Active Inclusion Learning Network

About

Active Inclusion was an ESF transnational Network, funded through the European Commission - Employment, Social Affairs and the Inclusion Directorate General (DG). The overall goal of Active Inclusion was to tackle unemployment amongst marginalised communities, troubled families and disaffected youth by enhancing social inclusion and preventing stigmatisation. By identifying tools and developing strategies, the network helped to guide socially disadvantaged individuals into sustainable employment and provide the opportunity for them to earn an adequate income for a dignified life.

The Network identified and evaluated programmes, interventions and innovative work, from across the EU, to promote the social inclusion for each of the three disadvantaged groups: marginalised communities, troubled families and disaffected youth. The outcomes and findings of the Network hope to help ESF managing authorities make informed decisions when introducing or assessing current policy and deciding where to allocate financial assistance for interventions tackling unemployment amongst marginalised communities.

The project looked at three themes and sub-themes which are listed below:

  • Disaffected Youth
    • Disaffected Youth inclusion and empowerment
    • Disaffected Youth employment, education and training
  • Marginalised Communities
    • Drugs and Alcohol
    • Ex-offenders / offenders
    • Homelessness
    • Mental health, physical and learning disabilities
  • Troubled Families
    • Anti-social behaviour
    • Educational problems
    • Multigenerational unemployment/Long term unemployment
    • Offenders families

The project was to deliver specific outcomes which were as follows:

  • Platform Exchange workshops (March 2014 – Feb 2015)
  • Systematic review into recent, high quality research re: inclusion into employment for the disaffected and marginalised people (Summer 2014)
  • Active Inclusion website with database of practitioners/experts and knowledge management section (Summer 2015)
  • Final conference (Rome - May 2015)
  • Final evaluation report (July 2015)