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How to: Hobby to Business

2020-2-MK01-KA105-0779622020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: MK|TR|RO|AT|AL · Grant: €12,901
Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemploymentSocial entrepreneurship / social innovationEntrepreneurial learning - entrepreneurship education

Objectives

In recent years, youth employment has become an increasingly important topic as it is gaining significant importance on national and global development agendas. This in general is not surprising given that the job crisis has increased the vulnerability of young people, which in turn results in higher youth unemployment, lower quality of jobs, greater inequality in the labor market among different groups of young people, a longer and more insecure transition from education to work and greater distance from the labor market. Unemployment is one of the most burning socio-economic problems that many countries around the world are facing. Young people in South East Europe are facing numerous difficulties in the transition process itself on labor market education. One of the main barriers is the lack of skills that will help them navigate the modern and dynamic business world and find suitable employment. The Republic of North Macedonia is facing a high unemployment rate, as well as high inequality and social exclusion. A significant part of young people falls into the category of unemployed people, which in turn carries an increased risk of social exclusion. At the same time, the project was tackling one of the main national priorities (increasing employability) for the Erasmus+ program for 2020, presented by the National Agency of North Macedonia and supported by the Ministry of Education and science. A young person needs the motivation to believe that they can make the first step. This topic is not present in the formal educational system, meaning primary schools, high schools, etc. We need to develop this mindset in society, but more importantly among the youth. Formal education does put much emphasis on motivating and inspiring the students to make this step and not to wait for the opportunity but to take it into their own hands. The general goal of this project was to motivate young people from 4 different countries to find their field of interest and action and to create their own future by being determined and able to achieve their goals and dreams on a personal and professional level developing the career they want to have throughout their hobbies and interests. The specific objectives of the project were: - 30 young people have gained the management and soft skills needed to open a start-up, are aware of the advantages of entrepreneurship, and are motivated to put it into practice. - 30 young people will become aware of self-employment as a career option by promoting the development of personal qualities that are relevant to entrepreneurship - Raising the entrepreneurship spirit among young people on a European level with the creation of 30 basic business plans and budgets for starting a business by all 30 participants We expected to send the participants back home with memories and experiences worth remembering for a lifetime. The exchange with all its activities and programs was planned in a way that the participants connect firstly with their inner selves and then with each other. They made the biggest impact on each other by giving their best in their participation and being open-minded and ready for change while doing it. By implementing the planned activities of the project, we expected the participants to improve their soft skills, become conscious of their strengths and weaknesses, and realize that they need to constantly work on their personal progress. We aimed towards young people being aware that they are the main factors for making positive change in society and fully prepared for life in the “BIG" world. With the exchange, we wanted to make the participants prepared for everything that a man/woman faces in the real world. The desired impact we had, was to have participants who have business plans that they will put in motion. Also, the second part of the exchange is based on a personal level. So we expected our participants to be motivated and to become aware that they can make everything happen and that they always need to step out of their comfort zone. Meeting with people from countries all over Europe gave them an outlook on a variety of cultures and traditions, different values and opinions as well as different and unique personal life stories. A lot of experiences were shared and new ones were made that gave them the opportunity to expand their horizons and get them to start challenging themselves and step out of their comfort zone when it comes to taking chances and risks in life and making decisions. Working with people from different countries side by side gave them a greater value of cultural diversity and motivation to become change agents and make a difference in the world.

Project partners (5)