Article by Folkuniversitetet

In 2020 life of the whole humanity changed completely. Pandemic radically influenced on economy, education, culture and other spheres. Many people lost their jobs and did not see any further perspectives. The project “EntreTheater” financed by European Commission aims to create a solution for unemployed talented people that will help them to continue improving their skills and building their career path.

The main objective of the project is to develop an inclusive, engaging and innovative training methodology to provide target group of adult unemployed people with entrepreneurial skills.

Since the beginning of the project in March 2021 the first step towards the goal is already done in the form of Skill Assessment Framework conducted by the partners from 6 different countries: Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Romania. It is implemented in order to evaluate the current situations considering unemployment in partner countries, find similarities among them that will help in future to develop effective methodology that will support people who found themselves excluded from the job market.

On the basis of joint reported the training materials for trainers and participants are already developed and piloting will begin soon in partner countries.  According to Eurostat in 2020 the rate of unemployed youth in EU countries was 16,8%. Statista  in January 2022 claimed that the new rate is 14%. The situation differs in countries but the numbers still prove that measures need to be taken to increase the employment rate of youth.

Future depends on the decisions people make today. That is why it is so important to continue counteracting unemployment and look for solutions. The problem is that students do not know how they can apply their knowledge. Developing entrepreneurial skills can let students adjust better to new conditions and be more confident in their actions. They could gain deep understanding that their ideas value and they are the only ones responsible for them.

Entrepreneurial skills can increase their filling of being part of society and practically see how they affect it. One of the most helpful tools in improving entrepreneurial skills is creativity. It is a key to uncovering data and developing unique and innovative solutions. Creative people deal with stressful situations better and take risks easier. They look for new opportunities more enthusiastically. Improving creativity skills requires collaboration anyway. That is why EU countries need to improve the situation jointly by sharing the experience and evaluating implemented actions including specifics of each country.

The implementation of EntreTheater project will address the lack of entrepreneurial skills among youth. The materials will be accessible and people will be able to reach them. Gained knowledge will increase their creativity and will make them more confident in making decisions. It will lead to a better inclusion of people to labour market and higher employment rate in Europe.