The last week of September marked the first consortium meeting for the Erasmus+ YES project: Youth Engagement and Employability for Success through Social Entrepreneurship, which is co-founded by the European Union.
Partners aligned on the project vision to empower young people and youth workers through a participatory approach that blends soft skills development with social entrepreneurship, supporting positive change in local communities across Italy, Spain, Croatia, Malta and Romania.
During the meeting we confirmed the overall roles within the partnership, reviewed how work packages interconnect, and agreed on task leadership to ensure smooth coordination and quality. We also mapped the immediate next steps, connecting research, training design and local engagement so that activities move from planning to implementation without gaps.
The team outlined the research efforts that will inform the training programme, including needs analysis with beneficiaries and youth workers, case studies of social enterprises from each partner country, and a shared method for collecting insights. We agreed to keep the methodology bottom up, starting from real needs, and to use practical tools that help participants build employability and entrepreneurial confidence.
Looking ahead, we set our first transnational project meeting for January in Bucharest, which will be organised by GEYC, where we will validate the research findings, finalise the training structure and plan the in person YES Up activities. We also aligned on a dissemination approach that uses a common visual identity, partner channels and stories from the field to build awareness, encourage participation and connect volunteers with young people who can benefit most.
The consortium closed the meeting with a shared commitment to inclusive participation, regular coordination and transparent quality monitoring, ensuring that YES delivers meaningful learning experiences and tangible community impact.
GET INVOLVED - Next steps for GEYC Community
1. If you are 18-30 yrs old, not in education, employment or training or have a fewer opportunities background, fill in our survey to self-assess your soft skills while providing the YES consortium with valuable information about your training needs.
You can fill in the survey HERE
3. If you are 18-30 yrs old, not in education, employment or training or have a fewer opportunities background come join us for a focus group where you can express your views about the needed soft skills on the job market nowadays and tell us more why you think they are important and what soft skills do you personally feel you need to be equipped for the job market.
You can enroll to the focus group HERE
3. If you are a youth worker and want to contribute to the creation of a training material for both young people and your workers, help us assess your your reskilling and upskilling needs, especially regarding the importance of soft skills to be conveyed to young people.
Please fill in the survey HERE
Funded by the European Union. However, the opinions expressed belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the Italian Youth Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.