And what next? Future Professional Paths for Volunteers

Through NEXT, we wanted to achieve a strong and extended network of key actors involved in the youth field, such as NGOs, (social)enterprises, public entities, universities etc., to foster the integration in the labour market of the current and former volunteers. This network was created through an online platform were all these actors can create their profiles and post opportunities. Young people can create their profiles and the current and former volunteers have the opportunity to upload their youthpass in their profile (in the case of ESC volunteers) and to receive comments from their host organisation, like recommendations for the possible employers. Through this mechanism we addressed the issue of recognizing and validating volunteering experiences, as opportunities to develop valuable skills and competences and to acquire knowledge. Through the Employability Guide we provided the needed tools and knowledge to youth practitioners, to support them in their regular activities of training, counselling and guiding youth and youth volunteers upon a future career path. Through it, we aimed to promote young people’s sense of initiative and (social) entrepreneurship, as well as to strengthen the employability of young people.

The objectives were set according to the priorities tackled, the needs encountered both inside the partners’ organisations and in the field of youth volunteering in general. These objectives were further correlated with the activities planned to create the main result, which is expected to improve the partners’ work in volunteering projects by integrating it in the daily activities. . To promote volunteering as a tool to raise employment opportunities; . To create tools, resources and synergies to ensure a network between all important actors of the labour market; . To support the development and improvement of youth skills and competences needed and requested in the current labour market; . To equip youth practitioners and youth association with the needed resources to guide youth volunteers towards employment and/or entrepreneurship.

Activities financed under project management and implementation: A1 - Overall coordination of the project , A2 - Actualization of Quality Management Plan and quality controls A3 - Daily management A4 - TPMs A5 - Collection and provision of documents for interim and final report for the NA A7- Evaluation of the project in terms of quality and impact Sharing and promotion activities ensured the visibility of the project and created an online community interested in the topic of the project that generated a wider impact and sustainability of the project result and the overall project. These activities were also generators of tangible results: photos, videos, articles, publications and posts. The first project result was structured into 9 activities and the 2nd project result into 8 activities, following the steps of the Educational Design Research (EDR) and Agile methodology, transposed in the creation of a Guide and a online platform, which served to address the needs of the target group, address the priorities and achieve the objectives. The activities were planned for the following purposes: . better knowledge of the specific needs of the TG related to volunteering . creating the proper content and design of the tools . testing, validation & providing feedback . improvement in terms of concept and design and creation of the final version of the results . ensuring the sustainability of the project’s result

The main outputs were the PROJECT RESULTS (https://next-project.pt/results/) , which were concretized into an Employment Guide - "From volunteer to employee or entrepreneur" (PR1) and a platform of Stakeholders Online Network (PR2). PR1 is an open educational resource (OER) which will serve as a tool for youth workers, volunteers’ mentors and tutors and any NGO who wants to support and counsel youth and young volunteers in finding a job and/or opening their own (social) business. PR2 is a free digital tool which will serve as a network among all the key stakeholders (NGOs, enterprises, public entities etc.) and youth and young volunteers to facilitate the integration in the labour market, by valuing the volunteering experiences, the knowledge and transversal skills and competencies gained during the volunteering service.