Part 1 – Project Live2Work

Purpose and Description

The Live2Work project aims to deliver a useful pedagogical tool for all those involved in the process of building life projects with young adults (between the ages of 18 and 30) in situations of professional vulnerability, including migrants and refugees. Live2Work recognizes the need to understand the characteristics of this target group and, as such, aims to provide end users (e.g., mentors, advisors, trainers) with the knowledge, skills and strategies required for successful intervention in this area using a high-quality and in-depth conceptual framework and a toolbox.

General Goals

The Live2Work project aims to:

  • Train end users (e.g., mentors, advisors, trainers) on the new approach to the construction of life projects among unemployed young adults, migrants and refugees, between the ages of 18 and 30;
  • Create/adapt/reinvent tools to support this training, to work with its target group of intervention;
  • Promote the use of these tools in interventions with the target group[1] by supporting the identification, acquisition and transfer of competences, developed in formal and non-formal processes of lifelong learning.

These three aims support the ultimate goal of this project: to improve the possibilities of social integration of those who are most professionally vulnerable.

Distinguishing Features

The development of a project of this magnitude, encompassing a number of international partners and experts, and selected to be financed with European funds between 40 projects, presents important requirements both in its conception and in its application. For this reason, it is intended that this intervention proposal be scientifically sustained, empirically validated, and innovative and creative in its approach. The characteristics that best distinguish this project are listed below:

  • It is an effective working proposal for broad groups of people with similar needs: it is intended to be administered to young adults (18-30 years), including migrants and refugees, in situations of professional vulnerability (i.e., with a gap between their academic qualifications and / or technical skills and labour market requirements). This target group has a set of personal, professional, social, cultural, political and religious characteristics, quite distinct from each other and from their host countries;
  • It can be used by different institutions or users: this project aims to prepare end users (e.g., trainers, mentors, and advisors) from different professional backgrounds (e.g., psychology, social work, education, etc.), to support the construction of life projects of people who are in situations of professional vulnerability. For that purpose, a conceptual framework, a toolbox, a course guide, and a set of resources (such as training activities and educational videos) have been created and are available online;
  • It presents a well-organized and well-reasoned scheme of activities that constitute the toolbox. These activities are organized into systems, themes, and competencies to work with the target audience, according to their specific needs as assessed by the end user (i.e., the toolbox is very flexible);
  • It can be implemented by the end users to the target group at very low costs: the materials included in the project are made freely available for download in several languages (Portuguese, Danish, and Czech), the necessary information on their use is also accessible, and the end users will receive the necessary training for their correct implementation; in addition, the costs associated with the project derive from the time, resources, energy and effort invested by the end users; and,
  • It promotes the dissemination of all its components (theoretical manual, toolbox, application guide, videos) through several online platforms: a Moodle platform for learning, a website for dissemination and presentation/distribution of project outputs, and an internal communication platform between project partners have been created and are available to anyone who wants to try out the project and take advantage of it.

Project Summary

The Live2Work project results from a partnership between eight European entities:

  • Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa – Portugal, in the quality of the project’s leader, is a private organization that pursues objectives of social action, provision of health care, education, and culture, and the promotion of higher quality of life, particularly for the benefit of those in greater need of protection;
  • Coneqt – Denmark, is a Small and Medium Enterprise whose main focus is innovation in education, producing teaching materials in relation to soft skills development, teaching methodologies, materials development, and online learning (Moodle), innovation, and inter-cultural understanding;
  • Spolek PELICAN – Czech Republic, is a non-profit association active in the field of education and culture, based on the belief that one way to improve the quality of education is to raise public awareness of current trends in education and support their implementation in all levels of educational organizations;
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa [Catholic University of Portugal] – Portugal, is a higher education institution that, following the ideal of rigour and excellence in its scientific, educational, and pedagogical activities, prepares students for a demanding society that seeks serious and ethically well-trained professionals;
  • Artevio – Czech Republic, is a company specialized in complex web solutions tailored to the client’s needs, whose main goal is to deliver a complex service mix of internet technologies and marketing;
  • MYO MindYourOrganisation – Denmark, is a private Consulting organization that supports companies, organizations, and individuals in conducting successful change processes;
  • Luminita Angelica BUCUR – ALB Conseil – France, is an SME enterprise that specializes in monitoring, quality assessment and evaluation of education projects in innovative education projects, with a focus on EU-funded projects;
  • Instituto Padre António Vieira – Portugal, is a non-profit civic association, recognized as a private social welfare institution and a non-governmental development organization, whose objective is reflection, education and action in the promotion of human dignity, social solidarity, sustainability, development, diversity and dialogue between civilizations/cultures.

