The ‘Employment in the Neighbourhoods’ project: A local economic development experience in Catalonia

‘Employment in the Neighbourhoods’ is a local economic and urban regeneration project that has been developed by the Employment Service of Catalonia (SOC) since 2007 and includes, in an innovative way, premises and know-how that aim to inspire the configuration of future active labour and local development policy models in Catalonia. This innovative approach is focused on a change from sectorial implementation to territorial implementation of economic development policies, on strengthening local and territorial cooperation between stakeholders, on strengthening and recognizing local authorities’ role as main actors in employment promotion and local development, as well as for its ‘Charter of services’ that integrates several labour market measures into a single project.