cedefop PEER LEARNING EVENT “Labour market integration of immigrants in Europe”

1. cedefop PEER LEARNING EVENT “Labour market integration of immigrants in Europe” Thessaloniki, 29-30 September 2011

2. Starting point • EU COM launched call to support transnational cooperation in the ESF and exchange through mutual learning • Transnational 'Learning Networks' are run by ESF Managing Authorities and Intermediate Bodies, they focus on specific thematic and governance issues • IMPART = Increasing the Participation of Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Employment will be running until April 2012

3. Relevance Major issues on exclusion, discrimination and integration of migrants and ethnic minorities in the EU: • Persistent labour market inequalities encountered by migrants and ethnic minorities • Skills and labour shortages in the EU; rising age profile of the population -> shrinking of the workforce • Prospect of economic downturn in the EU; individuals with lowest levels of qualification and skills most vulnerable to lose their jobs

4. 12 Partners from 7 EU-MS • Berlin (Coordination) • Germany • Baden-Württemberg • Greece • England • Estonia • Spain • Aragón • Andalucía • Flanders • Scotland • Sweden

5. IMPART goals & approach • To give the European Commission a concrete input to the design of employment strategies, including the future targeting of ESF to increase MEM participation in employment for the long term • 12 EU Partnerslook for critical success factors that make the difference in getting the good practice of ESF-funded projects fully implemented and mainstreamed • With the Peer Review method we facilitate learning across ESF Managing Authorities and Member States

6. Network Structure

7. IMPART themes & TWGs • Assessment and Validation of Migrant Competences -> projects where migrants are helped to get jobs by getting recognition for their skills and abilities • Fostering the Development of Anti-Discrimination Skills -> strategies to help intermediaries and employers reduce discrimination and other barriers to employment • Integrated Territorial Approaches -> focuses on how local or regional strategies and co-ordination enhance migrants’ employment chances

8. IMPART Peer Review • Intensive preparation and guidance • Study visits: Peers look critically at selected ESF projects which tackle aspects of migrant employment • Benchmarking tool and baseline report: Framework for inquiry • Study visits are arranged 2010 – 2011, interim results and findings reports are available

9. Recommendations • Monitoring: The scope of monitoring should extend beyond immediate outcomes for individual participants • Migrant voice: The specific ‘voice’ and views of migrants and ethnic minorities should systematically inform design, delivery and evaluation of programmes and projects

10. Recommendations • Employer engagement should have higher priority, greater attention to reducing barriers on the employer side • Investing in networks: Funding to projects should be sufficient not just to disseminate results, but also to prepare a basic ‘infrastructure’ of stakeholder networks

11. Recommendations • Involving key stakeholders in development and evaluations of programmes and projects, also as a step in preparing for long-term legacy • Aligning projects with national policy frameworks to strengthen projects’ chances of sustained funding and mainstreaming

12. Finally - some numbers • IMPART conducted 3 training sessions for peers and 8 study visits • 39 peers and 11 projects from participating states and regions have taken part in this peer review process • They completed 110 interviews and 17 workshops with almost 200 people • 7 peers participated in two study visits and were able to share their experience with new participants • By the end of 2011 around 60 peers will have taken part in the IMPART peer review, promoting learning

13. Thank you! For further information please visit www.impart.euor send an email to cigdem.ipek@intmig.berlin.de