The Project
The Project —
Entrepreneurship and skills for the 21ST century
Entrepreneurship and skills for the 21ST century
Implementation period: 1.11.2020 - 30.04.2023
The overall goal of the project is to have more employable vulnerable (future) jobseekers.
In this project we develop 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.
— Context
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.
— Actions
To achieve the goals, the following products whave been developed.
1. Workshops/training for clients:
Assessment of clients' competences during the training/workshop - key competences, in particular those which are indicated as the most important in the future (both 21st century skills and entrepreneurial skills).
The workshops will be conducted in small groups and built so that clients can be observed while carrying out tasks, alone or in a group.
2. Workshop for service providers:
Building awareness of the importance of 21st century competences and entrepreneurial skills, not a diploma teaching them how to discover / disclose the competences of their clients / students insight into how these competencies can be mapped with Open Badges.
3. Course Train the trainer:
Creating a toolkit for future workshop trainers for clients
Creating a toolkit for future trainers of workshops for service providers / trainers
— The Results
In the project, we aim to achieve the following results:
Clients can reflect on their skills and possible contribution to the labor market. As these are key competences, they will be useful in many different situations and professions.
We help to change the mindset of people who think they cannot (or can no longer) contribute to society or feel they have no skills. Increasing the visibility of competences in a standardized way thanks to Open Badges Service providers learn how to work with a client's competencies and the added value this brings to your job search.
The project will have an impact at local, regional, national and international levels.
— Target group
There are 2 main target groups:
(future) jobseekers: applicants / students - all with a need for additional labor market support who do not know what their key skills / competences are.
service providers: mediators, job coaches, teachers, instructors who support the first target group.
— Partners
— Financing source
Co-financed by the Erasmus + program of the European Union
Proj.no: 2020-1-BE02-KA202-074719
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.