MainstreamingDPs funded under Equal are expected to ‘test-bed’ innovative activities on a transnational partnership basis. The key aim of Equal is to feed lessons learnt from individual DPs or groups of DPs into the policy process at the local, regional, national and European level – a process known as mainstreaming.
Mainstreaming can take place at two levels. - Horizontally – aimed at your DP, partners and other local or regional agencies with similar interests, and commonly focusing on practical lessons.
- Vertically – aimed at influencing national policy, using intermediaries to transfer key lessons.
Mainstreaming is not the same as dissemination, although this is an important part of the mainstreaming process. Mainstreaming means using DP findings and adopting new practice whereas dissemination relates to publicising lessons through conferences, events, reports and thematic papers.
Equal has been designed to give greater support to mainstreaming from the outset. Policy makers have been involved in identifying policy gaps in order to set priorities for Equal. They are also involved throughout the life of the programme and have responsibility for making sure that DPs tackle areas and issues where there is real need for support. They also have a role in the mainstreaming process, to make sure that valuable lessons from DP findings are able to influence policy.
Activities to support thematic networking, disseminating good practice and making an impact on national policy are funded separately under Action 3. Find below some Good Practice Examples on Mainstreaming from the 2nd Round DPs Last update: 15.04.08
Theatre Workshop won the award for Best New work - Fiction at the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards 2008 for Trouble Sleeping, a production realised within the Theme E DP, COOL.
The Equal Employability DP held its final mainstreaming and dissemination event took place in November 2007, as a joint conference with the Scottish Union of Supported Employment (SUSE) to promote the finding of the DP as they related to Supported Employment. The conference was held over two days in Ayrshire Scotland and was attended by over 180 delegates. The DP Transnational partenrs also attended the event. (Equal Employability DP – Theme A) Last update: 05.02.08
A parliamentary motion relating to interest in the Equal Public Social Partnership pilot in North Lanarkshire was published on 31st August 07 by MSP, Michael McMahon:*S3M-383. The pilot was welcomed by the Parliament as an innovative method of engaging communities in public service design and delivery. (Social Economy Scotland DP – Theme D)
Members of the Equal management Team of the Social Economy Scotland DP attended the ‘Efficiency in Public Services - What next for Scotland?’ Conference in Glasgow organised by CAPITA and supported by the Glasgow City Council and Improvement Service. Each delegate pack contained a copy of the Better Value Guide and case studies, developed by the DP. (Social Economy Scotland DP – Theme D)
The Community Producer of the Theatre Workshop Edinburgh is investigating about setting up an Extras agency for BME and disabled people and is discussing possibilities of setting up an Arabic Cultural Centre in Edinburgh. (COOL DP – Theme E)
The SFEU Mentoring project materials have been signposted via the Scottish Mentoring Networks website and have been circulated to the national mentoring and befriending network in England and Wales. So far, a high number of copies of the materials have been downloaded directly from the Scottish Mentoring networks. (COOL DP – Theme E)
Workshops on Public Social Partnerships Model and Social issues in procurement were held at the Social Enterprise Institute at the Herriot Watt University and a workshop aiming at purchasers of public services on PSP and Procurement was held at the Scottish Procurement Directorate Conference. (Social Economy Scotland DP – Theme D)
Forth Valley College Business Unit is actively looking at ways to develop the EDIT course which it is hoped will be marketed at small and medium sized businesses. A further research to confirm there is a market amongst SMEs for EDIT training will be taken forward by the Marketing Unit within the College. There are options in how EDIT can be packaged and delivered including the possibility of carrying out needs analysis for SMEs, to offer tailored training options. (COOL DP – Theme E) Last update: 25.01.08
Icons pilot projects were represented at Napier University Skills for Scotland event 12.12.07. The event involved over 35 transnational representatives, policy makers and stakeholders and employers from across Scotland and it was addressed by the Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning (Icons DP – Theme C)
Discussion is being finalised with the Scottish Funding Council to continue Screen Futures projects. Discussions have also commenced with Highlands and Islands Enterprise on delivering the Screen Futures model in the region (Icons DP – Theme C)
Last update: 04.12.07
Discussions are ongoing between the Social Economy Scotland DP and the Social Enterprise Unit in Scottish Government around establishing a programme to deliver the Social Return on Investment (SROI) pilot evaluations around public service delivery. (Social Economy Scotland)
The Public Social Partnership pilot has made a great impact in the wider arena of procurement and has been taken up as an example of good practice, having been the subject of a parliamentary motion promoting consortium/public social partnership development as the way forward for the procurement agenda. The model has been highlighted in the Social Economy Strategy of the Scottish Government. (Social Economy Scotland)
The Volunteering Impact Assessment Toolkit has now become part of the mainstream work within Volunteer Development Scotland. (Social Economy Scotland)
