The Scottish Executive and Scottish Fund Programme Management Executives are pleased to announce the publication of this new document to the partnership following its launch at the Objective 3 / Objective 2 East Horizontal Themes Conference on 29 October 2004. This guide has been designed to provide projects with an easy-to-use manual to help ensure that mainstreaming equal opportunities takes place at each stage of projectd esign and delivery, and to share the extensive experience of mainstreaming equal opportunities in projects funded by the European Structural Funds in Scotland. The European Commission has made it clear that equal opportunities issues should be integrated into all Programme-funded activity.

Structural Funds have an important role to play in helping to combat the inequalities that exist in society today - not only between women and men, but for people with disabilities, people from minority ethnic groups and others facing discrimination.

The guide is developed into three main sections:

• A background to the Scottish approach to mainstreaming equal opportunities.
• a step-by-step guide on how equality issues can be mainstreamed into different types of projects at the design and the delivery stages.
• Good practice examples and case studies taken from a range of projects.
  

This guide provides examples from the five Scottish Structural Fund Programmes, and the four Community Initiative Programmes.

The document complements two other recent publications:

	Mainstreaming Sustainable Development in Regional Regeneration by the East of Scotland European Partnership
	Linking Sustainable Development: Learning Lessons from Scotland's European Structural Funds Experience by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency

If you would like to receive a printed copy of Equal Opportunities: Equality in Practice - Making it Work, please e-mail lynn murray.
Please ensure that you include your full name, company and contact details with your request.