GUIDE FOR YOUTH WORKERS Intellectual output Erasmus + Project n.2014-1-HR01-KA205-007210 - New Eyes and Toys
Project Lider KLIS Municipality | www.klis.hr Project Partners Malik Association, Sardinia | www.associazionemalik.it CETS - Conselho Empresarial do Tâmega e Sousa | www.cets.pt Illustrations Marlene Soares & Neusa Soares - project participants from the Portuguese team. https://www.behance.net/SoaresMarlene https://www.behance.net/neusasoares
This toolkit is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
 The publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project Contacts www.neet-up.eu Other project Intellectual Outputs www.startupklis.com www.startupbarbagia.com www.startuptams.com
INDEX MAIN CONTENTS PART 1 “A SENSE OF INITIATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This supports individuals in their everyday lives at home and in society, and in the workplace. It alerts them to the context they operate in, and makes them more ready to seize opportunities.” Young people and entrepreneurship, European Commission
PROJECT FRAMEWORK PART 2 DRIVING INNOVATION
PART 3 IMPACT
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES “The economic crisis that started in the second half of the last decade has created a particularly fragile situation for today's young generation. Youth unemployment rates remain historically high (…) Εntrepreneurship can constitute an important element with regards to the autonomy, personal development and wellbeing of young people. Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting Brussels, 20 May 2014
The Story Behind the Name New Eyes and Toys is about fostering a sense of citizenship and active participation in our region, mainly encouraged by the fact that other people are thinking and seeking out solutions for it, just like when we are bored with our own toys… until someone else pays attention to them. Global Context The overall rationale of the NEET project is to inspire initiative and entrepreneurship using a set of business oriented methodologies that help to identify, comprehend and take advantages of the surrounding opportunities. Opportunities can mean a new company, a new social project, or even a new job. Either way, it was important for participants to understand that entrepreneurship usually means economic growth and more jobs, and that any sustainable project depends on building innovative and adequate solutions for specific market segments, whose needs and resources determine much of the extent of the opportunity. The New Eyes and Toys project clearly contributed to an overall improvement in the competences of participants, not only in a business or social project setup, but also complementary soft skills, including team work and communication skills. All of these contributed to participant’s overall employment opportunities. The general content of the all blended mobility training included:
commercial/social projects; business model canvas; market the basis for innovation; groups versus teams; decision making and leadership; time and conflict management; communication; presentations and personal pitches, and social network profiling. Focus Group - Part 1 Before the International Training Sessions (ITSs), each nation’s groups met to discuss their specific regional problems, which was later presented to the other national teams. International Training Sessions Skill development became the main element of the ITSs - a set of 3 weeks of informal training in each region. Seeking Opportunities | Week 1 @Portugal
A problem solver mentality is a great asset in life. It helps to better understand the world that surrounds us and to develop adequate solutions. Participants learnt together how to analyse the surrounding world, to identify opportunities and how to structure a project that addresses each situation. Methods to drive creativity and manage innovation were jointly applied to different contexts (economic, humanitarian, career development), including practical examples of business planning and how to start a company. Working with teams | Week 2 @Sardinia
Great achievements are built by great teams. Knowing how to work together in any kind of situation is a fundamental condition to build adequate and differentiated solutions.
Participants were empowered and also encouraged to empower each other in soft skills. These refer to personality traits, social graces, communication, and personal habits that should be used in interpersonal relationships. Other concepts included collaboration, self-regulation strategies, conflict management, leadership, decision making, self-confidence boosting and time management. Stand up and Communicate | Week 3 @Croatia
Knowing how to communicate is as important as pioneering any project. The last week of training was devoted to foster communication skills that empowered people to share their individual talents or group project to the world. Using nonformal education methodologies, team sessions included person-to-person communication; speaking to great audiences; written communication intercultural dialogue and using the digital world. It takes time to master the art of communication. Participants were given tools and encouraged to perfect their personal pitches. Focus Group - Part 2 Using information obtained in Focus Group Part 1, and the cultural experience gained from ITSs, participants were involved in a process of finding solutions to the problems in the other regions. Participants were asked to consider each region’s specific strengths and to develop a group of 6 matching opportunities - 3 business projects, 2 social projects and a youth program. some of these ideas are explored later on in this guide (case studies).
PART 1 PROJECT FRAMEWORK PROJECT TEAM & PARTICIPANTS The NEET project involved 10 technicians from 3 European Countries (Croatia, Italy and Portugal), including highly educated experts and management staff. Almost 60 young people participated in the training sessions and focus groups. More than 400 people were directly affected throughout the project and its intellectual outputs.
HR TEAM
IT TEAM
PROJECT TEAM
PT TEAM
Introducing new concepts
Challenging
Case Studies
The target group for the project were NEETs - young people between 20 and 24 years old, Not in Education, Employment or Training. Although some of them had professional experience, the vast majority was struggling for a job opportunity or the first break into the labour market. Regardless of their expectations - starting their own project, or working for somebody else - they would soon find that the marketplace rewards people that know how to identify and pursue value.
While discussing and presenting entrepreneurial endeavors, project participants were grouped in different teams, combining different countries participants, and different backgrounds. They were then challenged, several times, to reach goals that included critical thinking and innovation, while dealing with common obstacles such as time pressure and adequate communication.
Challenging and Poking resulted in several ideas developed by participants aimed not only to suggest a profitable and sustainable commercial or social project, but also one relevant in terms of regional development. These ideas were carefully explored in terms of market, product/service, resources, partners and sustainability/turnover.
See Multi-sided Innovation Challenge.