In recognition of the success of the GAP project a new Equalities Unit has been created within the Glasgow University. The Unit will take forward the work of the GAP project including supporting the women's network and mentoring schemes that have been implemented. This is unique both in its size (three full time posts) and in that it is the only stand alone unit covering both staff & students in Scotland at present. As result of the project, childcare vouchers have been implemented and policies rewritten. (Genderwise Scotland DP)
South Lanarkshire Council has secured the South Lanarkshire Council Regeneration project additional money beyond the end of Action 2 to allow the process of embedding the project work to continue. (Genderwise Scotland DP)
The Screen Future pilot has been involved in the Screen Academy bid for future funding from the Scottish Council to continue and expand Screen Futures project as part of the outreach activities of the Scottish Academy at Napier University. (Icons DP)
The Glasgow Youth Work Partnership Forum and the Glasgow Anti-Racism Alliance are now working with the Creative Interaction Project pilot projects' beneficiaries. (Icons DP) Last update: 30.10.07
Materials developed by the Learning Bytes piloted has now been encompassed within mainstream portfolio of the North Highlands College
Screen Future has been involved Screen Academy bid for future funding from the Scottish Council to continue and expand Screen Futures project as part of the outreach activities of the Scottish Academy at Napier University (Icons DP)
The Glasgow Youth Work Partnership Forum and the Glasgow Anti-Racism Alliance are now working with beneficiaries of the Creative Interaction Project piloted by Icons DP.
Last update: 6.09.07
Representatives from the Equal Support Unit; Job Centre Plus and the Scottish Executive took part in a policy panel on the away day held by the Equal Employability DP with the aim to identify key lessons to be disseminated. (Equal Employability DP)
The celebration event for the first year of STRIVE held by the Lennox Partnership was well attended by representatives from local organisations and the local MSP and MP. (Equal Employability DP) Last update: 04.09.07
BBC License Fee Investment Funding has been received by the Theatre Workshop Edinburgh for the Trouble Sleeping production where Equal beneficiaries participated. This will give BBC the rights to show the production four times over a period of five years. The filming behind the scenes during the shooting will be shown on The Fabulous Picture Show Big Issue agreement. (COOL DP) Meetings have been held between the Forth Valley College and the Equality Matters in Business project staff from the Scottish Enterprise with whom the College will work to promote and mainstream EDIT and BASICS Equality Training developed and delivered during Action 2 of Equal. (COOL DP) A joint piece of promotional material is currently being discussed between the Family Friendly Pilot (Adam Smith College) and the Scottish Wider Access Programme East. This would ensure the lessons learned continue to be promoted beyond the end of the programme. (Genderwise Scotland DP)
As a result of the GAP project piloted by the University of Glasgow, a permanent equalities unit has been established within the University and duties will include continuing to support the women's network and mentoring programme developed during the Action 2 of Equal. (Genderwise Scotland DP)
Sector specific information has been produced by the Advancing Women’s Employability project piloted by the Strathclyde University and is being distributed to encourage employers to raise their awareness on the advantages of older workers abilities. (Genderwise Scotland DP)
The Gender & Regeneration Project is continuing its work with the South Lanarkshire Council on engendering policy. The Council is determined to ensure the sustainability of the approach taken by the pilot in South Lanarkshire. Additional funding to the project has been provided by Oxfam and the South Lanarkshire Council itself to extend the project beyond Action 2 (Genderwise Scotland DP) Last update: 30.08.07
The Theme C DP Equal Enterprise Scotland & Icons and the Theme D DP Social Economy Scotland will held a joint mainstreaming conference on September 07 on ‘Tailored Enterprise Solution’. Key note speaker of the Conference will be Nicol Stephen MSP.
The three Theme A Scottish DPs, Re: Focus, Equal Access and Equal Employability have agreed to work jointly to share the lessons learned on health & employability. The joint final mainstreaming event will be held on 5th October at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow.
The Re: Focus and Equal Access DPs together with Jobcentre Plus and Executive WFP are participating in a Joint Event for Health Care professionals at Senior Level on Employability. The event is being led by the Scottish Executive health department; Health Minister Nicola Sturgeon will attend
Social Economy Scotland has been selected to participate in an Open Day session being organised by DG Employ at the European Commission. The Commission is keen to promote mainstreaming successes and in particular links to the social enterprise strategy. The Head of the Social Economy Unit at the Scottish Executive, Roddy MacDonald has kindly agreed to represent the EQUAL and speak about how the work of the DP has supported the development of and action within the social enterprise strategy. (Social Economy Scotland)
The work of the Re: Focus DP was presented to Catherine Stihler and Elspeth Attwool MEP during their visit to the DP. The meeting saw the participation of some partner organisations, representatives of employers who joined the projects and project’s clients. (Re: Focus DP)
The Re: Focus DP has been invited to mainstream at the Final equal Event due in Birmingham on 9-10 Sep. Re: Focus will present the mainstreaming lessons learned and successes
The Re: Focus DP will present its learning to Workforce Plus delivery group forum of approximately 20 local authority areas. It is likely that this will be carried out together with the other Theme A DPs in Scotland.
