Transnational partners

KEEP has formed a transnational partnership with two other EQUAL projects; FOCUS in Italy and In Action in Greece. The partnership was launched with the signing of a Transnational Cooperation Agreement (TCA) in May 2002 in the UK. For details of this event, please see our events and activities section.

This agreement contains a commitment by all three projects to work together over the next two years (May 2002-04) on a series of activities designed to exchange information and expertise and lead to the development of new approaches to the training and employment of vulnerable groups.

For more details of the FOCUS (Italy) and In Action (Greece) projects and their partners, you can visit the EQUAL Common Database . This site is managed by the European Commission and has details of every approved EQUAL project in the EU listed by Theme. All of the partners of KEEP are approved under Theme 1A.

For summary information on the projects and other joint working documents, please visit the documents and resources section of this site.

Lead partners

Coo.S.S.E.L. Italy

History

The Co-operative of Social Solidarity, Medical, Educational and Work Services "Coo.S.S.E.L." is a non- profit making organisation. Coo.S.S.E.L was established in 1985 by a group of professionals from Reggio Calabria in Italy, experts in their social fields.

Since 1993, together with other Social Co-operatives from Reggio Calabria, Coo.S.S.E.L. founded the Union of Social Cooperative"Solaria", and together they have worked on social projects in the Province of Reggio Calabria.

More recently, a new Consortium was founded, bringing together other Social Cooperatives, e.g. "Skinner", "Libero Nucera" and "Coo.S.S.E.L." organizations known as "ICONS", all of whom are members of UNCI (The Italian Union of Cooperatives).

In 1997, in association with other non- profit European Organizations, Coo.S.S.E.L. Founded"ARTO - An International Marketing Organisation for Products made by Disabled People". The aim of this association is to create across Europe a better marketing and sales function for goods made by disabled people in workshops or vocational rehabilitation units.

Objectives

Coo.S.S.E.L. provides services to people with particular attention to the handicapped, mentally ill, elderly and youngsters at risk.

Its priorities are:

• Research and project management

• Monitoring of the services through a system of feedback coming from users and the service providers

• Training and permanent qualification of users

• Monitoring of the evolving needs of users

• Personal programs for users with the progression beyond charitable objectives, in favor of an operation that is geared to developing their social and functional autonomy.

In order to better understand the complexity and the evolution of the problems and explicit needs of the local population, the Cooperative established a research and study centre.

Services

The cooperative has managed (either by itself or in conjunction with the Union of Social Cooperative), the following services under contracts with the Local Health Services of Reggio Calabria, the Municipality of Reggio Calabria, the Regional Government of Reggio Calabria and the Italian Ministry of Labour:

• Residential Structures for the Rehabilitation of the mentally disabled;

• Home assistance for the physically handicapped.

• Assistance for the elderly in residential homes in Reggio Calabria

• Programs of prevention for drug addiction

• Programs of prevention for children at risk

• Centre for multi-problem families

• EU HORIZON project

• EU HORIZON II project

• EU Leonardo project.

• Regional Project for the qualification of social operators "Spazi Verdi" (Public Gardens)

• ARTO (see above)

CooS.S.E.L. Is the lead partner for an EQUAL project based in Reggio Calabria, Italy called FOCUS. For details of this project you can visit our summary page or review the details on the EQUAL Common Database that lists all approved EQUAL project across the EU.

Contact: Saverio Sergi, coosselr@tin.it or Tommaso Cotronei, t.cotronei@tin.it
Website: http://www.coossel.it/

Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government SA Greece

The Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government SA (EETAA) was founded in 1985. It is part of the social sector of the economy and operates in the form of a joint-stock company.

EETAA's purpose is to provide local government agencies, the public sector and social agencies with the professional and technical support they require.

The shareholders of EETAA are the Greek state (Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of the National Economy), the Union of District Government of Greece, the Consignments and Loans Fund, the Central Union of Municipalities and Communes of Greece (KEDKE), Local Unions of Municipalities and Communes (TEDK), the Technical Chamber of Greece, the Pan Hellenic Confederation of Unions of Agricultural Cooperatives (PASEGES) and other social sector agencies.

The personnel

The personnel of EETAA consists of qualified graduates with great experience in the fields of local and regional development and government, social policy and human resources, culture, tourism and the environment, and information technology and technological applications.

Networks and Associates

EETAA is associated with a wide network of agencies in Greece and abroad, such as:

• Ministries, organisations, legal persons under public law, banks, universities, research centres, chambers, the Pan Hellenic Federation of Unions of Local Government Employees, the Workforce Employment Agency

• The Regions, regional services, development companies

• Local Unions of Municipalities and Communes, Prefectures, Development Advisers to the Local Unions, Development Leagues

• Municipalities and communes, local social and collective agencies

• The International Union of Local authorities (IULA)

• The International Daughter Company Network (IDCN)

• The Council of Communes and Regions of Europe (CCRE)

• The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of the EU (CRPM)

• The Assembly of Regions of Europe (ARE)

• The European Association of Development Agencies (EURADA)

The activities of EETAA

EETAA provides local government and its agencies with support in the following areas:

• Legal services

• Institutions and organisation

• Enterprise activities

• Local and regional development

• The environment and the quality of life

• Information systems and technological applications

• Social policy, cultural activities and the workforce

• Publicity and communications

EETAA is the lead partner for an EQUAL project called In Action. This partnership has 18 national partners across Greece. For details of this project you can visit our documents and resources section or review the details on the EQUAL Common Database that lists all approved EQUAL project across the EU.

Contact: Katerina Kaklamanis, Head of Communication and Marketing Department, equal@eetaa.gr
Website: http://www.eetaa.gr/

Transnational objectives

The overall aims of the KEEP transnational programme are:

• Exchange of information and experience

• Joint development of new approaches.

The KEEP Transnational Working Group have recently finalised a Transnational Cooperation Agreement with partners in both Italy and Greece. This document sets out the activities that will be taking place over the next two years (May 2002-04). To download a copy of this document, please visit the KEEP documents and resources section.

Activities

Transnational activities will include:

• Exchanges of staff and service users through focused study tours and peer shadowing

• Exchange of good practice and innovative ideas through joint learning sets and workshops.

• Joint development and testing of approaches to service delivery and empowerment of service users.

• Joint production of publications for dissemination and mainstreaming.

Outputs from transnational partnerships are likely to include:

• Transfer of best practice between countries and its incorporation into national policies and programmes

• An increase in the understanding of disadvantaged people's needs

• Detailed descriptions of the jointly developed services, to enable adoption of them in other areas and countries

• Development of long-term networks that will continue after the EQUAL project funding ends.

Transnational documents

For copies of the joint reports, the Transnational Workplan and other reference material on transnational activity, please visit the documents and resources section of this site.

[Back to Top]