THE PROJECTInnovative Coaching makes the Difference takes shape within a difficult economic climate of stagnated growth that affects global employment prospects. Due to recent global gloomy economic climate and job scarcity, young people are the hardest hit with unemployment in comparison with adults. For these reasons, the project tries to compensate this inequality of opportunities through capacity building by means of youth work and youth empowerment, by develop youth workers’ coaching competences through the use of traditional games collected from all project’s countries as non-formal education tools.AIMSThe project seeks to boost the quality of youth work as a constructive response to youth integration, and participation in the labor market, as well as positive identity consolidation by means of personal guidance and work-orientation in order to help young NEETs reach their full potential and successfully enter the labor market in their countries.MAIN ACTIVITIESThe above aim shall be reached through the development of an innovative coaching methods designed with traditional games (Coaching Manual), together with a Competence-mapping tool to provide the base for coaching interventions.The project cycle will include:- Kick-off meeting - Training Course- Testing Workshops- Job Shadowing- Local Seminars- Final ConferencePARTNERSHIPThe Innovative Coaching makes the Differecence consortium brings together 6 partners:3 European countries (Macedonia, Italy, and Bulgaria) and 3 Partner Countries (Kenya, India and Vietnam). The project will be coordinated by EUROPEAN CULTURAL EPICENTER Bitola.IMPACTThe most relevant is the impact on the beneficiaries themselves:- Their transversal skills – specifically coaching and career counselling skills will be improved;- Their information and knowledge on career guidance, job market demand and opportunities will be extended;- Their awareness about the flexibility and versatility of NFL will be improved.Participant organizations will develope their capacity on implementing training programs with youth in rural context using the specific tool of coaching through traditional games as well as important issues such as project implementation, international cooperation, and strategic development.On the whole, we estimate that about 800 young people will directly benefit from the project.
The project aimed to address the ongoing issue of youth poverty, particularly in the context of high youth unemployment rates, by enhancing the capabilities of youth workers. The participating organizations have recognized the need for more effective and engaging methods to maximize youth participation and achieve results. The partnership was established based on the partners' experiences, skills, capacities, and capabilities to reach target groups and carry out project activities effectively, as well as their demonstrated exploitable expertise and previous collaborations.Lead partner EKE Bitola brought expertise in non-formal education, while the other partners brought their expertise in coaching, intercultural, social, and educational resources. Despite facing different economic and cultural scenarios, the partners have identified a common problem of a lack of coaching tools and methods to attract youth participation, particularly in Africa and Asia.The project developed an innovative youth work approach in the form of coaching based on traditional games from different countries, and to ensure that the results are widely applicable across diverse geographical and cultural contexts. The “Innovative Coaching makes Difference” project is innovative in its use of coaching activities based on cultural traditional games that are typical in each project country. These games, often associated with childhood or festive occasions, are familiar to participants and provide a calming effect that creates a good foundation for self-confidence. The project also rediscovered the employable values in cultural heritage, as a way to preserve disappearing games and align with the European Year of Cultural Heritage.The project's approach was designed to be not only "fun" but also widely "accessible" to youth, breaking down the perception of coaching activities as foreign or difficult. As all partners operated in rural areas with limited resources, outdoor traditional games are an ideal solution for their engaging and simple nature.The project developed a new competence-mapping tool to provide an evidence-based premise for coaching intervention activities. This tool aided in individual profiling, creating an intervention/action plan, and developing an individual development and career advancement scheme. This helped youth workers and youth to reach mutual understanding and collaboration, and enable youth workers to act as skill matchmakers, identifying weak skills areas to intervene with the right games, thus reducing skills mismatches and promoting youth's economic participation.