Social Affairs Forum strategy for 2021-2022 - Eurocities
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Social Affairs Forum strategy for
2021-2022
Chair Utrecht
Politician: Maarten van Ooijen
Officer: Imara Antonius
E-mail: i.antonius@utrecht.nl
Vice-chair Glasgow
Politician: Baillie Annette Christie
Officer: Joe Brady
E-mail: Joe.Brady@glasgow.gov.uk
Aarhus • Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropole • Amiens Metropole • Amsterdam
Members (145) • Angers Loire Métropole • Antwerp • Athens • Banja Luka • Barcelona •
Belfast • Belgrade • Bergen • Berlin • Beylikdüzü • Bialystok • Bilbao •
Birmingham • Bologna • Bonn • Borlange • Bordeaux • BrabantStad • Braga •
Bratislava • Bremen • Brighton & Hove • Bristol • Brno • Brussels • Brussels
Capital Region • Budapest • Burgas • Bydgoszcz • Cardiff • Cluj-Napoca •
Cologne • Constanta • Copenhagen • Dortmund • Dresden • Dublin •
Dusseldorf • Edinburgh • Eindhoven • Espoo • Essen • Florence • Frankfurt •
Gaziantep • Gdansk • Genoa • Ghent • Gijon • Glasgow • Gothenburg • Grand
Paris Sud • Grenoble Alpes Métropole • Hamburg • Helsinki • Istanbul • Izmir
• Karlsruhe • Karlstad • Katowice • Kharkiv • Kiel • Kyiv • Leeds • Leipzig •
Lisbon • Ljubljana • London • Lublin • Luxembourg • Lviv • Lyon • Madrid •
Malmö • Manchester • Mannheim • Metropole Europeenne de Lille • Milan •
Munich • Munster • Murcia • Nantes • Netwerkstad Twente • Newcastle-
Gateshead • Nice Côte d’Azur • Nicosia • Novi Sad • Nuremberg • Odessa •
Oslo • Osmangazi • Ostend • Oulu • Palermo • Paris • Pendik • Pilsen • Porto
• Poznan • Prague • Rennes Métropole • Reykjavik • Riga • Rome • Rotterdam
• Sarajevo • Seville • Sheffield • Sofia • Solna • St Etienne • Stockholm •
Strasbourg • Stuttgart • Sunderland • Tallin • Tampere • Tbilisi • Terrassa
Metropolitan Area • The Hague • Thessaloniki • Timisoara • Tirana • Toulouse
• Turin • Turkish Cypriot community of Nicosia • Turku • Uppsala • Utrecht •
Valladolid • Vantaa • Varna • Venice • Vienna • Vilnius • Warsaw • Wroclaw
• Yerevan • Zagreb • Zaragoza • ZurichContents
Introduction ................................................................................................... 3
1. Our vision: Inclusive Cities for All ............................................................... 4
Contributing to the Eurocities strategic framework 2020-2029 ................................................ 4
2. SAF priorities for 2021-2022 ....................................................................... 5
1. Build Back Fairer Together – social recovery through reducing inequalities......................... 5
2. A Home for Everyone ............................................................................................................. 6
3. Welcoming everyone in our cities – managing diversity and social cohesion ....................... 6
3. SAF advocacy plan for 2021-2022 ............................................................... 7
4. Working methods ......................................................................................13
Forum meetings ....................................................................................................................... 13
Social Innovation Lab............................................................................................................................. 13
Working Groups ....................................................................................................................... 14
Steering Committee ................................................................................................................. 14
Our mutual learning programme for cities in partnership with DG EMPL .............................. 16
5. SAF workplan for 2021 ..............................................................................16
Actions for 2021 ....................................................................................................................... 17
Calendar of SAF meetings and events in 2021 ......................................................................... 21
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Final version: 4 March 2021Introduction
Eurocities has a dedicated Social Affairs Forum that brings together over 150 cities to work jointly to
address major social challenges that European cities are facing now and in the future, by means of
mutual learning, capacity building, co-creation of social innovations and contributing to EU policies.
The Social Affairs Forum supports cities to improve urban policies to reduce poverty and inequalities,
foster inclusive labour markets and promote social inclusion and equal opportunities for all people in
line with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Fighting poverty and promoting equality and inclusion are at the core of our work in social affairs.
We adopt an integrated approach to inclusion and equality by working to ensure equal access to
education, employment, housing, healthcare and overall, good quality public services accessible to all.
To achieve this, we work with all levels of city policy-makers:
• We engage deputy mayors to ensure political support for driving further inclusive city policies;
• We work with city directors for social services to coordinate strategic approaches to social policy;
• We involve staff from city services to provide thematic policy expertise in our nine working groups;
• We engage managers of city projects to share lessons and know-how from innovative actions.
In all our work we place a strong focus on building inclusive cities for all people, with targeted support
to vulnerable groups, especially children in poverty, migrants and refugees, people with disabilities,
Roma people, homeless people, unemployed, the elderly and people living in deprived urban areas.
Our main activities in the Social Affairs Forum are:
• knowledge exchange, capacity building and mutual learning activities based on effective tools
and methods to bring policy changes. Members learn from each other by sharing knowledge,
comparing different approaches, testing innovative solutions and identifying best practices.
• policy and advocacy work to represent the interests of cities to the EU institutions. We actively
contribute to the development and implementation of European policies, legislation and
programmes that are relevant for cities. We work with the European Commission, both at political
and technical level, as well as with the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and
the European Council and EU Member States, to ensure that European policy is fed with front-line
experience of cities. Our SAF aim is to bring a strong urban dimension into the EU social agenda
and to mainstream the social perspective into top EU policy priorities such as the EU Green Deal.
