"The overall aim of the entR21 project is to increase the number of job seekers who understand their key competencies well, they know what key competencies they need to improve to increase their chances of finding a job."

— What is entR21?

With the courses developed in this project, we hope to contribute to close the competence gap a little and our overall goal is to make sure more vulnerable (future) jobseekers become employable in the current AND future labour market.

After jobseekers follow the courses,

• they have a good understanding of their key competencies

• they know what key competencies they need to improve in order to increase their chances to secure a job

• their learning outcomes (competencies) will be validated through open badges. This strengthens self-confidence because their competences are made visible, it creates efficient learning paths and is recognisable for stakeholders (funders - governments - business partners)

Secondary goal: Raise the amount of people that consider becoming self-employed

Service providers will:

• be aware of the importance of 21st century competencies and entrepreneurial skills rather than diploma’s

• will know how to discover the competencies of their clients/students

• will know how and when these competencies can be issued through Open Badges

—Activities 

• Workshops/training for clients about: 

Introduction

Entrepreneurial skills

Social skills

Power of thinking

Self regulation

• Workshop for service providers

• Train the trainers course

—Why?

The world around us is continuously changing and this in a always faster manner. Globalisation, digitisation, technology, robotization, aging and hazing, social changes in the direction of working more and longer, growth and shrinking of companies, etc. The world is changing and so does the labour market. Tomorrow we won’t need today's competencies anymore. 

Today 's jobs will no longer exist in a few years, others will come instead. The work is increasingly flexible and volatile. In such a dynamic labour market, it is important for all involved (both employers, employees and self-employed) to be flexible and broadly employable. Employability is the extent to which a person can perform his/her current job and other positions in a healthy and productive manner. 

So, we live in a rapidly changing labour market that needs all possible participants to enter the labour market in order to be able to keep up with the foreseen growth. 

On the other hand prejudices, high expectations, social security systems that are not ready for 21st century keep too many people excluded from labour market. 

All-over Europe, countries face the same issues: 

• an increasing labour demand, 

• a competence gap between demand and available jobseekers 

• changing competences needed (21st century skills) 

• put more focus on entrepreneurial skills in order to have more people become self-employed or entrepreneur of their own career

—How?

We developed 2 courses regarding 21st century and entrepreneurial competencies: one for the mentioned client group and the other one for the people supporting them, being teachers, instructors, job coaches.

Within the scope of the project we also do research on how we can use Open Badges to recognise and acknowledge these competencies. An Open Badge is a visual digital and reliable proof of a skill or competence that someone has acquired. It gives insight and words to what the client is capable of. This strengthens clients’ self-confidence because their competencies are made visible in a digital, transparent and open way, it creates efficient learning paths and is recognisable for stakeholders (employers - funders - governments -business partners)

The course for clients is a collective way of discovering and revealing their key competencies.

When the course is finished, the clients will have an overview with the explored competencies and where the client is positioned compared to what is desired. The client will make an action plan to work on desired competencies that are currently missing (or insufficiently expressed). Also they learn to express their strengths and how they can be used to benefit the job. Competencies serve as a means to increase clients’ chances at employers because they can talk about their competencies open and clear and why these are important for the vacancy available.

As said in the beginning, we will create Open Badges in order to recognise and acknowledge these skills.

An indirect goal we hope for is that through learning about the entrepreneurial skills, more people will consider to become self-employed when they see they do have potential.

— Partners

• SUEM.BE, Belgium

• Stichting Bloom, The Netherlands

• LJUDSKA UNIVERZA NOVA GORICA, Slovenia

• TOIMI-työvalmennussäätiö, Finland

• Lahden kansanopiston säätiö, Finland

• Foundation Institute of Social Re-Integration, Poland

— Financing source

Co-financed by the Erasmus + program of the European Union

DISCLAMER: The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect 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.