The project idea is to offer to 50s+ jobseekers (unemployed and/or dismissed), so-called “silver workers” the re-integration into the job market by mainly transforming their hobbies and other interests into start up’s. Recently, middle-aged workers have suddenly found themselves out of work, forced after years and perhaps decades to reinvent a new professional and a new life. The basic objective of this project is therefore to improve the knowledge, skills, competences and working tools, to make silver workers able to give birth to a new business, putting into practice their creativity, their ideas and their hobbies . The project aims to: - Improve educational offer promoting the most appropriate and effective education devoted to over 50s, especially low skilled, jobseekers, in line with the priority “Fostering access to continuing VET, including groups at risk” - Promote and enhance a new labor market and create new jobs and tasks, much more up to date with the needs and trends of contemporary society and of labor market, wth the aim to increase labour market relevance of VET; - Comply with the Horizontal priority " Developing basic and transversal skills using innovative methods"; The project consists of three main pahses: During the first phase the consortiumwill conduct a preliminary study and surveys to develop policy recommendations and provide the basis for the respondence of project results to the real needs of the targte group. In the second phase the training system will be developed, with a modular approach, which will make “silver-workers” able to develop skills and competences for coping with their job loss and for developing their own start up businesses. Further, target groups will benefit from a platform, useful for them in order to: keep on using training materials on e-learning mode; settle their own start up, access mentoring services by experts/executives; develop networks and potential deals with other expert entrepreneurs. The Target Groups will potentially be able, as a final result, to develop entrepreneurial and enterprising skills and competences in order to set-up their own start-up companies thanks to the coaching, mentoring and training about entrepreneurship, as well as by exercising on real cases. During the third phase, the beneficiaries involved in the project will also test and evaluate the results, contributing to the fine-tuning and final release of the training system. It is envisaged the direct involvement of at least 30 silver workers per country in training and evaluaitona activities, selected through a contest open to 50+ citizens interested in developing new entrepreneurship initiatives. Besides this, the consortium intends to involve at least 100 representaives of the target group thanks to distant learning acvtivities, communication and dissemination. Also, the partners will be engaged in the mapping of stakeholders potentially interested in exploiting the results, so to develop 5 national European databases, including 200 organisations each (more than 1000 in total). This stakeholders will be addressed by implementing a tailored stargey for dissemination and exploitation, aiming to favour the use of the results on a large scale from the local to the European level. The partnership is very well stocked with a good combination and complementarity of skills from the type of entities involved (trade unions , networks, universities , NGOs, experts in vocational training institutions and institutional capacity ) to ensure a correct interpretation of market employment and training needs today. The consortium includes organisations from 5 EU countries: Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, UK. Results expected for both the short and the long term are: - Cope with" professional obsolescence " by introducing a mechanism that helps the 50+ workers detach from obsolete models and tasks are no longer adapted to the needs of the contemporary market, to " reinvent " new ways of working based on the spirit personal initiative; - Development of opportunities hidden in a labor market and / or tasks hitherto non-existent or insufficiently clear, through a platform of networking opportunities and an area dedicated - An alignment with the professional skills necessary to integrate into new professions to date compared to contemporary trends; - Development of skills and ability to self - entrepreneurial, thanks not only to training but also offer guided through the support of experienced executives. - - A strong boost in the direction of " flex -security ", thanks to the triggering of a mechanism of stimulation of entrepreneurship for TGs involved, driven to find their own path.
The basic project idea was to offer 50+ unemployed, the so-called "silver workers", the opportunity to reintegrate into the labour market, transforming their skills, interests and hobbies into business ideas. The identified target considers the condition in which many middle-aged workers find themselves experiencing the sudden exit from the labor market, and finding themselves forced to look for a job position after years - and maybe decades -, or to reinvent for themselves a new professional and a new life. The fundamental objective of this project was to improve knowledge, skills, attitudes and work tools, available to over 50 unemployed or dismissed from occupation, providing them with training and networking tools able to give birth to a new life-path and any self-employed entrepreneurial work, putting into practice their creativity, their ideas, interests or hobbies. The project therefore aimed at: - Improving the provision of a more adequate, effective and more complete training supply for over 50 adults, especially those "low skilled", in line with the VET priority of including at-risk groups in continuing training courses and more in line with the needs of the labor market; - Aligning with the Horizontal priority "to develop basic and transversal skills, such as entrepreneurship, digital skills and multilingualism, using innovative pedagogical approaches focused on learners and developing appropriate evaluation and certification methods". In the first phase of the project a preliminary study was carried out aimed at developing recommendations for policy-makers, also functional to the second phase of development of contents and tools for the training pathway. The planned training availed itself, as planned, both of a "traditional" teaching and of a web platform, which have allowed to: use the training material in e-learning mode; lay the foundations for verifying the development of an entrepreneurial idea aimed at launching business start-ups, with the guidance of experts / managers; develop a network of contacts with potential experienced entrepreneurs through networking services. As a final result, the selected target groups have been accompanied in the development of entrepreneurial skills and competences, necessary for the development of business models and potentially to start their own start-up, thanks to mentoring and training received. The beneficiaries involved in the project were able to test and evaluate the results of their training in the third phase in order to verify the applicative potential of some business ideas developed or matured - at different levels - within the pilot trainings conducted in the different partner countries. The Pilot experiences have seen the direct involvement (blended and/or online training and evaluation) of about 140 participants differently in Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK. Participants were chosen through a public call open for over adults 50s interested in renewing their skills, reinventing a profession and acquiring entrepreneurial skills. The initial target of 30 participants in the 4 partner countries, also thanks to the autonomous accessibility of the online training pathway, has so far been surpassed thanks to visibility, communication and distance learning activities. In the development of the project, the partnership has managed a mapping of stakeholders at national level in the countries involved and at European level thanks to partner networks, in order to identify the organizations potentially interested in exploiting the project products and define a strategy aimed at promoting the 50+ adult training system, also guaranteeing various demonstration activities within the Multiplier Events implemented, to which these indirect targets have also taken part: VET, labour market, business representatives and political decision-makers. The partnership resulted very well matched, with a good combination and complementarity of expertise starting from the type of entities involved (trade unions, networks, universities, NGOs, VET experts and institutions), of 5 European countries: Italy, Spain , Belgium, UK, Portugal. In terms of results, the SILVER WORKERS Project has allowed: - to face "professional obsolescence" by introducing a winning mechanism to help the over 50-year-old worker to "reinvent" new work methods based on personal initiative - to develop hidden opportunities through a dedicated networking platform - to develop basic and transversal skills, as well as self-entrepreneurial skills, thanks to the training offered, but also thanks to the guided support of expert managers - to decrease the digital divide thanks to easily usable e-learning training materials.