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Youth Inclusion in Gothenburg Region and Dortmund
Youth Inclusion in Gothenburg Region and Dortmund
Start date: Sep 1, 2016,
End date: Aug 31, 2017
PROJECT
FINISHED
Göteborg Region Association of Local Authorities is a cooperation between 13 municipalities in western Sweden. Two of GR's main missions are labor market and social issues.Both the social steering committee and the steering committee for labor market, target young people as a priority group in their respective policy documents. Particular focus is on the reception of unaccompanied children and the match between education and work, with a strong focus on the inclusion of young people at the labor market. These questions have long been major challenges for the municipalities in the Gothenburg Region. Since 2007/2008, all municipalities in the Gothenburg region have experience in receiving unaccompanied minors. The increased number of children present major challenges for the municipalities as regards to ensure a qualitative reception and to provide good conditions for integration. However, since the situation is relatively new, better methods and procedures are needed, that politicians and staff in various positions can apply in their work towards unaccompanied children, both when it comes to social services, schools, student health, housing for minors or placement at foster homes. When it comes to young people entering the labor market, there is still a large group of young people who have difficulties in entering the labor market. The large majority of those at risk are youth who lack primary or secondary school, people who were born outside Europe or have a disability that have resulted in a reduced ability to work. Throughout the 2000s, the youth unemployment in Sweden has been at relatively high levels. These challenges have also been identified as important in Dortmund Stadt. Germany and Sweden face similar challenges with many refugees with low educational levels who need to enter the labor market, but also be included in society in general. Many of them are unaccompanied young children and youth who will soon enter adult life. Which of these measures have been successful and what have been less successful?The project's overall objective is to provide better support to young people in vulnerable situations - who are struggling to enter the labor market, who have difficulties with their studies or that feel excluded from society in general. By involving politicians and other key actors, it will provide them with greater knowledge and experience of how to work to reduce young people's alienation. More specifically, the project will focus on two specific issues - how Dortmund Stadt is working with unaccompanied minors, as well as how to support young people to enter the labor market. Dortmund has also expressed a mutual interest to learn more about how GR and the municipalities in the GR area are working with the issues that the project addresses, and there is also a mutual desire for a lasting, long-term cooperation. Participants from GR and GR's member municipalities will also share their knowledge and experience when visiting Dortmund, and the delegation in Dortmund is composed of a similar group that the one from the Gothenburg area. The project will focus on a two-day visit to Germany, where the groups will participate in various field trips, site visits, lectures, workshops, meetings with young people, etc, but the days will also offer more interactive opportunities for dialogue and teamwork. The project participants will acquire knowledge and gain experience of how others have done to explore whether there are approaches, methods, strategies that could be applied both in the Gothenburg Region and in Dortmund. Areas of interest for the visit are housing, social activities, leisure, introduction efforts, apprenticeship, labor market, cooperation with other actors, combat radicalisation, promote intercultural dialogue, etc.The project has clear links to the Erasmus+ and the objectives of Education2020. Education and investing in youth is also a way to increase the sense of belonging to a community, and the project is an important instrument to promote the inclusion of people with limited opportunities, youth in general and unaccompanied minors in particular. Based on the priority issues that Erasmus+ raise in 2016, the project has clear ambitions to reach marginalized young people, strengthening diversity and intercultural dialogue, as one of the target groups are politicians with a mission to work towards unaccompanied minors but also young people in general.By providing politicians and key actors who work with youth policies, the opportunity to visit and observe how another organization in Europe address the same issues, it will develop their professionalism and provide a good basis for informed decisions that benefit youth inclusion - both from the perspective of unaccompanied minors, but also to support the inclusion of young people at the labor market.