24. Feb 2009

On 9-10 February 2009, the 5th Annual Meeting of the OECD LEED Forum on Partnerships and Local Governance took place in Vienna. "Building Strong Partnerships with the Private Sector for Better Jobs and Inclusion" was the topic of the conference, attracting more than 150 participants from 30 different countries (from all continents with the exeption of Africa).

After the offical welcome by Mrs. Ingrid Nowotny from the Austrian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Mr. Sergio Arzeni from the OECD and Mr. Robert Strauss from the European Commission, the conference successfully addressed an issue of central importance to most partnerships today: how can collaboration with the private sector be strengthened to deliver better and more sustainable outcomes on the labour market?

Input by high level experts from business, universities and the social sector and intensive discussions in 6 interactive workshops provided the frame for the exchange of practical experience, success stories and crucial conditions for positive co-operation. Additional input was given in 2 avant garde sessions, covering the likely changes in employment policy by the new US Government and the importance of technological innovation for the work of partnerships.

The conference came timely to reflect upon the consequences the global financial and economic crises might have on partnership's work and on how partnerships could support regional economic and employment development.

The 5th Annual Meeting thus provided an optimal forum for networking between partnership practitioners and policy makers and received excellent feedback from the participants.

Further details and interviews with participants are available on http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/forum/partnerships/5thannualmeeting.