Job-LIFE>axis {job-systems}>work pakage [systems]
WPBSY: [systems]
(led by Blanca Miedes Ugarte)
This Work Package aims to establish a framework and a methodology of analysis and monitoring of European territorial (local, subregional, regional) labour systems based on the principles, concepts and tools of territorial intelligence (Caenti, 2009). The object is territorial actors and Policy makers better to identify the territorial trends of jobs creation and daptation in the framework of the socio-ecological transition. The evolution of the so called “green jobs” will be specially focused with the purpose of addressing main different territorial trends in jobs and skills depending on social, economic, environmental and political context. Territorial actors’ and policy makers’ needs will be most important drivers of this WP whose final objective is to create an European model of territorial employment observatories.
Concept and objective
This WPBSY which is driven by the principles and methods of territorial intelligence will face the challenge of providing territorial actors’ and policy makers:
- A framework for a more systemic and multidimensional analysis of local labor dynamics and tensions useful for facing territorial challenges taking in account the combination of economic, social and environmental objectives of sustainable development;
- A prospective study of the evolution of new jobs and skills which are linked to socioecological transition in selected specific territorial context, in order them to know different ways in which thisevolution is occurring in different circumstances.
- A methodology of territorial strategic observation and participatory assessment which allow them better monitoring the evolution of the individual trajectories of employment in relation to the global trajectory of the territorial employment system.
Progress beyond the state of art Scientific knowledge, methods and tools about labor markets structure and functioning have been developed in universities and research centers but, even nowadays in the so called “knowledge society”, they are scarcely available for territorial actors and policy makers. Furthermore when they are available scientific results are rarely taken in account in the process of decision making. There exists a massive theoretical and applied literature about employment and other relating issues such as education and training, labor skills and competences, unemployment, employment services, etc.
However, most of it consist of disciplinary studies in economics, sociology, laws, economic geography, management of human resources, etc. which are specially address to academic world disregarding actual needs of territorial actor’s and policy makers; in addition to this most of them are lacking of a multidisciplinary approach dealing with multidimensionality of employment phenomena. Lastly when territorial dimension of employment problems is addressed, analysis usually consists in case analysis or local descriptions which are not susceptible to be generalized and they don’t provide a general and systematic well grounded framework for examining and comparing current dynamics and tensions affecting jobs creation and adaptation in territories according to their specific characteristics. Knowledge about territorial employment systems remains disperse and segmented.
Notwithstanding territorial governance of local employment tensions and problems respecting the principles of sustainable development claims more coordinated actions and more action-oriented knowledge about de local employment system, individual trajectories of people’s employment life cycle, and about the projects and services which must be coordinated. A kind of scientifically grounded knowledge to be shared by all public and private territorial actors and policy makers appertaining to social, economic, cultural, and environmental areas involved in employment creation which allows a joint action. It is necessary a sort of multidimensional and participative-built knowledge which is able to catch not only the situation but the dynamics of local employment in the short, medium and long term. It is necessary that scientific and actors’ partnerships jointly to design methods and tools of strategic observation and participatory assessment of territorial projects assuring the results would be technically correct and useful for a more coordinated decision making process. In other words, it is necessary to develop methods and tools of territorial intelligence focused on employment monitoring and analysis by means of the creation of territorial intelligence employment observatories as stable platforms of local knowledge share and participative analysis.
Because of its multidimensional and participatory approach these observatories are expected to provide a more complex and comprehensive vision about the structure and functioning of territorial employment systems, and to allow both the monitoring of actual evolution specific sectors as the so called “green jobs” and the situation of some specific publics like women, aged people or most disfavored group.
Based on previous partner’s experiences in this domain WPBSY is expected to elaborate acommon methodology of territorial intelligence observatories favoring exchanges and comparative analysis across different selected territories in Europe allowing a better understanding of how global tensions are translated into local employment effects in different context.
Scientific and technical methodology and associate work plan
The work will be separate into three tasks according with three general objectives:
<Articulation>
(animated by Serge Schmitz of ULG)
This task shall deal with territorial systems of employment analysis using a comparative approach. The idea is that the pluridisciplinar and pluri sectorial group of researchers and actors involved in WPBSY to select some local areas in Spain, Italy, France, England, Hungary, Belgium, Rumania and Finland and to compare their local employment systems structure and evolution stressing regional and rural-urban differences. The final deliverable would be a report (Month 11), which will be specially addressed to territorial actors and policy makers, including a methodology for the analysis, diagnosis and prospection of local labor markets by taking in account these different situations.
<Environment>
(animated by Zoltan Whilhem of PTE)
<environment> shall take as departing point the same selected local areas as in the task <articulation>. This task will consist on a comparative approach of different evolutions of “green jobs” depending on the nature and functioning of the territorial employment system. A wider focus should require going beyond the narrow concept of “green jobs” which are exclusively referred to environmental matters and including a wider set of sectors as those referring to a larger vision of sustainability as social cohesion and cultural development (cf. WPALQ). The final deliverable will be a Report prospecting this evolution in the short, medium and large term, by main involved sectors, according to different regional characteristics.
<Monitoring>
(animated by Celia Sánchez of UHU).
Actors and researchers focus will consists on the designing of a model of territorial employment observatories by identifying, selecting and conceptualizing most suitable indicators and participative methods and tools in monitoring employment multisectorial projects taking in account social, economic and environmental dynamics which are at the same time cause and effect of labor systems dynamics. The final deliverable will be a Report describing the methodology of Territorial Intelligence Employment Observatories.
During the project all these results will be confronted with a selected panel of policy makers and stakeholders in different territorial context.
