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Description
The project determined that the Outdoor Learning model can activate to advance their life and professional skills to become confident and active citizens. We address the main challenge of youth who are disengaged in education, training or employment, by providing a stimulating and innovative means for them to recognize their strengths/talents, strengthen soft skills, build self-esteem/self-awareness and fortify attitudes for employment.
The programme will engage 990 NEETs in Warmia-Masuria (Poland), Cantabria (Spain) and Mid West Region (Ireland) by transferring the experience from the University of Edinburgh’s “Model for social and personal growth through Outdoor Learning” to the target countries.
Through the programme participants will recognize talents, strengthen soft skills, build self-esteem and fortify attitudes for employment. NEETs will then build their professional career paths, learn about labour changes and prepare for job seeking. Finally, we will provide job-matching through outreach to employers’ organisations, promotion, mentoring and trail employment.
To date, more than 15 events were organised with around 2,000 participants. Outdoor Learning method has attracted interest of Spanish and Polish governments for further dissemination – 2 new Outdoor Learning Centers are planned to be open in 2022 in Poland and Spain.
Summary of project results
Youth unemployment is a major issue in many EU countries. Traditional ways of learning and training are insufficient in reaching and empowering youth to develop the transversal competencies that are required to successfully navigate the challenges of the future, including employment in these uncertain times. Most importantly it is a challenge to maintain young people’ attention and genuine involvement. FOLM (From Outdoors to Labour Market) project led by the Center for Innovative Education used a successful model of outdoor learning – OL developed and refined over many years in Scotland, UK. OL was enhanced by coaching and mentoring and implemented in the participating FOLM regions in Poland, Ireland and Spain.
Thanks to the OL, Coaching and Mentoring phases, a significant contribution has been made to improving the employment situation in the EU regions:
990 participants went through the outdoor learning, out of which 819 finished all 3 phases of OL, Coaching and Mentoring, which equals to 83%! Of these completers:
- 51% = 418 participants went back to education
- 32% = 260 participants became employed
- 9% = 76 participants are in active job search
- 6% = 49 participants undertook training/apprenticeship, and
- 2% = 14 participants are in travel.
These great results derive from three-phase programme, with an outdoor learning phase of several days’ duration as key component. Participants received thematic group and individual training/support sessions to develop transformative competencies and employability skills. The outdoors setting created a safe space to enable participants to engage in learning and self-development in a much more meaningful way away from civilization and destructions such as Internet or mobile phones. Thanks to this wilderness setting, they could focus on themselves. The benefits for wellbeing, a positive sense of self-worth, an increased sense of agency, problem-solving skills and other transferrable skills have a long lasting and positive impact on their lives. FOLM enabled its participants to lead a more independent, healthy, satisfied lifestyle, which is beneficial for themselves as well as society and the economy, particularly when considering the longer-term impact.
FOLM was implemented by 7 partners, but with invaluable work of over 100 trained trainers, coaches and mentors and over 1.000 NGOs and other institutions which helped in recruitment, communication, employment offers and dissemination of FOLM results.