Boosting employment of workers with support needs and boosting skills for work integration

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Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) provide employment opportunities to millions of people struggling to find jobs.  WISEs have to cater to the needs of the people they support and employ, yet also cater to the needs of their local economies. A key factor in meeting both factors is to ensure that those who work in WISEs have the right skills to deliver the products and services they create. Yet, the people working in WISEs – including workers with support needs, enablers/funders, and supporters – have varied skill requirements (soft and digital), educational backgrounds, values, motivations, and levels of investment in learning.

At our upcoming event, Boosting employment of workers with support needs and boosting skills for work integration, we will dive into how B-WISE has addressed these diverse needs to provide cross-European yet localised approaches to skill development. You will also discover the tailored training materials we have developed to enhance the work integration of workers with support needs.

Join us as we bring together key stakeholders to share insights, discuss the implementation of the European WISE Skills Strategy, and offer policy recommendations. Together, we can build a more inclusive and skilled workforce for the future.

The event will be held the on the 13th of November, 9:30-18:00 at the European Economic and Social Committee, Room VMA23, in Brussels. For more information, please find the programme here below:.

9h30-10h00 WELCOME – Introductory Remarks

Speakers:

• Giuseppe Guerini - EESC member, President of Cecop (the European Confederation of Industrial, Worker and Service Cooperatives and Social Cooperatives)

• Manuela Geleng - Director of Jobs & Skills, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission

• Thomas Bignal – Secretary General, EASPD

• Patrizia Bussi – Director, ENSIE

10h00-10h30: How the B-WISE project can help to boost work integration?

Speakers: TBC

10h30-10h45 Presentation of the B-WISE project

• Nóra Györke - Project Officer, EASPD

10h45-11h30 Key findings of B-WISE research. Future of the WISE sector

Interactive discussion on how the consortium progressed from identifying skills needs and gaps of the workers in the sector to developing “scenarios”, “personas” and future occupational profiles

• Giulia Galera - Research Coordinator, Euricse

• Lieven Bossuyt - Head, Lichtwerk

• Camilla Baldini - Project Coordinator - Idee in Rete

• Biancamaria Molinari - Scuola Centrale Formazione, Fondazione Opera Sacra Famiglia

Moderator: Martina Paterniti - Project Coordinator, ENSIE

11h30-12h00 Coffee break

12h00-13h30 Universal Training Curricula for workers in WISEs – Workers’ experiences with the B-WISE piloting 

• Melanie Schaur - Researcher, Johannes Kepler University Linz

Moderator: Corine van de Burgt - Director, De Omslag

13h30-14h30 Networking lunch

14h30-15h30 Workshops

WS1: How to boost digitalisation in Work Integration Social Entreprises?
WS2: Exploitation of research results for advocacy actions for the Work Integration Socia Entreprises sector
WS3: Blueprint project synergies under Large Scale Partnership for the Proximity and Social Economy Ecosystem

15h30-16h00 Coffee break

Room VMA 23

16h00-17h00 Next steps – How can we make the most of the B-WISE project?

• Karel Vanderpoorten - Policy Officer Industrial Policy/Social Economy, DG GROW, European Commission

• Felix Rohn, Policy Officer - DG EMP, EC

• Patrizia Bussi - Director, ENSIE

• Nóra Györke - Project Officer, EASPD

Moderator: Thomas Bignal - Secretary General, EASPD

17h00-17h30 Concluding remarks

17h30 Networking cocktails