• communication and raising awareness: we profile urban social issues and good practices from
cities to the EU institutions, European stakeholders, other European networks and the media; as
well as to communicate European initiatives and policy priorities to members. We engage our
members in direct dialogue with the European Commission to get first-hand information on how
to access EU funding.
Social innovation is at the core of our work. We support cities to learn, share and transfer innovative
solutions to address social challenges such as child poverty, homelessness, integration of migrants,
Roma inclusion, access into the labour market for vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities,
and promoting active ageing. We do so through mutual learning, peer reviews, knowledge transfer and
capacity building between cities, including training on how to access and use EU funding.
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Final version: 4 March 20211. Our vision: Inclusive Cities for All
SAF contributes to the Eurocities mission of a sustainable future in which all citizens can enjoy a good
quality of life in a socially inclusive, fair and cohesive society. We strive for a Europe where cities are
genuine partners with the EU to create a better future where people take part in an inclusive society.
We put people first in all our work. Our long-term vision is to build Inclusive Cities for All where:
• everyone feels at home: diversity of backgrounds is welcomed as a source of strength for social
mixing and social cohesion while discrimination and racism are deplored;
• no one is left behind and everyone has opportunities to fully participate in society with equitable
access to affordable education, childcare, housing, healthcare, social services;
• equal opportunities for well-being in which the area where one lives does not affect their chances
of graduating school, finding a job, getting healthcare or residing a safe and warm home;
• inclusive growth where everyone can access inclusive labour markets, gain a fair pay, develop
useful skills for now and the future, and get support for up-skilling, re-skilling and career transition;
• sustainable cities where social investment is guiding just transitions to green and digital economy;
• social innovations where new technologies are used to foster social and digital inclusion, improve
access and quality of services, and engage people in co-creating the city.
Our long-term vision is based on a life-cycle approach to ensure that the needs and interests of all
people in our cities are well taken care of at any age or stage of life. This involves children having
sufficient places in nurseries and schools, young people getting support to move from education and
training to work, working-age adults being prepared to face changes in the world of work, all people
even those inactive having a roof over their heads, elderly people being helped to fully participate in
their community and every person feeling welcome regardless of their origin.
Contributing to the Eurocities strategic framework 2020-2029
The Social Affairs Forum contributes to the goals of the Eurocities strategic framework for 2020-2029:
Goal 1: People take part in an inclusive society
• Fight urban poverty and social exclusion
• Ensure access to adequate and affordable housing
• Facilitate the inclusion of refugees, migrants, ethnic minorities and people
• Ensure quality and inclusive education
• Deliver quality public services, accessible to all
• Support inclusive local labour markets
Goal 2: People progress in a prosperous local economy
• Stimulate the creation of quality jobs
• Tackle mismatches in local skills and future needs
Goal 5: City governments address global challenges
• Tackle rising inequalities
Goal 6: City governments are fit for the future
• Explore strategic partnerships and the co-creation of public services
• Promote gender equality and fight all discriminations
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Final version: 4 March 20212. SAF priorities for 2021-2022
Our SAF strategy for 2021-2022 is set in the context of the pandemic, the health, economic and social
crisis and the path towards recovery. This crisis has exacerbated social and health inequalities, hitting
hardest on the most vulnerable people. Unemployment and poverty are rapidly rising in our cities,
with new groups of people at risk of poverty - the ‘new urban poor’. Territorial inequalities are also
deepening, with people living in the most deprived urban areas being the most severely affected.
While this is disruptive, this crisis also gives rise to new opportunities to adapt, re-think and re-organise
essential services in our cities and test policy innovations. Many cities have digitalised many
healthcare, employment and social services, innovating with new solutions for e-inclusion. We have
also seen the rise of local solidarity ecosystems where the city is facilitating or catalysing efforts from
residents, NGOs and private sector. Many cities are building coalitions with local businesses and civil
society for driving inclusive local recovery to balance social, economic and environmental objectives.
On that basis, our high-level priorities for 2021-2022 focus on:
1. Building Back Fairer Together to drive the social recovery from the COVID-19 crisis by reducing
social inequalities through strengthening social inclusion and poverty reduction measures in
our cities, tackling (youth) unemployment, improve skills matching and focus on future of work
and skills, especially green and digital skills, and the role of social economy in the recovery;
2. A Home for Everyone: focus on long-term investments in affordable housing, also through
new opportunities under the Renovation Wave, and fighting homelessness by positioning
cities as key partners in developing and implementing the new EU initiative on homelessness;
3. Welcoming Everyone in our cities: focus on managing diversity and social cohesion in our cities
through integration and social inclusion of migrants and people with migrant or ethnic
minority backgrounds, Roma inclusion, fighting discrimination and racism through positive
narratives, fighting child poverty, shaping age-friendly services, integrating health and social
care services, and developing territorial approaches to improve the quality of life in the most
deprived urban neighbourhoods.
1. Build back fairer together – social recovery through reducing inequalities
Our citizens have been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis, be it in terms of the impact on health
and well-being, or losing jobs or income, or experiencing an increase in social isolation and social
exclusion. For the next two years, our Forum will focus on the social recovery from the COVID-19 crisis
and how to ‘bounce forward’ to shape a well-being cities agenda with social justice and equal
opportunities for all.
In all our work in SAF for 2021-2022, we will focus on building social resilience to drive a fair, inclusive
recovery from the COVID-19 crisis with the aim to reduce health and social inequalities and promote
equal opportunities for all people in our cities, especially for the most vulnerable groups such as
children, young people, the elderly, migrants and refugees, Roma, etc.
Our thematic and policy priorities for the work on recovery from COVID-19 crisis are:
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Final version: 4 March 2021• Poverty reduction and social inclusion: strengthening social support measures as part of local
and national recovery plans, with a focus on territorial approach to the most deprived urban areas.
