Confartigianato Salerno and Luca Abete launch the Labs for youth employment in Italy

Credits: DARE

On March 24th the launch conference of the Workshops organized by Confartigianato Salerno (www.salernoconfartigianato.it) was held as part of the project DARE – Day One Alliance for Employment (https://sealcyprus.org/dare/), funded  by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment and which sees the involvement of ten organizations from seven different European countries (Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Austria, Lithuania and Poland). Italy is represented by Confartigianato Salerno. The aim is to strengthen transnational cooperation to address the European challenges in the field of youth employment.

The event, held in the form of a live streaming on the Facebook page of Confartigianato Salerno (@ConfartigianatoSalerno), was followed by about 115 people and reached an audience of over 3,515 users. During the live broadcast, the testimonial of the initiative, Luca Abete, motivated young people to catch this important opportunity because training is fundamental to reach one’s professional goals.

The president of Confartigianato Salerno, Franco Risi, presented the two Laboratories: Entrepreneurship Lab and Job Lab that will be held online during 2021 and 2022 and which will see the involvement of over 400 NEETs (people not engaged in study, neither work nor training). The Workshops, which will also be followed by a one-to-one mentoring session for each participant, are organized in collaboration with the main Municipalities of the Province of Salerno. Currently, more than 160 subscribers are already registered.

The Director of the EEA and Norway Grants for youth employment, Gian Luca Bombarda, who spoke at the event, enthusiastically greeted the initiative of Confartigianato Salerno and illustrated the role of the EEA and Norway Fund for Youth Employment, highlighting the commitment and dedication in tackling the age-old problem of youth unemployment through training. Currently, 25 projects are underway, funded by the fund, in all 18 beneficiary countries and aimed at young people aged 18 to 29 in order to reduce economic and social disparities.

Anna Dalosi, coordinator of the DARE – Day One Alliance for Employment project, provided more details on the project activities underlining the key role of Confartigianato Salerno, as it will have to reach through the Laboratories as many as 400 young people out of a total of 1.400 NEETs distributed among the 4 countries of implementation (Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Portugal).

Finally, Enrico Quintavalle, Head of the Studies office of Confartigianato Imprese, delivered an analysis full of interesting insights on trends relating to businesses and careers with a focus on Southern Italy. Despite the pandemic, it is possible to highlight at least two drivers of the recovery: digital and green, which will be supported by European funds and which will require manpower especially in the management of innovative machinery. The construction sector is particularly characterized by a growing demand driven by incentives for energy saving. Furthermore, there are two other important drivers of importance for Southern Italy: agri-food quality and culture / tourism. Despite the economic crisis, the export of quality food products from the South has grown by 10% thanks also to the greater use by SMEs of digital tools, such as e-commerce.

The event ended with the preview of the promotional spot of the Confartigianato Salerno Laboratories with the testimonial, Luca Abete.

Event page (in Italian) 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

“DARE– Day One Alliance for Employment” is expected to contribute towards the specific objective of the Fund “strengthening transnational cooperation to address European challenges in the area of youth employment”.

The target groups are:

(a) Young people Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) in Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Portugal. The target group includes long-term unemployed, discouraged people who have stopped looking for work, inactive women caring for children or incapacitated adults, ethnic minorities including Roma, asylum-seekers, the low-skilled, people with mental health issues and people with disability.

(b) Employees who wish to endorse the Open Badges system for the validation of non-formal learning.

Partners and roles within the consortium

SEAL CYPRUS is leading a consortium of nine organisations from seven countries. Four partners will implement interventions in favour of unemployed people in four countries:

SEAL CYPRUS- Cyprus Organisation for Sustainable Education & Active Learning (leading partner), Craftsmanship & SMEs Association/ Confartigianato Imprese Salerno (Italy),

Information Society Strategies and Actions Ltd- Stratis Consulting  (Greece), Association Par- Respostas Sociais (Portugal).

Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Portugal face challenges in the areas of career planning, entrepreneurship education, and validation of learning. The experience of other European countries revealed that initiatives that improve the above areas increase the opportunities of employment for the youth.

The proposed interventions entail Job Labs and Entrepreneurship Labs for 1.400 young people not in education, employment, or training. A system of validation with the Open Badges system will be put in action in favour of the participants.

Five partners will transfer know-how in career planning, entrepreneurship education, and validation of non-formal learning from three countries:

Lithuanian Association of Non-formal Education (Lithuania), Youth Career and Advising Center (Lithuania), Lodz Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Poland), IFTE Initiative for Teaching Entrepreneurship (Austria), Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Austria).

The project has started in April 2019 and has a duration of three years. The approved grant is 1.178.000 euros. The grant support is 85%. The partners’ contribution will be 15%.

Funding Framework

The project has been awarded under the Call 2017-1 (ACTIVE YOUTH) seeking the submission of proposals for grants for transnational projects under the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment.

Website: https://sealcyprus.org/dare/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DareDay1Youth

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