Samenvatting

Throughout Europe cities face the same kind of problems. Therefore, a common idea occurred that there should be some sort of cooperation between these cities to solve these problems together. This common idea eventually led to the URBACT programme, which is a programme that consists of several networks of European cities who work together to foster sustainable and integrated urban development. The slogan of URBACT is 'connecting cities, building successes'.

One of the main problems in Europe today is youth unemployment. Youth unemployment rates are rising throughout Europe. The new URBACT network 'My Generation at Work' wants to solve this problem, by promoting the employability of young people in a changing labour market, with a special focus on enterprising skills and attitudes. All this will be done in partnership with young people, businesses, the education sector, employment agencies and city governments. In the first phase of the My Generation at Work project, the network consists of the cities of Rotterdam, Antwerp, Glasgow, Riga and Gdansk. In this dissertation there is a special focus on the cities of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Glasgow.

This dissertation explores whether or not joining the My Generation at Work network would be of added value for the City of Rotterdam. This research was done in the form of a SWOT-analysis of the three cities of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Glasgow. The three cities were analyzed with the help of a theoretical model according to the contingency approach, which focuses on the environment of each city. By mapping the problems and challenges in each city, the current situation of each city becomes clear and this leads to a recommendation for a Local Support Group and a Local Action Plan. Mapping of the problems and challenges is done with the help of the contingency theory. Then, with all the collected information, a conclusion was drawn about what the contribution of each city would be to the URBACT network.
Research eventually showed that all the three cities have a certain amount of overlap in the challenges and problems they face. At the same time, each city also has its own strengths and unique opportunities, which can be beneficial to the other cities. For the City of Rotterdam the involvement of young people is one of its unique strengths, while for the City of Antwerp it is its focus on job matching. The developed initiative of the Youth Employability Partnerships is one of the unique strengths for the City of Glasgow, even as its further developed plans for projects and programmes on the topic of youth unemployment. With these strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each unique city in mind, it becomes clear what cities can bring to the My Generation at Work network and what they can learn from other cities. Eventually, this cooperation would lead to an added value for all participating cities, by implementing the best practices on its own unique model of its own city.