Lombardy Region (Regione Lombardia)
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CDR3048-2013_10_00_TRA_TCD
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EU local and regional authorities contributing to the
Mid-term review of Europe 2020
Assessment of the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion flagship initiative
Over two years after its launch, the Committee of the Regions will take stock of the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion flagship initiative at a conference to be held on 29 May 2013 in Brussels. This conference will be the fourth in a series of CoR events and monitoring initiatives surrounding the mid-term review of Europe 2020 in 2014. More news on this conference can be found on the CoR website[1].
By participating in this survey, you will:
ensure that your views are taken into account in the debate held during the conference;
contribute to the fourth CoR Monitoring Report on Europe 2020, to be published in October 2013;
contribute to the CoR's consultative activity in this field over the coming months;
contribute to the mid-term review of Europe 2020 in 2014.
If you wish to participate in this survey, Please complete this questionnaire in any eu language, using the spaces provided, and return it in text format to:
by 22 April 2013
For more information on this survey and for details on how to join the
Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform, go to:
The questionnaire is available on this website in all official languages of the EU
Contributor information[2]
Name of sender: / Federica MarzuoliContact details:
(address, telephone, email) / Piazza Città di Lombardia, 1
20124 Milan
On behalf of:
(name of local or regional authority) / Lombardy Region
Type of organisation / City/Town/Municipality Region
County/Province
Association of local and/or regional authorities
Other (please specify)
Country: / Italy
Member of the EUROPE 2020 Monitoring Platform: / Yes No
Policy challenges and responses at regional and local level
BOX 1 – European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion: basic informationThis is the first time ever that the objective of reducing poverty has been identified as a quantitative target under an EU strategy. The aim of the Europe 2020 flagship initiative, the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion, is "to ensure economic, social and territorial cohesion in order to raise awareness and recognise the fundamental rights of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, enabling them to live in dignity and take an active part in society" [3]. In particular, it outlines actions to help Member States reach the EU target of reducing poverty and social exclusion by at least 20 million by the year 2020[4].
Although the average at-risk-of-poverty-and-social-exclusion rate in the EU has remained relatively stable in recent years, it varies significantly among different age groups and between the Member States. It has significantly increased in a number of countries over the last three to four years[5]: while the rate is under 20% in certain Member States such as Denmark, Germany and Luxembourg, it recently increased to 47% in Bulgaria, 40% in Latvia and 31% in Greece (2011). Furthermore, considerable differences exist between different regions in the Member States[6].
Today, the inhabitants of around one fifth of the EU's regions are particularly exposed to risks of poverty and social exclusion.
The European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion feeds into the Europe 2020 objective of inclusive growth along with the Agenda for New Skills and Jobs flagship initiative. It will also help to achieve the other objectives of smart growth (alongside the Youth on the Move flagship initiative). In particular, it contributes to the objective of achieving the Europe 2020 headline target to lift at least 20 million people out of the risk of poverty and social exclusion.
The main objectives and lines of action of the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion are highlighted in Box 2 below.
EU regional and local governments are responsible for about one fifth of total government expenditure for social protection and services and therefore play an important role in helping to achieve the objectives of the flagship initiative[7].
You can find more information on the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion, as seen from the local and regional authorities' viewpoint, on the European Commission's Europe 2020 portal[8] and in the Committee of the Regions' publication Delivering on the Europe 2020 Strategy. Handbook for Local and Regional Authorities[9]. General information on Europe 2020 can be found on the strategy's official website[10] and on the website of DG Employment.[11].
1)What are the main challenges currently facing your region/city in terms of (i) preventing child poverty (ii) providing decent housing conditions and (iii) combating the social exclusion of vulnerable groups?
- Employability of young people
- Provision of housing for new categories of people facing difficulties, such as separated fathers, single parents with children, large families, young couples, unemployed people
- Prevention and combating of social exclusion by means of measures and instruments to encourage autonomy and full use of individual potential.
2) Please briefly describe what type of policy programmes/actions are being implemented in your city/region in the policy areas covered by the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion, highlighting their specific contribution to the above targets (see Box 1).
