Policy & Actions » Cohesion and urban policies » ESF
ESF
Background:
The European Social Fund (ESF) is one of the Structural Funds. It has primarily 2 objectives or 2 approaches (corresponding to 2 different chapters of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union):
- Article 164 states that the European Social Fund aims at promoting employment opportunities, professional mobility and adaptation to industrial mutations.
- Article 175 states that this Fund is also an instrument in favour of the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU, which in particular means the reduction of inequalities between regions by investing in the least developed regions.
Concrete opportunities for affordable housing:
The European Social Fund has allowed for example cities to set up a programme together with actors of social cohesion, including social housing providers, with the aim to outreach people not in employment, education or training, by providing them with confidence-building meetings, training on how to organise a job search, and training on how to use IT…
They have also allowed the creation of partnership between private companies, housing associations, and job centres in order to help employers meet their recruiting needs, while providing personalised support for local people, particularly the long-term unemployed, to find work in the construction industry. In addition to their mentoring and coaching role, coordinators also organise formal training towards qualifications and industry standard requirements.
It has helped to train employees of social housing providers to improve their social mediation skills in particular in the context of strong immigration.
In all the cases, one element have become clear: the effective approach is a steady progression towards the labour market as opposed to the introduction of a work focused or job output driven approach.
For further information on the European Social Fund please visit http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/
