The BSLF Sustainable Working Life project reaches its implementation phase
On 14 -15 November 2019, the Thematic Working Groups of the BSLF for Sustainable Working Life project, the project team of the CBSS Secretariat, as well as invited speakers and experts gathered at the CBSS Secretariat in Stockholm to launch the project’s implementation phase.
This event marks the beginning of the work of the two TWGs – Age Management and Working Conditions (I) and Future Job Opportunities for an Ageing Work Force, including Entrepreneurship(II), supported by expertise in Lifelong Learning and Active Ageing. The TWGs will identify good practices and assess ongoing initiatives to come up with actionable policy recommendations to better address the demographic challenge of ageing populations and lower fertility rates and its effects on the labour markets in the Baltic Sea Region. The TWGs will further focus on finding measures to strengthen synergies between education and employment for people aged 55+ in order to meet the skills and requirements of the future labour market.
This was the first occasion for all the members of the two TWGs to meet: they come from nine different countries, comprising a diverse group of experts representing employers’ organisations, trade unions, government and academia experienced in the areas of active ageing and lifelong learning.
To kick things off and ensure synergies in our work, the members of the TWGs were provided with relevant information about the project’s alignment with the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, the EU Pillars of Social Rights and ESF horizontal principles of equality, non-discrimination and accessibility – these are the underlying values of the project.
See more moments from the meeting here
With so many likeminded and knowledgeable people coming together around a common issue that concerns the whole Baltic Sea Region, there was a high level of motivation and engagement in the workshops of the TWGs during the event. Having laid the grounds for continuing work, the members were able to establish the activities of the project in terms of co-creation processes and priorities of the themes of the project.
The TWGs will focus, among other things, on labour mobility and smooth transition between positions later in life; will examine what “work” means to different people in order to better promote lifelong learning; what skills are necessary to enable people to meet the requirements of the future job market and to remain in work later in life and what conditions facilitate their development; as well as investigate the many internal and external factors that affect the decision-making process when considering staying in the labour market from a multi-stakeholder perspective (individuals, organisations, governments, etc).
Our project is turning a challenge into an opportunity: Sustainable Working Life, through the elements of Active Ageing and Lifelong Learning at its core, will propose recommendations for adapting and improving working conditions, skills development and provisions of adult education in order to support people in engaging and remaining in work throughout an extended working life.