Council Resolution of 15 July 2003 on Social and Human Capital Building social and human capital in the knowledge society: learning, work, social cohesion and gender
Date: 2003-07-15
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Resolution of the Council of the European Union, economic and social cohesion, education, gender equality, information society, work

24.7.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 175/3

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 15 July 2003

on Social and Human Capital Building social and human capital in the knowledge society: learning,
work, social cohesion and gender

(2003/C 175/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION:

(1) RECALLING that the Lisbon European Council of March
2000 called for an Information Society for all, and
underlined the need for investment in human resources
and for every citizen to be equipped with the skills
needed to live and work in the information society and
the need to further all aspects of equality between men
including the reduction of occupational
and women,
segregation;

(2) RECALLING that

the Lisbon European Council set

the
objective of raising the employment rate to an average
of 70 % and of
increasing the number of women in
employment to an average of more than 60 % by 2010,
and that the Stockholm European Council of March 2001
set intermediate targets for Community employment rates
and a target of 50 % for older workers by 2010;

(3) TAKING INTO ACCOUNT

that

the Brussels European
Council of March 2003, in the context of the European
Employment Strategy, underlined the
importance of
investment in human capital and lifelong learning as a
prerequisite for the promotion of European competi-
tiveness,
in growth and
employment and for moving to a knowledge-based
economy, and that it called for implementation of the
for education
10-year programme on the objectives
systems in this context;

achieving high rates

for

(4) RECALLING that one of the objectives in the fight against
poverty and social exclusion, approved by the Nice
European Council of December 2000 and revised by the
Council
the
the knowledge-based society and of new
potential of
technologies
information
and
and
ensure
taking particular
is
that no-one
account of the needs of people with disabilities;

communication
excluded,

in December 2002,

to fully exploit

is

(5) RECALLING the key role that the social partners, through
their autonomous work programme and in accordance
with national traditions and practice, and non-govern-
mental organisations
in
reducing the digital divide, by promoting access for all
to the knowledge-based society and by exploiting the
resulting potential,
jobs and
qualifications;

in particular in terms of

in particular

should play,

(6) RECALLING

that

the Council by its Resolution of
8 October 2001 on ‘e-Inclusion’ — exploiting the oppor-
tunities of the information society for social inclusion (1)
called on the Member States to, amongst other things,
provide Information and Communication Technologies
learning to disadvantaged
(ICTs)
people, promote digital
literacy, encourage partnerships
of all stakeholders and mainstream a gender equality
approach in e-Inclusion policies;

training and other

(7) RECALLING that,

in accordance with the conclusions of
the Barcelona European Council of March 2002, there
is a need to ensure that all citizens, and in particular
groups such as unemployed women, are well equipped
with basic qualifications, especially those linked with ICTs;

(8) RECALLING that the e-Europe 2005 Action Plan includes
e-learning among its key areas and provides for actions
for ‘re-skilling in the knowledge society’, and that the
Council's Conclusions on ‘ICTs and e-business skills in
Europe’ of December 2002 underlined the need to
contine and further strengthen efforts to close the still
existing e-skills gaps and mismatches;

(9) RECALLING, in the context of the European Year of People
with disabilities (2003), the opportunities for participation
of people with disabilities in the knowledge society and
their need for barrier-free access, and Council Resolution
on 6 February 2003 ‘e-Accessibility’ — improving the
access of people with disabilities to the knowledge-based
society (2);

(10) TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the conclusions of the Conference
‘Social and human capital in the knowledge society: policy
implications’
(October 2002), which highlighted the
mutually reinforcing role of social and human capital
for economic growth and social cohesion;

(11) TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Conclusions on the partici-
pation and access of women to the ICTs, following the
47th Session of the United Nations' Commission on the
Status of Women (New York, March 2003);

(1) OJ C 292, 18.10.2001, p. 6.
(2) OJ C 39, 18.2.2003, p. 5.

