February marks the end of Eurofound’s tenure as the coordinating Agency of the Network of EU Agencies 2015–2016. It proved to be a busy year, with the overall assessment of the year’s achievements being definitely positive. At a time when discussions about the future of the EU Agencies continue at the highest level, Eurofound was able to facilitate an effective dialogue with the EU institutions.

Promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship is an important way of creating new jobs and enhancing the labour market opportunities for the unemployed and other disadvantaged groups. Are Member States using the full potential of self-employment and entrepreneurship for tackling their employment challenges?.

Matching SMEs and talented researchers!  Under Horizon 2020, the European Union's Research and Innovation Programme, a new programme will support 90 SMEs hire a researcher to bring their brilliant idea to life.

The draft version of the regional Social Progress Index, released yesterday for public comment, aims to measure the social progress for 272 European regions as a complement to traditional measures of economic progress. The index scores absolute performance on a 0-100 scale for each of the 50 indicators included to measure the Index components. It also presents strengths and weaknesses relative to regions of similar economic performance.

The EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) Policy Conference is calling for contributions to the 2016 edition (Brussels, 14-16 June). It is a chance to help shape the energy landscape and play your part in activating Europe’s Energy Union.  Watch the EUSEW video to learn more.

Designed for practitioners such as social enterprises, investors, social finance intermediaries, market builders and social enterprise support organisations, this publication will guide you step by step through the process of designing and implementing initiatives to develop social finance instruments and markets. You will discover that there is no tried-and-tested formula or recipe and that there are challenges at whatever level you operate.

Today marks the launch of the RegioStars Awards 2016 by the European Commission's Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy. The objective of RegioStars is to identify good practice in regional development and to highlight original and innovative projects which could be inspiring to other regions and project managers. 

Interested in improving efficiency and quality of public procurement and ensure value of money for your contracts? Looking for tips on how to plan, publish and award avoiding the most common errors? European Commission's "Guidance for practitioners on the avoidance of the most common errors in public procurement of projects funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds" will answer your questions and will help you make the most out of EU investments.

Are you a leader in innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing? Would you like to become one of the "Reference sites" of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing? Then apply before 15 April 2016! Reference Sites are highly inspirational ecosystems, delivering creative and workable solutions that improve the lives and health of older people. These solutions can be scaled-up and replicated across the EU.

The new EU public procurement system, entering into force on 18 April 2016, will open up fresh opportunities for public authorities to spur eco-innovation by using new award criteria in contract notices that place more emphasis on environmental considerations. Public authorities will be able to require that bidders not only comply with environmental obligations, but also deliver goods fulfilling the requirements of environmental labels.