Erasmus+ KA205: SOCIAL ENTREPRISES CALLING YOUNG PEOPLE FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS OF COMMUNITIES
The economic and social crisis in Europe has revealed two major problems: the growing number of unemployed young people and the worsening social problems in the community related to the social integration of disadvantaged groups.
The project seeks to find an innovative solution to these two problems: one is to develop young people’s entrepreneurial skills in the social field.
Studies show that in Europe, nearly 6 million people under the age of 25 are unemployed and 7.5 million are not attending any education or training program. In this context, Impact 2020 promoted two actions to be followed by the project’s partner countries:
- Conduct research on the role of local public authorities and the social problems of young people in the community.
- The application of questionnaires to young people in the communities involved in the project to determine the degree of participation in problem solving.
The questionnaire, which was administered to these partner organizations, shows that young people between the ages of 16 and 21 represent the group most at risk of poverty compared to other age groups.
The survey, conducted among 600 young people from partner communities, aged between 16 and 21, revealed that 78% of them are unfamiliar with social entrepreneurship, and 62% are unfamiliar with experiential learning methods and tools, not formal methods. More than 96% want to actively engage in community problem-solving, and 69% have expressed skepticism about the attitude of local authorities toward their proposed solutions.
The needs of young people are:
- Develop self-confidence and redefine your role within your own community by sharing best practices with other young people.
- To involve local authorities and the business community in youth projects
- To maximize employment potential or develop your own business
- To improve teamwork, interpersonal communication skills and communication using an international language
- To improve business knowledge and skills, for professional development.
At the local community level, the following are needed:
- Sharing the potential of young people in developing sustainable communities
- Raising the social awareness of the public and local entities about community problems and ways to solve them
- Increase confidence in the potential of young people within communities by capitalizing on their initiative
- Changing the mindset and attitude of community members to solve real community problems
- Increased interest from local authorities in investing in human resources to attract young people to the workforce, limit social discord, and promote the integration of disadvantaged groups into the community.
For the project target group, the following training needs have been identified:
- The motivation to actively engage in social cohesion or sustainable development projects
- Exchange of best practices and experiences with other young people in Europe on the topic of social cohesion
- The development of professional competencies and practical skills in the field of social entrepreneurship
- Create appropriate frameworks for meeting young people from different backgrounds to build social initiatives in solidarity and cohesion.
- Develop transversal skills (ICT, communication, entrepreneurship)
- Develop experiential learning opportunities using non-formal methods.
The project aims to develop the capacity of young people and youth workers to develop and implement social entrepreneurship projects through experiential learning.
The specific objectives to be achieved throughout the implementation project are:
- Achieving project development skills in social entrepreneurship for 24 youth workers through experiential learning.
- Development of knowledge, skills, and competencies in social entrepreneurship, with an open attitude toward experiential learning for 144 young workers.
- Promoting social initiative and responsibility within communities among 144 young people through non-formal methods.
- Participation of six local entities in working with 144 young people to identify and resolve social problems in their communities.
- Development and implementation of a social entrepreneurship project involving young people from different parts of Europe and the local community.
- Development of social enterprise incubators in different social and economic contexts.
The project aims to develop the capacity of young people and youth workers to develop and implement social entrepreneurship projects through experiential learning.
The specific objectives to be achieved throughout the implementation project are:
- Achieving project development skills in social entrepreneurship for 24 youth workers through experiential learning.
- Development of knowledge, skills, and competencies in social entrepreneurship, with an open attitude toward experiential learning for 144 young workers.
- Promoting social initiative and responsibility within communities among 144 young people through non-formal methods.
- Participation of six local entities in working with 144 young people to identify and resolve social problems in their communities.
- Development and implementation of a social entrepreneurship project involving young people from different parts of Europe and the local community.
- Development of social enterprise incubators in different social and economic contexts.
