The MERCURY project aimed to define link between youth psychological traumas and entrepreneurship or employability.and identify a new set of soft entrepreneurial and employability skills to enable youth to find employment or create a job for themselves and others. Combining post-traumatic growth theory, drama therapy and digital tools the project created an innovative approach to entrepreneurship and employability education. The aims of the project: -To increase awareness & understanding the impact of trauma on the entrepreneurship and employability potential of young people in the 4 partner countries (PL, LTH, RS, HU) -To develop an innovative methodological guide, tool-kit and recommendations to better equip youth workers -To support youth to move beyond trauma and increase their wellbeing, employability and entrepreneurship -To contribute to the development of youth workers' competences in supporting young people -To contribute to a more innovative and well-functioning youth work system in EU
Experiences of trauma are common and international studies suggest that between half to two-thirds of young people will have been exposed to at least one traumatic event by the age of 16 years. Young people carry the burden of traumatic events with them as they navigate education and career pathways, hindering efforts to employ or educate. Traumatic events negatively affect young people's self-worth, confidence and, above all, create a fear of making mistakes, which is understood as a lack of resilience. Adequate support is essential to enable young people who have experienced traumatic events to fulfil their entrepreneurial and professional potential. Although there are many entrepreneurship programmes, they focus on hard skills such as business plan development, business management, communication, etc. As a result, even if young people have the right idea, knowledge and skills, they are not able to overcome their psychological fears and doubts to make the first step to realise them.