INteractive FOcus on PROgramming

<< Background >>With INFO-PRO, we addressed the urgent need for engaging, practical digital skills training, especially in programming and coding, for young people from socially marginalized communities. Many lack access to such education, and traditional schools often fail to make IT, math and future job skills engaging. Digital skills are crucial for employability, yet disadvantaged adolescents remain excluded, in Hungary and Slovakia especially Roma communities. INFO-PRO strengthens their digital competencies while fostering social integration.The COVID-19 pandemic worsened inequalities, increasing youth unemployment and NEET risks. Many young people face additional social and psychological challenges, with rising depression rates. INFO-PRO tackles this through gamified coding and IT workshops and experiential education (EE), enhancing both technical and social skills. This non-formal education program should provide structured support, preparing young people for future careers while encouraging self-reflection.Building on the expertise of experienced project partners in 3 countries, INFO-PRO aims to empower marginalized youth with skills in order to improve both their personal development and job market prospects.<< Objectives >>The INFO-PRO project equips disadvantaged youth with essential skills for future employment. In the project’s heart piece – weekly After School sessions – participants learn coding, digital skills, and programming fundamentals as well as job skills while developing teamwork, communication, resilience, and motivation through experiential education (EE).Beyond individual impact, INFO-PRO fosters social inclusion by easing young people's transition into the labor market. It also creates a multiplier effect by training educators in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia to teach coding, job skills, and EE, enabling broader implementation and sustainably fostering know-how and skills of social workers, youth workers and educators.Key outcomes include 60 young people gaining digital and job skills (in After School session), 10 trainers trained in coding, 15 in EE, and 6 in job skills (in Initial Trainings). Furthermore, a Summer School in Vienna will expand the young participants’ knowledge, networking, and engaging with IT startups and in particular work on their future employability. INFO-PRO creates long-term opportunities, helping young people build confidence and create a network between educational institutions and IT companies.<< Implementation >>Besides WP1 (Project Management), INFO-PRO implemented a series of structured activities to ensure the project's success and long-term impact:WP2 focused on developing high-quality training materials, including a multilingual training plan, and preparing trainers through a series of initial trainings, consisting of experiential education (EE), coding and job skills.WP3 provided socially marginalized adolescents in Hungary and Slovakia with 9 months of structured sessions. These sessions combined coding, digital skills, and job-related competencies as well as experiential education (EE) to foster teamwork, resilience, and motivation. A get-together day before the sessions helped participants connect, and mentoring sessions ensured knowledge transfer between the partner countries.WP4 expanded on the After School content through a training week in Vienna to deepen the participants’ skills and engage in networking.WP5 ensured broader outreach through an impact assessment study, an international advocacy conference, and targeted dissemination efforts such as articles, social media posts, and transnational meetings, further amplifying the project's sustainability.<< Results >>The INFO-PRO project delivered concrete outputs and measurable results, ensuring long-term impact. A 50-page impact assessment study, translated into four languages, served as the key evaluation tool. The project successfully brought together 3 partner countries, 4 project partners, and more than 7 associated partners supporting the initiative.Further key outputs included a multilingual, 40-page training plan for After School sessions and initial training for trainers, covering experiential education (EE), coding, and job skills. The project directly benefited 60 young people in Hungary and Slovakia through 9 months of After School sessions, preceded by a get-together day and supported by 7 mentoring sessions for knowledge transfer. Additionally, a winter term international weekend fostered cross-border exchange.Further results included a Summer Camp in Vienna, 1 international advocacy conference and 3 transnational project meetings. Multiple dissemination efforts led to articles on partner websites, social media posts and the participation in forums and conferences. The project’s progress was backed up through 2 quality management reports. Most of the KPIs listed above were exceeded.