Heightening the Engagement of Youth

<< Background >>The HEY project was born,during the after-COVID-19 period,to address the challenges young people,especially those with fewer opportunities face, which may lead to social exclusion in the fields of education,labour market,living,health and participation in the society.Young people,around Europe,suffer strongly from negative consequences caused by various circumstances,around the globe.The consequences of the pandemic,but also the negative socio-economical traumas,caused due to the prolonged enforcement of national measures adopted by countries to control the spreading of the epidemy.Even though today things have been improved,the negative impact on their mental health,.At the personal level,the life-stage in which young people move from adolescence to adulthood is a time of competing priorities.Equally challenging is when they return back in their countries, after a long-term staying abroad.Even more challenging is when they are going through a gap year between studies,or face difficulties in finding a job and are at a stage of being NEET.Young people face difficulties,obstacles,challenges,where they are asked to make important decisions about their futures in moving toward the labor market,or advanced studies, or in adulthood. << Objectives >>The project aimed at contributing towards the empowerment of young people, mainly Returnees,NEETs,and others and youth workers also ,by a)supporting their positive engagement in building more equal and inclusive communities through innovative and transnational youth initiatives, b)improving the existing local youth work practices, through quality and sustainability of digital youth work and online and blended training and the recognition of the vital role the youth sector plays in helping young people recover from detrimental effects, overcoming poverty of hope, and to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and c)improving successful education-to-work transitions, as a potentially powerful way of weakening the intergenerational transmission of poverty and reducing inequality. Specific objectives to 1)identify existing needs among youth, and how youth work responds to the needs,2)Foster the inclusion of young people to become active citizens, by increasing competences and self-esteem through storytelling, co-production.3)Empower youth workers through capacity-building and the provision of an open access source of e-learning training tools for smooth integration of youth in the society.5)Support through mentoring and peer consultations<< Implementation >>1)Project Management activities to ensure the implementation of the project activities in high quality, including 3 physical TPMs and 15 online meetings.2) Project Quality Management Activities to ensure quality of the project results and implementation process through quality assurance, monitoring and control procedures.3) Project Dissemination, Exploitation and Sustainability Activities to raise awareness of the project and involve target groups and stakeholders in the project activities, thus ensuring further exploitation and sustainability of the project results.4)Activities related specifically to the production of the following project results and outcomes:• PR1-Guide “HEY! What is Happening?”• PR2-Short Video Documentaries “HEY! Tell Me Your Story!”• PR3- Training Programme “HEY! Capacity building of the Youth work”• PR4-HEY! E-Learning and Training Platform• PR5- HEY! Online Mentoring and Peer-To-Peer Support and Consultation• PR6-HEY! Now What? Policy Recommendations• LTTA: Learning and teaching Training activities• Organization of multiplier events in all partner countries. International Youth Forum in Portugal.HEY Dissemination Conferences in Cyprus,France,Italy,Spain and Ireland.<< Results >>Project Management:3 physical TPMs and 15 Online partner meetings.PR1:1)6 nation-wide research studies,composed by 3 focus group discussions with Returnees/NEETs (FG1),Youth Workers (FG2),Public servants (FG3),Interviews with Returnees/NEETs.2)Main output the Guide “HEY! What is Happening?” available in 6 languages.PR2:1)7 National Storytelling Workshops,2)7 Storyboards and 3)7 Short Video Documentaries “HEY! Tell Me Your Story!”PR3:1)Training Programme entitled “Hey! Capacity building of the Youth work” with 6 original authentic Training Modules and accompanied material.2)6 National pilot training courses.C1-LTTA Training Course “H.E.Y! Heightening the Engagement of Youth”,organized in Palermo,ItalyPR4:H.E.Y! E-Learning and Training PlatformPR5:1)6 H.E.Y! Online Mentoring Programmes 2)6 H.E.Y! Online Peer-To-Peer Support ProgrammesPR6:Booklet “H.E.Y.! Now What? Policy Recommendations”, available in 6 languages.Multiplier events: 1) Final International HEY Youth Forum in Portugal 2) HEY Dissemination Conference in France 3) HEY Dissemination Conference-Cyprus 4) HEY Dissemination Conference in Spain 5) HEY Dissemination Conference in Ireland 6) HEY Dissemination Conference in Italy