We will continue and step up our contribution to the European Pillar of Social Rights action plan
through our campaign ‘InclusiveCities4All’ to bring a strong political message from cities at the EU
Social Summit in Porto. We will also work closely with the Roundtable of city directors of social
services on building resilience and adapting social services for recovery post-covid.
• Employment: tackling rising unemployment, especially youth unemployment, facilitating Local
Pacts for Employment with focus on quality jobs, decent working conditions for all, including on
platform work, and inclusive labour markets. As such, we aim to build capacity of cities to
implement local Youth Guarantee schemes with support from national and EU level, especially
through ESF+. Reflection on future of work and skills as a focus of our SAF meeting in Berlin in
November 2021.
• Skills: address skills mismatch through up-skilling and re-skilling by using the new opportunities
through the EU Green Deal for new jobs based on green and digital skills. We aim to contribute to
the implementation of the EU Skills Agenda and the new EU Pack for Skills.
• Social economy: boost the potential and role of social economy in the recovery. We will
contribute to the upcoming EU action plan for social economy by bringing a local perspective for
social economy ecosystems.
2. A Home for Everyone
We are in the midst of a housing crisis in Europe and the COVID-19 crisis has made this issue even more
visible. There is evidence that during the pandemic in 2020, homelessness has increased by 25% in
cities on average, but in some of the biggest cities this goes as high as 40%. Given the impact of the
COVID-19 crisis on loss of jobs and income, it is expected that the housing costs will take an even higher
share of the disposable household income, which was already too high pre-covid.
Housing is a human right and should be prioritised as such. Having a decent, safe and warm home a
pre-condition to access and benefit from other social rights, such as education, work, health and social
inclusion at large. SAF will work on two inter-related thematic priorities for realising this objective:
• Affordable housing for all: we will exchange among cities and with EU policy-makers on
strategies to facilitate and build long-term investment for affordable housing. We will continue
working with the European Parliament to better reflect the reality of affordability of housing in the
European Semester and in other EU policies. We will also focus on the opportunities within the
Renovation Wave and energy poverty.
• Reducing homelessness in our cities: we will build capacity of cities to develop an integrated
approach combining housing support (e.g. Housing First) with social care and health services, and
active inclusion (access to work or training). As such, we will contribute to the new EU initiative on
fighting homelessness with policy inputs from cities to the EU recommendations and toolkit.
3. Welcoming everyone in our cities – managing diversity and social cohesion
The diversity of backgrounds in our cities continues to increase. Some cities count as many as 170
different nationalities residing on their territory. Cities have a big task on their hands to manage
diversity and promote social cohesion at local level by building welcoming and inclusive
neighbourhoods with communities that are open to accepting and bringing together people from
diverse backgrounds. Social integration happens at local level by welcoming newly-arrived refugees,
as well as foreign-born nationals or residents coming from migrant or ethnic minority backgrounds.
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Final version: 4 March 2021Cities have a duty to leave no one behind and involve everyone, and every group in the co-creation of
social sustainable cities and communities.
Our thematic priorities in this area are:
• Integration of migrants and refugees - focus on social inclusion and access to essential services;
• Roma inclusion with a focus on cities’ role in the implementation of new Roma inclusion national
strategies under the new EU Roma Framework 2021-2030;
• Children and young people with a focus on fighting child poverty and breaking the
intergenerational cycle of poverty, through contributing and implementing the EU Child Guarantee
• Age-friendly services – focus on integrating health and social services in cities.
Cross-cutting work with other Forums will be on fighting discrimination and racism and fostering
positive narratives, as well as gender equality. A key focus of our work in SAF will be on citizen
participation and ensuring all voices are heard – starting from children and youth, to elderly, to
migrants, Roma, etc. – as well as local partnerships with all relevant actors in the local area. We will
aim to strengthen the place-based, neighbourhood approach to building social cohesion and
managing diversity of local communities through equal access to services. We will exchange in SAF on
social innovations and how to use EU funding for improving access to essential (social) services.
Working with other Forums
SAF is dedicated to working closer together with other Forums. We wish to strengthen the
social dimension in key EU policy files like the EU Green Deal and Digital Europe by supporting
the work of other Forums. In particular, we aim to collaborate on the following topics:
- EU Green Deal, Renovation Wave and energy poverty with Environment Forum
- Long-term investments and social economy with Economic Development Forum
- Tackling the digital divide with Knowledge Society Forum
- Accessibility with Mobility Forum
- Fighting racism and discrimination, and social inclusion through culture with Culture Forum
- Right to food with the WG Food under cooperation platform.
3. SAF advocacy plan for 2021-2022
This pandemic crisis has brought new opportunities for strengthening social policy in Europe and
positioning cities as key players and partners of the EU institutions in this process. The crisis has placed
a renewed focus on Europe’s social model and the debate on reinforcing social Europe on top of the
EU agenda. The European Commission is working full steam to put forward an ambitious action plan
to give a fresh impetus to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and its role in
the European recovery and adaption to climate, digital and demographic transitions. The EU Social
Summit will drive a new agenda for social Europe for 2030, where we will position cities centrally. We
will continue working closely with the European Parliament to push inclusive policies to reduce child
poverty, integrate migrants and ensure affordable housing for all, among other topics. At the same
time, we will work to mainstream the social dimension in the EU economic, environmental and digital
policies, especially the EU Green Deal, and in the implementation of the national recovery plans.
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Final version: 4 March 2021Priority 1: Building Back Fairer Together: Social Recovery from Covid-19
Policy initiative Timeline Analysis Actions Who is leading?
European Social Jan - Feb Key source of funding for cities to access • Monitor and influence the trialogue negotiations on ESF+ Cross-cutting across
Fund+ 2021 and use for employment, education and resolution by bringing evidence and arguments from cities to SAF / Steering
training, and poverty reduction actions. the European Parliament team of MEP negotiators. Stay Committee
25% of budget earmarked for social involved in stakeholder updates by the European Parliament.
inclusion measures and additional 3% for • Regular reports to members on the ESF+ negotiations and
food aid and material basic assistance. implications for cities.
