Europe and working life

Working life in Europe is presented as a focus of both research and practice in science and politics, and as the unifying element behind a series of initiatives for the new millennium, at local, regional, national, European, and international levels. Partnership, dialog, and networking are both the medium and the message, with human networking as a precondition for the effective use of information and communication technologies. The European approach to working life is seen as setting new agendas at the international level, deriving collaborative advantage from diversity. The article is written in the context of the major Swedish European Presidency Conference, Work Life 2000: Quality in Work, held in January 2001, where the outcomes of European research were presented for consideration by decision makers, resulting in new practical programs. The conference was preceded by 64 preparatory workshops, building a network of 1,000 researchers.