Mountain and Extreme Sports All regions recognised their natural assets to support sportive activities. Whether exploring touristic packs, renting facilities for sports teams and even selling complementary products in between, this idea seemed adequate mainly because all regions have relevant internacional market attention and adequate logistics (close airports/excellent hotel facilities).
Currently there are many conceptual frameworks that help to understand the different dimensions of business or social opportunities, as well as project setup and management. These frameworks are common building blocks for any type of project such as market, value proposal, distribution channels, key partners or resources and budgeting. Inspiring Project and innovation frameworks were shared not only in theoretical terms but backed up through several case studies told and visited first hand. The highlight of all workshops and testimonies (more than 10), was given to the importance of the concept that - without market, no great idea can survive. The project team was very experienced, having previously pioneered several business and social projects. This added greatly to the project, along with other business people that were invited to present their business stories. These moments were intercalated with different informal training sessions which contributed to the greater practicality the discussed topics.
Poking Better solutions come from better diagnosis. In the NEET project, the team fitted this purpose by asking participants to define and diagnose their own regional problems. However, later on, solutions were identified by the other regional teams. By doing so, the project team intended to find a real scenario to apply business modeling frameworks, and also a good opportunity to drive a renewed passion, and to take a fresh look at each ones territory. See The Regional Challenge
A great highlight of the project (Erasmus project intellectual output) lies in the regional web platforms to foster youth entrepreneurship. The following websites are now part of project legacy, serving as extensive tolls for local innovation: www.startupklis.com www.startupbarbagia.com www.startuptams.com
Handicraft and Traditional Products Agriculture is very relevant in all regions involved in the project. Nevertheless, participants agreed on the real opportunity to explore commercial projects based on high-quality, luxury brands that use local materials. Social Education Several ideas arose involving sustainable social projects connecting education and the labour market. They involve mobility and training actions to connect different youth groups, to share experiences, knowledge or even specific skills (e.g. languages). Sustainability is assured through effective fundraising actions as well as regional support systems for youth projects.
PART 2 DRIVING INNOVATION In the multi-sided innovation challenge, participants were asked to create and present a symbol (any form of creative art including drawing or sculptures) while telling a compelling story about each other’s regions. Their imagination was the only unlimited resource while time, as well as unexpected obstacles, kept pressing for great results. The winning team told a story about Baíngia - a Sardinian sheep hoping for greener fields.
THE MULTI-SIDED INNOVATION CHALLENGE
Job title
THE REGIONAL CHALLENGE
Personal Decisions One of the greatest outcomes from the New Eyes and Toys project was the amount of resulting personal decisions taken after participating in the project. There was significant time invested by the project team to build long-term collaborations with project participants, not only to maximise project results, but also to explore their employment opportunities. Some participants were invited to join other projects and some were even hired as a result of their exceptional involvement in team challenges. The outcomes included the will to travel and risk new projects and experiences, as well as the commitment to learn different languages.Other outcomes were a more straightforward result of 2 major encouragements given along the project - perfecting crafts/technical skills and communication.
skills, and also to learn it together with others. Several participants in the project engaged in different craft perfectioning contexts, including learning hard skills (e.g. design tools), or even engaged in improved personal hobbies (e.g. handicraft). Find ways to better communicate yourself! Having the skills is just a part of the road. The other part is making oneself known to its audience, whether it is a potential employer or a market niche. By the end of the project, participants were invited to develop their own personal pitch - simple statements of background, skills, passions and ambitions - planned to be quickly presented and adapted to any opportunity. After participating in the project, several participants created or improved their different digital professional profiles and CVs.
Perfect your craft! Project Results & Recommendations While discussing market strategy and innovation with the participants, it was also shared that it is an increasingly competitive world and that people must find ways to keep stepping up their professional game. The dynamics of work demand and supply is calling for a new generation of highly flexible professionals that not necessarily know-it-all, but have the will and ability to keep adding new skills, specially after traditional or vocational education cycles. Multi-disciplinary teams are now a major asset for high-end development teams all over the world, and therefore it is crucial, specially for young people, to maintain a permanent ambition to learn new
The New Eyes and Toys project was initially and essentially given a business orientated structure. Assuming regional and european statistics for both youth unemployment and also the will to pioneer personal projects, it was expected a greater rate of participants aiming at starting their own business, with the need to better prepare themselves. As the project developed, this assumption was less important. Despite overall participants were “innovation oriented”, they were not necessarily “business oriented”, and
so the project team adapted contents to better adequate the overall group of participants. Despite maintaining the same frameworks, intrapreneurship was given much higher attention. Business contents became less technical and more inspirational (specially with case studies presentation). On the other hand, critical thinking and an innovation mindset for life became the project’s statements until the end. Participants were selected based on their interest in the project and the performed questionnaire. 20 people were selected in each country, but only 10 would participate in the International Training Sessions. In some countries, this project aspect turned to be complex since motivation and team spirit were more difficult to manage at certain stages. Educational backgrounds were also not level among participants or by country. Several project participants stated difficulties with this issue, specially the different motivation and degree of involvement in project assignments. Perhaps in a different round of the project, one would diminish the number of participants and involve them all in the international training sessions.
The New Eyes and Toys project turned out to be an innovative approach to creative thinking, problem solving and project management. There was a lot gained from this partnership, not only for the participants, but for the project team itself. All the best to all sailing into the world of youth entrepreneurship!
The project TEAM.
PART 3 IMPACT
INNOVATION AND RISK TAKING
IMPROVED COMMUNICATION
CITIZENSHIP AND COLLABORATION
NEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES
CONTINUOUS SKILLS IMPROVEMENT
the NEET TEAM.
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KLIS Municipality