their home country because of war or other factors harming them or their family. If their case is accepted, they become considered a refugee. The terms ''asylum seeker'', ''refugee'' and ''illegal immigrant'' are often confused. A person becomes an asylum seeker by making a formal application for the right to remain in another country and keeps that status until the application has been concluded. The relevant immigration authorities of the country of asylum determine whether the asylum seeker will be granted protection and become an officially recognized refugee or whether asylum will be refused and the asylum seeker becomes an illegal immigrant who may be asked to leave the country and may even be deported. In North Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Exclusion
Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across disciplines including education, sociology, psychology, politics and economics. Social exclusion is the process in which individuals are blocked from (or denied full access to) various rights, opportunities and resources that are normally available to members of a different group, and which are fundamental to social integration and observance of human rights within that particular group (e.g., housing, employment, healthcare, civic engagement, democratic participation, and due process). Alienation or disenfranchisement resulting from social exclusion can be connected to a person's social class, race, skin color, religious affiliation, ethnic origin, educational status, childhood relationships, living standards, and or political opinions, and app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), work during the reference period. Unemployment is measured by the unemployment rate, which is the number of people who are unemployed as a percentage of the labour force (the total number of people employed added to those unemployed). Unemployment can have many sources, such as the following: * new technology, technologies and inventions * the status of the economy, which can be influenced by a recession * competition caused by globalization and international trade * Policy, policies of the government * regulation and market (economics), market Unemployment and the status of the economy can be influenced by a country through, for example, fiscal policy. Furthermore, the monetary authority of a country, such as the central bank, can influ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Innovation
Social innovations are new social practices that aim to meet social needs in a better way than the existing solutions,Howaldt, J./ Schwarz, M"Social Innovation: Concepts, research fields and international trends" IMO international monitoring, 2010. resulting from - for example - working conditions, education, community development or health. These ideas are created with the goal of extending and strengthening civil society. Social innovation includes the social ''processes'' of innovation, such as open source methods and techniques and also the innovations which have a social purpose—like activism, virtual volunteering, microcredit, or distance learning. There are many definitions of social innovation, however, they usually include the broad criteria about social objectives, social interaction between actors or actor diversity, social outputs, and innovativeness (The innovation should be at least ”new” to the beneficiaries it targets, but it does not have to be new to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Community Of Practice
A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly". The concept was first proposed by cognitive anthropologist Jean Lave and educational theorist Etienne Wenger in their 1991 book ''Situated Learning'' . Wenger then significantly expanded on the concept in his 1998 book ''Communities of Practice'' . A CoP can evolve naturally because of the members' common interest in a particular domain or area, or it can be created deliberately with the goal of gaining knowledge related to a specific field. It is through the process of sharing information and experiences with the group that members learn from each other, and have an opportunity to develop personally and professionally . CoPs can exist in physical settings, for example, a lunchroom at work, a field setting, a factory floor, or elsewhere in the environment, but members of CoPs do not have to be co-located. They form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Best Practice
A best practice is a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to other known alternatives because it often produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing things, e.g., a standard way of complying with legal or ethical requirements. Best practices are used to maintain quality as an alternative to mandatory legislated standards and can be based on self-assessment or benchmarking. Best practice is a feature of accredited management standards such as ISO 9000 and ISO 14001. Some consulting firms specialize in the area of best practice and offer ready-made templates to standardize business process documentation. Sometimes a best practice is not applicable or is inappropriate for a particular organization's needs. A key strategic talent required when applying best practice to organizations is the ability to balance the unique qualities of an organization with the practices that it has in common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peer Review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review methods are used to maintain quality standards, improve performance, and provide credibility. In academia, scholarly peer review is often used to determine an academic paper's suitability for publication. Peer review can be categorized by the type of activity and by the field or profession in which the activity occurs, e.g., medical peer review. It can also be used as a teaching tool to help students improve writing assignments. Henry Oldenburg (1619–1677) was a German-born British philosopher who is seen as the 'father' of modern scientific peer review. Professional Professional peer review focuses on the performance of professionals, with a view to improving quality, upholding standards, or providing certification. In academia, peer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AEIDL
AEIDL is the European Association for Innovation in Local Development (''Association Européenne pour l'Innovation dans le Développement Local''). It adopted this new name in June 2022, prior to which it was called the European Association for Information on Local Development/Association Européenne pour l'Information sur le Développement Local. History and objectives It was founded in 1988 and is based in Brussels. its members are 31 individuals from 12 European Union countries who are involved in and expert on local development. Its activities include carrying out projects to promote local development, and implementing contracts for public authorities, especially at EU level. It employs approximately 20 staff. It is a non-profit organisation operating as a social enterprise and devotes its trading surpluses to the furtherance of its objectives, which are: * the promotion of social Europe in a spirit of integration; * the facilitation of transnational co-operation by means of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transnationality
Transnationality is the principle of acting at a Geography, geographical scale larger than that of states, so as to take into account the interests of a Supranational union, supranational entity. Transnational policies or programmes are not simply aggregations of national policies or programmes, but seek to submerge these within a greater whole. According to Aihwa Ong, the term differs from that of transnationalism, as transnationalism refers "to the cultural specificities of global processes, tracing the multiplicity of the uses and conceptions of 'culture'" whereas transnationality is "the condition of cultural interconnectedness and mobility across space". Transnationality is practised by organisations such as the United Nations and the European Union. The EU's principle of subsidiarity holds that actions should be carried out at the lowest feasible governmental level, and therefore much scope is left to individual Member States. The EU institutions thus concern themselves prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empowerment
Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights. Empowerment as action refers both to the process of self-empowerment and to professional support of people, which enables them to overcome their sense of powerlessness and lack of influence, and to recognize and use their resources. As a term, empowerment originates from American community psychology and is associated with the social scientist Julian Rappaport (1981). However, the roots of empowerment theory extend further into history and are linked to Marxist sociological theory. These sociological ideas have continued to be developed and refined through Neo-Marxist Theory (also known as Critical Theory). In social work, empowerment forms a practica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity realizing or redistributing value". Others have different definitions; a common element in the definitions is a focus on newness, improvement, and spread of ideas or technologies. Innovation often takes place through the development of more-effective products, processes, services, technologies, art works or business models that innovators make available to markets, governments and society. Innovation is related to, but not the same as, invention: innovation is more apt to involve the practical implementation of an invention (i.e. new / improved ability) to make a meaningful impact in a market or society, and not all innovations require a new invention. Technical innovation often manifests itself via the engineering process when the prob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