The Live2Work project is a Strategic Partnership for EU Adult Education. The project is organized into six intellectual outputs that allow the achievement of the three aforementioned aims:

  • Output 1: Development of a manual on the construction of life projects for young adults in situations of professional vulnerability, including migrants and refugees;
  • Output 2: Development of a toolbox, composed of materials, activities and exercises, made available online, for use in intervention sessions with the target group;
  • Output 3: Development of a course guide, with the general guidelines for a course to prepare end users for the use of outputs 1 and 2 (manual and toolbox), with the purpose of ensuring their quality;
  • Output 4: Piloting / in-service training courses, aimed at conducting a pilot study on the manual, toolbox, and course guide, in order to make the necessary changes to its contents;
  • Output 5: Online audio-visual learning scenarios, subtitled in three languages (Portuguese, Danish and Czech), which will stimulate the use of the materials of this project through video tutorials (showing how to use the learning system) and promotional videos (briefly outlining what the user can expect from this project and what the benefits of using their materials are); and,
  • Output 6: Moodle courses and a learning platform on the website[2], with a set of interactive materials for online learning, that are easy and intuitive to use.

In addition to these outputs, the project also involves:

  • Two training activities: one to introduce the consortium to the methodologies and tools involved in the theoretical models selected to support the intervention about the construction of life projects in situations of professional vulnerability, and another to teach the consortium about the creation and use of online courses through the Moodle platform;
  • Three multiplier events: these will consist of workshops aimed at disseminating, testing, evaluating and improving the outputs to ensure that the final version of the intervention meets the needs of their different users. The participants of these events are educators, social workers, and psychologists who work with unemployed young adults, including migrants and refugees; and,
  • A final conference at Catholic University of Portugal, Lisbon, for which the different partners will organize workshops and a large conference, aimed at public and private institutions, such as job centres, NGOs, and refugee centres, among other entities involved in supporting inclusion, whose purpose will be to make entire project known to the relevant public.

Keep in mind

Since the beginning of the 21st century:

  • Social, cultural, technological and economic progress vs increasing situations of social vulnerability = repercussions on personal, family, educational, work, economic, cultural, and political levels
  • Challenge: increasing the availability of support services for the development of life projects
    • Personal level: diversity of new needs requires the development of skills that enable/promote job market integration
    • Professional level: end users face new challenges arising from the uncertainty, unpredictability, insecurity, and instability in contemporary society, and for which their academic and professional background is not always adequate, and can be enhanced by access to innovative approaches and resources.

Purpose

Live2Work intends to be a useful pedagogical hands-on instrument for all those involved in the process of building life projects with young adults (between the age of 18 and 30), in situations of professional vulnerability. It aims to provide end users (e.g., trainers, advisors and mentors) with knowledge, skills and strategies needed for successful action in this area, using a conceptual framework and a toolbox of high quality and depth.

General goals

  • Train end users in the approach to the construction of life projects among unemployed young adults, migrants and refugees between the age of 18 and 30;
  • Create/adapt/reinvent tools to support this training, to work with this specific target group;
  • Promote the use of these tools by supporting the identification, acquisition and transfer of competences, developed in formal and non-formal processes of lifelong learning.

Distinguishing features

  • Working proposal for broad groups of people with similar needs;
  • Allows the use by different institutions/users;
  • Presents a well-organized and well-reasoned scheme of activities that constitute the toolbox and can be used flexibly, according to the identified needs;
  • Allows the implementation by the end users to the target population at very low costs;
  • Promotes the dissemination of all its components through several online platforms

Project summary

  • Output 1. A conceptual framework for the construction of life projects for young adults in situations of professional vulnerability, including migrants and refugees;
  • Output 2. A toolbox, composed by materials, activities and exercises, made available online, for use in intervention sessions with the target group;
  • Output 3. Course guide, with the general guidelines for a course to prepare end users for the use of outputs 1 and 2 in 3 countries with the purpose of ensuring their quality;
  • Output 4. Piloting / in-service training courses, aimed at conducting a pilot study on the manual, toolbox, and course guide, to make the necessary changes to its contents;
  • Output 5. Online audio-visual learning scenarios, which will stimulate the use of the materials through video tutorials and promotional videos;
  • Output 6. Moodle courses and learning platform on the website, with a set of interactive materials for online learning, that are easy and intuitive to use.

[1] Target group: unemployed young adults (18-30 years old), in a professionally vulnerable situation due to a gap between qualifications and skills, and labour market requirements, including migrants and refugees.

[2] https://live2work.eu/go/link-3/