Chances for young people - (new) paths to education and employement

The seminar “New chances” shall provide viable solutions when working with youngsters who have left school without or low qualifications. During the conference, the NEET phenomenon (Not in Education, Employment or Training) will be analyzed, whereas the workshops showcase concrete projects offering new chances to young people at risk. Background: Youth unemployment is on a historical level in the EU-countries with more than 5 million young people seeking for a job. The economic crisis continues to have a negative effect on successful transition from school to work in general; some groups of (vulnerable) youngsters are even more affected by this trend. Early school-leavers are one group at risk and we can observe that they often turn their back to the institutional system (school and/or labour market), a phenomenon, which is described as NEET (not in education, employment or training). Within the age group 15-24, 7,5 million youngsters are considered as NEET, resulting in high costs for the public authorities and a loss for the society as a whole. Member states are required to face this challenge and take initiatives to reduce youth unemployment and the NEET ratio as soon as possible in order to avoid a lost generation. Description: The PUBLIC CONFERENCE (19/09/2012) aims at - Giving facts to the European situation in the field of youth unemployment and transition from school to work - Rising awareness of the costs for public authorities and the society when member states do not immediately act to lower the youth unemployment ratio - Drawing a differentiated picture of vulnerable groups within the young NEETs category: reasons for being NEET, consequences, needs of the young peopleand measures to be taken. The conference closes with a vernissage showing projects and works from young people within the conference subject. The EUROPEAN SEMINAR (20-21/09/2012) brings together practicing experts from different German speaking countries to - Share good practices in the field of transition from school to work - Get to know new approaches and methods, through which we attain youngsters which have dropped out of the system (NEET) - Analyse implementation of these practices in another country / context - Built up cross-border networks and partnerships - Provide an plan for future action in favour of youth employment To reach these goals, the seminar is divided into 4 workshops (20/09/2012): - Mobility of young people (geographical and mental) - Networking (between institutions) - Coaching - New forms of employment Target Group: - youth workers working with unemployed young people and early school leavers - guidance practitioners - practitioners in the field of transition from school to work Each participant has to choose one topic and will work 1 day within the same group. Results of the workshops are shared on 21/09/2012 when action plans will be presented.