Career 4.0 from the Perspective of Young People

Youth Participation and Democracy Award category

Career 4.0 from the Perspective of Young People

Organisation

Hatay Mustafa Kemal University

Country

Türkiye

WEBSITE

https://www.mku.edu.tr

Project link

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1x5XI5gEKE7KZN_nWQYurmXt5NBTlZi7Y?usp=sharing

General Overview

“Career 4.0 from the Perspective of Young People” (Gençlerin Gözünden Kariyer 4.0) was designed to enhance the perception of the EU Skill Year in Türkiye and help young people better understand career planning and 21st-century skills. The project aimed to foster active citizenship through Eurodesk opportunities, reduce skill mismatches to prevent young people from becoming NEET, and introduce career centres, Erasmus/technology transfer, and Eurodesk offices in universities. It encouraged dialogue between youth and decision-makers and focused on policy recommendations.

Coordinated by Mustafa Kemal University and partnered with eight institutions, the project included seven meetings across Türkiye. It engaged 164 young people aged 18-30, interested in peer education and promoting youth opportunities. Through Eurodesk contact points, these participants were informed and became career ambassadors, spreading opportunities and collecting policy suggestions.

Throughout Türkiye, young ambassadors shared opportunities, collected policy suggestions, and utilized experiential and group learning methods. Brainstorming and station methods were used during meetings to gather insights. Cooperation with Eurodesk points in other regions and peer education played a key role in dissemination activities.

The project summit in Ankara included 16 participants. During the summit, national decision-makers were visited, and a report of project results and policy suggestions, contributed by 1,830 young people, was shared. The report was deemed beneficial for youth participation and democracy. Eurodesk opportunities and Europass CVs were highlighted in the presentations. Eurodesk roll-ups, flags, and logos were prominently used, enhancing visibility. Eurodesk containers gained recognition within the local container city, further supported by various visibility elements.

Thematic Category Correspondence

(50 points max)

How does this initiative (project, event, material) correspond to the thematic category

Our project was designed to disseminate youth opportunities and 21st-century skills among young people, to collect policy suggestions from young people for more effective promotion of these opportunities, and to convey these policy suggestions to national decision-makers through democratic means. In this context, a model based on peer interaction was created under the name of “career ambassadors”. A total of 164 career ambassadors were trained.

Three basic tasks awaited these 164 career ambassadors. One of these tasks was to visit places such as career centres, Eurodesk, and Erasmus offices at universities and learn about youth opportunities. The second task was to deliver the good practice examples they obtained within the scope of the project as career ambassadors to at least 10 young people through a dissemination meeting, either physically or online. The third task was to actively register with a student community at the university and to participate in volunteering activities.

Since youth opportunities in this developed model intensively include Eurodesk opportunities and other national supports, awareness of the Eurodesk network and youth opportunities was supported. The 164 career ambassadors who participated in the project contributed to ideal youth participation by coordinating 77 physical/online activities with the concepts of active citizenship and taking initiative. In these activities, 1830 indirect young people also understood Eurodesk and other youth opportunities through these 164 ambassadors.

In this process, policy recommendations that are very important for democratic life were also collected during these activities. Policy recommendations were compiled and presented to institutions such as the Presidential Human Resources Office and the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which are the highest-level institutions in the relevant field in our country. In addition, career ambassadors supported youth participation based on public institutions by visiting 112 centres.

Considering that our country has 81 provinces, it can be said that in 74 provinces (92%), peer education-based youth information was provided, and the active citizenship and youth participation awareness of 1830 new young people in these provinces was developed.

Impact

(30 points max)

How did your project impact young people / your community?

Our project was a youth participation project carried out with eight partners. Using young people as career ambassadors in the dissemination of youth opportunities through peer education within the scope of the project significantly supported career awareness. The awareness of the EU Skills Year has increased in our country, and according to the European Skills Year map, the activities of this project were provided by our university.

Through the project, young people between the ages of 18-30 in 92% of our country were reached, and Eurodesk youth opportunities and other youth and career opportunities were conveyed. Despite the earthquakes we experienced in the recent past and whose effects still continue, reaching 1830 young people with 164 ambassadors during the project period was considered a success.

Collaborations with our stakeholders were strengthened, and the two ESC and two KA154 projects designed and accepted by young people for the 2024-2025 period made us happy as a new youth participation project initiated by young people inspired by this project. Young people have gained many opportunities from Europass CV to Eurodesk Opportunities, and from Entrepreneurship Support to Presidency Human Resources Office Support, in order to avoid NEET and have an effective career planning process.

In addition, young people who took part in the project and were in the final target group were given YouthPass certificates and their personal development was supported. Sixteen participants selected from the 164 met with national decision-makers at the project summit and conducted visits. Furthermore, ministries and national assemblies in our country were visited, providing an environment of democratic participation and dialogue with experts and managers.

While the awareness of career centres and Erasmus/Eurodesk offices increased with the activities of the project, new member registrations were made to student communities.

Green Focus

(10 points max)

Did your project have any green focus and/or did you implement any eco-friendly measures when organising it?

Our project emphasised sustainability and the strengthening of green skills in 21st-century skills and career planning. Global goals were introduced in all project activities. Digital tools were heavily preferred, and paper waste was prevented. All regional meetings were mobilised with green travel, which was recommended. The youth opportunities curriculum developed was digitally duplicated, and sustainability measures were emphasised in terms of popularising it among young people. Participants’ travel documents were digitally archived, and no hard copies were requested. All learning documents, except YouthPass, were provided digitally. Online tools were used for reporting the visits and local workshops carried out in the project.

The most sustainable aspect of the project was the information container. As a result of the major earthquakes experienced on 6 February 2023, over 200,000 people are unfortunately still living in temporary containers in our city. We, as the project youth opportunities coordination office, designed a container as a sustainable solution.

Youth Participation and Democracy Award category