The purpose of the five theme groups is that they will develop, analyze and systematize the project results to achieve a strategic impact on a long-term basis and at a higher level than the individual projects can do for themselves.
The theme groups will also contribute to quality improvement and so that the experiences gathered from previous projects and ongoing projects will be taken advantage of and will lead to the development of the continued operation of the Social Fund programme, for example by monitoring the world around us and by providing feedback on the results to the Swedish ESF Council and to the prioritising Structural Fund Partnerships.
It has also created theme groups at a European level. The Swedish theme groups that have similar approaches at a European level are active players in the European work.
The theme groups gather experiences, lessons learned, observations and results from the social fund projects by meeting individual projects, implementing theme project meetings, by taking part in project evaluations and by carrying out surveys etc.
In particular, it is the objective of the theme groups to find the most interesting results and lessons learned. But this can also happen in the opposite direction, i.e. individual social fund projects can contact the theme groups if they feel they have important ideas to contribute.
The theme groups disseminate their results through written reports, websites, polemical articles, conferences, seminars etc.
An important part of the theme groups’ lobbying is expected to take place in their partner organizations directly.