EU Research Project RE-InVEST
Together with 18 other European project partners from twelve countries, we investigated over a period of four years whether the European Commission succeeded in mitigating the social consequences of the 2008 financial crisis with its social investment strategy.
RE-InVEST: Rebuilding an inclusive, value based Europe of solidarity and trust through social investments
ABOUT THE RESEARCH
The effects of the economic crisis can be felt by European citizens on all levels of society. But how exactly are Europeans affected by poverty, unemployment, and social exclusion? How effective are basic services in the fields of health care, education, water supply, and housing? And even more importantly: how can the EU’s plans for social investment (Social Investment Package) be evaluated from an ethical perspective? The network Alliances to fight Poverty initiated the EU-wide project “RE-InVEST” to examine these questions in order to be able to contribute to a European Union that is more solidary and inclusive.
Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach and the project’s focus on basic human rights constitute the theoretical framework for the philosophical, institutional and empirical evaluation of the Social Investment Package that was initiated by the European Commission in 2013, as well as for suggestions for the project’s further development.
The ifz is one of 19 project partners from 12 EU-countries. RE-InVEST was launched in March 2015 and will run until February 2019. Through the project’s participative and interdisciplinary research approach, we will be able to draw on the expertise we gained in the past and to intensify our knowledge on the issue of unemployment. In doing so, we hope to be able to contribute research results that are valuable for poverty alleviation.
