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Description
Many of the Mediterranean EEA regions, in addition to youth unemployment, face insularity-related pressures and refugee crisis. That problem needs transnational cooperation in research and in empirically-grounded solutions based on innovation and know-how transfer. Our project aims at reducing youth unemployment in coastal and island regions of Mediterranean EEA by advancing young NEETs skills in trans-locally resilient agri-food production, in social and sharing economies and in IT and web-based tools. The direct target groups are inactive low-skilled women and refugees/ asylum seekers/ migrants between 25 and 29 years old. The end beneficiaries are regional-scale non-traditional actors, supporting youth employability
Boosting the potential of NEETs in those sectors is expected to reduce economic disparities in the target areas. The project will deliver a transnational Research Network and an Employment Centre with branches in four Mediterranean countries, leading to an informed institutional engagement for NEETs. Tailor-made analysis allows for special counselling to NEETs, training on niche sectors, job matching and work-based training on social entrepreneurship will enhance NEETs'' employability. Start-up empowerment supported by a sharing platform will further boost entrepreneurship..
The project’s transnational approach that builds on path-dependent Mediterranean linkages will engraft the traditional cooperation with shared international experience, tools, best practices, social economy start-ups and platforms, leading to a transnational bottom-up, sharing-based, upgrade of the NEETs'' skills with the purpose of enhancing their employability.
In addition to the inference of best practices as a policies'' toolbox, the successful implementation and scalability of the project will be measured through an integrated methodology of evaluation and replication of its main results.
Summary of project results
The original aim of YOUTHShare was to provide new knowledge and applied solutions and/or tools that address youth unemployment and inactivity in a spatially sensitive way
During the implementation of the project (late 2018 to early 2024), the project: (i) provided training in locally resilient sectors (especially agri-food and IT) to a large number of young NEETs from disadvantaged groups (especially inactive, low-skilled women, migrants, but also men); (ii) improved the employment situation of those trained/re-skilled, but also of other young people outreached by our four mentors (Key Account Managers). All this was done in a transferable way by improving the knowledge and skills of these people and by connecting them with social enterprises and with the support of innovative peer2peer platforms linked to niche markets, and iii) building long-term engagement in the labour market by involving different, mostly non-traditional actors.
In order to successfully achieve the above objectives, two key ''resources'' that were created from the very first moment the project started: the new knowledge gained through innovative research and the solid support from the pioneering Transnational Employment Centres.
Overall, and in relation to the situation of young disadvantaged people in the focus regions, project has contributed to a relative improvement in the labour market situation of a significant number of young people, many of them aged between 25and 29. Through the knowledge gained, project partners also contributed to a better understanding of the reasons that drive NEET rates up (or down).
In doing all the above, project partners have trained new researchers in this field and also published several scientific publications.
The vast majority of the project results, including the academic results as well as its unique Youth Employment Monitoring tool that provides updated data for youth employment and NEET (rates) across EU regions, can be found at project''s website: https://www.youthshare-project.org/
Summary of bilateral results
According to the Norwegian Partner FAFO, having a bilateral partner was an essential part of the project’s implementation, as the partner provided important knowledge and expertise, and consisted of advanced youth employment supportive structures and institutions (Norway). The importance of having a donor project partner was significant and its influence on the project''s structure and outcomes is acknowledged. Due to the donor partner the project expanded its duration to a total of 42 months, giving the project the opportunity to achieve more of its aims and capitalize the outputs and values of it. Specifically, it allowed the project to provide further research and analysis by expanding the Transnational Research Centre, widen the scope of the Transnational Employment Centre by including new target groups and new activities, and develop the Sharing Economy e-platform with expanded tools and possibilities.The main results of the project, as a result of bilateral collaboration achieved quantifiable targets, and consist of some very crucial and beneficial outcomes such as the production of Training Material (Training Sessions, Manuals and Handbooks) and Platforms (The Youth Employment Monitor, and the Join2share platform that consists of the E-learning platform, E-mentoring tool, and Workspaces platform), the Transnational Employment Centers and the Transnational Research Networks across Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Spain. This collaboration ended up navigating various challenges, and achieving commendable successes in addressing youth unemployment and NEETs, especially in Mediterranean insular regions.The bilateral collaboration continues, as the University of the Aegean is already collaborating with FAFO in the context of a project funded by the Norwegian Research Council.