On March 16th and 17th Documenta has actively participated in the first of the five planned city workshops of the AWB project, addressing the study of European cities measures or practices to promote the employment of long-term unemployed aged 50+.
The workshop that took place in the city of Graz, Austria was organized by the company ZSI, Social Innovation Center, AWB project partner. The main aim of the workshop was the study of a regional active employment policy developed throughout the region of Stryria in Austria, and coordinated and implemented by the private company Move-ment, for the promotion of employment of unemployed aged 45 in the region.
ZSI presented for the study the project called “Experience Counts!” developed and funded by the regional government and the Public Employment Service of Styria, in collaboration with local companies since 1999. In fact, the key to the project’s success is that it counts with the private companies’ active involvement in the training and recruitment of the unemployed. The project is divided into 3 phases focused on individuals and offering personalized services to participants:
- Stop &Go: A stage to get to know participants, study their professional background and experience and offering them an individual assessment. During this stage professionals from a variety of fields design and action plan determining the steps the participant should take to get employment.
- Career Management: Participants improve their qualifications by taking training courses addressing the requirements of a specific job position in a specific company.
- Implacement Foundation 45+: Participants work on a practical training basis in a company who commits to hire them once the internship has been completed.
During this workshop 7 AWB partner cities (Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Rome, Dublin, Tampere, and Santander) had the opportunity to participate, share, discuss and learn from a specific on -site approach, promoting the employment of elder unemployed. During the first day of the workshop we could learn how unemployment is approached in Austria and how the employment program was developed and implemented from the perspective of the main public and private actors involved. The second day we shared AWB partners ideas, opinions and lessons learnt from Graz study workshop.
