The cases of innovations presented here cover three areas of policy: income support and professional reintegration; early child care and education; and housing. A few elements emerge as relevant in all cases considered. A first major issue at stake appears to be the amount of available resources as opposed to increasing and changing needs, a…
Local background of the social innovations Milan is the capital city of the Lombardy region. The economic and financial capital of Italy, it is a rich and economically dynamic context (see Costa and Sabatinelli 2012). One of the vertexes of the former industrial triangle with Gène and Turin in the Fordist era, it was one…
Local background of the social innovations Bern is trying to identity itself as a social and innovative city. Although it is the capital, Bern is only the fourth largest city in Switzerland. The head trio is Zurich, often identified as the financial capital, Geneva known for its banks and its numerous international organisation, and Basel,…
64.1. Short description Primano is a pre-school education programme targeting disadvantaged children and their families in selected districts. It started in 2007 with a home-visit programme. Bern was the first commune to implement a Dutch programme named Opstapje. The idea of a pre-school programme arose as school nurses noticed that some children had difficulties in…
65.1. Short description In the second half of the 1990s, Swiss cities started taking charge of the challenges of migrant integration. Until then, right populist parties were alone on this ground. Schönenberger and D’Amato (2009) attribute this change first to the growing heterogenisation and fragmentation of the social and urban structure, and to the arrival…
To conclude, we will highlight some characteristics of the selected innovations. Then we will review some conditions and challenges for the appearance and success of innovations in Bern. Characteristics of innovations in Bern: For Chambon and his team, the State can have three roles regarding innovation. It can be a barrier to social innovation or…
66.1. Short description The project for young mothers is a pilot project aiming to improve the employability of women between 16 and 25 years with young children, no professional training and dependent on social assistance. Although it is a typical case of a management programme aiming to motivate, this project has some innovative features. These…
Social service research: Innovations as illustrative examples for a new generation of social services These innovation examples are time-specific and came about as a result of particular circumstances in Birmingham and more general problems caused by the current financial climate. However, there were some overall key approaches and instruments adopted by the innovations. In terms…
70.1. Short description Birmingham developed an approach to tackling unemployment for those living in the most deprived areas, which could be characterised in two ways. Firstly, it was locality driven in that it focused on areas with high levels of unemployment (25 per cent or more) and detailed consultation took place with local welfare partners,…
71.1. Short description In 2010 The Future Melting Pot (TFMP) set up the YEER pilot project (for 1 year) to provide business support to black and minority ethnic individuals who were not in employment, education or training (NEET) with the main aim of participants being able to set up their own enterprises. YEER was designed…