Specific support foreseen for social • Capitalise on the Eurocities’ role in the ESF+ transnational
innovation actions at local level (co- cooperation platform to advocate to managing authorities for a
financed at 95%). stronger city involvement in ESF+ programming at nat/reg level
Good opportunity for cities to input ideas • Organise a webinar on ESF+ for members to bring cities in direct
for ESF+ national/regional programmes. contact with European Commission and Managing Authorities
• Launch a survey to gather lessons from cities from ESF 2014-
2020 to build capacity for accessing and using ESF+ 2021-2027
Action Plan on March The EPSR action plan is expected to be • Bilateral meetings with cabinets of Commissioner Schmit, EP Cross-cutting in SAF /
the European 2021 the cornerstone of a new EU social parties’ leaders and Portuguese Council Presidency to position Steering Committee
Pillar of Social agenda (‘new EU social contract’) and cities as key stakeholders to be invited at the Porto social
Rights play a key role in the European recovery summit and a speaking role for Eurocities President Nardella
and adaptation to climate, digital and • Organise a Eurocities high-level political event - Cities Social
demographic transitions. Summit on 6 May – ahead of the Porto Social Summit to bring
Very relevant for cities as will include city mayors to discuss with EU leaders the role of cities in the
legislative and non-legislative proposals new EU social agenda/EPSR action plan and post-covid recovery
on social policies relevant for local level. • Formulate a strong political message from city leaders to the EU
It is expected to include a new set of Social Summit based on our Social Europe position paper.
social scoreboard targets and indicators. • Monitor and influence EU proposals under the EPSR Action Plan.
To be adopted by EU leaders at the EU
• Continue to collect more city pledges as part of our Eurocities
Social Summit in Porto on 7-8 May 2021.
‘Inclusive Cities for All’ campaign and raise public awareness to
have cities recognised as key partners in the EPSR action plan.
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Final version: 4 March 2021Policy initiative Timeline Analysis Actions Who is leading?
Recovery and April The €672.5 billion Recovery and Resilience • Contribute to Eurocities cross-cutting advocacy efforts to Cross-cutting across
Resilience Plans 2021 Facility is the key tool in the EU's COVID- improve cities’ involvement in shaping the national recovery Eurocities / SAF
19 recovery plan to support reforms in plans by outlining the arguments for local social investments involved on social
response to the crisis. Funding is provided • Connect our advocacy for EPSR implementation and strong EU investments
to national governments based on social agenda with our advocacy for stronger social investments
national recovery and resilience plans that through national recovery plans involving cities’ proposals
outline planned reforms. • Convinced the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and
human rights to include in his report a call for involving cities in
the recovery plans to get resources to fight poverty locally
Action Plan for May - Expected to be very relevant for cities to • Provide policy inputs to the EU action plan on social economy. WG Smart Social
the Social Nov enhance social investment, support social • Produce a report with evidence, new trends, good practices and Inclusion
Economy 2021 economy actors and social enterprises to policy recommendations from cities on social economy, to feed
start-up, scale-up, innovate and create into the EU action plan proposals.
jobs. • Advocate for a strong role of cities at the EU Social Economy
Summit in Mannheim in May and a speaking role for Eurocities
• Organise a WG meeting/advocacy session alongside the EU
Social Economy Summit to raise awareness of cities’ role and
good practices in supporting social economy ecosystems
Improving the Q1-Q4 Legislative proposal that aims to ensure • Provide policy inputs through participation to DG EMPL strategic WG Employment
working 2021 transparent, dignified, fair and dialogue meetings to present trends and challenges from cities
conditions of predictable working conditions and social • Organise bilateral meetings with EU policy makers at technical
platform protection for platform workers. Relevant and political level to present cities’ perspective on working
workers for cities given the share of platform conditions for platform workers
work in cities. • Advocate policy messages from our Social Europe policy paper
Individual Q4 2021 EU initiative to help close existing gaps in • Monitor and influence the policy development. WG Employment
learning the access to training for working age • Provide policy inputs from cities’ good practices on local
accounts adults and empower them to successfully measures for adult learning.
manage labour market transitions. • Contribute inputs to the OECD policy manual on adult learning.
EU approach to Q4 2021 EU initiative to reinforce the role of higher • Follow the initiative and brief cities on the potential contribution. WG Employment
micro- education, vocational education and • Provide policy inputs on the role of cities’ employment services
credentials training institutions in lifelong learning in contributing to lifelong learning programmes.
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Final version: 4 March 2021Priority 2: A Home for Everyone
Policy initiative Timeline Analysis Actions Who is leading?
EU Initiative on Q1 – Q4 Extremely relevant and targeted to cities. • Establish collaboration with DG GROW to monitor and influence WG Housing
Affordable It aims to pilot the renovation of 100 the initiative to make it relevant and accessible for cities to apply
Housing part of lighthouse social and affordable housing • Build on the momentum of the EP report on affordable housing
the EU districts. for all and continue collaboration with MEPs on follow-up actions
Renovation Renovation Wave is relevant for cities to • Provide policy inputs on the social dimension of the Renovation
Wave prevent gentrification, have a Wave to support the advocacy led by Environment Forum
participatory approach for citizens, ensure • Follow the Bauhaus initiative and contribute to cross-cutting
the cost of renovation is not excessive, work in Eurocities
creation of quality jobs and skills
• Follow the energy poverty file in cooperation with ENVI Forum
development.
• Advocate for stable and sufficient access to funding for local
partnerships for renovation projects and for the protection of all
people in need in the renovation wave process. Organise
bilateral meetings with EU policy makers at technical and political
level to present cities’ perspectives and policy inputs.
