Description
To promote the employability of young people in vulnerable contexts in the Azores Islands, the project will strive to promote local responses for job creation in agriculture and craftwork, with community participation. It shall emphasise the cross training in skills for employability and entrepreneurship, as well as training for young people in a real work environment. The project includes the mapping of the territory, as regards the identification of the community’s public, private, individual or collective resources, from which local idea-sharing workshops will be held, and afterwards, a network will be constituted. The involvement of NGOs will hopefully be achieved, as well as better coordination between existing responses and the creation of new ones, such as the definition of a common brand for marketing the several products to be developed by young people.
Summary of project results
In the Azores islands there is a high rate of early school leaving (largest in the country, 34.4% in 2012) and a low rate of youth employment in rural areas (51.4% in 2012). Rates of vulnerability have increased due to the economic crisis with consequences on delinquency. Young adults from disadvantaged and rural areas have weaker relational / employability skills and are less competitive in the normal work market due also to stereotypes / prejudice. Still, interest is reported among young people to work in agriculture / farming and in traditional professions but they do not own the appropriate knowledge and skills. The project targeted young people at risk of Vila Franca do Campo e Ribeira Grande (two municipalities of S. Miguel Island). 135 vulnerable youngsters were involved in training actions leading to improved employability, 85 young people got new skills regarding entrepreneurship and 76 were subject to social inclusion actions. The main achievements reported by the project were the setting up of a network of 20 public and private entities to map and assist vulnerable young people to find jobs (thus ensuring also sustainability to the project); the creation of an employability office to promote cross-cutting competencies (personal and social) and access to job information; the design and implementation of two training methodologies, one for soft skills in general and the other on agriculture production; and the availability of two plots of land for practical/on the ground training on agriculture (thanks to the network) with positive impact on community integration of the trainees. The project has in general surpassed its initial targets although the planned creation of two insertion enterprises has not been achieved.
Summary of bilateral results