STARTUP4YOUTH

Rationale: Developing a career is a process, not just a destination. Unfortunately, not enough attention is paid to the developmental process required to engage in thoughtful, thorough career development. Many young people are confronted with substantial career and life decisions at an early age with limited opportunities for career exploration. Young people are often asked to choose specific occupational areas even though most may not continue on in the same area upon graduating. And many young people are offered only limited opportunities to explore career. Career development thus often becomes a by-product of the educational curriculum. Youth Work has a crucial role to play. The transition from school into professional life is one of the most challenging moments in life. A competitive job market requires young people to not only possess an excellent qualification but also the ability to apply their skills in the workplace, to be adaptive and to act in an entrepreneurial way. Employers feel the education systems do not instil young people with the skill-set they are looking for. According to last surveys, the skills mismatch regards important areas ranging from personal and social skills (autonomy, independence, etc.) to the ability to communicate in a foreign language, from soft skills such as working in a team to more specific abilities like managing a project. In many countries, Entrepreneurship as a career option is often a marginalised choice because the general curricula of education and training at all levels pay little attention to the knowledge, skills and attitudes involved in entrepreneurship. This is often reinforced by careers information systems that emphasise employment over self-employment. The European Commission and the EU Member States have been working together since the 1990s to develop an entrepreneurial education and training agenda in Europe. It is widely acknowledged that new companies and entrepreneurs are important for innovation, job creation and economic development in Europe. Aims: The PROJECT aims to enhance the role of Youth Work for a better career orientation for young people leading with a great emphasis on the promotion of entrepreneurial mindset. More specifically, the project aims: • to map out the role of career guidance in supporting entrepreneurship learning in Youth Work • to identify the career orientation tools-methods available to develop the career management skills of aspiring and novice entrepreneurs. • to design and offer a professional development programme for Youth Workers in order to upgrade the services provided to Young people for a better career orientation towards entrepreneurship routes • to create the SUMMER ENTREPEURSHIP CLUBS based on the creation of synergies between NGOs, Youth Centres, labour market, SMEs, schools, etc. in order to support the work-based learning opportunities to be offered to young people, as well as real life opportunities. • to create the on-line STARTUP4YOUTH PORTAL where a selection to tools, resources, material related to the project will be collected, uploaded and reviewed.