This year the Forum will focus on creativity, jobs and local development. We will examine how localities can support culture and creative industries as a source of knowledge and job creation and how the creative industry can act as a powerful driving force areas such as tourism, urban regeneration, and social inclusion.

1. BOOSTING JOB CREATION WORKSHOP:
KALMAR REGION, SWEDEN
Venice, Italy, April 18th 2016
Presentation by Lars Niklasson, Linköping University and OECD

2. Lack of skilled labour:
Migrants are a potential solution
• Unemployment is relatively high even though there are
many targeted programs and projects aimed at
vulnerable groups, such as NEETs
• Kalmar has a challenge in relation to attraction of
skilled labour to local industries – there is a risk of
losing growth opportunities
• Migrants are identified as a potential solution. Skills
development programs are targeted at migrants

3. Supporting entrepreneurship
• There are collaborative innovation ecosystems in the
bigger towns, often “triple-helix”
• SME’s are supported in relation to business
development and work organization (more than we
found in other parts of Sweden)
• Entrepreneurs have access to support and funding both
through national programs and through local initiatives.
They are not considered sufficient to meet the demand
• Programmes are available for internationalisation

4. Training and skills development
• Training is generally available in bigger towns. Travel is
a major obstacle in other parts of the region.
• Employers report problems with the supply of training
and curricula. Opportunity for employers to be more
involved in designing, developing and funding training
• Larger companies help SME’s develop skills in areas
like export promotion and ICT-skills.
• Graduates are linked to local industries

5. Support for integration
• A regional strategy, signed by 26 parties
• “Treat immigrants like Swedes, to make the region more
attractive to immigrants”
• An overview of activities plus five common priorities:
• Jobs and skills development: specific programmes
• Language training: a variety of options
• Health
• Housing
• Social cohesion

6. Coordination of policies could be better
• Flexibility is relatively low in the management of
employment policies - higher for local and regional
initiatives
• Policies are to some extent coordinated through the
regional development strategy. Programmes are
generally integrated but this is done on an ad hoc-basis
• More extensive coordination relates to skills
development as well as to migrants and unemployed
youth.
• Policy is data driven – robust evidence based
approaches are taken

7. Key recommendations
• Transform regional partnerships into systems of learning
• Place a stronger emphasis on the quality of jobs and the
better utilisation of skills to stimulate productivity
• Increase the engagement of employers (especially
SMEs) with the employment and skills system
• Improve job quality in targeted sectors, such as tourism
• Increase the labour market participation rate, especially
among vulnerable groups, such as immigrants