Community of Practice on partnership in the ESF

1. Community of Practice on partnership in the ESF October 2008 Open Days Benedict Wauters Deputy Director Flemish ESF Agency COP partnership coordinator

2. COP origine • Initiative came from DG EMPL and ESF Managing Authorities of Czech Republic, Austria, Portugal and Belgium Flanders • Flanders is coordinating the COP • Response to the new ESF regulation articles on • involvement of stakeholders, including social partners, in the governance mechanisms of the Operational Programmes • the provision of financial support to multi-actor projects • …as well as EQUAL lessons learnt

3. GOVERNANCE Stakeholder engagement in preparation, implementation and monitoring of ESF support (Gen. Reg., Art.11) New Structural Funds Regulations 2007-13 Mainstreaming EQUAL good practice Promote partnerships, pacts, networking (ESF Reg., Art. 3) PROJECTS involvement of social partners and NGOs (ESF Reg., Art 3+5) How to practice, and how to support partnerships as ESF Managing Authority / Implementing body?

4. COP definition Communities of practice are groups 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 group consisted of the pioneers in the ESF who are taking partnership seriously!

5. Steering group of ESF Managing Authorities: Belgium Flanders Malta Portugal Czech Republic ESF programme managers from: Greece Italy Sweden Poland Austria Romania Hungary Germany Spain Who is in the COP?

6. COP: objectives • In the EC grant agreement: • provide a space for members to help them: • solve everyday problems in promoting and managing partnership in the programmes • disseminate good practice • innovate (find better ways of doing things than what already exists) • this is in line with the COP mission statement which was constructed based on members’ input

7. Mission of the COP as defined by its members More and fresh/creative partnership thinking and implementation in structural funds (especially the ESF)

8. Mission of the COP as defined by its members How do we achieve this? • Convincing programme managers, including from new member states of the importance of partnership • Produce/share and provide easy access to: • practical tools, models, guidance notes/fiches, good/poor practice descriptions, contextualised case studies and real life stories… • …anchored in reality (including from EQUAL) • Engage in two-way interaction with other networks, initiatives, wider work environment…

9. Source: E. Wenger

10. Key success factors to deal with issues identified Identification of broad issues 1st base camp Interviewing members 2nd base camp Launching calls, selecting contractors, recruiting first members setting up technology Interactive website operational Setting up steering group September 2007 December 2006 June 2007 COP potential stage

11. -Presenting and discussing deliverables with others -Recruiting new members More deliverables online First deliverables presented and online Malta exchange event Continuing work and exchanges on practices (4th basecamp) 3rd base camp Continuing work and exchanges on practices January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 COP coalescing stage

12. Brussels Vienna, next to the 4th OECD LEED platform 6th base camp Continuing exchanges 5th base camp Continuing exchanges February 2008 April 2008 COP maturing stage

13. 10th Basecamp Lissabon Flanders peer review results Preparation Final event Lissabon Study visit in Flanders 9th Basecamp Budapest Preparation Expert final redaction Open Days Brussels Preparation Final Version Handbook Expert redaction + final research Handbook for Managing Authorities draft version 8th Base- camp Bucharest Preparation Presentation on data and analysis of research Expert field research for handbook ctd 7th base -camp Prague Preparation Expert panel validation workshop October 2008 6-7 November 2008 18-19 Sep 2008 December 2008 21-22 July 2008 COP stewardship stage

14. Interactive study visits • Study team does research before the visit: • Interviewing a representation of monitoring committee, programme management and partnership project coordinators/partners • Using questionnaire based on the key success factor framework • Analyst synthesis results, looking especially at difference between types of actor • Workshop with the interviewees is used deepen common understanding and propose actions • Action plan is prepared by study team with programme managers

15. Summing up: results from the CoP • Validated key success factor framework with good practice descriptions in the structural funds from all over the EU • Country fiches describing the understanding and implementation of “partnership” in the ESF around the EU • Interactive study visit procedure based on the key success factor framework • Handbook for ESF programme managers on supporting partnership in the ESF • All available via the interactive website

16. Interested to join? • To know what’s going on but: • Go to www.partnership.esflive.eu • Register • Gain access to and read (public) discussion fora, wiki’s, blogs etc. • Ready to engage further? Contact the coordinator benedict.wauters@esf-agentschap.be