• Disseminate our Eurocities report on housing and homelessness
to EU policy makers to raise awareness of cities’ challenges,
trends, good practices and policy recommendations.
EU Initiative to 2021- Expected to have two parts: • Provide policy inputs and good practices from cities to both the WG Homelessness
fight 2022 • Setting up a European Platform on EU toolkit and Commission’s policy recommendations
homelessness Combatting homelessness (EU • Facilitate cities’ involvement in national roundtables and the EU-
institutions, member states, cities, level conference on fighting homelessness.
stakeholders) to be launched during a • Position cities as key stakeholders at the EU Convention to fight
high-level event on 21 June 2021. Homelessness and get speaking role for Eurocities / SAF chair
• An EU study leading to a policy toolkit • Disseminate our Eurocities report on housing and homelessness
on combatting homelessness. to EU policy makers to raise awareness of cities’ challenges,
Further EU actions expected in 2022. Very trends, good practices and policy recommendations
relevant for cities and expected to involve • Organise a Eurocities/SAF high-level event on city policies to
cities as key stakeholders. fight homelessness to position cities as key actors in this area
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Final version: 4 March 2021Priority 3: Welcoming Everyone in our Cities
Policy initiative Timeline Analysis Actions Who is leading?
EU Child March This EU policy framework will recommend • Disseminate our Eurocities report on fighting child poverty in WG Children and
Guarantee & EU 2021 to member states to ensure the cities to all relevant EU policy makers to raise awareness of the Young People
Strategy on the affordability, accessibility and availability local situation of child poverty, good practices and policy
Rights of the of inclusive quality services for children in recommendations from cities on fighting child poverty
Child need. The initiative will consist of a • Organise a high-level political debate on 18 February with MEPs
Council Recommendation asking member
and EC on lessons from cities for the EU Child Guarantee
states to make the necessary policy and
funding investments, so that children in • Provide Eurocities policy inputs and recommendations to the EU
need have access to the essential services targeted stakeholder consultation on the Child Guarantee
required for their well-being, health and • Advocate for a strong role of cities in the EU Child Guarantee
personal development (childcare, through bilateral meetings with DG EMPL and presentations at
education, healthcare, healthy nutrition, strategic dialogue meetings with key stakeholders
housing, participation in cultural, • Advocate for appropriate funding from ESF+ to child poverty
recreative and sports activities).
measures by providing timely data to EP negotiating team
Highly relevant for cities as the focus is on
• Advocate for channelling resources from ESF+ to local level by
services that are delivered at local level.
showcasing cities’ good practices to managing authorities
• Contribute to the EP report on the Child Guarantee to secure
support for a strong role of cities in shaping and delivering it
• Contribute to the EP report on EU Child Rights’ strategy
• Provide policy inputs to DG JUST to ensure strong recognition of
role of cities in the EU Child Rights’ strategy
Pathways to Spring DG EAC will launch a public consultation • Contribute to the public consultation with policy inputs from our WG Children and
School Success 2021 for contributions to this upcoming Eurocities report on fighting child poverty in cities Young People
for All initiative seeking to prevent early school • Encourage members to participate to the public consultation and WG Education
leaving and implement compensatory share their city challenges, proposals and good practices WG Roma inclusion
measures.
• Organise a workshop as a spring WG Roma inclusion meeting to
discuss between cities and DG EAC ideas for this new initiative
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Final version: 4 March 2021Policy initiative Timeline Analysis Actions Who is leading?
EU Strategy on April The new EU strategy 2020-2030 will build • Disseminate our Eurocities report on disability inclusion to all WG Urban Ageing
the Rights of 2021 on the current strategy 2010-2020 and relevant EU policy makers to raise awareness of the situation, with support from
Persons with support the full implementation of the challenges and good practices in cities on disability inclusion WG Barrier Free
Disabilities UN CRPD. • Follow and inform members about the EU high-level meeting on Cities
the launch of the new EU Disability Strategy in April.
• Build capacity of members on the UN CRPD implementation and
its local dimension in line with the new EU disability strategy
• Raise awareness of the EU Access City Award and encourage
members to apply
Action Plan on Oct Highly relevant for cities as it recognises • Contribute to policy development of action plan by providing WG Migration and
Integration and 2020, that integration takes place at local level, policy inputs from cities to the EU public consultation in 2020 Integration
Inclusion 2021- continue includes proposals to make it easier for • Monitor and inform members on the action plan implementation
2027 d in 2021 cities to access funding and strengthen • Build capacity of members to get involved in shaping national
the role of cities in multi-level governance and local action plans and access funding from AMIF
Legal Migration Q3 2021 The EU seeks to develop an EU talent pool • Monitor and inform members on legislative developments. WG Migration and
policies and explore other possibilities for legal • Contribute to policy development of EU Talent Pool for skilled Integration
migration. Highly relevant for cities. workers and role of cities in legal migration by providing policy
inputs to the EU public consultation in 2020
• Contribute with amendments to EP report on legal migration
New EU Roma Oct The draft Council recommendation has a • Monitor and influence the negotiations on the draft council WG Roma Inclusion
Framework 2020, dedicated section on the role of cities in recommendation to keep the strong focus on the role of cities.
2020-2030 continue Roma inclusion. It calls for involving local • Build capacity of members for a strong involvement of cities in
d in authorities in the design, implementation the shaping national strategies as part of the new framework.
2021 and monitoring of national strategies and • Facilitate regular updates to and among members on how to
better channelling of EU funds to them. get involved in national policy-making and access EU funding
Green Paper on Q1 2021 The EU Green Paper on Ageing takes a life- • Prepare response to the public consultation on the Green Paper WG Urban Ageing
Ageing & Silver course approach and focuses on several on Ageing, based on policy messages from all relevant SAF WGs.
