The AIM of E-MENTORING project was to develop the digital competencies of mentors from youth-serving organizations and equip them with innovative solutions to support e-mentoring programs for unemployed youth. The project aimed to achieve a positive impact in: (i) partners and other youth-serving organizations in Europe, developing the digital competencies of mentors to support e-mentoring programmes; (ii) mentors, extending and developing their digital competencies and accessing to innovative solutions to support e-mentoring, (iii) unemployed youth, increasing their engagement and active civic participation; and (iv) stakeholders, accessing innovative solutions to support e-mentoring. To do so, the project applied EU frameworks (DigComp and DigCompEdu) and instruments (EQF, ECVET, SALTO-YOUTH and Youthpass) to promote and boost transparency, recognition, transnational mobility and transferability to other mentors, youth-serving organizations and intermediary bodies in Europe.
Unemployed youth face serious economic and social obstacles, negatively impacting their motivation and civic participation. Mentoring can play an important role in promoting active participation of unemployed youth, improving employment outcomes, personal development and strengthening of community ties. The COVID-19 crisis has a substantial impact on youth mentoring programs, which have traditionally provided critical human connections. The mentoring field has adapted by taking advantage of technology, and some programs have shifted to fully virtual settings. For many however, safety considerations and limited technological capacities have made this sudden shift a challenge. The multi-stakeholder partnership identified and addressed the following common NEEDS of the consortium and the project TARGET GROUPS: mentors and youth-serving organizations (target USERS) and unemployed youth (target BENEFICIARIES): -A clear and systematic definition of the competencies required of mentors to set up and implement effective e-mentoring programs; -A document of reference to adequately organize training courses in digital competencies for e-mentoring, based on, and aligned with, European frameworks on digital competences.