Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

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Chapter 1 – Vision, aims & objectives
1.8 The Regional Social Strategy development process
A multi-agency project team, drawn from the statutory, voluntary and community sectors developed the
strategy and carried out the subsequent triennial review resulting in this second edition. Throughout
the development and review of the strategy the project team has been committed to an inclusive process
in which a significant and representative number of stakeholders have helped to shape the document in
partnership with members of EERA’s Social Inclusion Panel.
The review has drawn widely on questionnaire responses gathered from around the region and on feedback
from two days’ of action planning sessions. During these sessions participants were invited to comment on
strengths and weaknesses of the strategy, highlight relevant recent developments for consideration and
contribute to the strategy’s refreshed action plan.
The evidence base of the strategy has also been refreshed, with the inclusion of updated statistical
references, where comparable sources have been identified.
The following key themes, originally identified by stakeholders as adding value to sub-regional and local
social inclusion work, remain pertinent and have informed the on-going development of the strategy:
• raising awareness, engaging in advocacy and ensuring regional commitment to social inclusion
• clarifying the regional policy agenda and working to achieve coherence
• working to ensure a concerted approach by regional agencies
• supporting local action
• facilitating learning, identifying and promoting good practice and encouraging both evidence-based
practice and innovation.
The penultimate theme, in particular, has been a focus of the review, which has sought to engage LSPs,
the voluntary and community and private sectors, and other local delivery partners, in joint ‘ownership’ of
an action plan which genuinely reflects local and sub-regional priorities as well as regional and national ones.
1.9 Timescales
This strategy is concerned with effecting change over the long-term and as such is looking at a ten-year
period from its initial publication in 2004. EERA is committed to reviewing and refreshing the strategy at
three-year intervals, this edition representing the first of those refreshes.