Financial instruments can be co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) to support the investment priorities outlined in the ESF Operational Programmes (OP) of the Member States. Provided that they address an identified market gap, they can contribute to the achievement of the thematic objectives of the ESF. Implementation of ESF financial instruments for the 2014-2020 programming period is underway. Both, Thematic Objective 8 (TO8) ‘Promoting sustainable and quality employment and supporting labour mobility’ and TO9 ‘Promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any discrimination’, are offering strong potential for financial instruments and meaningful case studies.
Experiences from already active financial instruments can be a source of inspiration and basis of discussion for practitioners who are interested in advancing with similar financial instruments. The thematic fi-compass workshop on ESF financial instruments supporting employment, entrepreneurship and social inclusion in the programming period 2014-2020 will take place on 31 January 2018 in Rome. A selection of case studies presenting practical insights into the implementation process of TO8 and TO9 financial instruments from a variety of EU Member States will be presented during the workshop.
During the workshop, experts will take participants through the different phases of the life cycle when designing and implementing financial instruments supporting TO8 and TO9, based on real case studies. This event will build on the experience sharing and peer-to-peer discussions both of the workshop on financial instruments supporting TO8, which was organised by fi-compass on 18 May 2017 in Vienna, and on financial instruments supporting TO9, which was organised by fi-compass on 3 October 2017 in Madrid.
Objectives
The purpose of the workshop is to:
- Provide participants with an opportunity to learn from the experiences of other Member States in implementing financial instruments to support TO8 and TO9 in the programming period 2014-2020;
- Create a forum for participants to share their own experiences and progress in implementing financial instruments supporting employment and labour mobility;
- Enable participants to exchange on a peer-to-peer basis with the speakers and other participants on ways to deal with technical challenges that they face regarding the design, set-up and implementation of TO8 and TO9 financial instruments.
Audience
This thematic workshop is designed especially for ESF managing authorities and other stakeholders from all EU Member States directly involved or planning to become involved in the design, set-up and implementation of financial instruments related to TO8 and TO9. Participants’ number will be limited in order to encourage peer interaction.
Language
The event will take place in English and Italian. Interpretation between English and Italian will be provided.
Agenda of the conference
The detailed programme of the workshop in Rome can be found here.
Registrations
Registration is via www.fi-compass.eu/events and the deadline for registration is Friday, 26 January 2018.