Description
The main objective of the project is to use the knowledge and experience of senior professionals to help young people acquire the skills and capabilities required by the labour market. Public vocational courses currently lack some of the key contents required for competitiveness in the labour market, and this project, to be implemented in the municipality of Amadora, will disseminate an innovative intervention methodology, bringing together mentoring, coaching and vocational education tools, drawing on the experience of those senior professionals which will act as mentors and coachers. Designed to promote the employability of young people at risk of social exclusion, the expectation is that the project will improve the relational and teamwork skills – as well as the self-confidence – of the young participants. The project will also address the need to update the teachers’ skills on the issue of employability, as well as organise seminars for sharing experiences among senior professionals, businessmen, teachers, youth and education stakeholders.
Summary of project results
Portugal has a high unemployment rate, mainly among young people and particularly those from economically, socially and culturally disadvantaged backgrounds. Young unemployment touches more severely groups with fewer resources, reinforcing their exclusion. It is therefore necessary to adopt new specific intervention models with short-term impact actions but also bringing up solutions and vision for the medium and long term, oriented for inclusion and empowerment of young people and directed towards their entry into the labour market. The curricula of the available educational and vocational courses do not include development of behavioral and relational skills and do not properly address the current determinants of employment. 50 young people have attended the full training programme and are considered as trained on entrepreneurship, out of the 65 who were involved in the project and had the support of a senior mentor. 22 senior mentors were trained in order to support the young mentees. This project of intergenerational solidarity has proved effective to transfer competences, to convey practical knowledge and senior experience to young people and to promote active ageing to senior people. It provided visible increase of knowledge, experience and skills for the senior staff, through the training of mentors, the daily challenges of interaction with young people and the sharing of experience with colleagues, teachers and employers. They are now better prepared to embrace projects of intergenerational solidarity with focus on social responsibility and civic participation (the seeds for sustainability and replication). The partnership with the Norwegian NGO Mangfold i Arbeidslivet, developed under a Bilateral Cooperation Initiative, proved to be useful to share experiences and good practices and validated the implemented methodology.
Summary of bilateral results
- Exchange of experience with entities in the Donor States. Solidified the partnership - Bilateral Initiative added further exchange of experience with entities in the Donor States. - Partner participated in the development of the project's methodology, in the development of communication tools and in the project's evaluation.