EVS Competences for Employability Research & Symposium

"EVS Competences for Employability" research report!

"EVS Competences for Employability" symposium report!

Date & venue

• 12-15 May 2014, 3 working days
• Symposium took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Outline of the project

The project aims to look into competences that EVS volunteers have gained in their EVS projects and their relevance for future employability and employment prospects.

It will include several steps:

1. Research

a. Desk research: to check what is already there, what has been done (European Youth Forum research on youth work & employability), to use data available from RAY (as some participating NAs are involved in this process).

b. EVS focus groups: only for non – RAY countries and SALTO SEE

c. Online survey among different stakeholders (exEVS volunteers, EVS organisations  and  employers) should, together with already existing information, create the basis for understanding which competences developed during their EVS, are of particular relevance for finding work.

2. Small-scale national or regional meetings with relevant stakeholders involved, in EVS and the employment sector, should discuss the findings made in the survey, as well as other available relevant data.

3. An international symposium bringing together stakeholders from various European countries, in particular those involved as partners in this project, will compare and discuss national / regional findings, offer opportunites for peer-learning and presentation of best practice examples, and define conclusions and/or recommendations for potential follow up of this process at European and/or national levels.

4. Report/practical tool

Aim & objectives of the symposium

The international symposium will offer an opportunity for participants to exchange on the results of the national surveys and meetings. Moreover, it aims to improve understanding between the employment and youth sectors, specifically with regard to competences developed through non-formal learning within EVS projects. The symposium will also be an opportunity to identify future needs and initiatives in this priority area.
 
The objectives of the international symposium are:
•    to present and discuss the results of the surveys;
•    to present and further work on the outcomes of the national meetings and to deepen awareness by conducting an ‘on-the-spot comparative analysis’ of the findings presented at national level;
•    to share success stories or testimonies of ex-EVS volunteers with regard to entrepreneurship and/or employability;
•    to explore and discuss the topic of inclusion from the employers perspective;
•    to link the project to recognition processes of non-formal learning with a particular focus on inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities;  
•    to work on recommendations/proposals/strategies for concrete follow-up.

Project timeline

• Preparation meetings: 28-30 January 2013, Brussels, 23 September & 12 December 2013, February 2014
• Survey among defined target groups: autumn 2013
• National/regional stakeholder meetings: winter 2013/spring 2014
• Feed back of results to expert team and preparation of symposium: spring 2014

Participants

The symposium will bring together 35 - 40 participants, amongst which:

• Ex-EVS volunteers, from countries involved in research
• EVS promoters (from Host and Sending organisations, short & long term, Ex-EVS associations)
• Stakeholders involved in the employment field (employers, job offices, private sector, career guidance service, networks chambers of commerce)
• National Agencies
• Selected experts and institutions with relevant experience in the field.

Team

The "EVS Competences for Employability" Seminar is organized jointly by the National Agencies of the UK, Slovenia, Poland, France, Hungary, Belgium-Flanders, Slovak Republic and Malta and the SALTO SEE and SALTO Inclusion Resource Centres. In the framework of this project, SALTO SEE covers Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The organising team is composed of:

• 1 researcher (Özgehan Senyuva, Turkey),
• 2 facilitators (Darko Markovic, Serbia & Gisele Evrard, Belgium),
• SALTO and National Agency staff.

Contact

For more information about the project, please contact:

Tinkara Bizjak Zupanc,
Zavod MOVIT

 

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