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Unboxed

2020-2-SK02-KA105-0025062020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: SK|BG|LT|EL|IT|HU|PL · Grant: €18,465
Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemploymentCreativity and cultureOvercoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)

Objectives

The youth mobility project "Unboxed" addressed high rates of youth unemployment as a result of 3 key issues, including (1) inability to identify opportunities and/or lack of self-confidence to pursue them, (2) personal and professional skill mismatches or skills underdevelopment, and (3) lack of necessary real-life know-how and experience. A 7-day youth exchange program that incorporates the 8 Key Competencies of Erasmus+, layers multiple educational inputs, largely based on cognitive-behavioral psychology, and combines theoretical learning structures with practical know-how in youth-friendly, enjoyable, non-formal activities was developed to address the issues mentioned. The learning experience placed a strong emphasis on (a) self-initiated personal improvement, (b) promoted professional growth, and (c) peer-to-peer international, multicultural exchange. The learning environment in "Unboxed" has been designed as a guided, step-by-step working flow, based on ongoing application of the newly learned informational entities or skill sets that have been learnt day by day (in this case, activity by activity). The course was contextually divided into two subsequent halves, the first of which concentrated on the development of intrapersonal abilities before moving on to the second, which practiced interpersonal ones. Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which is where the idea of intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence originated (1983). The foundation of the framework began with a close examination of the Self – how we relate to, view, present, and perceive ourselves, which has a direct bearing on how we engage with others. The initial days were devoted to assessing our true selves, differentiating between real and socially produced personality qualities, good and bad, eradicating stereotypical ideas, and developing self-awareness and confidence in one's own abilities. Young people were thereafter urged to look toward their better future after having dissected their former selves and reevaluated their present selves. Defining important personal values, creating goals, and creating action plans to accomplish them in line with future aspirations were all part of the actions that followed. Youngsters were introduced to a variety of entrepreneurial and brainstorming tools, customized for their individual, group, and vocational needs, with the goal of enhancing their capacity for critical and creative thought and fostering the acquisition of new skills (1). The expansion of one's own personal skill set leads to a guided improvement in one's interactions and communications with others. In order to unlock their full potential and be able to access, present, and use it, children were required to learn a variety of techniques for improving the quality of their verbal and nonverbal communication skills (2). The topical culmination of the project was held over the final two days of the organized learning program, which was designed to directly target young people's employability capacity by supplying them with the skills and knowledge they most need to succeed in the working world—personal experience and knowledge of how to build resumes and conduct interviews. The framework was then completed by conducting one-on-one interviews that were tailored to the participants' particular employability goals. The interviews were conducted in a way that fully encompassed all recently acquired skillsets and connected general theory with actual practice (3). The conventional thinking that the only way to get beginning experience is through repeatedly failing may have made sense in the past, but it is now excessively out of date in the rapidly evolving digital world. Therefore, we made a big effort to include media and digital literacy as essential values when we were building the youth exchange program in order to help equip young people to flourish at any future obstacles they may encounter. The initiative was also intended to serve as an international and intercultural setting that supports and encourages young participation in non-formal education, volunteerism, youth employment, and lifelong learning, as well as the promotion of Erasmus+ principles and European democracy.

Project partners (7)