Enhanced Capacity of the Youth on Biobased Economy

The aim of application has not changed during Project implementation. Obviously, The EU targets regarding Bioeconomy could not be achieved without involvement of younger generations in the sector....

As it is mentioned on the submitted Project proposal, the primary goal of this project was; to improve the capacities of the “worker of youth centers” in Bio-economics. The objectives of the project were; 1) to outline some occupational profiles in Bio-Based economy field, hence, youth identifies their training needs, 2) raising awareness of youth on potential career pathways, current networks and innovation in sector 3)developing training content and some useful tools for youth workers. To achieve main goal and associated objectives, the BIO-YOUTH projects organized a number of actions such as; -Transnational Project Meetings (5 TPMs), -a Training Activity (C1) and -a Multiplier event (E1) for better understanding of the stakeholders next to other dissemination activities. Moreover, BIO-YOUTH Project has planned to produce 5 outcome/deliverable to be used by the target audiences, as it follows, Output 1-Training Content on Bio-based Economy for Youth Workers Output 2- Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Youth Workers on Bio-based Economy Output 3- New Skills and Competences of the Bio-based Industries Output 4- Attractive/Featured Business Cases in Bio Based Industries Output 5- Youth Worker's Bio-Based Economy TOOL Box.

The BIO-YOUTH project has implemented a systematic series of actions to increase the capacity of youth workers. First, a suitable educational content was developed and then this content was served to the target audience through an open access platform (OUTPUT 1 and 2). For the development of this content, Quality Assurance rules adopted by the European Union has been applied. In accordance with the Quality Assurance Methodology, the developed content and online application have been tested, any mistake has been debugged and deficiencies have been eliminated. The effectiveness of these tools has been determined by pre and post tests. The BIO-YOUTH project has organized a face-to-face training activity for youth workers who show high performance during training activities (C 1). Limited number of individuals by main beneficiary agreement had will the opportunity to get to know the networks in Europe closely in this training, and they had examined some of the prominent examples of the bio-based industry. These activities were unique experiences that improved the quality of “understanding” of the target audience. On the other hand, the BIO-YOUTH project has planned to produce a series of didactive materials. These project products helped young people to understand the profile of employees in the industry in question, skills gaps, and educational opportunities addressing this need. As a result, all products of the BIO-YOUTH project were systematically complementary to each other. The BIO-YOUTH project has taken all appropriate measures for a participatory management approach, a high level of communication between partners, periodical contacts and quality assurance. For this purpose, the project management board and executive committee are formed, and decision-making and communication protocol were determined. Legally, there was sufficient awareness of the written agreements that should be between the partners / parties. The partners' previous experience with EU programs was an important factor that reduced the risks for implementation. The BIO-YOUTH project also had an effective strategy for dissemination, consistent with the project scale. This strategy started with a comprehensive stakeholder analysis. According to the level of relevance determined, the BIO-YOUTH project aimed to reach all stakeholders through different dissemination tools. The program structure applied allowed for the planned dissemination activities.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has youth centers coordinated by the General Directorate of Youth Services. Youth Centers has numerous functions; helping young people to spend their leisure time, directing young people to social, cultural, artistic, scientific and sports activities, supporting personal, social and spiritual development of young people, providing guidance and counseling, raising awareness of young people against smoking and drugs and enabling young people to gain social skills through participating in various activities. These domestic centers carry out various activities and organize historical and cultural trips, camps and sports activities, in line with the mission. Youth Centers Academy, on the other hand, includes theoretical workshops in which team spirit and active participation are emphasized in all areas of life. The theoretical dimension in these workshops is enriched by using various applied methods, especially “non-formal education techniques”, in order to enable young people to use knowledge in life. Workshops is not a one-way communication and ensure participatory training approach in the academy. It is essential to organize workshops in which young people would actively participate and different ways of thinking about the field would be developed. There are several workshops in the Youth Centers Academy that can be associated with the project subject, Bio-Based Economy. These workshops are Values, Personal Development, Innovation, Science and Technology. In particular, personal development workshop in the Academy provides career planning guidance. Youth workers conducts training and organizes activities in the workshops of Academy. They are also mentors moderating personal development environment for Youth. For this reason, the BIO-YOUTH project aimed at to improve the capacity of youth workers in bio-based economics. Hence, the BIO YOUTH project designed a training of trainers (ToT) program for youth workers. Increased capacity ensured that “the workers guide the youth towards career opportunities and the training programs needed in the field”. There were 4 relevant workshops in the Youth Centers Academy. Sustainable Ethic and Finance interactively discussed in values workshop under the moderation of youth workers. Discussions and workshops provided young people with an objective mindset on the environment and sustainability. Personal Development Workshop in the Youth Academy has been considered newly emerging occupational profiles under Bio-economy such as operators in Biofuels, Biodegradable Plastics, Resins, Chemicals, Foods and Food Additives sectors. Youth workers identified new qualifications associated with most desired Bio-economy fields and career development pathways. Workers also directed youth participants to the available training programs and networks to gain new skills concerning bio-processes. Innovation Science and Technology workshop raised awareness on Bio-based economy and European transition strategy. Main difference between conventional economy and bio-based economy, natural cycles (water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen), background information and policy papers have been taken into account in these workshops. Additionally, BIO-YOUTH project provided training content and tools (self-evaluation toolkit, games) to the Youth Workers, in which they deploy workshop studies. For better understanding of Youth Workers, BIO-YOUTH project held a training event and this training ensured active participation of the target group in associated with allocated budget.