Periodic Reporting for period 1 - UPLIFT (Urban PoLicy Innovation to address inequality with and for Future generaTions)
Période du rapport: 2020-01-01 au 2021-03-31
The output of work package 1 has been a theoretical framework for the research process, analysing the main drivers of urban social inequalities generated and addressed at different governance levels (global/European level, national level, regional/local level, individual level). In addition the secondary data analysis reinforced the already well documented phenomena that the younger generation is more exposed to economic crises, although it seems that even this group was mostly able to recover from the 2008 financial crisis except in the Southern-European regions. (The Covid pandemic created a new type of social crisis, the impacts of which should be analysed in the coming years.) The data analysis also revealed a less well known phenomena that young people’s disadvantage in poverty indicators and housing appears to be greater compared to older age groups in more developed welfare states than in South and Eastern Europe, which underlines the relevance of leaving the family in an early age.
The data collection in the 16 urban areas is mostly finished, while the analysis is in progress. It is already apparent that even urban areas in the same country provide very different structural and welfare frameworks for their young urban population. We expect to have an insight into the causes behind this diversity of local conditions which might also provide a new typology of urban locations.
We expect to have the greatest findings and impacts in work packages 3 and 4, where the research team has a direct access to young people either through interviews or co-creation processes. We aim to understand how local welfare policies are perceived by and integrated into the life strategies of young people, to see how they contribute to or to the contrary, mitigate structural problems. By identifying the main points of policy failure, where local policies are not efficient enough or are diverted from their original goals, we will be able to create a feedback mechanism (Reflexive Policy making) that will result in more flexible and tailor-made solutions in the long run.
The data collection in the 16 urban areas is mostly finished, while the analysis is in progress. It is already apparent that even urban areas in the same country provide very different structural and welfare frameworks for their young urban population. We expect to have an insight into the causes behind this diversity of local conditions which might also provide a new typology of urban locations.
We expect to have the greatest findings and impacts in work packages 3 and 4, where the research team has a direct access to young people either through interviews or co-creation processes. We aim to understand how local welfare policies are perceived by and integrated into the life strategies of young people, to see how they contribute to or to the contrary, mitigate structural problems. By identifying the main points of policy failure, where local policies are not efficient enough or are diverted from their original goals, we will be able to create a feedback mechanism (Reflexive Policy making) that will result in more flexible and tailor-made solutions in the long run.
The multi-level analytical framework of UPLIFT (European level analysis, 16 functional urban areas to understand local resource spaces, eight locations to analyse local interactions and four locations to develop Reflexive Policy agendas) is reflected in the four work packages.
The current (first) review period covered the first 15 months of the project, in which the European level analysis (WP1) has been completed. It provides the scientific framework for subsequent analyses both with regards to the drivers of inequalities and the way urban young people are affected by inequalities on NUTS1/NUTS2 levels.
The desk research, the interview process with policymakers and policy implementers and the analysis of local data has mostly finished in the 16 functional urban areas of Europe (Amadora, Amsterdam, Barakaldo, Belfast, Borlänge, Bologna, Bratislava, Chemnitz, Corby, Leuven, Lodz, Lom, Mulhouse, Pécs, Sfântu Gheorghe, Tallinn). By the end of 2021, 16 urban reports will be completed assessing these localities from an inequality perspective and evaluating the efficiency of local welfare policies.
Regarding the analysis of local interactions, the interviews with policy implementers have been mostly completed in eight locations out of the 16 (Amadora, Amsterdam, Barakaldo, Chemnitz, Corby, Pécs, Sfântu Gheorghe, Tallinn) locations. Researchers are currently preparing for the interview process involving 20 young people currently experiencing difficulties either in the housing, education or employment fields, and 20 others who were at the same age about a decade ago and experienced similar difficulties at the time of the financial crisis.
The work to develop a local Reflexive Policy Agenda with the involvement of vulnerable young people has already begun in Amsterdam and Sfântu Gheorghe, while being in the preparation phase in Barakaldo and Tallinn.