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(12) TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Ministerial conference on
(Athens, May 2003) devoted to the
the knowledge society for

‘Gender and ICTs’
risks and opportunities of
gender equality;

the skills necessary in the knowledge
— to foster
society,
including not only basic ICTs skills but
also more general capabilities such as cognitive
skills,
teamwork and problem
solving,

‘learning to learn’,

(13) TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Commission Staff Working
Paper, developed with the support of
the High Level
Group on the Employment and Social Dimension of the
Information Society (ESDIS), on ‘Building the Knowledge
Society: Social and Human Capital Interactions’ (1);

1. RECOGNISES the key role that knowledge embodied in indi-
vidual capabilities and social networks plays in the context
of the Lisbon strategy for ensuring that the European Union
becomes
dynamic
most
knowledge-based economy in the world,
capable of
sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs
and greater social cohesion.

competitive

and

the

— to underline the importance of synergies between
local communities, NGOs and
for building both human and social

teachers, parents,
enterprises
capital through education and training,

— to emphasise the crucial

importance of motivating
people to participate in lifelong learning, particularly
by encouraging people with a low level of qualifi-
cations, both at work and with regard to learning
methods, and to emphasise the need to encourage
enterprises to participate;

2. UNDERLINES the need to develop the positive interactions of
social and human capital
in three areas in particular:
learning, work and social cohesion, while integrating the
gender dimension into all these areas.

(b) Work

3. CALLS on Member States to consider the social and human
capital
and
implementation of their policies and initiatives, in particular
as regards the following areas:

in the planning, development

elements

(a) Learning

— to promote

existing policies and initiatives

in
education and training,
in particular by ensuring
quality by increasing the efficiency of investments
in those areas, and strengthening complementarity
between
employment
training
policies, as a basis for boosting new economic and
sustainable growth in the context of
the Lisbon
strategy,

education,

and

— to promote the new possibilities for education and
training within lifelong learning, such as e-learning
and learning at work, taking into consideration the
needs and priorities of women, as well as the
increased efforts in areas such as
importance of
transparency,
of
validation
learning and certification
non-formal and informal
of skills for boosting mobility,

recognition

and

(1) ESDIS definitions:

that

skills, competencies and attributes
and

Human capital: Knowledge,
embodied in individuals
economic well-being.
Social capital: Networks and participation in public life together
with shared norms, values, culture, habits and practices, trust and
understanding that facilitate cooperation within or among groups,
to pursue shared objectives.

facilitate personal,

social

— to encourage enterprises, particularly SMEs, also
using the Structural Funds and abiding by the
innovative
competition rules,
work practices
clustering,
e-business and e-work,

in the adoption of
such as networking,

— to harness the potential of organisational

learning
and knowledge management solutions to enhance
in the enterprise
both social and human capital
and foster innovation and competitiveness,

— to highlight

the importance of ensuring that all
workers within their specific enterprises and organi-
sations are fully involved and properly trained in the
adoption of
innovative work practices, organisa-
tional
learning and knowledge management which
can help facilitate change, and are thus aware of
the benefits in terms of improved competitiveness
and quality of working life,

— to foster social capital at local level, while abiding by
the competition rules, through cooperation with the
social partners, enterprises, universities,
research
centres, NGOs and local administrations,

— to encourage, also using the Structural Funds,
specific initiatives aimed at tackling the problem of
well-educated/trained people having more possi-
in reality, more access
bilities and,
to learning
well-educated/trained
opportunities
less
than
people, who should most benefit
from training,
such as women and older workers,

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— to encourage the creation of new tasks and activities,
identifying new occupational profiles as a means of
innovation, creating jobs, boosting productivity and
increasing human capital;