Deal cross-cutting areas, launching a broad • Monitor and influence the EU debate on ageing to advocate for
policy debate on the challenges and a strong involvement of cities and a clear urban dimension.
opportunities of Europe's ageing society. • Capitalise on ESPON project result and good practices from cities
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Final version: 4 March 20214. Working methods
The SAF priorities will be implemented through:
• the Social Affairs Forum and its members
• nine SAF working groups
• SAF steering committee
• the strategic partnership with the European Commission DG EMPL during 2018-2021 with support
from the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSi) operational grant
• other policy and funding support from our institutional partners.
In all our working methods in SAF, we will prioritise a focus on the following new approaches:
• working in a more integrated way across WGs to address cross-cutting challenges
• more space to jointly develop new ideas for policies and projects on transversal issues
• focus on innovative approaches in policy and practice at city level
• more support for policy transfer of good practices
• result-oriented approach to mutual learning by setting clear objectives and expected outcomes
and then following up after each study visit to capture the impact and results
• build capacity of cities on how to collect, measure and use data for policy solutions
Forum meetings
The meetings of the Social Affairs Forum will continue to be the milestone in our work with a strong
focus on ‘Learn and Share’. We will explore new, innovative formats, methodologies and tools to
enhance the mutual learning and sharing of know-how between city experts at our Forum meetings.
We will reinforce our focus on creating synergies and exploring potential collaborations between cities.
We will also strengthen the involvement of city politicians in driving policy and advocacy on social
affairs through regular political roundtables held alongside Forum meetings.
Social Innovation Lab
Our Social Innovation Lab is a SAF meeting where members are inspired to learn, share and co-create
innovative solutions to (new) social challenges in cities, with the aim to build cities’ capacity to develop
and implement social innovations. Our focus is on sharing innovative urban actions, transferring
lessons learned and co-creating actionable solutions to complex city challenges. The Lab sessions are
designed to foster transferability and scale-up of innovative practices into other urban contexts.
Building on the success of the first Social Innovation Lab in March 2019 in Glasgow, we will organise a
second edition in November 2021 in Berlin. We seek to further improve our format and methodology
to foster the learning and sharing of social innovation among our members. We aim to pilot the
quadruple helix model of innovation. This model consists of a collaborative learning process involving
city authorities (all relevant services) together with industry (business, social enterprises, foundations),
research sector (academia, think-tanks) and citizens (‘change makers’, entrepreneurs) to work
together on social innovations that go beyond the scope of any one actor could achieve on its own.
Members will learn, share and co-create innovative solutions to mitigate the social impacts of the
COVID-19 crisis. The Lab will enable members to gain new perspectives on social innovations, learn
new skills and enhance capacity to design and deliver innovative actions.
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Final version: 4 March 2021Working Groups
The backbone of SAF remain our nine working groups:
WG Education WG Children & young people
WG Migration and Integration WG Housing WG Employment
WG Homelessness WG Urban Ageing
WG Smart Social Inclusion WG Roma Inclusion
All work undertaken by working groups will relate to one or more of the SAF priorities. We will
reinforce synergies between working groups to support cross-sectorial work on SAF priorities. To do
this, each of the three SAF priorities will have ‘champion WGs’ to steer collaboration on the priority:
• Priority 1: Build Back Fairer Together – WG Employment and WG Smart Social Inclusion will act as
champion WGs to steer the work together with all other SAF WGs towards an inclusive recovery;
• Priority 2: A Home for Everyone – WG Housing and WG Homelessness will work closely together
to steer and inter-connect the work on affordable housing and tackling homelessness in cities;
• Priority 3: Welcoming Everyone in our Cities – WG Migration & Integration will act as champion
WG to steer the work together with WG Children, WG Education, WG Roma inclusion, WG Urban
Ageing, etc.
We will focus on joint activities that bring two or more working groups together (meetings, mutual
learning activities, capacity building workshops or focus groups, publications etc.). Working groups will
also be encouraged to increase advocacy activities towards the EU institutions and to regularly involve
in their meetings experts from the European Commission, European Parliament, OECD, ILO, etc. Policy
transfer of innovative policies and practices will be at the core of WG activities. Capturing the
results/impact of the mutual learning will become integral part of WG work.
In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, SAF has adapted and will continue to adapt our working
methods to online and digital formats for meetings and events while innovating with new methods
and tools to allow for the best possible exchanges, interaction and learning between members in this
circumstance. We have piloted new formats for webinars and city dialogues as well as transferring
online our WG mutual learning and policy transfer activities, which have seen a great increase in
participation, doubling the number of members and number of cities engaged in our SAF work.
Steering Committee
The SAF will continue to be managed by the Steering Committee which consists of the SAF chair, vice-
Chair and the working groups’ chairs and vice-chairs as well as the Eurocities team in charge of
coordinating SAF. On policy issues that transcend the thematic scope of individual working groups,
such as urban poverty, rising inequalities and social exclusion, the Steering Committee will strengthen
cross-cutting work and gather inputs from all relevant working groups. This will be undertaken, among
others, through strengthening the contributions of working groups to SAF policy statements, to Forum
meetings as well as in the context of the EU public consultations and EU high-level policy meetings.