The website of the project (www.uplift-youth.eu) has been launched alongside other social media channels, and the project has been introduced in local communities. The project will also feature at the European Week of Cities and Regions in October 2021.
The current (first) review period covered the first 15 months of the project, in which the European level analysis (WP1) has been completed. It provides the scientific framework for subsequent analyses both with regards to the drivers of inequalities and the way urban young people are affected by inequalities on NUTS1/NUTS2 levels.
The desk research, the interview process with policymakers and policy implementers and the analysis of local data has mostly finished in the 16 functional urban areas of Europe (Amadora, Amsterdam, Barakaldo, Belfast, Borlänge, Bologna, Bratislava, Chemnitz, Corby, Leuven, Lodz, Lom, Mulhouse, Pécs, Sfântu Gheorghe, Tallinn). By the end of 2021, 16 urban reports will be completed assessing these localities from an inequality perspective and evaluating the efficiency of local welfare policies.
Regarding the analysis of local interactions, the interviews with policy implementers have been mostly completed in eight locations out of the 16 (Amadora, Amsterdam, Barakaldo, Chemnitz, Corby, Pécs, Sfântu Gheorghe, Tallinn) locations. Researchers are currently preparing for the interview process involving 20 young people currently experiencing difficulties either in the housing, education or employment fields, and 20 others who were at the same age about a decade ago and experienced similar difficulties at the time of the financial crisis.
The work to develop a local Reflexive Policy Agenda with the involvement of vulnerable young people has already begun in Amsterdam and Sfântu Gheorghe, while being in the preparation phase in Barakaldo and Tallinn.
The website of the project (www.uplift-youth.eu) has been launched alongside other social media channels, and the project has been introduced in local communities. The project will also feature at the European Week of Cities and Regions in October 2021.
The output of work package 1 has been a theoretical framework for the research process, analysing the main drivers of urban social inequalities generated and addressed at different governance levels. In addition the secondary data analysis reinforced the already well documented phenomena that the younger generation is more exposed to economic crises, although it seems that even this group was mostly able to recover from the 2008 financial crisis except in the Southern-European regions. (The Covid pandemic created a new type of social crisis, the impacts of which should be analysed in the coming years.) The data analysis also revealed a less well known phenomena that young people’s disadvantage in poverty indicators and housing appears to be greater compared to older age groups in more developed welfare states than in South and Eastern Europe, which underlines the relevance of leaving the family in an early age.
The data collection in the 16 urban areas is mostly finished, while the analysis is in progress. It is already apparent that even urban areas in the same country provide very different structural and welfare frameworks for their young urban population. We expect to have an insight into the causes behind this diversity of local conditions which might also provide a new typology of urban locations.
We expect to have the greatest findings and impacts in work packages 3 and 4, where the research team has a direct access to young people either through interviews or co-creation processes. We aim to understand how local welfare policies are perceived by and integrated into the life strategies of young people, to see how they contribute to or to the contrary, mitigate structural problems. By identifying the main points of policy failure, where local policies are not efficient enough or are diverted from their original goals, we will be able to create a feedback mechanism (Reflexive Policy making) that will result in more flexible and tailor-made solutions in the long run.
The data collection in the 16 urban areas is mostly finished, while the analysis is in progress. It is already apparent that even urban areas in the same country provide very different structural and welfare frameworks for their young urban population. We expect to have an insight into the causes behind this diversity of local conditions which might also provide a new typology of urban locations.
We expect to have the greatest findings and impacts in work packages 3 and 4, where the research team has a direct access to young people either through interviews or co-creation processes. We aim to understand how local welfare policies are perceived by and integrated into the life strategies of young people, to see how they contribute to or to the contrary, mitigate structural problems. By identifying the main points of policy failure, where local policies are not efficient enough or are diverted from their original goals, we will be able to create a feedback mechanism (Reflexive Policy making) that will result in more flexible and tailor-made solutions in the long run.