Organisational Learning in the Transformation of Social Services – Labour Market‑Oriented Interventions in a New Welfare Context

How is learning shaped within an organisation when new demands, ways of working, and responsibilities emerge simultaneously?

This is the central question in a collaborative project between Sollefteå Municipality and Mid Sweden University.

The project explores organisational learning in the transformation of social services, with particular focus on labour market-oriented interventions in a new welfare context. The background to the study lies in the changes arising from the new Social Services Act and forthcoming activity requirements for people receiving income support. For municipalities, this entails increased responsibility to provide preventive, accessible, and evidence-based activities that correspond to the individual’s work capacity.

In Sollefteå Municipality, development work is currently under way within the labour market unit, which is to be developed into a hub for vocational rehabilitation, alongside the introduction of new methods and ways of working. The collaborative project follows this process of change in order to generate knowledge about how learning actually takes shape in everyday practice — among employees, managers, and within the organisation as a whole.

The project aims to contribute more in-depth knowledge about learning in times of change, to make visible patterns of engagement and resistance, and to produce analytical material that can support reflective leadership and continued organisational development.

The project is carried out in collaboration between Mid Sweden University and Sollefteå Municipality.