Mainstreaming | Partnership | Equal Opportunities | Innovation  | Empowerment | Transnational Co-operation

Partnerships

Partnership is a cornerstone of UK policies to improve employability and to promote developing human resources. Equal operates by bringing together the key players in a geographical area or sector into Development Partnerships.  These partnerships are made up of organisations interested in contributing to a work programme designed to tackle the issues of a particular theme, and how these issues impact on a wide range of disadvantaged groups.  DPs would choose one of the themes and agree a strategy within which they try out new ways of dealing with problems of discrimination and inequality that they have already pinpointed. 

DPs are expected to make sure that their proposals principally benefit those who suffer the main forms of discrimination and inequality (based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation) and also make sure that these groups have full access to any activities you deliver.  DPs are not be established to focus on one particular target group.  They may be organised at a national, regional or local level or on an economic or industrial sector basis, depending on the policy focus of the activity you intend to deliver. 

Good Practice examples in "Partnership" from second Round Scottish DPs

Last update: 19.04.07

• CEDA is planning to mainstream the model developed within the Re: Focus DP across the DP itself as it could be transferred to other partner organisations.

• The toolkit for employer produced by partner organisation SITE within the Re: Focus DP will be tested by the staff of another Re: Focus partner organisation Equip to verify whether the pilot is transferable and its mainstreaming potential.

Last update: 06.03.07

• Equal Enterprise Scotland DP has developed a new structure to plan, deliver and monitor the DP activities. The structure consists of a Steering Group for planning, monitoring and decision making that meet 4 times a year; an Operation Group for information sharing and problem solving, which meet 8 times a year; a Mainstreaming Sub-group recently established, to co-ordinate the mainstreaming phase. This structure facilitates inter-partner communication and networking.
• Partners within the Hi Hopes in the H&I DP have established robust internal and external communication channels as means of reporting good practice and recommendations.  The involvement of strategic partners from out with the region such as Learndirect Scotland, STUC and the Social Enterprise Academy ensure that opportunities underpin dissemination on a national basis.
• By embedding each element within the management structure the Hi Hopes in the Highlands and Islands partnership as a whole has been able to share new ideas, build capacity, access new areas of expertise and raise organisational profiles.

Last update: 25.08.06
 

• Hi Hopes in the Highlands and Islands DP revised the Opportunities Working Group remit. This now include the responsibility for developing a Best Practice Guide incorporating case studies drawn from each partner detailing activity, lessons learned, future mainstreaming opportunities (practical opposed to academic)
•  BTCV Scotland a small organisation involved in the Equal Employability DP initially received full support to deal with ESF as limited experienced. BTCV was able to exchange the support received with their experience in delivering mentoring activity with different target groups.
• In the ‘Developing the Social Economy in Lanarkshire’ pilote the local structures of the Public Social Partnerships ensure that local organisations are actively participating in the design and roll out of local pilots. (Social Economy Scotland DP)

• One of the projects in the WAP DP experienced difficulties in gaining access to SMEs as these companies do not traditionally engage with or value the FE sector.  The partner established links with a private agency who already had links into a number of the SMEs targeted by the DP and this enabled them to gain access.