ABOUT RINOVARinova is a socially driven enterprise that is employee owned. Working in partnership, collaborating and co-designing innovative and creative employability programmes, innovating and exchanging effective practice in continuing professional development in lifelong learning and building and maintaining networks and formal and informal consortia are all key features of our DNA. Therefore, co-design and coproduction comes naturally.

EP-DeM LABS PARTNERS• MetropolisNet: European network of local

development partnerships in metropolitan areas, Germany

• Ballymun Job Centre, Eire

• DublinNet, Eire

• Department of Social Protection, Eire

• CIOFS/FP, Italy

• Region Sardinia

• Region Emilia Romagna

MORE ABOUT EP-DeM LABSEP-DeM LABS tackles the issue of youth social disengagement, starting from the individual’s empowerment and arriving to the systemic change in considering the “youth issue”.

EP-DeM LABS sought to engage and enable disadvantaged youth (16-24) in transition moments across 4 cities/regions in Europe to express their voices, co-develop and co-deliver projects and measures aimed at improving their vocational education level and employability.

The LABS (laboratories of dialogue and co-design) were established to provide a model for fostering a ground-breaking approach and a model for permanent generators of knowledge and incubators of innovation in vocational education, training and employment systems.

http://www.epdemlabs.eu/Rinova, EP-DeM LABS was led by Julie Parish, Principal Development Manager, along with colleagues Alex Walker, Sheila Ryder, Maggie Roy, Octavia Findlay and Donna Pollard.

SUPPORTERS AND CONTRIBUTORS IN LONDON (UK)

• The Partnership for Young London

• Copenhagen Youth Project

• Prospects

• Community Links

• Arsenal in the Community

• London Youth

• Youth Employment UK

With the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. This document reflects only the view of its author; the EACEA and the European Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. R E P O R T

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BUILD: Evidence, experiment and scale up the intrinsic links between a holistic approach (participation, empowerment, engagement) and the responsiveness and flexibility of ‘the mainstream system’.

PREPARE AND ENGAGE:Vocational education and employment service providers and policy makers to explore what conditions need to be in place to effect a change in their culture, and explore the format for an appropriate vehicle needed to foster dialogue between ‘the professionals’ and young people.

DEVELOP AND TEST: A youth employability service delivery model that is based on dialogue and effective practice between professional and young people, along with a framework of good practice in employability provision for providers.

ADOPT, ADAPT AND DEVELOP: A transparent evidence base of genuine effective practice in youth employability policy-making and programme design by experimenting how to integrate the direct voices and ideas of young people in planning and delivery of vocational education and employability provision, through a set of innovative, sustainable and cost-effective tools.

social cohesion, the broadening of public services, and developing closer relationships between service institutions and the communities they work with. As a result, coproduction has emerged as a general description of the process whereby people work alongside professionals so that professionals can be more effective. According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Report ‘Hidden Work’ (David Boye, Sherry Clark and Sarah Burns)

‘co-production has emerged as a general description of the process whereby clients work alongside professionals so that professionals can be more effective.’

THE PURPOSE:EP-DEM LABS focused on fostering effective practice and enabling coproduction to take place in order to improve the quality of life of young people (16-24) who are experiencing wide-ranging barriers to progression into sustainable employment.

There is a strong need, across Europe, to build knowledge and capacities on equity and participation in vocational education and employment systems. It would appear that there is (still) too muchinfluenceonfactorssuchasfamilybackground, gender, migration and socio-economic status on the ability of some of the most vulnerable young people to access, stay and achieve in vocational education, and lately, to findandkeepemployment.Inadditionto this, the situation is made more challenging (for all) by the ‘payment by results’ (a public policy instrument) culture and the target-driven nature thatinfluencesthebehaviorofdelivery

OUR RESPONSE

TWENTY FOUR, EIGHT, SIX Over a 24-month period eight ‘LABS’ were piloted (two youth, two professional and two dual LABS (a mixture of the two groups)) with the intention for them to become ‘laboratories of dialogue and co-design and permanent generators of knowledge and incubators of innovation in education, training and employment systems’ as a primary goal. LAB facilitators were equipped with the capability of and then tasked with shaping a new, more risky approach to encouraging dialogue without over formalizingthings,soasnottostifleideas and views; to help create an environment that embedded equity, participation and decision-making between ‘the professionals’ and young people.

organisations. So, there is a need to influenceandchangethefundingprocess by ensuring that there are incentives for a type of partnership working that ensures the well-being of young people and that supports them holistically in their transition into sustainable employment. Further, we have established that if authentic coproduction is to take place, young people need to be encouraged and enabled to take part in the design, and in some cases, the delivery of youth-employability programmes and sit on panels that make decisions to allocate funds to such programmes.

With on-going austerity measures in London and indeed the rest of UK and Europe, EP-DeM LABS is delivered within the context of the debate on the future and nature of public services; recognising the fact that there is an increasing need for ordinary people to work alongside professionals as a way of improving individual lives, improving

ENCOURAGE: on-going dialogue and self-empowerment experiences targeting excluded young people to co-design vocational education, youth and employability measures.