The new City Tracking system developed by the Re: Focus DP has been named Gtrac and is now in place. The training of the early adopter organisations is underway and an incremental roll out to the other partners is anticipated throughout the coming year.
The WIN Project has secured Funding from the Scottish Executive to run until March 2008. Further meetings are being held with GSWRA (Glasgow South West Regeneration Agency) to look at the development of the service created under the WIN Project and how it will link effectively into the South West Bridging Service (Re: Focus DP)
Representatives from Dundee Employability Forum met with representatives from the Re: Focus DP to look at how they can learn from the DP’s work and lessons learned.
Last update 13.08.07
Basics sessions of the EDIT and Basics diversity courses piloted by Forth Valley College have been delivered to organisations such as Barnardos and Crèche matters. Discussion is currently ongoing with Forth Valley College Business Unit to agree the most effective mainstreaming strategy for the two courses. (COOL DP)
SFEU Mentoring Project mentoring toolkit reviewed and published with link to COOL websites for general use. (COOL DP)
Representatives from the CALS Programme designed and piloted by Strathclyde University are working closely with employers, the Scottish Business Multilingual Forum, the Scottish Enterprise and the European Employment Service to ensure that the outcome of the project is mainstreamed as widely as possible. Commitments of ongoing support after the Equal funding have been given to the project from employers and local Scottish Enterprise Companies. (COOL DP)
The Women Care and Career project has undertaken presentations to the senior management of the university of Glasgow on the feasibility of introducing maternity pay over and above the statutory level and changing the way pay to cover staff on maternity leave is administered. (Genderwise Scotland DP)
The OWL Project, piloted by the Strathclyde University was promoted at a recent seminar hosted by the Senior Studies Institute, looking at the Scottish Executive's Strategy for a Scotland with an ageing population. Dialogue is taking place with NHS Scotland, with a view to piloting OWL groups within various hospitals throughout Scotland. (WAP DP)
Representatives from the Glasgow Caledonian University at the Royal Mail Glasgow, attended a roundtable discussion on 'Making Diversity Concrete' held with Pat Davers, Diversity Advisor from BBC Scotland; Shaheen Safdar Diversity Manager West of Scotland, Royal Mail; Hilary Crowe, Head of Strategy and Development People and Culture, National Australia Group UK; Julie Harris-Burland, Manager Women in Business, Bank of Scotland; Gill Maxwell, Division of People Management and Leadership, Caledonian Business School. (WAP DP)
The ‘Integration through Enterprise’ project piloted by Icons DP has been invited to deliver a presentation at the Holyrood Conference ‘Seeking Asylum: a Scottish perspective’ conference. The date has been changed to October 2007 to coincide in with a UK policy initiative on asylum and immigration. The Project has also been invited to present at Commerce and Immigration workshop in Barcelona. (Icons DP)
The ‘Integration through Enterprise’ project piloted by Icons DP has been included in Napier application to Times Higher Education Supplement Awards and featured in research tender on barriers to accessing business support and business finance for disadvantaged communities issued by Scottish Enterprise National. The Icons DP Leading Partner, Napier University (Lifelong Learning & Employment Research Institute) in collaboration with the ITE team tendered for the research and won the contract. (Icons DP)
The Creative Business project, piloted by Icons DP launched the first Creative Fife network involving the local Further Education colleges, creative industries enterprises as well as a Federation of Small Business and SE Fife. (Icons DP)
The ‘Integration through Enterprise’ project piloted by Icons DP featured in Scottish Enterprise Equal Opportunities Annual Report 2006. (Icons DP)
The approach developed within the Screen Futures project piloted by Icons DP has been adapted for and included in an application submitted within the European Media Programme. The project has been also integrated as the “outreach” provision of the Scottish Screen Academy and will also feature in Screen Academy activities during the Edinburgh International Film Festival. (Icons DP)
Representatives from the Creative Interactions pilot are sitting in the steering committees of The Glasgow Youth Work Partnership Forum and the Glasgow Anti-Racist Alliance to inform these organisations on engaging young people and on alternative routes into employment/ enterprise creation in the creative industries. (Icons DP) |