1. Community of Practice on partnership in the ESF 8 October 2007 Open Days Benedict Wauters Deputy Director Flemish ESF Agency COP partnership coordinator

2. Mission of the COP as defined by its members What is it about? More and fresh/creative partnership thinking and implementation in structural funds (especially the ESF)

3. COP origine Initiative came from DG EMPL and ESF Managing Authorities of Czech Republic, Austria, Portugal and Belgium Flanders Flanders is coordinating Linked to an exchange event in Malta (January 2007)

4. How do we want to achieve this? Convincing programme managers, including from new member states of the importance of partnership Produce/share and provide easy access to practical tools, models, guidance notes/fiches, good/poor practice descriptions, contextualised case studies and real life stories anchored in reality (including from EQUAL) –For the exchange event in Malta –For the Community website Engage in two-way interaction with other networks, initiatives, wider work environment… Mission of the COP as defined by its members

5. Source: E. Wenger COP lifecycle

6. Where are we now? Setting up steering group Launching calls, selecting contractors, recruiting first members setting up technology Interviewing members 1st base camp Identification of themes to work on 2nd base camp Teams and workplans for two themes set up Interactive website operational October 2007 December 2006June 2007 September 2007 COP potential stage

7. Moving up to Malta Implementing team workplans 3rd base camp First deliverables online November 2007 January 2008 COP coalescing stage December 2007 Implementing team workplans Final deliverables online Malta exchange event -Presenting and discussing deliverables -Recruiting new members -Planning next steps (4th basecamp)

8. After Malta Implementing next steps decided in Malta 5th base camp Implementing next steps decided in Malta Final base camp COP continues? April 2008 COP maturing stage March 2008Stewardship?

9. Two main themes defined What possible partnership structures, forms and collaborative approaches might be developed and supported by Managing Authorities under the new ESF regulations? In what ways can partnership commitment at different levels be encouraged and maintained and how can Managing Authorities support the engagement process?

10. Managing Authorities and Partnerships Small and large, North, South, New Member States Start-up group Malta Portugal Greece Italy Belgium Flanders Ireland Sweden Poland Czech Republic Austria Partnership Experts

11. Planned deliverables Comprehensive rationale for partnership Key success factors at partnership level Tools and practices to be used at Managing Authority level to support the key success factors Country fiches describing what partnership means and how it is implemented

12. Key success factors for ”mechanisms” 1.Finding a model that adapts to context 2.Aligning your structure to a defined mission and scope 3.Getting buy-in of all partners 4.Considering the number of partners 5.Deciding on levels of formality/informality 6.Building accountability into governance systems 7.Selecting appropriate management options 8.Enabling input from target groups and wider stakeholders 9.Learning from reviewing 10.Flexibility

13. Key success factors for “engagement” 1.Identifying and selecting the ‘right’ partners 2.Understanding individual partner drivers 3.Well-defined roles and responsibilities 4.Accountable systems and procedures 5.Clear and appropriate communication channels 6.Good leadership 7.Involving target groups and key stakeholders 8.Developing partnering skills 9.Building institutional engagement 10.Impacting wider society and policy-making organisations

14. Country fiches Function of partnership within the OP: ranging from implementation of activities on the ground (e.g. through projects) to high level strategic decision making Stability of partnership: ranging from supporting ad hoc, task oriented partnerships to permanent, institutionalised partnerships Importance of ESF funding for partnership: highly dependent to small influence Mainly cross-sector partnerships or within a sector Mainly cross-(sub)regional partnerships or within a (sub)region

15. Country fiches Highly formalised (e.g. legally binding agreements) to informal Linked to specific thematic issues / objectives (incl. possible targeting of specific groups / links with policy) or bottom-up? Types of organisations typically involved in partnership (eg. social partners, NGOs, companies, academia, public sector etc.) If partnerships are embedded within existing national, regional or local structures, how are these different levels linked to each other and how does this facilitate mainstreaming Strong and weak points of the chosen partnership form? …

16. Exchange event in Malta 17-18th January 2008 2 representatives per Member State (Managing Authority or Implementing Body) Sharing and discussing the COP deliverables Experiencing the COP way of learning Discussing future ambitions Recruiting new members

17. Interested to join? To know what’s going on but: –Go to www.partnership.esflive.euwww.partnership.esflive.eu –Register –Gain access to and read (public) discussion fora, wiki’s, blogs etc. Ready to engage further? Contact the coordinator benedict.wauters@esf-agentschap.be benedict.wauters@esf-agentschap.be