ATHENA" directed its focus toward backing young women in entrepreneurship, prioritizing digital and alternative tools tailored to COVID-19 restrictions. Eight European organizations from Spain, Italy, Finland, Belgium, Lithuania, Ireland, Slovenia, and Poland collaborated over 24 months, aiming to enhance their youth work approaches, explore innovative European practices, and craft adaptable strategies for promoting young women's entrepreneurship. "ATHENA" pursued specific objectives: Enhancing youth work methodologies for promoting young women's entrepreneurship, particularly by introducing COVID-19-adapted strategies. Raising awareness and knowledge among youth workers and decision-makers regarding novel COVID-19-adapted strategies for fostering young women's entrepreneurship. Facilitating the comparison of situations across European countries and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experiences among partner nations. Gathering the best COVID-19-adapted practices in supporting young women's entrepreneurship. Creating sustainable and adaptable knowledge applicable and testable across different European contexts. Emphasizing the value of new COVID-19-adapted strategies adaptable to youth work policies and initiatives.
ATHENA" centered its initiatives on the EU's 2021-2027 youth strategy, emphasizing the integration and training of young individuals for comprehensive inclusion in social and economic spheres. Although there was a modest 5% enhancement in European youth social inclusion by 2018 (Eurostat 2018), the disruptive waves of the COVID-19 crisis posed a grave risk, potentially leading today's youth towards a lesser economic standing than their parents. Notably, the oscillating economic cycles significantly influenced youth unemployment rates, stirring concerns about job prospects for budding entrepreneurs among the younger generation. The pandemic's impact wasn't indiscriminate; it disproportionately affected women, particularly in sectors severely hit by the crisis, such as food service and retail, as evidenced by unwomen.org data. Recognizing the pivotal role of entrepreneurship, especially for young women, "ATHENA" refocused its efforts to support and nurture young women's entrepreneurial ventures, employing digital tools and innovative strategies tailored to the pandemic's constraints.