Job-LIFE>axis {job systems}> work package [governance]
WPBGO : [governance]
(led by Mihai Pascaru)
Complexity affecting territorial labor systems functioning and the importance of involved policy makers and stakeholders to cooperate in fostering employment development, WPBGO aims to provide meaningful up to date knowledge about territorial governance uses in UE and to analyze their effects in futures jobs creation and adaptation.
In a comparative way, first step will be the stock-tracking of actual knowledge about current European models of territorial governance of employment problems: institutional frameworks and legislative development.
Secondly, it will be identified in each model the role of institutional evaluation of territorial employment policies as input in the processes of decision making.
Lastly lobbying process in decision making and its impact on local labour system will be addressed.
Concept and objective
Governance is usually known as the four pillar of sustainable development.
In UE there have been defined five principles fostering good governance: openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence (cf. White Paper on European Governance, 2001), but several obstacles remains to complete them specially when referring to territorial governance (FARINÓS, 2008).
Therefore, concerning general objectives of Job-LIFE, special attention must be paid to this fact by focussing research in analysing the way in which these principles are being performed in different territorial contexts and identifying in each case the effects that this performance has in addressing territorial employment needs and in building local actors’ capacity to take wiser decisions about local employment systems.
Another important issue is the role that private stakeholders play in fixing local and regional development objectives and the impact that these decision has in employment dynamics.
Taking into account these issues, WPBGO’s fundamental objectives are defined as follows:
- Studying systems of vertical and horizontal local governance in different areas (i.e. ruralor urban, isolated or central, local, regional or national), namely institutional frameworks and legislative development, and comparing their influence in jobs creation and adaptation in thecontext of sociological transition.
- Analysis of different methodologies and tools used by European policy makers in order to assess territorial policies and study of the influence of their results in the decision making processes.
- Analysis of lobbying efforts in urban growth control decisions and their impact on the local labor market systems.
Scientific and technical methodology and associated work plan
The work will be separate into three tasks according with three general objectives:
<Models>
(animated by Mihai Pascaru of UAB).
It shall compare different systems of vertical and horizontal local governance and their influence in jobs creation and adaptation in the context of sociological transition. Partners shall use an international comparative approach taking as references different territories representing the different models of welfare state. It is preview to take same areas as in WPBSY assuring the coherence of whole axis B.
Bibliographic, legislative and documental revision will be combined with qualitative participatory methods giving place to gather local experts’ opinion. Final deliverable of this task will be the report: Effects in job creation an adaptation of different European models of territorial employment governance
<Evaluation>
(animated by Dolores Redondo of UHU).
Using as comparative basis same areas as in <Models> this task shall analyze different methodologies and tools used by European territorial policy makers studying the influence of their results in the decision making processes. In this case more pertinent bibliographie will be reviewed and it will be confronted with habitual local actor’s practices explored by a panel made of policy makers of different governmental levels in each selected area. The analysis will use qualitative techniques such as structured in deep interviews and discussion groups, this data will be confronted with some other ones about institutional and legal frameworks (output of tasks <Models>) and local labor system indicators (output of task <Articulation>) in order to establish a relationship between kind of labor system, model of territorial governance and evaluation an assessment practices. Final deliverable in this task will be the Report: Recommendations about participatory assessment of territorial employment policies in different European territorial and political contexts.
<Lobbying>
(animated by Catherine Baumont of University of Bourgone). By using a similar
methodology as in <Evaluation> this task will dealt with analysis of lobbying efforts in urban growth control decisions and their impact on the local labor market systems. Main relevant questions here are: How urban policy makers take care of socio-ecological transitions in their urban planning policies (ecological-districts, green areas, sustainable housing…) and economic development policies (ecological development, “green” firms and “green” jobs attractiveness)? How lobbying groups (citizens involved in socio-ecological associations, homeowners, workers and managers in the socio-ecological sectors) manage to influence and turn urban policy makers towards an increasing part of “job for a better life” in local labor markets? To which extent do they achieve this last objective in different institutional and socioeconomic contexts? Main deliverable in this task will be the report. Lobbying action of main stakeholders of territorial employment policy and their impacts in jobs creation and adaptation.
During the project all these results will be confronted with a selected group of policy makers and stakeholders in different territorial context.
