ACTIVITY BACKGROUND
Info in a Nutshell
The core activity of EUCONTACT is strongly shaped by the social and educational policy goals of the European Parliament and of the European Commission for young people with a vocational qualification, based especially in underdeveloped EU regions.
Cutting down segmented youth unemployment, often leading to lack of career and economic prospects, is at the forefront of our agenda.
The FREE MOVEMENT OF CITIZENS IN EUROPE is the principle lying at the core of EUCONTACT´s projects, anchored in the Common European Educational Area and European Labour Market, as components of the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET.
We lay a special emphasis on the following project development types:
Promoting the European Labour Market, the social and economic cohesion in Europe, the European Educational Area through matching the competences of vocational learners / apprentices with the labour market requirements and through internationalization strategies of VET providers.
a) Projects promoting the EUROPEAN LABOUR MARKET
- Fighting against and reducing segmented youth unemployment in Europe;
- Creating socially appropriate work conditions for young people in Europe, originating from structurally underdeveloped regions in Europe;
- Making young people, based in weakly developed European regions from a structural point of view, with a vocational qualification, aware, at an early stage, of job search opportunities and employment chances not only at national level, but also at European, international level.
b) Projects aiming at enhancing the social and economic COHESION in Europe:
- Fighting against and attempting to avoid the risk of poverty, especially that of young people, living in underdeveloped regions in Europe;
- Fostering initiatives promoting entrepreneurial thinking.
c) Projects promoting the EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL AREA, relevant for the future competitiveness of European companies;
- Development of intercultural competences and promoting the acquisition of foreign languages, embedded in the respective vocational qualification (sector-specific language learning);
- Development, at transnational level, of learning contents relevant for the European labour market;
- Matching the competences of vocational learners / apprentices with the labour market requirements and anticipation of competences needed in the future;
- Development of cross-national projects with European funding, supporting the internationalisation strategy of vocational institutions, based in structurally underdeveloped EU regions, strengthening the EU EDUCATIONAL AREA in the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET;
- Recognition of competences acquired abroad during mobility phases by means of robust instruments, such as the EUROPASS MOBILITY Document;
- Transnational projects promoting the vocational mobility, allowing young VET students from Vocational Schools, based in structurally weakly developed EU regions, to systematically carry out work placements in companies / public institutions, based in highly developed EU regions;
- On an institutional level, the development of cross-national training contents by vocational schools, based in weakly developed EU regions, hand-in-hand with companies / public institutions from strongly developed EU regions, is of utmost relevance;
- Digitisation, together with promoting transversal competences by integrating ICT, language learning and entrepreneurial mindset, are important components of our educational, respectively labour market projects;
- Focus on vocational areas with relevance for Europe, such as Health and Care, ICT, Hospitality and Catering, Food Processing Industry and technical occupations, such as Metal, Electro- and Electronic industry.
Detailed Info
A sound national, as well as cross-national, European vocational education in Europe, is of utmost importance for the future competitiveness of European companies and for both a national, as well as European labour market.
A Common European Educational Area and cross-national vocational education and training initiatives, as defined in the OSNABRÜCK DECLARATION at European level, are high-priority targets in this context.
EUCONTACT operates at the interaction between the economic and social realm in both highly developed and underdeveloped EU regions on grounds of the milestones of the European Union, as initiator of the cohesion process of citizens´ living conditions in all regions of Europe.
Over 50% of the labour migration in the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET in 2018, a total of 6,1 Million, were persons coming from Romania, Poland, Italy and Bulgaria.
