Tomáš Sirovátka is a Professor of Social Policy at Masaryk University, where he is currently heading the Institute for Public Policy and Social Work. He is interested in analysing labour market and social inclusion policies, especially comparative research aimed at exploring the social policies in the Central European countries. Henk Spies is currently director of +Confidence, a SME involved in research, consultancy and training in the social sector, both domestically and internationally. He was a consultant on the reorganisation and development of new client approaches in social services in the Netherlands and Norway.
'The book goes far beyond known facts when giving insights on innovative practice of activating labour market policies for young unemployed. The analysis of social projects to combat inequalities in different European cities provides a most inspiring view on success and failure. It infally underlines that policy intervention should not treat young people as a problem but as potentials.' - Irene Dingeldey, University of Bremen 'Based on a critical review of mainstream activation approaches and building on debates about tailor-made, personalized activation services, this book elaborates the argument that the match between people’s needs/ambitions and the characteristics of interventions constitutes the core mechanism in making activation policies effective. By analyzing the theoretical principles underlying this mechanism, providing data from casestudies and discussing policy implications, the book offers stimulating reading for a broad audience.' - Rik van Berkel, Utrecht University