Wellbeing and Work: Social Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups in Northern Spain

Abstract

he European Union considers employment to be the best protection against social exclusion. All the policies and actions that are on offer from the various bodies and organizations in this area are directed towards achieving this objective and concentrate on the people involved obtaining employment. Nonetheless, the great heterogeneity noticeable in these processes shows the necessity of providing responses, actions and programmes that are differentiated and specific. With this requirement, interventions must address in an integrated and open way the needs arising in given contexts. The work being described here was carried out in the urban district of Ponferrada in the Province of Leon in Spain through a case study on the employability of certain groups at risk of exclusion. This is the first stage towards a comparative study we are carrying out in southern European countries including Portugal and Italy. T