TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Biljana Vasilevska Trajkoska
Employability united! - an international meeting of young people, youth organizations/youth workers, local authorities and business sector representatives with a strong networking dimension on supporting young people in gaining autonomy and accessing employment held at European Youth Centre in Strasbourg, France 19 – 24 January 2015.
Aim: To promote and support access to employment and autonomy for young people by training and networking among young people, youth organizations/youth workers, local authorities and business sector representatives.
Objectives:
• To familiarize participants with the specific aspects of gaining autonomy for young people;
• To discuss and share attitudes, knowledge and experience related to employment and employment trends in Europe affecting young people;
• To familiarize participants with practices, policies and systems that support access to employment for young people in different local realities;
• To discuss and reflect on knowledge, skills and support measures that youth workers, local authorities, business sector representatives need to be competent in, so as to support young people in gaining autonomy and accessing employment;
• To give opportunity for cooperation and networking between young people, youth workers, local authorities, business sector representatives in order to support young people in gaining autonomy and accessing employment;
• To create concrete follow up activities at local and international level for supporting young people in gaining autonomy and accessing employment.
The meeting gathered 38 participants coming form 18 CoE member states, representing 4 different stakeholders: young people, youth workers, local authorities and business sector representatives aiming to promote and support access to employment and autonomy for young people.
The team included 4 trainers with different nationalities and an educational adviser assigned by the CoE YD.
Methods from Compass manual of human rights education, methods form Salto. ENTER Dignityland game ... (Treasure hunt, simulation - create your social enterprise, buzz groups, working in groups, role play... )
Participants deepened their knowledge on:
• specific aspects of gaining autonomy for young people:
o understanding autonomy and the transition to autonomy
o key elements in the transition period
o challenges that young people face in their transition to autonomy
o the link between autonomy and social rights and the importance of access to social rights for successful transition to autonomy.
• different national policy responses to challenges that young people face in their transition to autonomy in different realities
o priority areas of youth policies in different places of Europe
o ways and means used by youth policy to support transition.
• the right and the access to employment as one of the key points in transition to autonomy
o current situation with employment and employment trends in Europe affecting young people and different practices, policies and systems that support access to employment for young people in different local realities
o what are the obstacles that young people face today in accessing employment
o what are the means and ways that authorities, youth organisations and the business sector undertake to help young people in accessing employment
o good practices on fighting unemployment in the European countries.
• The concept and good practices of social enterprises, social cooperative as models of poverty reduction in the European context.
Participants reflected on the: knowledge, skills and support measures that youth workers, local authorities, business sector representatives need to develop, so as to support young people in gaining autonomy and accessing employment.
Participants recommended:
• what can each stakeholder do to support young people in accessing employment and transiting to autonomy
• what the Council of Europe can do in the future related to the Recommendations on access to social rights of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
Participants cooperated and created partnerships in order support young people in gaining autonomy and accessing employment.
Participants created concrete follow up activities at local and international level for supporting young people in gaining autonomy and accessing employment.
The participants ended up feeling enthusiastic, optimistic and motivated to cooperate and undertake future activities that can support young people in accessing employment and autonomy.
The meeting had a great impact on the organisation (the network) itself. It provided the opportunity to create partnerships with new organisations and individuals, to integrate new people and organisations in our organisation, helped improving our visibility and in making very important decisions on our growth and functioning – becoming a legal entity. It provided the opportunity to work towards the realisation of our working plan, aim and objectives, to support the improvement of access to social rights for young people. All in all the meeting had very important long term impact on the organisational development and management, the management of human resources in the network (sharing responsibilities), team building, capacity building, strategic planning and transparency and visibility and promoted the core values of the network itself.
Course Director
→ Planning, organizing and implementing the activity
→ Dealing with EYC's administration
→ Work in collaboration with the educational advisor of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe