NEETs NEED SPORT

Background According to 2019 Eurostat data, at EU level, about 3.4 million young people are not employed, youth unemployment is 16.9%, almost double the unemployment rate for adults 9.3%. In addition to that, due to the pandemic context we just came out of, according to the Eurofund’s Covid-19 survey in Romania, Hungary and Spain, more than 10% of young workers claimed to have lost their job for good and young NEETs rates are far higher then in 2019. Sport’s contribution to the employability of young NEETs is a topic that hasn’t been investigated in Romania and a new topic also in the partner countries. More, the resort ministries in the partner countries don’t have a specific public policy in this area. The NNS project was developed by 4 organizations from Romania, Hungary, Spain and UK, with the support of associated partners from each country – Ministry of Youth and Sport in Romania, the John Wesley Theological College in Hungary, 25 social organizations and the administration DGAIA (Child Care Department) and DGJJ (Justice Department) in the region of Barcelona; local Council Southwark, Bucks New University and University of East London, the national, youth-led FRED Campaign UK Youth and British Council Internationalism Alliance. Objectives The general objective of the project was to develop a set of training tools for youth workers/sport coaches for raining the employment of marginalized young people (NEETs) using the power of sport as a learning tool. The project also desired to increase young people's soft skills, provide momentum for the employment environment and increase the employment rate. Our project has aimed to: 1. showcase of good practices related to the working methods of youth workers in their relation with marginalized young people, in the participant countries; 2. Invest in a sustainable transnational network of youth workers that have expertise in the coordination of employment programs based on sports, for marginalized young people in general, and NEETs in particular. 3. develop the skills of about 100 youth workers from the participant countries in employability programs based on sports, for young people with fewer opportunities (including NEETs) 4. foster the inclusion and employability of young people with fewer opportunities (including NEETs) in the partner countries by allowing cross-sectoral cooperation (reginal sports and youth directions – local youth centers – sport centers – Vocational Training Companies - employers). Implementation During the 2 years of the project implementation we have run a full range of activities starting from the creation of 3 new and creative tolls for youth workers and sport coaches and other types of experts in the youth, sport and employability field, we have piloted locally the methodology and and training kit with small groups of mixed youth and have promoted our results to a variety of stakeholders. After the first drafts of the training materials have been prepared, we have implemented the training tools during 4 NNS Short-term joint staff training events–2 offline in Hu and Ro and 2 online in Spain and UK. The four partners from four EU countries have managed to ensure the project management and monitorization, have created and implemented a media and awareness campaign. The consortium's efforts have reached many stakeholders in training, sport, youth, employment: Sports/youth/employment organizations that want to start sporting activities as a tool for employee involvement; national governments that can raise awareness of the potential of sport and employability programmes to various policy domains – employment, youth, education; public employment services; national sport governing bodies for sport; etc. Achievements The project had as main objective the creation of 3 outputs which we have managed to produce accordingly: NNS Comparative Study on working methods of youth workers in their relation with marginalized young people, NNS coaching methodology for sport coaches, NNS Training material for youth workers/youth centers. Together these materials explain the current situation of youth workers in the four project countries and their involvement in the work with marginalized and NEET youth. Taking into consideration the specifics of this work, the methodology and training material offer new approaches, tools and games which could sustain and enrich the positive aspects of youth development and employability. The project also also produced a solid management and experts team, 4 short term staff training events, local employability programs based on team sports implemented in the 4 project countries, 4 multiplier events in Hungary, Spain, Romania and UK, a project website, a Facebook page, a variety of articles and media posts about the project and its results, over 100 marginalized youth and NEETs involved in employability programs, over 100 representatives from public bodies, NGOs and comapnies informed about the outputs, etc.