Search 4 YOUth!

Search 4 YOUth! is the initiative of ZURY Association from Timisoara, Romania whose main aim is to support youngsters from the local community to get access to certain information and resources in terms of voluntary actions as well as to promote non-formal and informal education through the organization of activities/clubs that could raise the level of competences and abilities of local youngsters in different field and will help them in the transition from school to active life. The project focuses on the themes of youth information, sustainable development, lifelong learning and labor market issues including carrier guidance for young people/youth unemployment and tries to back up EU efforts for achieving the objectives in terms of employability up to 40%, within the strategy Europe 2020.

The project will support the cooperation within the civil society in terms of establishing connections between young people interested, organizations and institutions through a web platform with current opportunities available that support the integration of young people easily within the labor market by offering them the chance to get involved in voluntary activities or experiences that can help them acquiring life skills. The project will raise the awareness among youngsters regarding the opportunities that they have at their disposal and the methods to access them. Besides these, the activities/clubs organized will give young people the chance to exercise some practical abilities and competences in different fields.

The objectives of the project are the following:

1. to promote and raise awareness among at least 500 young people about the opportunities that they can access in their local community during the project

2. promote non-formal education and support the employability processes of at least 100 young people by exploring their potential and develop practical abilities and competences from different fields during the project

The objectives will be achieved by the implementation of the following activities:

A. creating a web platform where the offer and demand for voluntary activities available for young people are being promoted from different local organizations, institutions, centers etc.

B. planning, organizing and implementing different non-formal activities within certain clubs such as: photography, lecturing, foreign language classes, public speaking, debate, creative activities, dance, games, sportive activities, social and cultural activities etc.

The methods and instruments that will be used during the project will be regarded from the non-formal education field. The project is expected to help young people in finding opportunities for personal and professional development as well as to connect them with the business market and other local stakeholders. The organizations and institutions will have the possibility to promote their opportunities among youth as well as young people will be able to access and be in contact with them through the web platform. The impact will be envisioned on a long term as different members of the local community will be able to access the web platform and benefit of the information that it will contain. Moreover, the young people who will take part in the non-formal activities that will be planned will get the chance to experience in practice some of their theoretical knowledge, to gain new knowledge, but especially new abilities and competences from different areas, to exercise their passions and interests and to offer them better perspectives over their future carriers or future plans of actions, to chose a liberal profession etc.

The project will involve a total number of 10 EVS volunteers and will be implemented in the local community of Timisoara from Romania during a total period of 18 months, between 1st of January 2015 and 1st of July 2016, out of which the voluntary stages will be planned as follows: 1st of April 2015 - 1st of October 2015 for 6 months for 5 EVS volunteers and 1st of October 2015 – 1st of April 2016 for 6 months for the other 5 EVS volunteers in order to assure the cultural diversity of participants as well as the continuity of the activities planned. Besides the voluntary stage, the promoting organization will foresee additional 3 months for the preparation of the voluntary stages and 3 months for the evaluation, dissemination of results and follow-up of the entire project.