Seminar ‘Territoires Zéro Chômeur de Longue Durée’

On June 22, 2022, the FNRS Contact Group "Redefining Prosperity", the UCLouvain research group « Travail, Enterprise, Démocratie » (TED_Cridis-IACHOS-UCLouvain), the CESEP and the Belgian chapter of the #DemocratizingWork network organized a seminar

Our intention in organizing this seminar was to lay the foundations for a shared analysis of the dynamics generated by the appropriation of the “Territoires Zéro Chômeur de Longue Durée” in Belgium.

After having identified a broad consensus around the aims of the experimentation during the introduction provided jointly by Isabelle Ferreras (sociologist and political scientist, FNRS / TED-CriDIS-UCLouvain/Lamartra) and Bénédicte Sohet (General Secretary of ConcertES), the exchanges focused on the clarification of the means necessary for its success. About sixty participants, not only from academic circles but also from the associational sector, the social economy and trade unions, took part in these debates structured around four themes :

The capacity of the experimentation to contribute to a decommodification of employment, and an assessment of the cost of this initiative were presented by Ides Nicaise (economist, HIVA/KULeuven) and discussed by Sébastien Brunet (political scientist, General Administrator of IWEPS) and Guéric Bosmans (Research Department of the Centrale Générale-FGTB).

The capacity of the experimentation to contribute to the exit of a fossil-fueled economy was addressed by Thomas Bailly (Transition Project Manager, Pays Terres de Lorraine) and Aurélie Mathelin (Project Manager, Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée, Colombey-les-Belles), and discussed by Tom Bauler (economist, IGEAT-ULB/Lamartra) and Hélène Ancion (Project Manager, Inter-environnement Wallonie).

The multiple democratic stakes of the proposal were presented by Julien Charles (sociologist, CESEP/ TED-CriDIS-UCLouvain/Lamartra) and discussed by Joseph Vaessen (sociologist, UCLouvain) and Christine Mahy (General and Political Secretary of the RWLP).

The legal stakes of the experimentation were presented by Auriane Lamine (Jurist, CRIDES, UCLouvain) and Céline Romainville (Jurist, CRECO, UCLouvain), and then discussed by Joan Stavo-Debauge (Sociologist, University of Lausanne) and Pierre Demotier (Project manager at the CPAS of Berchem Sainte-Agathe)

The conclusions of the day were offered by Isabelle Ferreras, Laurent Grandguillaume (President of the French Foundation for the Territoires zéro chômeur de longue durée) and Christie Morreale (Vice-President of the Walloon Government, Minister of Employment, Training, Health, Social Action and Social Economy, Equal Opportunities and Women’s Rights, Wallon Region, Belgium).