In Europe, youth unemployment in April 2023 was 13.8%, which translates to 2.664 million young people under 25 (Eurostat, 2023). YOUTHShare aims to reduce youth unemployment in coastal and island regions of the Mediterranean EEA by advancing young NEETs skills in trans-locally resilient economic sectors such as agri-food production and related circular economies. The importance of tackling youth unemployment is to give young people the opportunity to enter the labor market, but it can also benefit organizations, businesses, and society in general.
By understanding the challenges faced by young people in the job market in relation to self-employment issues and social entrepreneurship, it is possible to contribute to reducing youth employment. For YOUTHShare, the Southern European countries were economically affected by the economic crisis, which resulted in a mix of high youth unemployment and anemic growth in the aftermath of the recession. Also, the Mediterranean regions of the European Economic Area have been unfavorable in recent years. Greece, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus have become the entry points of mixed migration flows. The economic pressure of managing the humanitarian aspect of the flows and contributing to their integration later on adds to the socio-economic pressure of tackling unemployment.
Based on the above challenges, the YOUTHShare consortium developed material that can contribute to the reduction of youth unemployment with courses in the eLearning platform of the project (https://elearning.youthshare-project.org/login/). The courses aim at empowering young women, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and youth in general on “Concepts and Tools in the Social, Sharing, and Resilient Economy”. Through the platform but also through synchronous training, young people were able to learn how to develop a sharing platform, how to present and promote their ideas on social media, and how to transform a business idea into practice. Other than that, users can understand the different employability paths in relation to agri-food, tourism, and the circular economy within the Mediterranean European Economic Area (MED EEA).
Furthermore, the YOUTHShare consortium created a second platform called the Sharing Economy e-platform, which networks social enterprises in resilient sectors (Join2Share e-platform: https://join2share.eu/), which is a networking platform for the Social and Solidarity Economy. The social and Solidarity Economy aims to support individuals, and that is also what the platform provides. Join2Share aims to help SSE entities share knowledge, ideas, services, products, and much more. You can promote your SSE business and its social innovation and goals; you can find other similar businesses and stay in touch with them; you can discuss a variety of topics with other members; you can find products and services from other SSE businesses and expert professionals; you can keep up to date with events; you can receive (and provide) information about legal matters, funding opportunities, and more.
Upskilling and reskilling are crucial methods for professional development because job indicators change quickly. Their employability has improved, and they can take advantage of new employment prospects thanks to lifelong learning. All the resources and services are available online to encourage young people to upskill or reskill themselves, and trainers, mentors, and youth workers of the YOUTHShare initiative continuously work to assist young people in their job path.
Foteini Sokratous, KAM CARDET, YOUTHShare Project
