CROSS CUTTING THEMES

CROSS CUTTING THEMES IN THE LONDON OBJECTIVE 3 PROGRAMME

For those organisations applying to the European Structural Funds specifically the European Social Fund (ESF), there is now a requirement to build in what is called Cross Cutting Themes. That means that these themes must feature in every project funded by ESF. The themes are:

• Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
• Equal Opportunities
• Sustainable Development

As ESF is targeted at disadvantaged groups or beneficiaries it has been recognised that recipients of ESF funded projects should have access to ICT, that projects should have proper equal opportunities procedures and polices, and that projects address the needs of community through sustainable development.

Every organisation that applies for ESF had to address the cross cutting themes in its project design. During past ESF bidding rounds some of these questions have been gateway questions. This means you have to score a minimum for the question or your bid will not go through to the next stage.

What follows here is a brief summary of each theme.

Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
ESF seeks to address the disadvantages experiences by the various target groups (long term unemployed, ethnic minorities, disabled and women in the workplace) by channelling money into projects that will address the barriers they face in entering the labour market. Increasingly ICT is becoming recognised as a basic skill requirement in the modern labour market. The European Commission has decided that all ESF projects should address this basic skill in their design even if they are not purely ICT projects. In order to access funding organisations will have to seriously address how they will use and implement ICT in training and also how it will benefit the target groups. Failure to address the theme properly will seriously undermine your bid. You are expected to demonstrate how you will implement ICT into your project. For example just providing computers for beneficiaries to type their CVs is not sufficient.

There are three questions on ICT:

1. What ICT equipment will you use?
2. How will you use the equipment?
3. What will the benefits be

Equal Opportunities
Increasingly applying for funding involves including a coherent strategy for Equal Opportunities Mainstreaming within any bid. This is especially so when it comes to ESF. In order to be successful bidders will have to prove that they have mainstreamed EO issues and policies into their organisation and have a framework for continuing improvement and evaluation.

Within the application forms for Co-financers such as the LSCs the questions are all very similar, how these are measured will differ but will essentially be the same in intention. Generally the questions will be of the following form:

(i) How do you expect the project to affect: Men and Women, Ethnic Minorities, Disabled People, and any other excluded groups?
(ii) What will the project do to promote equal opportunities?
(iii) What will the project do to encourage equal opportunities?

The link at the end of the page will give you greater detail on how to address these issues.

Sustainable Development
ESF seeks to address the disadvantages experiences by the various target groups (long term unemployed, ethnic minorities, disabled and women in the workplace) by channelling money into projects that will address the barriers they face in entering the labour market. Increasingly Sustainable Development is now recognised as a requirement in ESF projects. The European Commission has decided that all ESF projects should address this in their design and develop a policy within organisations. In order to access funding organisations will have to seriously address how they will a Sustainable Development policy in training and also how it will benefit the target groups and the wider picture.

Sustainable Development can be broken down into a combination of three strands:

• Economic
• Social
• Environmental

The Economic strand represents that contribution of productive people to the economy through employment, business and taxes.

The Social strand represents that through employment people will contribute to the community and empower them to lead productive lives. The Economic and Social strands are quite closely linked.

The Environmental strand is important in that though it is recognised that though business must flourish and so create jobs and contribute to the local economy and social aspect, it must also at the same time contribute to preserving the environment by careful use of resources and a environment policy of recycling.