Taking the future into their own hands - Youth Work and Entrepreneurial Learning

The number of young Europeans facing difficult challenges and adversity has increased since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008, and their situation has hardly improved since then. Indeed, the employment future for many young people in large parts of Europe still appears to be quite gloomy.

Danish Technological Institute provided the EU Commission with knowledge about how helping young people into the labour force with an increased focus on teaching entrepreneurship, support for more self-dependence and the ability to take initiative can contribute to societal growth and prosperity.

The study pursued 11 specific study objectives — each playing a crucial role in reaching an understanding of the sectors, actors, initiatives, methods, and processes making up the complex matrix of how the entrepreneurial learning of young people may take place. The 11 specific objectives were:

1. exploring the current status of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial learning;
2. examining the place and role of youth work in the entrepreneurship education continuum;
3. considering entrepreneurship as a tool to combat youth unemployment and social exclusion;
4. analysing non-formal learning approaches applied in youth work stimulating creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship;
5. exploring how to assess entrepreneurial learning outcomes in youth work;
6. comparing available frameworks and systems for validation of non-formal and informal learning including the European Qualifications Framework;
7. analysing skills and competence needs of youth workers for delivering high-quality entrepreneurship education;
8. enquiring into possibilities for partnerships and cross-sectoral cooperation in entrepreneurship education;
9. providing an overview of opportunities and obstacles for promoting the social entrepreneurship model;
10. analysing the potential and impact of EU youth programmes in terms of entrepreneurial learning;
11. formulating recommendations on how to measure the progress and impact of initiatives.

The study used a large collection of documentation that was relevant in relation to the 11 study objectives from all EU Member States. We used desk research to map the situation at the time of the project. We interviewed relevant national European stakeholders and identified good practices. Finally, we prepared 12 detailed case studies on excellent national initiatives. The results were published at the end of 2016 in a report that included appendices with country reports, an overview of good practices and the case studies.

You can read and download the report here Taking the future into their own hands - Youth work and entrepreneurial learning.