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…
Local background of the social innovations In Switzerland, there is not only a large sharing of competencies between the communal, cantonal and the federal levels, but also local authorities (and in particular city governments) and cantons develop their own social policies in many areas. For instance, social assistance is a compulsory task, imposed by the…
67.1. Short description The Unités d’Action Communautaire are structures created by the Municipality of Geneva and they were implemented 10 years ago. Located in four neighbourhoods, they are managed by the social services of the city of Geneva. Their goals are diverse: UAC are in charge of collecting information about the four areas where they…
68.1. Short description The ORIF (non-profit private organisation for integration into employment and professional training) addresses the reintegration into employment of people suffering from health problems. Marginalised young adults are part of the target group: due to medical conditions, some of them cannot get back to the labour market with the job they previously had,…
69.1. Short description This municipal service offers temporary subsidised housing to vulnerable populations: foreign households in a challenging housing situation, people who become homeless and sometimes those who are seriously depressed following a separation, households with massive employment and debts problems. The project aims to counterbalance the effects of the Geneva very limited housing market…
The three innovations we studied have grown and stabilised. A first critical factor explaining this stabilisation is certainly the significant public funds invested in social policy in Geneva. They enable innovations to stabilise on time. For instance, the UAC were created 10 years ago and they have progressively grown to 40 workers: wages represent a…