THE MISSION:

About EP DeM LABS

Six Information and Consultation events helped explore the thoughts, ideas and concerns of those providing the holistic support young people need. The group was composed of representatives of local authorities, social landlords, careers advice services, a premier league football club, community youth provision (youth workers), parents, guardians and carers of young people. Delivery of these eventswasunderpinnedbyfindingsemerging from the Vision for Young Londoners Alliance (London Youth, The Partnership for Young London and London Funders) and the Fair Futures Commission in Islington, for example.

EP-DeM LABS benefits from co-funding from the Erasmus+ programme, specifically the Key Action 3 strand concerned with Forward-looking Cooperation Projects. It is promoted by the European Network MetropolisNet, of which Rinova is a member. More information about EP-DeM LABS can be found here: http://www.epdemlabs.eu/

Through the eight EP-DEM LABS delivered in London, a general consensus emerged of why the current Youth Employability provision is not working and what the common bottlenecks are. They can be summarised under the following core headings:

• Funding models make working in an inter-agencywayextremelydifficult.

• The lack of individually tailored and most importantly, holistic support.

• Real work experience and employment opportunities do not consistently features in most employability support.

As a result of these events, the City Action Plan for London has been coproduced. It is a testament to the commitment and inspiration of all those involved; we wanted to move from being ‘fixers who focus entirely on problems’ to being ‘catalysts who focus on abilities’. It is our intention to ensure that the EP-DeM LABS City Action Plan is led by young people as ‘agents of change’ and that delivery organisations and institutions can make a commitment to and demonstrate how they are ‘letting go’ of a traditional approach of top-down policy-making, service-design and delivery.

The EP-DeM City Action Plan for London considers, among others, the messages and recommendations from the ‘missions’ being taken forward by the1 (supported by the London Borough of Islington) and the Vision for Young Londoners2, which is a vision statement that involves a cross-sector alliance of over 50 organisations, setting out a unified strategy and setof values to help deliver a brighter future for London’s young people. The Values set out in this Vision sit well with the purpose, values and aims of the EP-DeM LABS project, which including being youth-led, united, positive about potential and enabling. Specifically, the Vision’s Strategy to Deliver sits well with the EP-DeM LABS City Action Plan, for example, enhancing democratic engagement, innovating and learning (to build on existing effective practice and research), and building stronger partnerships. It has also been important to build meaningful relationships with the Young Londoners Participation Network (YLPN), which is coordinated by a partnership of four key organisations; London Youth, Government Office for London, the Greater London Authority and the Partnership for Young London. The YLPN offers two things; firstly an online forum

Participation Works. It enables participation workers across the capital to share practice and ideas, discuss developments in the field, and assist each other with advice and support. The YLPN meets quarterly, hosted by the Greater London Authority. The intention of these meetings is to provide a space to share practice and to network. Success of the EP-DeM LABS in London has been made possible through the involvement of the GLA’s Education and Youth Team and the staff team and young people engaged in the Copenhagen Youth Project3 in Islington, and by Rinova being a delivery partner on the Talent Match London4 programme, which is managed by London Youth.

“One powerful lesson we should take away from this Commission is that when those who hold power take the tie to really listen to children and young people and to respond to what they have said, truly exciting things are possible.” Councillor Richard Watts, Leader of Islington Council (Fair Futures Commission)

London is a powerful global city that is faced both with opportunities and challenges because of its global status. London’s connectivity, diversity and knowledge excellence is its strength. However, there are pockets of deprivation in the city and economic growth must not be at the expense of London’s people. With this in mind the EP-DeM LABS London City Action Plan focuses upon creating visible advantages for implementing pioneering youth policies and employability programmes.

EQUITY • To promote and commit to

fairness and the quality of being equitable and impartial.

• WHAT? The EP-DeM Laboratories serve to investigate how transition measures for young people are equitable in terms of access, retention and progression.

• HOW? Identify existing groups, forums and networks that are like-minded in the inclusion of young people and coproduction, and map-out their focus and connecting factors.

EP-DeM LABS London City Action Plan Joined-Up Thinking

PARTICIPATION• To value and recognize the

contribution of all stakeholders including policy makers, service providers and young people.

• What? The EP-DeM Laboratories serve to hear and confront the voices of young people, service providers and policy makers on how vocational education and employment measures for ‘youth in transition’ should be designed and implemented.

• How? Create a map of what exists in terms of effective practice in supporting youth transitions and employability programmes.

As a result of the LABS and Information and Sensitisation events common themes and key issues arose resulting in going forward with a focus on the following:

1. A better understanding of what coproductionis,whatthebenefitsof coproduction are and effective practice examples of coproduction.

2. Effective practice in youth-led employability programmes (policy) and services (practice) models and approaches.

3. Effective practice models in youth-led funded programmes (youth funding panels), including those funders that have young people in programme design and decision-making roles (allocation of funding).

