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Transnational Partners
EuroPei is a transnational partnership between European cities from Bradford, Bremen, Copenhagen and Malmo. The partnership is part of EQUAL programme run by the European Social Fund. The aim of the partnership is to work in mutual collaboration to understand various concepts of equality and Diversity.
Transnationality is an essential element in the Equal Initiative for promoting the transfer of know-how and good practice between partnerships and between member states. By sharing the results of innovative actions carried out by the DPs at national level, transnational co-operation will provide real value-added for policy development at the national and European levels.
B-EQUAL project has identified three partners for transnational working: Denmark, Germany and Sweden.
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United Kingdom
Bradford
Equality in Employment Project (B-EQUAL)
Geographical focus: Bradford District
Statistics:
The population of Bradford is made up of 21 % from the ethnic minorities compared to a figure of 7.1% for UK . 16% of Bradford workforce is made up of ethnic minorities. The Pakistani unemployment rate is almost 3 times higher that the District average. Less than 20% of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, African/Caribbean women of working age are in employment compared to 75% of white women.
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DP leader:
Bradford Council has wide experience as a Local Authority for a large multi-ethnic metropolitan district. The West Yorkshire LSC will be an important player at the sub-regional level, while the Yorkshire and Humberside Low Pay Unit will address regional issues. The University of Bradford and Bradford College will play a key role in the fields of research and evaluation, while JobCentre Plus and Careers Bradford will bring experience as employment intermediaries.
Other key partners:
Voluntary groups from the ethnic minority communities also have a crucial role to play. To maximise its effectiveness, B-Equal seeks to develop a key position in the emerging Local Strategic Partnership, Bradford Vision.
Client group/end beneficiaries:
Unemployed and underemployed individuals from the Pakistani, Bangladeshi and African-Caribbean communities, particularly women, young people and disabled people. Although the key beneficiaries are ethnic minorities we recognise that many of our objectives can only be achieved by targeting employers, in a bid to promote the case for business diversity and to improve intercultural
Objective:
To improve ethnic minority employment achievement and to combat workplace racial discrimination.
Areas of concentration:
7 thematic areas within which projects will be commissioned:
- Quantitative and qualitative research
- Measures promoting employment and career progression
- Training in intercultural awareness and equal opportunities Outputs
- Project and research databases
- Website
- Diversity curriculum
- Positive action placements
- District Employers Equality Forum
- Toolkits in workplace monitoring and recruitment
- Multimedia training materials
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Rizwan Rehman
Qudrat Shah
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Sweden
Malmo
Diversity as the Human Resource Philosophy
Geographical focus: Malmo urban district
Statistics:
267,000 inhabitants, 37% of population is “from abroad”, 23% were “born abroad”. 50% of young people (those under 16) have one or two foreign parents. 56 different languages spoken, 162 different nations represented. Of the population “from abroad” those in employment are represented as follows: 52% Europe, 14% Nordic nations, 17% Asia, 9% South America, 4% Africa, 4% others
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DP leader:
Svenkst PA forum AB, a national human resources consultancy with links to the Swedish institute of Personnel Management and national management opinion leading media
Other key partners: Human Resources Department, City of Malmo . Malmo University School of International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER)
Client group/end beneficiaries:
Managers and supervisors in Malmo city government.
Objective:
To identify and change current discriminatory recruitment and selection practice in the City of Malmo Council and increase the numbers of people “from abroad” employed by Council to 23% of total employees, in line with population representation.
Areas of concentration:
7 thematic areas within which projects will be commissioned:
- A city council strategy for employment inclusion
- Promoting new local government management thinking
- Examining current recruitment processes to make them equitable
- Preparing “local” staff to receive colleagues “born abroad”
- Developing the capacity of and promoting the integration of teachers “born abroad”
- Promoting people “born abroad”
- Researching and clarifying key terms such as “inclusion. Checking/recording project progress (monitoring and evaluation)
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from left to right
Per Broome, IMER
Marika Froberg, PA Forum
Bengt Lovden, City of Malmo
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Denmark
Copenhagen
Diversity and Social Responsibility
Geographical focus: The whole of Denmark
Statistics:
8% of people living in Denmark are ”immigrants” or descendants of immigrants. Employers are not allowed to ask questions about ethnicity so there is no clear picture of workforce make-up. Empirical evidence shows that 8 out of 10 Danes work, whereas 5 out of 10 immigrants work. “Immigrants” come from Iran , Somalia , China , Iraq , Yugoslavia , Bangladesh .
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DP leader:
Joint between Danish Telecom (TDC) a private multinational firm, and Danish Railroad (DSB) a semi-privatised firm.
Other key partners:
A national broadcasting consortium to make a visual record of progress and a national business school to evaluate projects.
Client group/beneficiaries:
Senior managers in the firms involved.
Objective:
A clear, workable, and Danish definition of “diversity” for managers in the private sector to help them integrate marginalized groups (not just ethnically different people) in the Danish labour market.
Areas of concentration/themes:
Gender, ethnic background, disability.
- Projects in these fields will be agreed with individual managers and implemented by them.
- Projects will run within each of the two DP leading organisations as well as across them and the transnational partners.
- Projects will mainly be in career development through mentoring, analysis of recruitment processes and in-service training.
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from left to right
Per Hansen, TDC
Elisabeth Flensten-Jensen, TDC
Nina Aizen, DSB
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Germany
Bremen
Adaptability of immigrant workers and SMEs
Geographical focus: The state of Bremen and Bremerhaven , the smallest and currently poorest state in Germany .
Statistics:
700,000 population. 20% of population is “immigrants/guest worker/foreign”. 15% total unemployment – the highest in Germany . Recently an influx of German ethnic minorities from the ex-Russian states. They do not have “immigrant” status but suffer from similar discrimination in the labour market.
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DP leader:
The State Government Office for Labour, Youth, Health and Social Affairs.
Other key partners: Trade unions, employer bodies, and immigrant community NGOs.
Client group/beneficiaries:
SME employers, particularly in catering and allied services as well as “immigrants/ foreigners” particularly those with promising academic background that can help small firms develop.
Objective:
To help particularly skilled or semi-skilled “immigrant/foreign” workers find and keep jobs in firms that operate in the local growth sectors and suffer skills shortages. In the long term to help meet labour market demand by ensuring that skilled people from immigrant communities are capable of meeting it.
Areas of concentration:
Job entry and re-orientation training for “immigrants” Attitude and cultural training for firms.
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from left to right
Diter Marxmier, Bremen
Hamide Nasseri, Bremen
Dr Saul Revel, Bremen
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