Towards an ‘inclusive’ society” “

‘Places and voices of poverty. The commitment of the European regions to social inclusion’ is the title of an international conference held in Florence on 24 and 25 October. It ended with the setting up of Retis (European transnational network for social inclusion), an association so far composed of 27 European regions and cities, aimed at the adoption of common strategies to combat poverty. Below we cite some examples of projects already tested in some European countries. “Between 1994 and 2000 the percentage of poor population in Ireland dropped from 15.1% to 6.2% in Ireland. Part of our task is to distinguish in what proportion this derives from the extraordinary economic miracle enjoyed by the island and what is the result of the social policy strategies implemented by the government, to be better able to guide future strategies”. The point is made by Ann Lavan of the Department of Sociology at the University of Dublin, intervening at the meeting in Florence to describe the Irish experience in the field of social inclusion and efforts to curb social marginalization. “One of the presuppositions of the new national Plan against poverty ‘Constructing an inclusive society’ adopted in 2002 – continued Ann Lavan – is that disadvantaged communities be geographically concentrated in some areas, for example in urban areas. To respond to the specific needs of the 25 urban areas identified, so-called Rapid actions have been introduced: Rapid is the acronym for ‘Revitalization of areas by planning investments and development’ through which these areas are preferential beneficiaries of investments in some key areas such as health, education, housing and child care. The new Plan aims to reduce the percentage of poor population to below 2% and, if possible, eliminate it entirely”. “After her entry into the European Community in the 1980s – explained Kristina Larranãga, of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of the Basque Provinces – Spain did not have the time to built up the social fabric. Moreover, the percentage of the unemployed and families in situations of poverty is still one of the highest in the EU”. “Twelve local strategic partnerships (LSP) are in the process of being created in Hampshire, in accordance with the guidelines of the national Plan of the United Kingdom for social inclusion, explained David Kirk, member of the executive for Community Development, Renewal and internal communication. These partnerships are multisectorial, involving a range of different institutions and sectors. Their aim is to tackle social exclusion at the local level and to promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the local districts of Hampshire through a series of community strategies”. “With the Government’s programme of modernization, moreover – continued Kirk – the concept of public service agreements (PSA), stipulated between the national government and the local authority, was adopted”. Annette Perdaens is the director of the health and social service “observatory” or watchdog of the city of Brussels which has already been in operation for a decade. “The work of the “observatory” – she explained – is focused on two main issues, poverty and health, and is a means of assisting the political decision-making process. Since 2000, it has been given the task of drawing up an annual report on poverty in the Region of Brussels-capital. Each report contains a statistical analysis of the data produced by the public centres of social assistance in the 19 municipal authorities of Brussels”. “The most interesting aspect of the experience – said Annette Perdaens – is that up till 1999, poor people could express their views on the report during a debate organized by the Parliament in Brussels; since then they have been directly involved in the actual drafting of the annual reports”. Chiara Santomiero