- Support for local programmes, headed by local authorities, to implement schemes in networks with other subnational players encouraging young people to actively seek work, inter alia by developing skills via formal or informal learning and a certification system for skills
- Initiatives run by the Region to encourage businesses to recruit young people
- Initiatives run by the Region to encourage business start-ups and help new businesses be sustainable
- Support for apprenticeships
- Application of a certification system for skills
- Measures for social and employment integration of vulnerable groups
1) to make it easier for Roma and Sinti children and their families to gain access to socio-health and educational services: Linguistic and cultural mediation scheme for disadvantaged groups, focusing on mothers and young children. This has provided training for 12 Roma and Sinti facilitators who work in schools and in the local health authority in Milan, and five primary facilitators in the Pavia area. The scheme has had several stages (2004-2009) with several injections of finance. Its results include the production of a guide, translated into the Roma and Sinti languages, designed to facilitate the integration of minors in schools, and dialogue with families;
2) to help Roma and Sinti people integrate into working life: Employment Value Scheme. Employment integration pathways for Roma and Sinti (agreement concluded with the Employment and Social Policy Ministry), with special focus on women and young people. Under this pilot scheme, a dialogue has been launched with the main institutional and private operators in the social sphere in Lombardy. A joint planning method has been used (whereby the Lombardy Region and partners jointly agree on the strategies and aims being pursued), with the aim of supporting and harnessing the expertise which the partners offer while also retaining overall management to ensure that the measures taken under the scheme are all mutually consistent. The scheme has involved: 1) Support for existing employment, such as cooperative schemes (already launched or in the process of being set up), workers at risk of exclusion from the labour market (support for the purchase and sale of ferrous materials; recovery and production of pallets). 2) Creation of new integration pathways for young people and women, including (self-) enterprise start-ups, supported by appropriate vocational training (establishment of a workshop for small sewing and ironing jobs; setting-up of a dressmakers' workshop). 3) Special targeting of employment guidance services for the Roma and Sinti communities, to pass on information about existing social and job opportunities. 4) Awareness-raising for operators in employment departments and trade associations in order to prevent discrimination against Roma and Sinti and ensure they receive equal treatment.
The results of the region's schemes are set out in the following publications:
Percorsi di empowerment e integrazione lavorativa di Rom e Sinti: l’esperienza del progetto Valore Lavoro, in Autonomie locali e Servizi sociali, July 2011, pp. 287-300;
Valore lavoro: integrazione e inserimento lavorativo di Rom e Sinti, ORIM, Lombardy Region, ISMU Foundation, Milan 2010. Available at:
Mediazione linguistico culturale: coordinamento e promozione dell’azione dei mediatori in ambito educativo e sociosanitario in Vergani A., Locatelli F., Riniolo V. (ed.), Tra inserimento sociale e sostenibilità dei flussi migratori. Una sperimentazione in Lombardia, Regional Observatory on integration and multi-ethnicity, ISMU Foundation, Lombardy Region, 2010.
- Schemes to help linguistic and social integration
Since 2006, through the two schemes mentioned above, the Lombardy Region has conducted 1,191 Level 2 Italian courses for adults (1,037 of these under the four stages of the "Get a certificate" scheme and 154 in the first year of the "Living in Italy" scheme) throughout the region, involving 19,935 foreign users (17,460 in the four stages of "Get a certificate" and 2,475 in the first stage of "Living in Italy"). Over 70% of participants obtained their language certificate according to the standards laid down in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Coordination of the two schemes has enabled users to complete the whole language programme, passing from one level to the next and gaining a final certificate in accordance with the Common European Framework standard.
The websites for the schemes are: and
The schemes are monitored (for both quality and quantity) during delivery and through a final assessment. Some of the results of these activities can be found in publications available on the following website:
Certifica il tuo italiano: per un modello regionale d'intervento, ORIM, Lombardy Region, ISMU Foundation, Milan 2010;
Certifica il tuo italiano. La lingua per conoscere e farsi conoscere, ORIM, Lombardy Region, ISMU Foundation, Milan 2008;
Certifica il tuo italiano: un’esperienza di riferimento per la formazione linguistica degli adulti immigrati, in the 2011 report entitled Gli immigrati in Lombardia, Eupolis, ORIM, ISMU Foundation, Lombardy Region, 2012.
- Housing-related assistance for migrants
maintenance and restructuring of a variety of publicly owned buildings in order to provide rented accommodation and help the integration of migrants in Lombardy;
trialling of support and assistance strategies for migrants to help improve their housing situation and social relations. This includes the production and distribution of a guide to living in Lombardy, for vulnerable groups and migrants;
implementation and coordination of local information offices, linked to the Housing Directorate, providing information and support to Italians or foreigners who face housing problems. A training/refresher course for operators is also provided;
coordination of the interinstitutional technical office on access to housing for particularly vulnerable groups.