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Final version: 4 March 2021Forum | WG Chair | City Vice-chair | City EUROCITIES person in charge
Social Affairs Forum (SAF) Maarten van Ooijen | Utrecht Baillie Annette Christie | Glasgow Bianca.Faragau@eurocities.eu (SAF overview)
Assisted by: Assisted by: Guillermo.Alvarez@eurocities.eu (finances)
Imara Antonius Joe Brady Silvia.Ganzerla@eurocities.eu (synergy to ExCom)
WG Children Andy Lloyd | Leeds Franca Locati | Milan & Bianca.Faragau@eurocities.eu
Denis Wiering| Rotterdam
WG Education Maarten Jongenelen | Mario Bischof | Leipzig Masha.Smirnova@eurocities.eu
Amsterdam
WG Employment Raquel Gil | Barcelona Shoresh Ibrahim & Rebecka Glaser | Patricia.Couti@eurocities.eu
Stockholm
Jane Taylor| Bristol
WG Homelessness Gordon Smith | Glasgow Dobrochna Janas| Poznan Solene.Molard@eurocities.eu
WG Housing Susanne Bauer | Vienna Javier Buron | Barcelona Patricia.Couti@eurocities.eu
WG Migration & Niels Tubbing | Amsterdam Sandra Lundberg | Malmo Katharina.Bamberg@eurocities.eu
integration
WG Roma inclusion Gordon Smith | Glasgow Maaike Buyst | Ghent Solene.Molard@eurocities.eu
WG Smart social inclusion Kris Luijsterburg | Rotterdam Tomasz Pactwa| Warsaw Patricia.Couti@eurocities.eu
WG Urban Ageing Tom van Benthem | Amsterdam Karin Gregori | Vienna Masha.Smirnova@eurocities.eu
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Final version: 4 March 2021Our mutual learning programme for cities in partnership with DG EMPL
The work of SAF is supported through a multiannual framework partnership with DG Employment,
Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL), financed under the European Programme for Employment and
Innovation (EaSI) for the period of 2018 to 2021. Through this operational grant (renewed annually),
Eurocities receives resources to bring cities’ voice into the EU social agenda, promote EU social policies
at local level, collect evidence on new social trends in cities and build capacity of Eurocities and its
members to engage in the EU policy making. Specifically, in 2021, this grant will support SAF members
to get more involved in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Thanks to the operational grant through the partnership with DG EMPL, SAF has the capacity and
resources to develop and implement a mutual learning programme involving members. Our mutual
learning programme features three main methodologies leading to the implementation of innovative
policies and policy change in cities:
• social innovation through co-creation during the sessions at the Social Innovation Lab
• policy transfer - policy learning from a (pre-identified) good practice of the host city (frontrunner),
to identify lessons to learn and elements that can be transferred to other cities, on the basis of
which ‘transfer cities’ develop follow-up actions. Host city received feedback on what to improve.
• critical friend reviews, which are a type of peer reviews with a focus on giving feedback in a
friendly, positive and constructive way to the host city in relation to the policy/project in focus.
Our activities are designed to build the capacity, motivate and inspire city policy makers to improve
their social policies by learning, transferring and providing feedback to each other’s policies. The
mutual learning methodologies are carefully designed to encourage cities’ participation and
involvement, as well as to produce an impact. We aim to identify and support the transfer of
innovative policies and solutions to complex social challenges in cities. The ideas that emerge during
the activities are captured and translated into actions or tools. We work with our members to help
them develop policy transfer action plans, define specific goals, strategic actors, follow-up initiatives
and feedback loops. We produce policy guidelines to disseminate and share cities’ knowledge to
encourage the transfer of good practices and innovative approaches.
In 2021, Eurocities will apply to the new call that will be launched by the European Commission for the
next multiannual framework partnership for the period 2022 to 2025. If successful, we will get the
chance to submit proposal for the annual EaSi operational grant to support our SAF activities.
5. SAF workplan for 2021
Our SAF workplan for 2021 is developed to make progress towards the long-term vision and strategic
framework of Eurocities for 2020-2029, to deliver results in line with the SAF priorities for 2021-2022
and to contribute to the work programme of our strategic partnership with the European Commission.
In doing so, we aim to build on the good work and achievements in SAF from the period 2019-2020
and seek to graph the new opportunities in policy and funding available for cities at EU level in the field
of social affairs. We will engage SAF members in developing and implementing all our activities.
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Final version: 4 March 2021What we aim to achieve in SAF in 2021 and beyond:
• Continued momentum on the political campaign Inclusive cities for all (EPSR) to have cities
recognised at the EU Social Summit and in the European Pillar of Social Rights action plan;
• Improved cities’ access to funding such as ESF+, AMIF as well as REACT-EU and RRF;
• Better EU and city policies, through nine policy learning activities, to tackle urban poverty,
unemployment and covid19 health and social crisis, as well as to implement EU Child Guarantee,
increase the stock of affordable housing, better inclusion of young people, migrants, homeless and
Roma people;
• Increased capacity of cities to implement cross-cutting policies for a just transition to green and
digital economy at local level
• Co-created solutions to complex social problems through our Social innovation Lab and mutual
learning activities;
Actions for 2021
Below is outlined the plan of how SAF will work to achieve its strategic priorities in 2021. Each thematic
priority is detailed in some concrete actions to be delivered by the Forum and/or the working groups.
The annual work plans of the SAF working groups will complement this strategic plan. Given the cross-
cutting nature of the challenges identified and the priorities set for SAF, we prioritise a focus on
transversal work through joint actions between several working groups. Wherever possible, we will
also involve another forum(s) of Eurocities as relevant.
