The European Learning Network - enterprise and innovation in deprived urban areas

Problem

Cities are seen as the engines of economic development, as well as centres of social and cultural growth. Over the past few decades, interest in the future of deprived city neighbourhoods has grown as conditions in these areas have deteriorated. Often these areas are centrally located, ‘inner city’ areas. Within the EU urban areas, deprivation has different forms and geographies. These cities often share the following:

• negative effects of industrial restructuring of the past thirty years
• worklessness and lack of business base
• skills mismatches and low educational attainment
• concentrations of poor housing and social problems
• ill health.

Description

Within the broader theme of ‘realising the economic and social potential of deprived urban areas’, LNet focused on three sub themes: 

• Entrepreneurship - In deprived urban areas, there are often fewer business start-ups than in other areas and businesses may be more likely to fail. Residents of deprived urban areas face many barriers to enterprise. This ‘enterprise gap’ in deprived areas has been a key focus of the work of LNet. 
• Innovation – Deprived urban areas are less likely to attract and foster an innovative business base than other areas. This has an adverse impact on their economic potential. 
• Social enterprise – Social enterprises are business that aim to achieve public good. Many social enterprises have enabled individuals and communities towork together towards regenerating their local neighbourhoods.
  

Approach

Through study visits, research, case studies and the development of good practice tools, LNet identified ways to support innovation, social enterprise and entrepreneurship in deprived areas. The LNet partners have developed a ‘learning method’ to engage the wider community of policy makers and practitioners in each of the partner cities in this process. Key features of this method are: 

• Questionnaires – LNet partners completed questionnaires that analyse in detail how the concepts of entrepreneurship, innovation and social enterpriseare understood in their cities. Key barriers to and opportunities for promoting these three themes in their deprived areas are identified. 
• Case studies – All partners submitted best practices, to be reviewed by the LNet project team. In the reviews, the focus is on transferability, sustainability and added value of the case studies. 
• The LNet manual – The manual presents all case studies, making them available to the project partners and the wider audience of European urban professionals.
  

Results

Based upon the 35 case studies, the LNet partners have been able to identify common principles and approaches to improve the economic structure of deprived urban areas. They are grouped along four lines: 

• governance – find appropriate delivery models 
• business support – deliver tailored services for potential and existing entrepreneurs 
• finance – focus on investment and financial engineering 
• skills – give the people the confidence to be entrepreneurs

In each of these four fields, several common principles and recommendations are made. These can be found in the European Learning Network final report, which can be downloaded below.

EU involvement

The project was partially funded by the European INTERREG IIIC initiative.

Contact info

Greater London Enterprise - London House
Dr. Delphine Michel

Document type

practice