Complementarities between urban and rural areas in promoting ...

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COMPLEMENTARITIES BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS IN PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INCLUSIONThe LEADER approach is based on two principles:■ the convergence between those responsiblefor interventions and potential beneficiaries;■ and establishing links between the activities ofthe territory, between the territories and betweenthe sectors (for instance between thetourism and production sectors).The partnership in LEADER is an obligation. Atdecision-making level, the economic and socialactors and the associations must represent atleast 50% of the local partnership. Partnership isthe expression of a group of players (public andprivate), established in a variety of differentforms (legal forms, historical forms, etc.), who allgive concrete expression to forms of collectiveinvolvement at the level of a given territory. Allof these have to demonstrate, in conformity withtheir member state legislation, a legitimacy tomanage public funds.We have noticed that the partnership is very diverseand this diversity has been adapted to the respectivecontexts. There is a diversity in the origin:■ initiatives emerging from a group of persons,as is often the case in Portugal and Ireland;■ from enterprises and professional groups, ashas been observed in Spain or Italy;■ and from public authorities.There is also a diversity in the type of mission:■ management, with financial and administrativeaspects, more frequent in initiatives of a publicorigin;■ partnerships constituted on “animation”, whichhighlight the aspect of mobilisation of thepopulation. In these “animation” partnerships,a local dynamic appears, which allows the initiativesto last longer and to be more able toevolve, although this is sometimes at theexpenses of the management aspect.■ Social and economic inclusion through area based local development:the example of DublinPatrick Gates, Dublin Inner City Partnership— 22 —Dublin Inner City Partnership is a local developmentorganisation operating in inner city Dublin,Ireland. This area is one of the most disadvantagedareas of Ireland, with high rates of poverty,unemployment and social problems. The partnershipapproach involves a collaboration betweenstatutory, private and community sectors tobring about regeneration of local areas.WHAT ARE THE IDEAS BEHIND THE DICP?The Dublin Inner City Partnership (DICP) wasestablished over ten years ago. It emerged out ofthe European Union’s first anti-poverty programmeand coincided with the unprecedentedeconomic growth of Ireland. Partnerships haveplayed an important role in terms of stimulatingand sustaining economic growth.The DICP’s vision is to build a more equal andsocially just inner city for Dublin by investing inpeople and communities, and in an inclusivedemocratic process. It is important to improvethe quality of life and to secure the rights of lowincome inner-city residents through increasedaccess to quality education, employment opportunitiesand by increasing public and privateinvestment in disadvantaged areas. The DICP’sapproach is to provide a strategic and integratedframework for local development that includesinvestment from both public and privatesources, including the EU. The partnership principleis aimed at giving direct benefits to innercity residents experiencing poverty.ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGESOF AREA-BASED APPROACHESPolitical empowerment of excluded sections ofthe community enables collective social interactionand the political participation of civic community-basedorganisations and individuals.
COMPLEMENTARITIES BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS IN PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INCLUSIONSuch actions foster integrated development,local partnership and promote trust betweenpolitical and socio-economic stakeholders.Nevertheless, state agencies can undermine initiativesby circumventing or duplicating existingcommunity infrastructure. Due to a lack ofresources, capacity development may be weakvis-à-vis leadership, organisation and institutionalgovernance. Furthermore, the democraticlegitimacy and accountability of partnershipsmight be called into question from locally electedpolitical representatives. Duplication of developmentfora places increasing demands on theability of networks to participate effectively.■ Territorial bottom-up initiatives aimed at sustainable developmentRolf-Ulrich Sprenger, College of Europe, Bruges (B) and the ifo-Institute, Munich (D)Territorial bottom-up initiatives build on theexpertise of local/regional stakeholders Theypromote and enable the participation of localcommunities in processes of change within theeconomy, society and environment. In practice,these initiatives have proved to be a veryvaluable complement to top-down approaches.However, they are not useful in order to tacklemass-unemployment.WHAT ARE KEY ELEMENTSOF THESE INITIATIVES?First of all, a common motivation among stakeholdersof the respective region is necessary. Itis important to have the support of the principlelocal stakeholders; if some of these key-institutionsrefrain from participating, the success ofthese programmes is not secured. Professionalmanagement is also a key element. There is alsoa need for the appropriate legal framework toprovide incentives for such initiatives, especiallywhen third sector activities and voluntary activitiesare involved.There are a number of examples of success storiesfor ADAPT employment projects. However,these projects are not a solution for tackling massunemployment. By their very nature, initiativesare selective. The number of jobs maintained orcreated is relatively small. Apart from traditionalsuccess indicators such as the number ofjobs maintained or created, a number of otherpositive factors should be taken into account indealing with social inclusion.The wider policy impacts in terms of a better verticalcoordination of policy areas that have beensegmented in the past should also be considered.There is now a better horizontal cooperationbetween institutions working in the same area.It is also possible to identify some synergies, e.g.the double benefit of improving the environmentand tackling unemployment.The European Commission is keen on supportingprogrammes that have developed the idea ofterritorial employment pacts. A number of theseprogrammes have been instrumental in contributingto the development of networking andcreating governance structures.It is evident that those bottom-up approacheshave proved to be very valuable and that theyprovide an important complement to the deliveryof top-down approaches. Nevertheless, they do notoffer a sufficient answer to the current problems ofstructural unemployment and social exclusion.While these should not be seen as alternativegovernance structures, they are neverthelessimportant complementary activities.— 23 —
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