The asset of the SAF is connecting cities to exchange know-how, share learning and transfer innovative
practices among experts from cities as well as to engage city politicians in policy positions to influence
and shape the cities’ and EU social agenda. Therefore, it is important that all actions of the SAF strategy
will involve one or more of the following activities:
• Policy work, advocacy and/or lobbying at EU level
• Mutual learning and policy transfer between cities
• Capacity building to improve access to EU funding to support development of city (joint) projects
• Policy development based on evidence, trends, challenges and good practices from cities
• Social innovation and sharing of innovative policies, projects and/or practices
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Final version: 4 March 2021SAF priority 1: Build Back Fairer Together
What we will achieve by end 2021 How we will achieve it How we will measure progress Lead
Strengthened cities’ capacity to develop • Organise a Social Affairs Forum with the • 1 high-level political debate SAF chair/SAF
innovative solutions to mitigate the social format of Social Innovation Lab in Berlin in • 1 roundtable of city deputy mayors steering
impacts of the COVID-19 crisis November 2021 • 5 co-learning & 5 co-creation workshops committee/SAF
around social innovations in cities host city
A strong focus on the role of cities in the • Organise a high-level event (‘Cities Social • Participation of over 100 policy makers SAF chair / SAF
social recovery, the new EU social agenda, Summit’) back-to-back with EU Social from local level (city mayors, deputy steering committee
and especially the European Pillar of Social Summit in Porto in May mayors, city directors of social services)
Rights action plan • Formulate a political message from cities • Clear recognition of cities role in
to the EU Social Summit based implementing EPSR in the EU Social
on Eurocities social Europe statement Summit programme
• Collect more EPSR city pledges • Number of city pledges in EPSR campaign
Improved access for cities to EU funding • Organise a capacity building workshop to • Number of cities participating SAF chair /
(especially ESF+ and AMIF) map and monitor the programming and • Number of cities collaborating with ESF+ Eurocities SAF team
implementation of ESF+, AMIF and REACT- managing authorities
EU and how cities are involved
Improved know-how among cities • Collect evidence from cities to identify • Number of cities sharing / learning from Eurocities SAF &
of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and the (new) trends in social challenges and policy good practices to tackle the digital divide KSF team
policy developments in cities on access to developments on access to essential • Number of EU-level references to our
essential services, including the new trends services (EPSR principle 20) findings and city examples
in digitalising social services • Exchange good practices between SAF and •
KSF on innovative solutions to address the
digital divide and foster e-inclusion
• Create a repository of good practices
Improved pandemic preparedness in • City dialogue on vaccination strategies • Number of cities mainstreaming WG Urban
cities through knowledge exchange and • Mapping cities’ needs and good practices health preparedness in key decision- Ageing/Eurocities
capacity building on public health in community healthcare provision making processes SAF team
messaging, health, prevention and health • Build on cooperation with WHO to • Number of cities attending dialogue
services adaptation strengthen urban health preparedness
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Final version: 4 March 2021Reinforced cities’ capacity to support • Policy transfer WG meeting on fighting • Number of cities attending the meeting WG Employment
employment through skills youth unemployment through up-skilling • Number of follow-up actions from cities
development and youth support • Capacity building to develop local schemes
of Youth Guarantee
Increased cities • Policy transfer on local strategies, back-to- • Number of speaking opportunities for WG Smart Social
capacity to improve inclusive labour back with the EU social economy summit cities during the Social Economy Summit Inclusion
markets through social economy and better • Capacity building of cities to implement • Number of cities involved in the mutual
use data for improving social services the EU Action plan for social economy learning
• Develop collaboration with ESPON and • New collaboration set with ESPON
other stakeholders to pull resources on the
use of data for improving social services
SAF priority 2: A Home for Everyone
What we will achieve by end 2021 How we will achieve it How we will measure progress Lead
Increased capacity for affordable and • Produce a policy briefing for cities • Number of cities benefitting from the WG Housing
energy efficient housing at local level to engage with and benefit from the housing initiative
‘Affordable Housing Initiative’ under • Exchange good practices with Environment
Renovation Wave Forum and Covenant of Mayors
Influence and provide input from • Participate in the new EU initiative to • Number of members attending the national WG
cities in the EU policy fight homelessness, including by roundtables Homelessness
development to fight housing facilitating members’ involvement in the • Reflection of Eurocities’ proposals in the
exclusion and homelessness national roundtables and the EU-level EU-level policy recommendations
conference on 21 June, and contribute • Reference to Eurocities members’ good
to the EU toolkit and recommendations practices in the EU toolkit
Reinforced cities’ capacities to prevent • Organise a mutual learning policy • Number of members attending WG
and reduce homelessness transfer from a city with an inspiring • Number of members taking follow-up Homelessness
model to fight homelessness actions based on the lessons learned
• One case study report on the host city’s
model and the key lessons learned
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Final version: 4 March 2021SAF priority 3: Welcoming everyone in our cities
What we will achieve by end 2021 How we will achieve it How we will measure progress Lead
Improved social inclusion and equal opportunities • Organise a mutual learning WG • Number of participants in the events WG Migration &
of migrant and refugee children locally meeting and a workshop • Feedback from members on support Integration
with members to build capacity gained in capacity building
Increased cities’ capacity for Roma inclusion • Organise a mutual learning WG • Number of members attending WG Roma inclusion
meeting on combatting school • Number of members taking follow-up
dropout among Roma youth actions based on the lessons learned
• Organise a mutual learning WG • Number of cities consulted on National
meeting on combatting Roma strategies
homelessness among Roma
• Capacity building for cities to
shape National Roma strategies
Increased cities’ capacity to fight child poverty Organise a mutual learning / policy • Number of members attending WG Children
transfer WG meeting on local • Number of members taking follow-up
strategies to fight child poverty actions based on the lessons learned
Better and shared knowledge in cities on • Exchange of good practices in • Number of cities sharing good WG Children and WG
delivering high quality and inclusive early WG Children and WG practices on how to increase places in Education
childhood education and care Education based on the findings childcare, improve quality and foster
from Eurocities’ report social inclusion
on tackling child poverty in cities
Reinforced capacity in cities for integration • Organise a mutual learning on • Number of members participating WG Urban Ageing & WG
of health and social care services improving access to social • Number of cities taking follow-up Barrier Free Cities
services by integrating health actions based on lessons learned
and social care services in cities
• Producing a case study report
with key lessons from the mutual
learning
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Final version: 4 March 2021You can also read
