Innovation Exchange

For some people, unemployment is not a phenomenon of the recession, but a long-standing fact of life. We know from examples across the East of England that if this goes unaddressed, the effects of unemployment can be destructive to both individuals and their communities. We also know that the economic costs of unemployment on the public sector are enormous, especially when considering the wider social impact.

There are many factors affecting the most complex cases of unemployment across the East of England, including disability, age, ethnic background and the rural nature of our region – but across the third and public sectors there is a genuine commitment to address this issue, which has only been strengthened in tough economic times.

This Festival of Ideas aims to bring together those in the third sector with innovative solutions with those who lead on this agenda across the public sector in the East of England. No one in the public or third sectors has all the answers, but we can work together to find joint solutions – and the Festival of Ideas offers a new way for us to do this. You can find our more about Festivals of Ideas here.

The event will look at innovations with the potential to create new effectiveness and efficiency across, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Tailored training
• Supported employment
• Volunteering
• New routes into employment
• Personal development opportunities
• The role of social enterprise
• Bespoke personal support

We are in the process in the process of inviting key people from across the public sector to attend this event. If you are in the third sector and have innovative work – whether fledgling or long-standing – that you would like to bring to this event, please respond to our call for ideas.