252 Youth Transitions and Policy Innovation in Europe: Promising Trends and Tough Challenges

Friday, July 14, 2017: 11:00 AM-12:45 PM
Gilbert Scott Conference Room - 251 (University of Glasgow)
The Great Recession has aggravated the already serious problem of youth unemployment in many European countries. In the European South, hardest hit by the 2008 financial crisis, but also in some countries of the Eastern EU enlargement, youth unemployment has reached record high levels. Hence the successful labour market integration of youth has taken a prominent place on the national and EU-level political agendas. The aim of this session is threefold: (a) To develop a cross-country comparative analysis of variation in key institutional dimensions of youth transitions from school to work, assess performance in sustainable labour market integration, and provide a vantage point from which to view the challenges faced by the countries with acutely high levels of youth unemployment. (b) To map out the complex routes of policy learning and transfer within and between school-to-work transition regimes (and across different levels of policy governance), and provide practical insights on successful innovation. (c) To critically examine specific cases of change and innovation in three South European countries (Spain, Italy and Greece) in the shadow of powerful external constrains. The session comprises four papers. The first two papers lay out a comparative framework for youth policy performance and policy learning routes in Europe. On the basis of this, the other two papers assess the potential, limitations and challenges regarding sustainable transitions to employment, with a focus on reform in vocational education and training, in Spain and Italy, and on the employment opportunities in the social economy, in Greece.
Chair:
Ana Marta Guillen
Discussant :
Nigel Meager
Comparing and Contrasting the Performance of School-to-Work Transition Regimes in the EU
Kari Hadjivassiliou, Institute for Employment Studies, United Kingdom; Arianna Tassinari, University of Warwick; Werner Eichhorst, Institute for the Study of Labour, IZA Bonn; Florian Wozny, Institute for the Study of Labor, IZA
Policy Transfer and Innovation for Building Resilient Bridges to the Labour Market
Maria Petmesidou, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece; Maria C. González Menéndez, University of Oviedo
Reforming VET Policies during the Crisis in Spain and Italy: What Mix of Policy Learning and Policy Transfer
Maria C. González Menéndez, University of Oviedo; Rodolfo Gutiérrez, University of Oviedo, Spain; Emmanuele Pavolini, University of Macerata
Youth and the Social Economy in Greece: Policy Learning for Enhancing Employment Opportunities
Sofia Adam, Democritus University of Thrace; Maria Petmesidou, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
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