The challenge for research under topic SSH.2010.2.1-2 “Local welfare systems favouring social cohesion” addressed by WILCO was to “investigate the different patterns of local welfare systems, considering their effects on social inequalities, and examining which are the most favourable to social cohesion and sustainability.”

Some of the specific goals included:

  1. Looking at causes of inequality in the welfare systems for three specific interest groups:
  2. Developing urban policy recommendations for local welfare system improvement are to be part of the research, thus bringing forward the twofold impact of this research: to Europe’s intellectual and scientific field, on the one hand, and to policy- making contributing to a sustainable Europe rooted in a solid knowledge about inter-regional experiences, on the other hand.