From 17th to 24th of May, in the framework of KA1 project “2 YOUTH and ONE PROBLEM”, Asociación EuropeYou had the pleasure to host in Torremolinos, Málaga area, 20 young people coming from six different European countries – Germany, Latvia, Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and Spain.
The main aim of “2 YOUTH and ONE PROBLEM” was to equip youth workers working directly with disadvantaged youth such as young Europeans unemployed people and young refugees/young migrants with methods and skills to enable them to tackle the common and shared problem of unemployment among youth through quality youth work that promotes self-employment and entrepreneurial culture. The project used different non formal learning methodology including methods such as: icebreakers, energizers, name games, reflection groups, working into intercultural subgroups, facilitated discussion, creative presentations, simulation, case study and debates.
During the first day, participants had an opportunity to get to know each other through different non formal education activities and they were also introduced to the topic of the project. Our afternoon session was held on the beach where participants presented their sending NGOs during the NGO Fair activity. In general, the good weather gave as the chance to have an innovative and amazing sessions on the beach.
Second day morning session started with the introduction of the concept of entrepreneurship as a value creation tool and participants discussed its importance in fighting youth unemployment. Different youth entrepreneurship stereotypes such as age, risk, gender was combated and youngsters presented in national teams the situation of youth unemployment in their own country together with interesting initiative and programmes who help disadvantaged youth to be Entrepreneurs.
Youth were also introduced to the migration crisis in Europe and the challenges which youth refugee face once they arrive in the new country. Participants discovered the difference between migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, including more details about how the business of human smuggling works. In the afternoon, together in teams, they were playing role play games where youngsters represented the characteristics of different entrepreneur’s profile. They were invited to participate to the “World Cafe” activity, where again in groups participants were answering questions such as which kind of programme should be offered to youngsters in order to foster youth entrepreneurship, what could be the obstacles in the process of opening a company, etc.
During our activities, participants had the chance to learn about many inspiring entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk, Camillo Olivetti, Bill Gates, etc. Divided in teams, they had the task to list some famous successful entrepreneurs and explained how their action and behaviours had a positive World-Wide Impact. After this activity, they were also invited to discuss what are the skills needed to be an entrepreneur, what are the skills they would like to acquire and what skills today´s job market needs.
In the last days of the training course, participants were introduced to the Business Model Canvas and following its structure they created their business ideas and in detail explained why their ideas have to be supported. Other topics for discussion were the necessity to have a PLAN and how to get funds for a Social enterprise. Concerning the Youthpass, it was released at the end of training to all participants and last session of the training was dedicated to the explanation of Youthpass and Erasmus+ opportunities.
This project was implemented by 6 organisations and financed by the European Commission through Erasmus+ programme.
