Our primary aim was to promote the social inclusion of young people in care, particularly those in the process of transitioning to independent adult life. This was the overarching objective that guided the entire project and sought to address situations of exclusion, a lack of opportunities and vulnerability in shaping their life plans. Building on this, we defined two sets of specific objectives. On the one hand, we aimed to train youth workers, strengthening organisations’ capacity to work with young people in care and developing a social and youth entrepreneurship programme tailored to the needs of this group. On the other hand, we wanted to empower the young people themselves, promoting the development of key skills, particularly social and entrepreneurial skills, and creating opportunities for them to explore ideas, gain confidence and build more independent paths for the future.
We applied for this project because, in our day-to-day work with young people in care and those in vulnerable situations, we identified very specific difficulties in their transition to adulthood. In addition to material obstacles, we recognised the presence of low self-esteem, a sense of not belonging, social stigma and a lack of preparation for building an independent and sustainable life plan. The project sought to address the need to promote the social inclusion of these young people by strengthening their social, personal and entrepreneurial skills, and by creating real opportunities for participation, learning and empowerment. At the same time, we wanted to respond to the needs of the organisations themselves: to deepen their knowledge of social and youth entrepreneurship, to improve methods of working with young people with fewer opportunities, and to develop more innovative and sustainable solutions. The project arose from a desire to empower youth workers and young people, creating a joint, European and practical response to support pathways towards independence, inclusion and building a future.