— to examine working conditions for women in the
society and promote any necessary

knowledge
improvements,

(c) Social Cohesion

e-Inclusion

— to favour an inclusive knowledge society by further
developing
in
particular, to tap the opportunities offered by new
technologies
inclusion of people with
disabilities, and by economic development of disad-
vantaged areas,

policies,

order,

the

for

in

— to promote the positive role of the social economy,
local

of
communities in social capital building,

local development

initiatives

and of

— to highlight the importance of formal and informal
social networks, including digital networks, for social
cohesion and the balance between flexibility, security
and quality of life,

— to foster the new possibilities that ICTs offer for

civic participation and volunteering,

— to prevent any imbalance in access to new tech-
nologies
for persons over 40 and encourage
involvement of the potentially active workforce, in
the
the European Employment
Strategy;

framework of

(d) Gender

— to exploit the potential offered by ICTs for the
especially
creation of new job opportunities,
through
to
easier
it
reconcile working and family life, and for the devel-
opment of distance-learning programmes, especially
for women in rural areas,

by making

e-working,

— to promote the use of ICTs as an effective tool for
the dissemination of information and for protection
and support against gender violence,

— to develop policies in support of women's economic
initiatives in the ICTs sector and to foster equal
participation in relevant networks,

— to highlight

the consequences of

the different
choices made by gender as
regards educational
subjects and the subsequent effect on work and
encourage more
social
in particular,
women to pursue higher-education studies
in
subjects connected with the information society,

and,

life

— to ensure the collection of gender disaggregated data
in ICTs use in order to develop relevant indicators.

4. NOTES the commitments already undertaken by the social
partners as part of their autonomous work programme, and
RECOMMENDS them in accordance with national traditions
and practices:

— to fully integrate the gender perspective in all the
areas mentioned under (a), (b) and (c), according to
the principles of gender mainstreaming,

(a) to further develop their attention to the issue of the
training of women and men in the knowledge society;

— to favour

the empowerment of women in the
knowledge society and ensure equal opportunities
of access to decision-making positions in economic
and public life,

(b) to pay particular attention to continuing their initiatives
favouring equal opportunities for men and women in
access
family-friendly practical
arrangements, and to their initiatives relating to people
with disabilities;

to training,

such as

— to address the current gender gaps in access to ICTs-

related education, jobs and the use of ICTs,

(c) to continue their efforts to implement their framework
for action on lifelong learning concluded in 2002, with
particular attention to the aspects identified above;

— to enable full participation by women,

including
those with disabilities, in professional life, inter alia
via the adequate provision of care facilities for
children and other dependants,

(d) to study and analyse new ways and possibilities
favouring accumulation and development of human
and social capital in the changing workplace;

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(e) to make progress in the field of corporate social respon-
sibility, also given its positive role for local community
development;

research institutions, to build social capital for the devel-
opment and diffusion of high-quality learning material
and methodology;

(f)

to support by different means the attainment of an
adequate work-life balance allowing citizens to fully
engage in family and community related activities, as
well in volunteering, civic and political participation;

(g) to pay particular attention to the gender perspective
to give

when developing ICTs policies
women and men equal access to ICTs jobs.

in order

5.

INVITES the Commission to:

(a) pay special attention to the social and human capital
aspects
its on-going policies and initiatives,
ensuring coordination and avoiding unnecessary dupli-
cations;

in all

(b) underline the key role of networking, also via ICTs,
between higher education, centres for excellence and

(c) continue,

in cooperation with the Member States, the
analysis on human and social capital
issues, on their
evolving interactions in the knowledge society and on
their effects on living and working conditions; and
pursue advanced research in this area, including via its
dedicated centres;

(d) establish, or enhance, on-going cooperation with other
international institutions and third countries, on social
and human capital
and develop improved
empirical analysis in this area, also with a view to the
UN World Summit on the Information Society in
December 2003; and

issues

(e) ensure the integration of the gender dimension when
activities mentioned
pursuing and developing the
above
impact
assessments, in the areas mentioned, in order to avoid
any undesired adverse effects and enhance the quality
and effectiveness of the policies.

the need for gender

and consider