YOU. A.C.E.! – INNOVATING YOUTH WORK TO FOSTER YOUTH ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP, (SOCIAL) ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND (SELF-)EMPLOYABILITY Erasmus Project

Project Title

YOU. A.C.E.! – INNOVATING YOUTH WORK TO FOSTER YOUTH ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP,
(SOCIAL) ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND (SELF-)EMPLOYABILITY

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: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

The background is a social and economic context in which youth unemployment reached dramatic levels: above all in Greece, where it reaches the maximum level in Europe and Calabria, where it is at 65,1%, the second highest in Europe (Eurostat 2016). In which a lot of young people is not in education, not in employment or training: NEETs youth in the age 20-34 are 33% in Calabria, 8,9 in EU28, 32,4% in Greece and 31,6% in Italy and is suffering few opportunities from several points of view.
The overall aim of the project is to contribute to give our target group of young people a new hope, new tools and a new chance to improve their personal and social conditions and those of their communities. Specific objectives are to foster their knowledge, basic and transversal skills competences and attitudes towards the following values, by using non fornal education methodologies, tools and practices:
a. social entrepreneurship and sense of initiative in the social field
b. entrepreneurship, (self-)employability and new business creation
c. active citizenship and social inclusion.
And, from the other side, to equip youth organisations and workers to better answer and address to young people, to update and improve the knowledge, skills, competences of youth workers and to support the capacity building of youth organisations to reach this goal by using non fornal education methodologies, tools and practices.

There are two different – but strictly complementary – target groups, both living in the participating Countries. From one side:
• youth workers
• youth trainers
• practitioners, experts, specialists, professionals and any staff active in youth education.

From the other side, disadvantaged 18-34 years old young people who are/have:
• NEETs
• newly arrived immigrants/asylum seekers/refugees
• early school leavers
• a migrant background
• marginalised or at risk of marginalisation/social exclusion
• geographical or other kind of fewer opporunities.

All our objectives will be achieved through the following three intellectual outputs and one blended mobility:
• O1: the youth entrepreneurship e-learning platform “E.Y.E LEARN.”, an OER composed by different tools, including a video-library
• O2: a significant study and analysis of the social and educational profile, learning style, needs and attitudes of target young people
• O3: a new and innovative curriculum and training course, to be tested also through the activity C1.

This project wants to address the following urgent problems that need to be solved, expressed by both target groups.
As for young people:
• unemployment
• percentage of NEETs
• increasing marginalisation and social exclusion
• dissatisfaction and frustration
• low level of education and of key and transversal competences and skills
• fewer educational and job opportunities, because of living in rural or peripherical areas (Eurostat)
• few stable and well paid job vacancies available
• scarce counselling and support services
• scarce level of entrepreneurship and new business creation
• low participation in the labour market
• low level of active citizenship
• scarce level of equity, social inclusion and solidarity
• their needs are not always well understood and interpreted
• their learning style is not always satisfied by the educational learning offer

As for youth workers and organisations:
• low involvement of NFE methodologies and tools in fostering entrepreneurship and new business creation
• low presence of ICT methodologies and tools and of OERs in NFE and youth organisations
• not updated knowledge, skills and competences of youth workers
• not updated understanding of the real needs, attitudes and learning style of target young people
• scarce recognition at local level of NFE and of the role of youth workers and organisations as support structures for young people
• low innovation and relevance of the learning offer in the youth work
• weak links and cooperation between youth field and labour market
• low international dimension of youth activities
• scarce cooperation between youth organisations at international level
• scarce commitment of local authorities in the field of youth.

From the organisational point of view, the applied methodology was based on the following:
• each partner will carry out the same activities and tasks, including those related to the “Project Management and Implementation”, at level of its Country and scope
• the Leading Organisation of each IO (always different) will have the responsibility of:
– coordination and management of all partners, phases and tasks
– definition of the detailed working agenda
– monitoring and evaluation of each phase.
• in addition to all activities and tasks as the other partners, the coordinator Enjoy Italy has the responsibility of the management, monitoring and evaluation of the whole project
• WLB coorindated the Dissemination and Commun. Strategic Plan.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 194854,75 Eur

Project Coordinator

GARIANO ALESSANDRO & Country: IT

Project Partners

• JAUNIMO VERSLUMO SKATINIMO ASOCIACIJA
• UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH
• INSTITUTE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT
• Wyzsza Szkola Bankowa w Toruniu