Powerhouse Erasmus Project

Project Title

Powerhouse

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

Fryshuset and Forandringshuset will together develop a method for guiding young people who want to realize their dreams and ideas. We look at this as early stage entrepreneurship and the methodology belies the name Powerhouse.

The target group for the project is all young people between the ages of 13-26, but it is a goal in itself to be able to reach those of us who for different reasons would not have had the opportunity to exercise their involvement in another way. Our target groups in Norway and Sweden are not that different, but we also see that there are clear system differences and contact with decision makers, organization and funding that we can use for knowledge exchange. Our houses and activities are not randomly located in neighborhoods or suburbs of major cities where there are many different needs that are reinforced in relation to the rest of society. There is a larger proportion of families in low-income, a higher proportion of juvenile delinquents, more who fall outside for various reasons and a lower level of education.

The two needs that form the basis of this project are to give young people faith in themselves as important citizens and challenges associated with getting their first job. Several young people feel that they are neither seen nor heard and that their opinions are not important. They lack confidence in the “system” and little faith in their own future. The latter is also promoted as having experienced barriers to entering the job market. Here we want to show opportunities and provide support.

Through the Powerhouse methodology, we will meet youth for guidance 1: 1. Meeting the individual as a whole person and having time to listen to what they are passionate about, what they are in now and what they are engaged in. Powerhouse provides the opportunity for knowledge, experience and practices that help to give good first lines on the CV and references on skills and efforts, or the opportunity to realize their own ideas in youth-driven projects.

The following activities are central to the project:
1. Guidance/mentoring is the most important and central activity of the Powerhouse. Here, staff and supervisors meet young people closely and build a relationship that provides a foundation to support the young person with the realization of their dreams and ideas.
To ensure good and systematic guidance, we will develop mentors, manuals and tools and regularly train mentors.

2. In the process of realizing one’s own ideas, there will be courses and various skills-enhancing activities through inspirational and networking collections. Our arenas will conduct both workshops, pitch competitions and themed collections related to both entrepreneurship and creative idea creation, and CV construction and job search. Future Fairs will be an important annual event for both Fryshuset and Forandringshuset.
To ensure that we have good and relevant offers, we will involve the target group for needs mapping and several other professional environments to make good contributions.

3. Networking is also a key part of exchanging experiences, collaborating on common ideas and projects, but also in gaining experience and practice on different skills. Forandringshuset and Fryshuset have a wide network separately and together it is large and strong. We want collections locally, nationally and Nordic. Camp Connect and LEAD are important events we highlight here.
To ensure that young people feel that they are building networks, we will have regular meeting points and match mentors from their own staff and mentors from business or other community arenas around the individual youth to give the opportunity to set ambitions for further steps in life.

Our goal is to increase youth self-experience and increase their faith in the future. Our methodology builds the youth itself and builds the youth network. We offer mentoring that is largely governed by the youth’s own preconditions. It places great demands on good mentors and challenges us to find ways to support and help to set course / find direction from where the youth stands today and what the ambitions are. Powerhouse wants to enable the youth to continue the process on their own, without giving up completely but giving good transition.

Through the project, we want to reach minimum 1000 young people, through guidance, networking and inspirational collections both locally and between the partner countries. The partnership aims to lift different arenas for learning and sharing, both for young participants, but also for employees and partners in the field who work for the same goals.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 75746 Eur

Project Coordinator

KFUK-KFUM Norge & Country: NO

Project Partners

• Stiftelsen Fryshuset