The Young Service Steward (YSS) focuses on two areas: 

  • Support to unemployed youth by a 360° competence upgrade in a blend of digital skills, life skills, counselling and employment in a flexible delivery system, and
  • Establishment of local employment agreements among the key stakeholder of PES/public/private activation to enforce the 360° competence upgrade. 

YSS aims to prevent the growing competence gap between activation programs and the digital and soft skills needs of the labour market and to mature employment within welfare and environmental services. With the 360° NEET competence upgrade we aim to widen the employment and vocational possibilities for the NEET group. The outputs of the program will come as tools to improve digital skills training, life skills training, counselling, mapping tool and an innovative Impact Prospect to show how the NEET youth can become a part of the solution, and not the problem of weak local communities. The target group is the unemployed youth of both genders with diverse challenges in 12 different locations in four countries, with a special focus on youth with social and mental challenges and long-term unemployment.

The project will reach out also to activation programs (EU-wide), which can benefit from tools, methods and cases developed within YSS. Tackling the challenge of high youth unemployment requires innovative solutions and shared values as we are facing the same global challenges. 

Summary of bilateral results

Having a donor project partner, such as Prios Kompetanse from Norway, played a crucial role in the success of the project. While not directly involved in on-the-ground implementation, Prios as an expertise partner provided expertise and professional support throughout the project lifecycle. They closely followed the project's progress, offering advice, signing potential challenges, and doing professional development tasks. Prios actively participated in preparing for local implementation, conducting workshops on stakeholder engagement, supporting the development of impact prospects, and providing developed a Mapping tool to be used to support the NEET participants.

One of the significant contributions from Prios was the development and provision of training materials, including the "train the trainer" content, which helped ensure the quality and effectiveness of the digital competence and life skills development program. Their involvement extended to taking over tasks related to digital competence program development following the departure of another partner, ACEFIR. Additionally, Prios conducted the project evaluation, leveraging their deep understanding of the project gained through their role as an expert partner.

Prios in-depth understanding of the project's goals and processes, coupled with cultural insights gained from visits to each partner, facilitated smoother collaboration and enhanced project outcomes. The partnership has demonstrated its value in improving project outcomes and fostering transnational cooperation, making it a valuable asset for ongoing and future endeavors

Project details

Project info
Period
2014-2021
Project Website
https://yssproject.eu/the-project/
Approval date
Grant financing
1240618.00€
Final project cost
1384939.22€

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