EQUITY, PARTICIPATION AND DECISION-MAKING

OUR BASIC STRATEGY

DECISION-MAKING• To commit to facilitating

choice and solutions to the ‘youth issue’ problem.

• WHAT? The EP-DeM Laboratories serve to bridge the gap between the voices and proposals of young people and the planning and interventions of service delivery mechanisms.

• HOW? Identify ways in which existing and emerging effective practice can be translated into an action plan for promoting wider learning and influencing change.

1Fair Futures Commission, www.fairfutures.org2Vision for Young Londoners, www.partnershipforyounglondon.org.uk

3Copenhagen Youth Project, www.cyproject.org4Talent Match London, www.talentmatchlondon.org

According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)5 coproduction tends to be recognizable by some or all of the following characteristics:

• Provide opportunities for personal growth and development to people who have previously been treated as collective burdens on an overstretched system, rather than as potential assets

• Invest in strategies that develop the emotional intelligence of people and the capacity of local communities

• Use peer support networks instead of professional as the best means of transferring knowledge and capabilities

Coproduction Blueprint and Framework• Reduce or blur the distinction

between clients and recipients, and between producers and consumers of services, by reconfiguringthewayservicesare developed and delivered. Services seem to be most effective here when people get to act in both roles – as providers as well as recipients

• Allow public service agencies to become catalysts and facilitators rather than central providers themselves

• Devolve real responsibility, leadership and authority to ‘users’, and encourage self-organisation rather than direction from above

• Offer participants a range of incentives – mostly sourced from spare capacity elsewhere in the system – which helps to embed the key elements of reciprocity and mutuality.

• Thecommunityofpracticetofurtherrefinethe‘blueprintforyouthemployabilitymodel’draftedasaresultofthefirstroundofEP-DeM LABSwithaviewtodevelopingthisasamodelofeffectivepracticethatcanbepilottested/sharedwithyouthemployabilityprovidersandpractitioners.

• Thecommunityofpracticetofurtherrefinethe‘Framework of Good Practice for Youth Employability Providers’draftedasaresultofthefirstroundofEP-DeM LABS withaviewtopilottestingthisasayouth-friendlytoolthatinspiresanewapproachtoemployabilityprovisionforyoungpeople.

• Thecommunityofpracticetoinformandinfluenceachangeinthelanguageusedandadoptingasharedpositivelanguageindevelopingandimplementinginclusivepractice.

Evidence suggests that the public policy instrument of ‘payment by results’ and the resulting target-driven nature thatinfluencesthebehaviorof delivery organisations has a negative impact on young people who are most vulnerable. Therefore, the thirdandfinalaspectoftheCity Action Plan to be taken forward by the community of practice will be to:

• Identify funding insititutions/organisations/foundations implementing a youth-led approach to (i) programme design and (ii) awarding funding, with a view to identifying the elements of effective practice.

• Raise awareness of such effective practice and disseminate the models and the results/impact to others in order to help influenceashift in culture.

• Engage representatives of effective practice funders to join the community of practice and/or help shape a model / guide for wider dissemination.

Our response is to explore and take forward the following through the City Action Plan:• Invite key stakeholders to form a Steering Group (as a community of practice6 ) to inform the

on-going development and implementation of the City Action Plan. Meeting every six weeks for a period of 12-months from February 2018.

• Enable,empowerandsupportagroupofyoungpeople(minimumfive)topro-activelyparticipatein the community of practice and to facilitate a series of EP-DeM LABS to take forward the City Action Plan, with a Delivery Plan supported by the Steering Group.

• Identify a pilot-testing geographical area and partnership where a local partnership can be supported in the design and implementation of a coproduced youth-led employability programme.

Evidencesuggeststhatparticipationempowerspeople,especiallyyoungpeople.Thoseempoweredaremoreresilient,capable,interestedandactiveinsociety.Youngpeoplewhoaremorecapableandresilienthavemorechancestosucceedineducation,vocationallearningandsuccessatwork.Aboveall,asaresultofbeingmoreresilient,youngpeopleareabletotakemoreresponsibilityinwidersocietyandimprovingitastheydo.

Currently,theFramework of Good Practice for Youth Employability Providerscontainsthefollowingareas,whichwillbereviewedoverthenext12-months:

• Accessibility and Engagement• Initial Assessment and Career/

Action Planning• Work of Work Preparation and

Experience• Youth Involvement and

Participation• Staff Training and Development• CoproductionOurresponseistoexploreandtakeforwardthefollowingthroughtheCity Action Planbyworkingwithotherstoachievesystemicchange.Overaperiod12-months,elementsofchangethatwewouldliketochallengeandtakeforwardare:

5Joseph Rowntree Foundation is an independent organization working to inspire social change through research, policy and practice.6Community of Practice: is a group of people who share a concern or passion for something that the do, and learn how to do it better as they regularly interact. (Wenger-trayner)