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Community of Practice on Partnership in ESFExchange event, Malta, 17-18 January 2008

Capacity building for partnerships

Ekaterina Travkina, OECD LEED Programme

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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

underpins the dialogue of governments of 30 countries, all advanced market economies;

provides a setting where governments can compare policy experience, identify good practice and co-ordinate domestic and international policies.

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OECD Local Economic and Employment Development – LEED – Programme

Created in 1982 to focus on employment generation at local level

LEED FOCUS ON LOCAL DRIVERS OF GROWTH

Skills Entrepreneurship: Innovation Social cohesion

Integrated approach: there are several drivers of growth for which no single public authority is responsible

Local action: Drivers cannot solely be fuelled at nation level

Participation: government cannot support drivers of growth on its own; roles must be played by business and civil society

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Why look at partnerships?

PARTNERSHIP IS Co-operation

Trust improved governance

adaptation Coordination Networks

integration competitiveness Skills networks community developmentcommunity development social inclusion Collaboration

Joined up Policy innovation

Strategy development Cohesion

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Why look at partnerships? Between 1999 and 2003, the OECD conducted

an in-depth study of area-based partnerships in which it examined the experience of 14 countries

Partnerships_ improve policy co-ordination and adaptation to local conditions; _ lead to better utilisation and targeting of programmes; _ integrate civil society’s concerns into strategic planning exercises

through more widespread participatory democracy; _ stimulate corporate involvement in local projects; and _ promote greater satisfaction with public policy.

(OECD Local Partnerships for better Governance, 2001)

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LEED work on partnerships

Barriers for partnership working:

a) disconnection between national policy objectives and local goals. This can happen even when national ministries set the goals for partnerships and are represented in the partnerships;

b) the limited administrative flexibility of many public programmes, including those which are relevant to local economic and employment development;

c) weak accountability relationships, between the various partners, between the partnership and the public, and between the representatives and their constituency; and

d) a tendency for partnership-based organisations to be process-driven as they seek to secure their continuity.

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International study: Integrating employment, skills & economic development

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Policy integration

National cooperation Local cooperation

& governance

Local capacitiesPolicy flexibility

Labour market conditions

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Policy areas Degree of cooperation (between 1-5)

Employment and vocational training 3.6

Employment & economic development 3.4

Vocational training and economic development 3.1

Policy areas Degree of cooperation (between 1-5)

Employment 3.5

Economic development 3.8

Vocational training 3.1

National cooperation between ministries

Participation in local governance mechanisms

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Perceived flexibility of different management functions

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Ranking given by experts to the different factors effecting integration

* Results for Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Romania and the

United States

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1

2

3

4

5

Policy directions

CAPACITY

LOCAL GOVERNANCE

FLEXIBILITY

e.g. Bulgaria

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OECD Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance

Established by the OECD in 2004 at the initiative of Austrian Ministry of Economy and Labour, supported by the EC DG Employment

Run by the OECD and ZSI (Centre for Social Innovation)

1,900 members, 45 countries, reach out capacity to 2,600 partnerships world wide

Forum member partnerships:

_ MULTI-LEVEL: Partnerships decision-making involves stakeholders from supranational, national, regional and local levels.

_ MULTI-SECTORAL: Multi-sectoral (or cross-sectoral) partnerships involve stakeholders representing various economic sectors/branches, governmental and non-governmental actors seeking to improve the co-ordination between labour market, education, economic and social policies at local and regional level.

_MULTI-DIMENSIONAL: Partnerships apply integrated approaches to multi- dimensional problems.

Forum partnerships are primarily focusing on employment and social issues and economic development

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Forum Partnerships (A Selection)

Austrian TEPs

Canadian CFDCs

Berlin Pacts

Greek partnerships

Hungarian TEPs

Irish partnerships

France: CBE, MIFE, EREF and PLIELSIPs in SK

SNP in Portugal

Partnerships in Norway

New Zealand RPP

TEPs in Catalonia

WIBs in USA

Italian TEPs

LSP in UK

RESOC & SEER in Flanders

Finnish partnerships

Swedish RGC

LAG in BiH

Partnerships in CZOPE in Luxembourg

ACCs in Australia

WIRED in USA

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What does the Forum offer?

A platform for experience exchange Policy analysis and advice Capacity building/training

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What does the Form offer?

Platform for experience exchange

– Forum network: partnerships, national partnership coordination bodies, research organisations

– Forum Annual Meetings in Vienna: • 2008: Partnerships and skills (18-19 February) • 2009: Integrating migrants, ethnic minorities and aboriginal

communities • 2010: partnerships and economic diversification

– Documentary base: data on partnership initiatives in OECD member and non-member countries (over 300 English links, records published between 1999 and present)

– Country fact sheets– Forum international conferences hosted by interested countries – Forum e-news letters and bulletins – Forum web-site

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What does the Forum offer?

Policy analysis, advice and capacity building

– 2007 Forum Vienna Action Statement on Partnerships – International and country reviews on partnerships – A series of thematic handbooks:

• Setting the organisational aspects right: Successful partnerships: A guide.

• Tackling youth unemployment • Partnerships and rural and urban development• Strategic planning in partnerships• Evaluating partnerships work• Facilitating cross-sector and multi-level collaboration• Enhancing the capacity of partnerships to influence policy

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What does the Forum offer?

Study visits and capacity building/training for partnerships:

– Enhancing the capacity of partnerships to influence policy, Dublin, April 2007 (Pobal Ireland) and Vienna, December 2006 (ZSI Austria)

– Partnerships in rural and urban areas, Lisbon, December 2007 (Portugal Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity)

– Supporting the establishment of partnerships, Croatia 2007-2008

– Partnerships and skills (June 2008, Trento)– Strengthening new and nascent partnerships (November

2008, Trento)

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OECD FORUM ON PARTNERSHIPS AND COP ON PARTNERSHIPS: COOPERATION OPPORTUNITIES?

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For more information:

OECD LEED Programme and OECD Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance

www.oecd.org/cfe/leed

OECD LEED Trento Centre for Local Development

www.trento.oecd.org

Ekaterina.Travkina@oecd.org