These activities are planned and carried out using a multidisciplinary approach spanning both housing and social integration policies. The project's network involves public and private-sector operators in the social sector with experience in this field. The website for the project is:
The results are set out in the following publications:
Migrazioni, politiche urbane e abitative: dalla dimensione europea alla dimensione locale, Regional Observatory on integration and multi-ethnicity, ISMU Foundation, Lombardy Region, 2011
Processi insediativi, regole per il mercato dell’alloggio e strategie di governante: il progetto Radici in Vergani A., Locatelli F., Riniolo V. (ed.), Tra inserimento sociale e sostenibilità dei flussi migratori. Una sperimentazione in Lombardia, Regional Observatory on integration and multi-ethnicity, ISMU Foundation, Lombardy Region, 2010
- Assistance for vulnerable groups (detainees, ex-detainees and their families – safeguarding of minors in custody and of the children of detainees)
In 2011 and 2012 the Directorate for the Family, Social Solidarity and the Voluntary Sector established lines of action for regional projects in 2012 and 2013, and gave funding to the local health authorities, which selected local projects to fund on the basis of regional guidelines. These local projects took account of the regional lines of action established by the Region in cooperation with the Prisons Department and the Directors of Prisons. The aims of the projects are as follows: to strengthen measures for employment integration, both inside and outside prison; to promote personalised projects by means of measures designed to safeguard the rights of people within the penal system, especially young people, adults, women, migrants and ethnic minorities; to promote restorative justice schemes; to link measures within prisons with the local community in order to ease the transition to the outside world or a move to non-custodial measures, or direct access thereto; to this end, it has been necessary to develop projects that boost educational measures and support for social inclusion of detainees on their release and provide support for their families during these processes.
3)Are any of the policy programmes/actions described in the above question carried out in partnership with different tiers of government and/or with other stakeholders (regional or local NGOs, representatives of the social partners, the business sector or service providers). If yes, please state (a) the administrative levels involved (b) the practical arrangements taken to manage such joint action (c) who the main partners were and (d) how you worked with them (work organisation and time).
Actions 1, 2 and 3 (mentioned under question 2 above), whether run by the region or locally, are carried out in partnership and the main players involved are the local and provincial authorities, the Lombardy chambers of commerce, trade associations, and the private social sector (foundations, cooperatives and associations).
The administrative levels involved are: local and provincial authorities
The practical arrangements taken to manage this joint action:
for local schemes, partnership projects conducted by means of local programme-agreements;
for schemes run by the region, calls for tender in conjunction with the Lombardy chambers of commerce.
For the "Employment Value" scheme (point 6 of question 2): public/private partnership which has permitted joint planning and shared responsibility for the scheme.
For the "Get a certificate for your Italian" scheme (point 7 of question 2): inter-institutional partnership
For the "Living in Italy" scheme (point 7 of question 2): inter-institutional partnership
For the "Roots/Housing integration" scheme (point 8 of question 2): inter-institutional partnership
4)Ensuring effective access to and participation in cultural activities for all is an essential part of promoting an inclusive society. In what way can participation in cultural and creative activities be instrumental for helping people and communities overcome poverty and social exclusion? Please refer to specific examples and existing initiatives.
- Measures to facilitate participation in social activities and combat racial discrimination
Working in collaboration with the ISMU Foundation and as the body responsible for coordination of the Regional Observatory for Integration and Multi-ethnicity (ORIM) and the Provincial Immigration Observatories (OPI), the Lombardy Region is responsible for coordinating, together with UNAR, the activities and services carried out by operators within the region, in order to: a) take advantage of the ability to disseminate information at grassroots level, being close to potential victims of discrimination, by promoting territorial networking activities; b) devise instruments for monitoring and assessing racial discrimination and schemes to combat it at both regional and national level; c) monitor activities in the fields covered by the present agreement; d) establish the technical coordination office.
- Measures to promote multilingual information
Results of the scheme can be found in the following publication:
Telefono Mondo: Servizio telefonico multilingue d’informazione per gli immigrati e per gli operatori dei servizi sui temi dell’immigrazione in Vergani A., Locatelli F., Riniolo V. (ed.), Tra inserimento sociale e sostenibilità dei flussi migratori. Una sperimentazione in Lombardia, Regional Observatory for Integration and Multi-ethnicity, ISMU Foundation, Lombardy Region, 2010.
How is the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion relevant to your city or region?