Context and objectives The Brussels-Capital Region is affected by an important social divide. On one hand, its higher education graduate rate is one of the highest in Europe (37%). On the other hand, an important proportion of the population is underqualified (35’5%), the early school leaving rate is significant (20%) and the youth unemployment rate is worrisome (30 %)*. Due to the deindustrialization, the chances of finding a job have decreased considerably for low or medium qualified people, as well as for young people, except for some sectors such as tourism or the hospitality industry. When they finish their studies, young people from Brussels have to face a labour market where employers often require a significant experience in the chosen professional field, as well as linguistic or behavioural skills that the young usually do not have. The European professional internship programme ERASMUS + Leonardo allows young people to reinforce technical skills, to obtain their first professional experience and to develop language skills and appropriate professional attitudes. With this in mind, Actiris and Bruxelles Formation have joined together with different key players in tourism and hospitality sectors in order to set up a consortium intended to lead an international mobility project for the people from Brussels. Besides Bruxelles Formation and Actiris, this programme includes: 1) In Brussels: Bruxelles Formation Tremplin, the Training Service of the Small and Medium Enterprises and its training centre EFP, Horeca Formation and its reference centre, Be Pro. 2) Abroad: the Pôle Emploi, the public employment service of the Czech Republic, the public employment service of Cyprus, the Agency for Qualification and Employment of the Azores, the Research Agency of Umbria and the hotel chain Hilton. Quantity and profile of the participants The project consists in sending 17 learners, who will be finishing their initial professional training, to associated training institutions. 3 guides/sponsors will be sent to the institutions, too. Description of the activities The project involves the information, selection, preparation, sending to professional internships and supervision of the recently graduated learners who come from the partner schools and training centers of Brussels. Methodology and project management The project will be managed following the internationally reputed methodology Prince 2. Actiris is also a CAF (Common Assessment Framework) user. Impacts and expected results The impacts and the results targeted by the participants are: - Improvement of the learning attitudes of the students, due to the provoked motivation - Increasing the employability by developing the skills and the obtained experience of the students - Increasing the spirit of initiative and of enterprising by implying the applicants - Improvement of autonomy and self-confidence by means of the couched academic success - Improvement of foreign languages skills by means of work and life immersion - Reinforcement of intercultural awareness by means of the direct contact with a different culture - More active participation in society as a learning citizen, trainee and then employee - Better knowledge of European projects and the European values thanks to Erasmus+ - Increasing the motivation to take part in a future training, thanks to the motivation obtained after the experience. The impacts and the results expected by the participant institutions are: - Increasing the capacity to operate at a European/international standard by joining the skills of the different partners. - Innovating and improving the working methods of the institutions by highlighting the skills, the recognition of the gained knowledge and the continuous improvement. Potential long-term advantages The main long-term advantages are: - Making it easier to change from the training period to employment by means of the active collaboration of public employment services and training institutions in the Brussels-Capital region, associated to key players of training in different sectors (tourism and hospitality in this case). - The development of the knowledge and the expertise of employment-training partners in the Brussels-Capital region, and the reinforcement of partnerships in order to benefit the public and the personnel of the partner institutions. - The encouragement of European/international mobility by spreading information, support, matching and supervision during the mobility experience and at its end. - The development of a mobility culture for the most weakened public. ___________________ * Source : SPF Economy, PME, Middle classes and Energy : Labour force (workers and unemployed) and non-active population since 1999 (15-64 year-old), Research about the labour force, updated the 31st October 2013 for the Regions