ALA

The Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development and the OECD’s Local Economic and Employment Development Programme will be hosting a conference on the topic of Partnerships for Social Inclusion in October, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. Until July 31, the conference partners warmly invite you to offer a paper or presentation for consideration.

We are seeking both practitioner presentations and academic papers.

Papers and presentations are invited in the following areas:

Current partnerships in practice

• What is happening in jurisdictions throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific?
• Are there best practice models that we should learn from?
• Partnerships address many issues including economic development, rural development, place-based disadvantage, skills, education, health, transport, the environment, and particular population groups. Do these different types of partnerships share characteristics in common?

Partnerships and the skills dimension of social inclusion

• What is the role of partnerships in designing integrated skills development strategies that help bridge social inclusion and competitiveness objectives?
• Are there good examples of partnerships that integrate the vulnerable groups (young, Aboriginals, immigrants, elderly) not only into jobs but also into workforce development, and help enhance their employment outcomes?

Future directions for partnerships

• How should government adapt its governance structure to cross-cutting imperatives?
• How can policies be made more flexible so that they can be better coordinated locally without undermining accountability?

Speaking time will be between 15 and 20 minutes with 10 minutes for discussion. All speakers will be required to register for the conference (either a day pass or full conference pass).

More information about this conference, including guidelines for submitting your proposal, can be found on the conference website:

http://www.public-policy.unimelb.edu.au/conference08/index.html