Mentoring young disadvantaged people for inclusion Erasmus Project

Project Title

Mentoring young disadvantaged people for inclusion

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Access for disadvantaged; Integration of refugees; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

Context /background
Against the background opf an avearage of 20% unemployed young people in the EU, 9 Senior Expert Organizations from 6 countries ( Austria, Belgium, France, Finland, Germany, Italy), all acting to supporting young people in need, came together to exchange their best practices for the assistance of young people, to analyse their transferability into different national educational systems and –if possible – start the transfer of identified good practices.
They selected three target groups: trainees in Germany, NEETs in France, asylum seekers and migrants in all all partner countries.

Objectives
Support young people through best practices tested in the home countries of the Seniors, learn from each other, avoid mistakes and shorten the testing times

Number and Profile of Participants
9 partners are Senior Expert Organizations, one of them, the European Federation of Senior Expert associations – CESES-, who are active both at a national level to support young people but also at a global level to help in particular small and medium-sized enterprises in countries on their way to development to help themselves.
To give scientific advice, the Comenius University of Bratislava joined as a partner, as well as the Vocational College of the City of Helsinki that gave input on methods to integrate migrants and also served as a testing ground for mentoring.

Undertaken activities
Main contents of the project were the exchange of best practice during 5 TPMs and 3 LTTAs.
1. Development of a questionnaire on partners’ activities. This served as the basis of the cooperation and the compilation of best practice published at the end of the project. ANNEX
2. Creation of a dissemination tool- CESES ANNEX
3. Explanation of practices and the national education system, identification of potential barriers and ways to overcome those.
3. Invitation of representatives of Chambers of Commerce, of ministries and public authorities
4. Production and translation of flyer in English, German and French
5. Compilation of good practices and recommendations for projects on mentoring
6. participation in many internal and official meetings . The most high ranking one took place at the New Year’s Reception in 2019 of the wife of the Federal German President in Berlin. Her office asked for more information on MYDI.
7. Input in preparation of follow-up project – accepted by the Italian Erasmus+ agency
8. Input in the discussion of a European Recommendation on intergenerational cooperation
9. Contacts with European Parliament, in particular MEP Manfred Weber, on the recognition of Senior work

Results /Impact
200 students in Helsinki Vocational College mentored according to the VerA model.
Mentoring following the VerA model starts in Lyon.
Mentoring introduced in the Luxemburg Senior Expert Service – not even a project partner but invited as a member of CESES to 2 meetings
Mentoring following the VerA model in other cities in France, Italy and Spain.
Recommendations on mentoring for third parties.
Possible extension of MYDI activities to Central Europe
In put in European Union recommendations

Long term benefits
Even closer and smoother cooperation among the French, German, Italian, Austrian, Finish and Belgian Senior Expert organizations in the Confederation of Senior Expert Organizations – CESES – which is reflected, among others, in the running of a common platform for experts existing beyond the MYDI project.
The three French partners stressed that their collaboration had much improved through the project.
Connectivity between Germany and France in the field of vocational training.
Higher awareness for the benefits of European Cooperation among but also within the partner organizations. Reports on MYDI and Follow-up have for example become a regular point on the agenda of Senior Experts‘ meetings in SES.
Comenius University sharpened partners’ awareness about the need to establish Senior Expert Organizations in Central and Eastern Europe. A seminar on the German-Polish cooperation based on MYDI experiences is presently planned in Görlitz, Eastern Germany.
If integrated in European Recommendations recognition of ther benefit of Senior work

Quotes from partners and stakeholders
“ Through the comprehensive explication of the different collaborators from the VerA initiative in Bonn and through the presentation of VerA by our own volunteers in Paris we became so convinced of the model that all three French partner organizations together started a pilot on VerA in Lyon in fall 2018.” OTECI
“the cooperation between our 3 French partners has improved through the common effort in the MYDI project OTECI, AGIR, ECTI”
“MYDI contributes to the connectivity of German French cooperation in the sector of vocational training” German Federal Ministry of Education and Research“
“The mentoring of Seniors for trainees who have difficulties is a great asset to our work” Chamber of Commerce Bonn, responsible Head of Training

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 130506,92 Eur

Project Coordinator

Senior Experten Service & Country: DE

Project Partners

• ECHANGES ET CONSULTATIONS TECHNIQUES INTERNATIONALES
• ASEP Austrian Senior Experts Pool
• Nestor Partners ry
• Helsingin kaupunki
• ASSOCIATION GENERALE DES INTERVENANTS RETRAITES AGIRABCD
• The Confederation of European Senior Expert Service
• Exchange vzw