Theme 1. EmBa Empowerment in Baronbackarna - Participation equipped for life

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1 Theme 1 EmBa Empowerment in Baronbackarna - Participation equipped for life In housing areas with a large immigrant population, such as Baronbackarna, there is often no natural meeting place for people of different backgrounds. This is an obstacle to the integration of people with social handicaps, functional disabilities and different national or ethnic backgrounds. They cannot enter, or are excluded from, the labour market, and they feel that they are not part of the community. "As a method for counteracting this, "EmBa" is a project in which different groups come together and can influence their situation in a social co-operative," says Per Erik Andersson, the co-ordinator of the project and one of the driving forces behind it. "It also enables the process, which is one of the aims of the Equal Programme, in which the real experts, the outsiders themselves, can explain and express the impact of discrimination and perhaps confirm the hypothesis that has been put forward: that society's welfare mechanisms, despite their good intentions, may together be acting in a counterproductive way." Baronbackarna is a housing area in Örebro that has approximately inhabitants. Of these, some 42% of the working population, almost 6 of 10, are outside the real labour force, a phenomenon that is repeated in other housing areas of this type throughout the country. This is the disheartening result of various forms of discrimination. "EmBa" aims to find ways back to the labour market for disadvantaged groups by pursuing two areas of development. The idea behind the project is that it could be a successful model for hundreds of similar areas in Sweden. The experience gained may also be passed on through the Transnational Partnership, and thus be of importance to similar housing areas throughout Europe. "First and foremost, we need to find alternative routes to employment. The area's cooperative plays an important role here. People of different backgrounds will be given the chance to rehabilitate and equip themselves for life as the co-operative, as a new forum, and the local companies take on a greater social responsibility" says Per Erik Andersson. The idea is also to draw up a social contract between the groups concerned, the residents of the housing area, and the municipal representatives. At present, various employment programmes are being run due to the state of the national economy. Despite this there are groups, above all young people, single parents and immigrants, who cannot gain access to the labour market and who are consigned to passive dependence on various grants or benefits. There are far too many examples of people who have been dependent for as long as 16 years without a permanent income. "It is extremely important that people who have no gainful employment, but who want to work, should be given the opportunity to describe what the regulations and other factors are that make it difficult to get a job."

2 "It is, in other words, the people who live in the area and the social co-operative that they create that we should focus on. It is important to take the keen and sound knowledge of the people themselves as our starting point," says Per Erik Andersson. "They are the experts and they have the experience." The special feature of this project is the limitation, both geographically and in terms of population, that it proposes. The Municipality, Social Services, Social Insurance Office, Employment Office and the Unemployment Benefit Funds are partners that will be involved and that will also play an important role as co-funders. The goal is that a partnership will develop between the inhabitants of the area, the authorities, the housing companies and the social partners. The project has a budge of SEK 20 million, half of which will be funded by the ESF. What is the best thing about this project? "Well, the project consists of three basic parts. This first is the development of the area, which will be founded on the social co-operative. A sense of community can be fostered by creating a new social network in which integration and participation occur naturally. Creating local jobs on the basis of the abilities and needs of individuals is something that property owners, among others, are interested in. The second thing is the social economy. The development of work and services, for example rehabilitation services, takes place on the basis of a citizens' perspective. In sparselypopulated rural areas, co-operatives have emerged in small communities where the municipality concerned has not been able to meet the needs of the population. These co-operatives have taken problems into their own hands and have worked together to improve things. As yet, however, there are few examples of such co-operatives in urban environments." Why not? "The current situation leads to passivity rather than activity," says Per Erik Andersson. "People who are discriminated against tend to shut themselves away in their flats and are forced to live on benefits, simply because they have so few opportunities to improve their situation on their own (unless they want to work for cash in hand, which happens). There are obstacles of different kinds." "The third thing is to study systems, regulations and structures on the home care and security market. We will establish co-operation with Örebro University and the Department of Social Medicine of the County Council of Örebro. The idea is to set up a local research station that will take assignments not only from the EmBa project, and to work together with researchers to produce knowledge, conduct evaluations and disseminate experience." Facts Contact: Per Erik Andersson Partnership Members:

3 Baronbackarnas ekonomiska förening (an incorporated association); the Mikael District Council Municipality of Örebro; Community Care Committee Municipality of Örebro; Social Insurance Office; Örebro Bostäder AB; Finfast AB; Mikaeli Health Centre, Örebro and Lekeberg branches of trade unions affiliated to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation; Örebro branch of the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations; Holmens Företagarförening (business association); the Department of Social Medicine of the County Council of Örebro and the Institute for Physical Education and Health at Örebro University (as co-funders); and the Confederation of Professional Employees.

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