This work reconsiders the meanings attached to the concept of public accountability. While formally central to the constitution in the UK, its meaning is a contested one. After reviewing the literature, the work situates the concept of accountability in two case studies, each a discretionary service provided to vulnerable individuals. In this context, the research critically reviews the way in which the concept of accountability operates in practice, and particularly whether it meets the expressed neeeds of individuals and groups to whom the services are accountable. The central arguments emerging from this work challenge the established meanings of the concept of accountability, ones associated with control, redress, responsibility and with blame. The formal accounts presented of each case study differed markedly from those presented by managers, frontline service providers, welfare rights advisers and user advocates. As such, these formal accounts were misleading, bearing little relationship to the experienceo of users. Rather, the work suggests the need for a more reflexive, socialising model in which accountability is a means to understanding the nature of public services through the stories, the accounts, others tell of those services. The actions of public servants are better understood in the light of the experience of applicants or users. In this sense it is more concerned with dialogue than it is with mechanisms of control. As such, this alternative conceptualisation of accountability presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Opening up a dialogue that genuinely includes the voices of vulnerable and excluded groups and that moves beyond the current language of blame and responsibility to embrace understanding requires a degree of political maturity and a cultural shift in the public sector. Yet, through such dialogue, there is the potential to better understand public services and, in consequence, raise standards. The work advocates the need to include the accounts of citizens in our understanding of public services and of the concept of accountability.

This master´s thesis deals with documentation processing of project financing inquiry for employee´s qualification improvement at BDS Ltd. financed by EU´s structural funds, concretely by European social fund.

My graduation theses refers to the utilization of the grant-in-aid from the Europen Social Fund in order to create „the protected workroom“ to help and support the employment of the handicapped people. According to the entrepreneurial activity and analyses of employment of handicapped people macroeconomical factors present the situation on the labour market as well as the perspective profitability through some specific solutions.

The aim of this study is to compare implementation, impact and sustainability of educational projects in small and medium enterprises which are funded by the European Social Fund. The results of the analysis should give us an answer to the question whether the financial support is used effectively and contributes to the fulfilment of its objectives or the potential of these funds remains untapped. The theoretical part deals with the current situation analysis of training and development of employees in SMEs, different methods of measuring the effectiveness of company training as well as the opportunities of training promotion in SMEs with support of the ESF. The practical part is focused on comparing the implementation of educational projects funded by the Operational Programme Prague -- Adaptability and Operational Programme Human Resources and Employment in chosen SMEs. These companies are compared with enterprises that fund their educational programmes with their own resources and with respect to differences resulting from their size measured by number of employees. This comparison enables us to assess the effectiveness of the use of public funds in this area.

The thesis conducts an analysis of active labour-market policy and its support in the framework of the European Social Fund. The first section is specialized in labour policy and described documents of European Union in this framework. The second section of the paper focuses on active labour-market policy -- its development, implementation, tool kit as well as its reaction to European Union requirements and a subsequent efficiency evaluation of a number of programmes aimed to support the active labour-market policy. The next section assesses the achievability of quantitative targets of the Lisbon strategy which the Czech Republic should meet by 2010, i.e. whether we are on track to meet these targets. We aim to determine the achievability of targets using an analysis of employment. The following important section looks at labour policy expenditures in the Czech Republic, their change over time and particularly after the European Union accession in 2004, since when the Czech Republic has been able to draw financial support from the European Social Fund. The last section therefore deals with the European Social Fund, in particular with the implementation of projects, assessment of their impact on employment growth and recommendations for improvements in the efficiency of their execution.

This thesis is focused on evaluation of a project financed from public funds. Theoretical basis for project management was described and discussed. The specifics that are encountered in the management of soft projects were also described. It was subsequently discussed the possibility of financing soft projects from EU structural funds. The practical part follows the theoretical background and focuses on the evaluation of a specific non-investment project. The selected project aimed to promote the application of people over 50 years in the labor market. It was evaluated what the organization did well in managing this project and what could be improved in the future.

In this thesis I focus on creating a project for children with special educational needs. The project, which the applicant is true and which school has the potential to be supported from EU funds, addresses the current situation of poor literacy in Czech Republic at primary schools, The thesis proposal to create a quality educational program for this target group not only the professional but also sustainable.

