Dublin 2013 - 21st European Social Services Conference

Transforming Lives! Reshaping services for a changing society, 17 - 19 June 2013, Dublin, Ireland

Venue: The Burlington Hotel, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 4

Objectives

The 21st European Social Services Conference is organised by the European Social Network (ESN) in association with the Irish Presidency of the European Union.
 
In a challenging economic environment, Dublin 2013 will ensure that there is a constructive debate about the importance of social investment to transform the lives of all our citizens, bringing about changes in the way services are designed, delivered and evaluated. The conference will ask what this will mean for leadership and management and for a more partnership approach across service and sector boundaries.

Key speakers include Michael D. Higgins, President of the Republic of Ireland; Joan Burton, TD, Irish Minister for Social Protection; and Jan Truszczyñski, Director General for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, European Commission.

Eurofound contributions

Juan Menéndez-Valdés, Director of Eurofound, will speak on Monday 17 June during Plenary session I (14:00-15:30):
Changing society, investing in the future - Europe continues to be confronted by significant economic and social challenges with pressure on public finances and high unemployment especially of young people.  How should social care and other services both protect and care for vulnerable people but also invest in preventative action for the future? How should those working at a local, regional, national or European level reshape social policy and practice to transform lives for the better with improved economic and social outcomes?

Workshop: How can citizen and service user views best influence the development of social services?
Tadas Leoncikas, Research Manager (Eurofound), together with Clare Wallace (University of Aberdeen) and Polly Vizard (LSE), will present the results of the European Quality of Life Survey on satisfaction with public services including in relation to the crisis. It will focus on health, childcare and long term care identifying the extent to which cost, availability, access or quality impact on people’s use of these services. The workshop will seek participant’s views as to how such data and analyses can be useful in policy making at national, regional and local government.