CITISPYCE Objectives

To examine the current state of play with regards to policy and practice aimed at tackling inequalities, the extent to which these register the changing demographic landscape of inequalities as manifested in large urban centres of EU cities today and show evidence of a changing structural response involving social innovation, particularly towards young people.

To gain a better understanding of how and to what  the extent the public sectors of Member States innovate in dealing with the issues facing disadvantaged young people and what policy responses may be needed to enhance social innovation in the public sector.

To map the changing demographic landscape of inequalities as manifested in large urban centres within the EU today and the particular challenges facing young people disadvantaged by reason of ethnic origin, cultural background, neighbourhood, family and educational and economic situation.

To uncover the various strategies for navigating, surviving and overcoming inequality that have emerged, and are emerging, among young people aged 16 to 24, particularly in deprived parts of large cities, analysing their potential for providing more effective and efficient  social support in post-crisis Europe.

To examine the extent to which these strategies might be regarded as socially innovative and explore ways in which such strategies might be transferable to contexts across Europe and could be scaled up from city to transnational level through multi-disciplinary networking across Europe and the exchange of ideas and personnel from, and between, a wide variety of stakeholders.

To develop a policy approach and make recommendations as to how bottom up initiatives might be encouraged by stakeholders and thus help shape the formal practices of policy making and implementation at local, national and European levels of measures to support social innovation to combat inequalities.