Young & Smart aimed to empower young people aged 18–25, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills to support their personal and professional growth. The project also sought to equip VET and CVET educators with digital tools and emotional intelligence strategies to better engage these learners. A third objective was to promote environmental awareness by embedding sustainability into entrepreneurship education. These goals were aligned with Erasmus+ priorities of inclusion, digital readiness, and labor market adaptation. Through the creation of a modular training toolkit—the Skillbox—the project intended to make financial education more accessible, engaging, and applicable, both in formal and non-formal learning settings. The overarching ambition was to increase employability and economic autonomy for youth, while modernizing and enriching educators' teaching practices.
The Young & Smart project was conceived to address a recognized gap in European vocational education: the lack of accessible entrepreneurship and financial education for young people. In many partner countries (Greece, Italy, Spain), formal curricula do not sufficiently cover basic financial management or entrepreneurial skills. This leaves young people – particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds – without the tools they need to manage personal budgets or launch businesses. Educators, youth workers and trainers highlighted an urgent need to make finance and entrepreneurship learning more practical and relevant. The project was designed to fill this need by creating an innovative, user-friendly training resource (“Skillbox”) and accompanying teaching materials. By doing so, it supported the Erasmus+ priority of aligning vocational education with labor-market needs and EU goals of improving youth employability, inclusion and entrepreneurial mindset. In essence, Young & Smart aimed to empower young individuals with critical skills for economic independence, while also equipping their trainers to deliver this content effectively.