1. EQUAL Final Conference
Promoting the Lisbon agenda: partnership, transnationality and innovation
Walter Faber
June 19, 2008

2. What is EQUAL? A 6 years programme
Objective: to overcome social exclusion and discrimination:
in the workplace,
in accessing employment
A 6 years programme
An ESF investment of more than € 3bn
More than 3,000 partnerships with more than 20,000 partners
Reached over 200,000 disadvantaged people

3. The innovative design of EQUAL
Social innovation
Learning from other countries
Gender mainstreaming
Partnerships

4. The Lisbon reform Agenda calls for partnerships at all levels
" to facilitate and speed up delivery of the reforms needed to boost growth and employment".
Partnership "must bring solid added value if it is to produce tangible and swift results".
Factors for success
- Mobilise the different players to work together
- Ensure that the reform objectives and issues are taken on board by all stakeholders

5. Innovation Results in Shared problem view
Confidence in the advantages of innovative solutions
Tested good practice
Acceptance, mobilisation and commitment of key stakeholders

6. What innovative partnerships between strategic stakeholders achieved
Sustainable bridges and interfaces to facilitate transition between institutions and work environments
school  apprenticeship  work
unemployment  work
prison  (self-) employment
inactivity/parental leave work
informal work  self-employment
migration work
full-time work  part-time work
form caring family members/ friends work and training
work retirement
combining work with lifelong learning
reconciling work with family/private life

7. Sustainability of Innovations
Sustainable innovations have to demonstrate that they are
suitable approaches
feasible solutions
acceptable to the assisted target groups, administrations and stakeholders
Continuous encouragement and support - EQUAL results should not be stored in an ESF museum!

8. Transnational cooperation under the ESF 2007 -2013
Total budget of dedicated priorities: 1,43 billion €
Estimated total budget for transnational and interregional cooperation: 3 billion €
Popular themes for transnational cooperation:
disadvantaged, discrimination, diversity
gender and work/life balance
LLL in firms, entrepreneurship and innovation
promoting partnerships
Improving human capital: Reforms in education and training systems