The PALL project contributed to the European Skills Agenda’s goal of ensuring that 30% of low-skilled adults (aged 25-64) participate in training or education within the last 12 months by 2025. This project aimed to increase participation in adult education, focusing on psychological and social barriers. The collaboration designed five workshops to be conducted in person to at least 32 participants, covering essential skills such as time management and communication. At least five participants were expected to progress to further training, education, or employment within six months. Additionally, the project promoted the active use of a workbook and toolkit as online learning resources, with support from local organizations. It also aimed to raise awareness of the factors that hinder low-skilled adults from participating in training.
The project aimed to promote a culture of lifelong learning among low-skilled adults by addressing the psychological and social barriers to training. Our premise was that simply removing economic obstacles and providing information is not enough. We must also focus on overcoming negative learning experiences, negative attitudes, lack of self-efficacy, and the absence of positive role models, factors that disproportionately affect ethnic minorities, who often face additional disadvantages and discrimination in the labor market. To address these barriers and encourage participation in adult education, we adopted a bottom-up approach. We collaborated with organizations that have direct contact with the target group and are trusted by them. Our project focused on meeting the needs of both the primary target group “low-skilled adults” and the secondary target group, which consists of (social welfare) organizations that provide informal education to vulnerable adults. For the primary target group, we developed interactive workshops to enhance participants' skills and broaden their perspectives on the labor market. For the secondary target group, we created ready-to-use training materials.