Promotion of citizen work as part of the ESF federal program “Socially Integrative City - Education, Economy, Work in the Neighborhood (BIWAQ)” - Expertise

With the federal ESF program BIWAQ, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS) provides grants for projects in the program areas of the “Socially Integrative City” urban development program that improve the skills and social situation of residents and thus also their prospects on the labour market.

Funding is provided for projects that take into account the integrated program approach of the “Socially Integrative City” urban development program and in which the focus is on education, employment, social integration and the participation of residents as well as value creation in the neighborhood. An important aspect is gender equality and the integration of people with a migration background.

The model is to be further developed as part of the 2nd BIWAQ funding round by funding community work specifically for program areas of the Socially Integrative City urban development program / the entire urban development funding framework.

Similar to the federal program Kommunal-Kombi, Bürgerarbeit is a subsidy to the employer or provider for the creation of employment subject to social insurance contributions. The BA Bürgerarbeit model is a four-stage concept. The first three stages - profiling, placement and the use of support measures - include the usual procedures for supporting the unemployed. However, these three stages are to be completed more quickly than usual within the framework of the citizen work model. The actual citizen work is downstream of the placement efforts and is only designed for unemployed people who currently have no chance of reintegration into the primary labor market.

As part of the research project, the IAW prepared an expert opinion on the feasibility and content of “citizen work” as a new field of action in the ESF federal program “Socially Integrative City - Education, Economy, Work in the Neighborhood (BIWAQ)”. Basic recommendations for the design of citizen work were developed. In addition, starting points for citizen work were identified in the context of the BMVBS urban development funding programs and recommendations for the integration of citizen work in BIWAQ were developed.