The subject of this master's thesis is the project implementation with the help of European funds. The project is focused on supporting the education of the staff in a non-profit organization. Included in the thesis is the introduction of basic concepts of European Structure Funds, Operational Programs of Czech republic and the development of the project in a comprehensive and admissible form.

TITLE: The impact of projects financed from the European Union on the quality of NGO activities for children and youth AUTHOR: Bc. Šimona Müllerová DEPARTMENT: Department of Education SUPERVISOR: doc. PhDr. Věra Poláčková CSc. CONSULTANT: Mgr.Karolína Pávková ABSTRACT: This thesis deals with the implementation of projects financed by the European Social Fund. Through qualitative research it explores the impact of these projects on the quality of NGO activities for children and youth. Through expert survey it presents the issue from the perspective of three experts. The case studies presenta a description of five NGOs from Prague and the regions of the ČR, who implemented projects aimed at children and youth with the assistance of the ESF. The analysis of information obtained from experts and the NGOs gives an opportunity to say a few major phenomena associated with projects. The main positive effect is the possibility to pursue a wide range of activities for children and youth. The problem occurs after completion of the project and the end EU subsidies. It will be difficult to ensure the sustainability of activities for children and young people throughout their range. KEYWORDS: Non-profit organisations European social fund Projects Children and youth

[pt] Esta dissertação apresenta uma pesquisa acerca da efetividade do Fundo Social do Pré-Sal como instrumento de tradução do desenvolvimento econômico, representado pelas receitas advindas da exploração de petróleo e gás na citada região, em desenvolvimento humano – alavancando o direcionamento da parte das receitas destinadas à União obrigatoriamente para os setores de Educação e Saúde. A descoberta do Pré-Sal em 2008 gerou grandes expectativas quanto ao novo potencial de produção petrolífera do Brasil e o impacto que isto poderia trazer ao desenvolvimento econômico ao país. Em 2010, com base na experiência internacional, em especial Noruega e países Árabes, o Brasil criou um Fundo Soberano dedicado a assegurar não só que o país não se tornasse dependente do petróleo - usando esta riqueza para diversificar investimentos - mas também para assegurar que estes recursos fossem utilizados na evolução social do país. Em 2020, após crises econômicas nacionais, globais e da própria indústria de Petróleo mundial, todas intrinsecamente relacionadas, vemos que o Fundo Social representa um enorme potencial não realizado de benefício à sociedade brasileira. Através de uma extensa investigação multidisciplinar, foi possível descobrir que o Fundo Social do Pré-Sal está funcionando no aspecto arrecadatório, inclusive, com expressiva arrecadação no período entre 2012 e 2018 frente às citadas crises e drástica redução do preço do barril de petróleo. Entretanto, o Fundo ainda não está operacional, com os recursos arrecadados parados na conta única do Tesouro Nacional – prejudicando estados e municípios, que poderiam alavancar tais receitas como investimento em Educação e Saúde. / [en] The Oil and Gas industry has been one of the engines driving economic growth globally. From the first uses of oil as both medicine and fuel for lightning up to becoming one of the main sources of power worldwide, this industry has promoted drastic increases of income to nations, states and cities that found themselves lucky enough to have reservoirs below their surfaces. Surely, due to extreme technical complexities related to exploring and producing hydrocarbons (i.e. Oil and Gas), the governments of these very often relied on private companies support, hence, sharing with such entities a fair part of the economic benefit in exchange for its services. This industry, started with the first boom in the United States during the 19th century, represents today over 2 trillion dollars across the globe – an impactful amount under any evaluation – and that should still remain as this for the next few decades. We are indeed living in a world transitioning its energy sources away from fossil fuels, bucket which contains the hydrocarbons, but its demand will not halt suddenly. The recent perspectives from the most accredited sources, including energy companies, consulting companies and environmental NGOs, points that we are close to a hydrocarbon demand peak but still far away from cutting its importance in the world energy matrix. In fact, one can expect the Oil and Gas industry to remain extremely relevant, at least, until the end of this century. The rise of renewables, as solar and wind, and the advancement of technology, as vehicles electrification and batteries improvement, will not happen uniformly across the globe and many countries currently considered emerging, as the BRICS, will still rely on hydrocarbons to feed its economic growth. Hence, evaluating the future and different aspects of this industry, as done during this work, is of key relevancy.