Social Entrepreneurship for Youth in Europe Erasmus Project

Project Title

Social Entrepreneurship for Youth in 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 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Romas and/or other minorities; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment

Project Summary

The main objective that we wanted to achieve with the project is to offer an alternative to youth unemployment in their local communities through social entrepreneurship.
Job insecurity in Europe affects especially young people of ethnic minorities, determining their greater vulnerability, as the most affected group. The main factors are, on the one hand, their educational level, to the extent that the crisis has affected the employment of young people with intermediate-low educational levels. To this is added a high temporality in employment, the presence of a significant, although indeterminate, volume of young people in the underground economy, low salaries, or the ignorance and fear that citizens have of Roma, immigrant or refugee groups. which must fight against stereotypes and preconceptions when it comes to finding a decent job.
The project is aimed at unemployed young people, from 18 to 30 years old, from ethnic minorities, who do not find their first job, and seek to enter the labor market in the best conditions. This group is the one that has experienced a more rapid and intense loss of employment and also has a lower level of social protection coverage, associated with its greater degree of job insecurity.
The objectives that we had set and in which we have worked are:
-To promote the active participation of young people with problems of integration in project activities using non-formal education methods.
-Develop initiative, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of young people, as a solution to the problems of youth unemployment.
-Increase the debate, discussion and activities related to youth, of relevance to local communities involved.
-Design of business plans for future young entrepreneurs.
-Develop the entrepreneurial spirit of young people, and improve systems of information and advice that are provided in their local communities.

The project involved young people between 18 and 30 years of age from the local communities of the participating partners, most of them in situations of unemployment and difficulties in accessing it. The activities that have been carried out are:
-Coordination, evaluation and monitoring. Online coordination meetings have been held between the partners to establish the training methodology, as well as the steps to follow.
-3 transnational events for youth and youth workers. The first one in Novo Mesto, (Slovenia), the second in Rotterdam (Holland) and the Third one in Andújar (Spain). The first meeting has served above all to exchange experiences between technicians and youth workers. The second to develop and improve the methodology of workshops and training in social entrepreneurship, as well as the development of business plans, as well as learning about local entrepreneurial experiences. In the final meeting we had the opportunity to meet and discuss the business plans of the young people, as well as visit in Seville, (Andalusia) some of the best experiences in the field of social entrepreneurship.

– Local workshops for young people in charge of each partner. In total 100 young people have participated in these training sessions to learn about the operation of social entrepreneurship and develop their business plans to start their own work activity.

-Edition of a website, https://yse-project.eu/ and social networks to disseminate regional information on educational and employment opportunities, resources in each community and pedagogical material, as well as the activities and results of the project and business plans of the participants

-Edition of an electronic manual that helps trainers and youth technicians to improve informative and guidance systems for vulnerable youths.
As a final result, 100 business plans have been achieved, that is, 100 ideas of social enterprises to start creating jobs, focused on the social economy by young people in the five countries.
More than 30 workers and youth technicians have received updated training on employment guidance in social economy for young people, with tools to successfully access the labor market. There have been presentations and training meetings, as well as dissemination to the press and social networks, which has allowed us to actively involved in each community all the groups of interest in the field of youth, education, etc.

We have reached more than 800 young people, reinforcing the youth structures and improving the labor and educational orientation in the field of social entrepreneurship and involving all the educational and employment agents of each community in the process, creating a network of contacts that will work for youth insertion, in the social sector.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 53405 Eur

Project Coordinator

Ayuntamiento de Andújar & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Lava Legato
• AIRO – Associação Empresarial da região Oeste
• INSTITUTE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
• DRUSTVO ZA RAZVIJANJE PROSTOVOLJNEGA DELA NOVO MESTO