The background of EUCONTACT´s core activities is based upon the benchmarks, as defined in the COHESION´S REPORT of the European Commission over the past 3 years, with the most recent version published in 2022:
- Since 2001, the less developed regions in Eastern and Southern Europe have reduced the gap in relation to the European countries in the Western, Southern and Northern Europe. At the same time, several regions in Southern and South-Western Europe are still in a situation of economic stagnation, respectively in a permanent economic downturn;
- The convergence between EU member countries has gained momentum but, at the same time, the internal, regional disparities within a certain country have become more enhanced;
- The mobility of workers in the European labour market, as well as the level of employability in the Single European Market, have both risen; at the same time, regional disparities have not decreased below their level as in 2008;
- The mobility of labour force in the European Labour Market, as well as employability in the Single European Market, have both increased; however, at the same time, regional disparities have not decreased as to fall beyond the level before 2008.
- The number of people at the risk of poverty and social exclusion whittled down by 17 Mil. persons during 2012 and 2019;
- Since the outbreak of the COVID pandemics in 2019, the number of people at the risk of poverty in Europe has increased again by 5 Mil. persons. Still more than one fifth of the citizens of Europe are at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion;
- The innovation gap between regions in Europe has grown larger, due to lacking Research and Development Investments and structural weaknesses in accessing and using the EU Funding and Investment Programmes, especially by the least developed EU regions;
- The population in the EU is getting older and will be decreasing in the years to come. In 2020, 34% of the population in the EU lived in a shrinking EU region. This percentage shall increase to 51%in 2040, as per forecasts by the EU.
Through its cross-national activity as project and bid developer, in various countries of the EU, in the respective language of the country and by considering the national priorities in European context, EUCONTACT contributes to implementing the strategic and political objectives of the EUROPEAN UNION for a harmonized economic and social development in various regions of the EUROPEAN UNION.
- In this context, fostering young people from structurally underdeveloped EU regions, both in the European educational area, as well as in the European labour market, is EUCONTACT top priority;
- EUCONTACT shares the values of a EUROPE, in which learning and working are not impeded by borders and young people can live, acquire knowldege and work in another EU country, benefitting from adequate social cover;
- EUCONTACT, through its work, contibutes to a EUROPE, in which young people are given the opportunity to learn two or three foreign languages, in addition to their mother tongue;
- EUCONTACT contributes to building a EUROPE, in which young people are given the opportunity to develop, respectively strenghten a European identity.
In the EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL AREA, the focus of EUCONTACT ´s activities is laid on CROSS-NATIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING, benefitting especially YOUNG PEOPLE WITH A VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION, based in structurally weakly developed European regions, for better career prospects in the European Labour Market and European Educational Area.
Young staff and skilled labour shortage in structurally developed European regions versus segmented youth unemployment in structurally weakly developed European regions
A further priority regarding EUCONTACT´s activity related to project development and implementation in the EUROPEAN LABOUR MARKET is to reduce the mismatch between offer and demand in the respective national labour market, especially for YOUNG PEOPLE WITH A VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION, based in underdeveloped countries, by means of EUROPEAN SOLUTIONS.
The above-mentioned activities occur by always considering the developments regarding demographic change, both in structurally highly developed and weakly developed EU regions.
Our activities take into account the current developments regarding the demographic change in Europe, in both structurally developed, as well as underdeveloped regions in Europe.
These have led to innovative project development schemes, brainchildren of EUCONTACT, such as EUMATCHING and EDUMATCHING, MATCHING YOUNG PEOPLE, with a VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATION from STRUCTURALLY UNDERDEVELOPED EUROPEAN REGIONS, facing segmented youth unemployment with STRUCTURALLY HIGHLY DEVELOPED EUROPEAN REGIONS, struggling with labour force shortage on grounds of demographic change.
By means of our European, cross-national projects, with and without European funding, our team from EUCONTACT supports the internationalisation strategy of vocational education and training providers / VET providers, based both in structurally weakly and highly developed EU regions, promoting a modern EU EDUCATIONAL AREA and a SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET.
Thematically, EUCONTACT complies in its project development activities with the benchmarks of the NEW GENERATION OF ERASMUS+ Programme 2021-2027, as set out in the two strategic papers, issued by CEDEFOP and meant to forge the EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL AREA: „Europe 2020 Strategy“ and „EU TRENDS 2030“.
