Getting engaged:women in local development

1. Getting engaged:women in local development Project Overview Annachiara Pecchini – QeC-ERAN First Peer Review Workshop, Poznan 17 – 18 May 2007

2. Key element of the project • Background: Policy Context • Overall Aim and Objectives • Outcome and products • Partnership • Working methodology

3. Background: Policy Context • Democracy is a fundamental value: Its full realisation requires the participation of all citizens women and men alike to participate and be represented equally in the economy, in decision-making, and in social, cultural and civil life. Local development and regeneration work if local people have a sense of ownership and are active citizens. • Political decision and implementation of policies have a different impact on the life of women and men. In the local development strategy there are some issues of particular relevance for women. Some local development policies have different meaning for men and women and need a gendered evaluation of need of such policies.

4. Background: Policy Context • Women are becoming important actors in the local economic development andhave increase access to labour market but problem like occupational segregation and reconciliation between work-family life persist. • Considerable progress has been made regarding the situation of women in the Member States, but gender equality in day-to day life is still being underminedby thefact that women and men do not enjoy equal rights in practice. • Many women do not have equal access to social rights either because some of these rights are based on an outdated male model or they do not take into account that women predominantly carry the burden of having to reconcile family and professional life.

5. ACTION PROGRAMME RELATING TO THE COMMUNITY FRAMEWORK STRATEGY ON GENDER EQUALITY • European Commission :DG Imployment, social affairs and equal opportunity • Priority theme of the 2006 call • Promotion of gender equality in local development: • Encourage balanced participation of women and men in local development • How policies implemented at local level can encourage the promotion of gender equality.

6. Overall Aim • Overall aim is to bring about an exchange of experience and transfer of learning between partners about how local policies can contribute to the involvement of women in the economic, civic and social life. • Promote positive action to address gender equality within social and economic development.

7. Objectives • To establish cross-sectoral local action groups which will: • Undertake local/regional mapping to identify what measures (compatible with contextual factors) can/need to be taken to promote the participation of women in local development. • Produce local action plan incorporating good practices identified in the transnational wporkshop. • Disseminate at local level the results of the project.

8. Objectives (cont.) • To undertake three transnational peer review and exchange workshops: • Participation: polices and practice • Methodologies for assessing women’s need and evaluation of impact of local policies on women • Service provision addressing the needs of women in the social and economic local development • To capitalise existing practice at local, national and EU levels and create an online good practice exchange

9. Outcomes/products • The production of three peer review exchange reports • The production of three linked case studies reports • The production of a final report • A Peer Review Exchange And Development Programme that would involve 150 participants. Of these at least 20% would be participants with direct experience of the realities facing the “target group”

10. Outcomes/products • 8 local mapping reports and linked action plans • An Online Good Practice Exchange And Development Forum, which would bring together access to resources, case studies connections with practitioners and policy officers. www.qec-eran.org/projects/womenlocaldevindex.htm • An annual dissemination and mainstreaming workshop in each partner location

11. Partners • Quartiers en Crise – European Regeneration Areas Network QEC - ERAN (BELGIUM) • Innovación, Transferencia y Desarrollo (ITD) - Barcelona – SPAIN • Consorzio Gioventù Digitale – Roma – ITALY • Centro Sicilia Servizi – Enna – ITALY • Comitato Progetto Porta Palazzo - The Gate – ITALY • Municipality of Rotterdam, department of Youth, Education and Society- Rotterdam – NETHERLANDS • Birmingham Race Action Partnership – Birmingham – UK • Regional Social Welfare Resources Centre – Budapest – HUNGARY • Polska Federacja Klubow Business and Professional Women – Poznan - POLAND

12. Working strategy Local level Transnational level Project management team Project Steering group Local Co-ordinators Local Action Group Local mapping Local Action plan Local dissemination workshops PREWs On line good pracice exchange Reports Case studies+ contacts