Development of skills of the future among young people through problem-based learning for a more competitive Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Development of skills of the future among young people through problem-based learning for a more competitive Europe

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education

Project Summary

The idea for the project was identified by a group of young people (15-24) from the two partner organizations, on the basis of identified common problems and challenges facing youth form Bulgaria and Republic of North Macedonia: 1) Relatively high% of young people with secondary and lower education who are presently not in any form of education, training or employment, the so-called NEETs (37.5%, Bulgaria and 47% – RN Macedonia), justifying the need for opportunities for developing entrepreneurial, social and civic competences; 2) Relatively high levels of youth unemployment. According to Eurostat (2019), the youth unemployment rate in Bulgaria is significantly higher than the overall unemployment rate – 12.4% (vs. 5.3%), and in RN Macedonia it reaches 46.9%. 3) Lack of accessible trainings targeting the development of “skills of the future” that will be sought in business and in the labor market.

The project aims to develop and implement an innovative training methodology targeted at young people (15-24 years), based on the problem-based learning methods with an emphasis on young people at risk of marginalization, aiming at the development of separate groups of “skills of the future”, entrepreneurial, social and civic competences, as well as implementation of training for young people, youth workers and representatives of youth-related sectors.

The target groups comprise: 1) Young people (15-24years) incl. disadvantaged young people due to different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and / or low social status, originating from remote areas; 2) Youth workers; 3) Representatives of youth related sectors: formal education – school / university; social services; startup business and non-formal education.

Activities include:
1) Development of an innovative training methodology based on problem based learning, consisting of 5 training modules targeting the development of entrepreneurial, social and civic competences and “skills of the future”;
2) Integration of the 5 innovative training modules (along with materials, tools, manual) into an Interactive Online Based Learning Platform;
3) C1 “Training, 5 days for 20 youth workers”;
4) C2 “Blended mobility” training, 7 days / 40 young people;
5) C3 “Training, 5 days to 20 stakeholder representatives to apply the methodology”;
6) Dissemination of results.

The project envisages the implementation of proven methods of non-formal and problem-based learning and combining them and thematically upgrading them in an innovative way thus creating a new training methodology for working with young people (15-24 years) targeting the specific training needs of young people at risk of marginalization and its integration into an digital training tool.

Expected results:
1) Developed an innovative training methodology based on problem-based training for young people (15-24 years) targeting the specific training needs of young people at risk of marginalization aimed at the development of groups of skills of the future, entrepreneurial, social and civic competences, based on the good practices in the field of non-formal learning;
2) Developed an Interactive Online Based Learning Platform;
3) Developed skills of 20 youth workers from both countries to apply the 5 training modules, as well as the development of “skills of the future”, social and civic competences;
4) Developed “entrepreneurship” competence and “social and civic” competences of 40 young people (ages 15-24) from Bulgaria and the RN Macedonia, including disadvantaged young people;
5) Encouraged cross-sectoral interaction through transfer of the developed training methodology and good practices to 20 representatives of other youth related sectors: formal education – school / university; social services; business start-up and non-formal education;
6) Created a training resource for youth work.

Expected long-term results:
1) Encouraged social inclusion in both countries;
2) Promoting inattentiveness and entrepreneurship among young people from both countries through the development of a training methodology (5 training modules) targeting the skills that are expected to be to be sought in business and in the labor market in the future;
3) Development of the transversal entrepreneurship competence among young people;
4) Contribution to innovation targeting quality in youth work through the presenting the methodology to youth workers and representatives of other youth-related sectors;
5) Providing for training resources freely accessible from anywhere in Europe providing full access to the 5 training modules for young people (targeting young people at risk of marginalization), the training materials, a handbook and a digital-based training tool – an interactive online training platform.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 45830 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fondacia Bulgarska Pamet & Country: BG

Project Partners

• sdruzenie za makedonsko-balgarsko prijatelstvo