"<< Background >>The priorities had been chosen starting from the detection of a PROBLEM in the youth participation and employment and the NEEDS of all the partners of the consortium. As P1, P3 & P4 are all hosting organizations of European Solidarity Corps and previously European Volunteering Service and are able to see the fact that volunteering is still not highly appreciated, as an experience developing skill&competences. Even if volunteering is an enabling environment for informal learning, and accordingly enhances employability, to have an effective impact, there NEEDS TO BE A BRIDGE BETWEEN VOLUNTEERING AND THE LABOUR MARKET. In this sense, NEXT project aims at CREATING VALUABLE RESOURCES, KNOWLEDGE AND KNOW-HOW OF PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING FOR YOUTH PRACTITIONERS AND ORGANIZATIONS, IN ORDER TO GUIDE YOUTH VOLUNTEERS UPON A SUCCESSFUL CAREER, ACCORDING TO BOTH PERSONAL NEEDS & CURRENT LABOUR MARKET REQUESTS. In the context of the ESC, volunteering is the main mechanism for promoting solidarity as a value, helping to overcome important societal challenges and addressing the needs of local communities. It also enables young people to acquire useful experience, skills and competences for their personal, educational, social, civic & professional development, thereby improving their employability and active citizenship.All the partners are sharing the same values of commitment towards the community, civic participation, by improving the participation of all young people in the democratic and civic life in Europe, encouraging active citizenship, volunteering, solidarity & sense of initiative & entrepreneurship. Therefore, promoting, engaging, connecting and empowering young people is a high priority for all the partners involved in the project and this project was conceived in order to create a bridge between volunteering and labour market integration. Our project will foster the development of so much required competences, such as problem solving, critical thinking, innovative thinking etc. We will also create an online platform, which will serve as a network involving stakeholders from all relevant fields of the labour market (companies, social enterprises, NGOs, public bodies and of course youngsters looking for a job).In addition, through our project we intend to prove that volunteering abroad is not only an activity for a gap year, but it is an important experience which can provide both personal & professional development, if a proper guidance & counseling is provided in the process of integration in the labour market or even undertake an enterprise.Volunteering is one of the ways to optimize social cohesion, sustainable integration into the labor market, through the creation of the necessary framework for acquiring specific skills and competencies. It prepares youngsters to face and adapt smoothly to the dynamic changes from the socio-economic environment. However, there is still a LACK OF TOOLS, SYNERGIES AND STRUCTURES TO ENSURE A DIRECT PASSAGE FROM VOLUNTEERING TO THE INTEGRATION IN THE LABOUR MARKET, which may cause youth frustration and even lack of motivation to volunteer.We have chosen these priorities to tackle the ISSUE OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT and we expect positive changes, by achieving the objectives which will be mentioned in the following section.Moreover, our project also address other horizontal and field specific priorities, such as inclusion and diversity and increasing recognition of youth work, through the fact that the partners of the consortium are working regularly with youth with fewer opportunities, which will be involved in project activities leading to the creation of results, as well as through the fact that one of the project results aim to create a mechanism of recognizing and validating the volunteering experience, in order to facilitate the integration in the labour market and to create synergies among key actors in the process of youth employability.<< Objectives >>Through NEXT, our consortium wants to achieve a strong and extended network of key actors involved in the youth field, such as NGOs, (social)enterprises, public entities, universities etc., in order to foster the integration in the labour market of the current and former volunteers. This network will be created through an online platform in which all these actors can create their profiles and post opportunities (jobs, trainings, (volunteering) projects etc.). All young people can create their profiles, as well, however the current and former volunteers will have the opportunity to upload their youthpass in their profile (in the case of ESC volunteers) and to receive comments from their host organization, acting like recommendations for the possible employers. Through this mechanism we want to address the issue of recognizing and validating volunteering experiences, as opportunities to develop valuable skills and competences and to acquire knowledge, all needed and required in the current labour market. This platform will facilitate the process of selection of candidates and will provide a seal of quality to volunteering experiences. Moreover, through another project result planned, an Employability Guide – “From volunteering to employee and entrepreneur” we want to provide 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 this Guide, we aim to promote young people’s sense of initiative and (social) entrepreneurship, as well as to strengthen the employability of young people.OBJECTIVESThe objectives were set according to the priorities tackled, the needs encountered both inside the partners’ organizations 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.<< Implementation >>The achievement of the project objectives and delivery of the planned result depends on well implemented activities, according to the strategies and parameters set. Each activity of the project is thought and structured with the aim to target the priorities, to achieve the objectives and to create qualitative tangible results, especially project results and to have an important positive impact on the target groups, which also leads to the achievement of intangible results. Each activity has been assigned a leader to coordinate the working process, to oversee the other partners’ tasks and to ensure that deadlines are respected, as well as the quality of the result. We rely on agreements and quality plans which all the partners have already expressed their commitment.Activities from A1 to A15 (according to the Gantt) are financed under project management and implementation.A1 - Overall coordination of the project (P1), A3- Daily management (all) and A4- Transnational project meetings are all important to maintain a good communication flow between the partners and to organize the tasks according to the deadlines. A2- Actualization of Quality Management Plan and quality controls and A7- Evaluation of the project in terms of quality and impact are necessary activities to provide instruments and processes that guarantee the quality and the success of the project.A5 - Collection and provision of documents for interim and final report for the NA is a standard and necessary activity that enables the consortium to organize all the necessary documents needed to report on the project development. Sharing and promotion activities are activities which will ensure the visibility of the project and will create an online community interested in the topic of the project that will generate a wider impact and sustainability of the project result and the overall project. These activities are also generators of tangible results: photos, videos, articles, publications and posts.A9 Update the promotion plan & create monitoring tools A10 Create the visual identity of the project A11 Monitor all partners promotion activities A12 Preparation of project brochure & newslettersA13 Creation and maintenance of the project website A14 Creation and maintenance of the relevant social network pages A15 Webinar Events A6 - Actualization of the COVID 19 protocol for all the presential meetings and events is necessary in the context of the current world pandemic, in order to ensure a safe environment for the participants of all the presential meetings and events.A8 Create sustainability plan is essential in ensuring a further use of projects results outside the partnership after the project ends.The first project result is 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 will serve to address the needs of the target group, address the priorities and achieve the objectives. The activities are 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<< Results >>NEXT expects both tangible and intangible sustainable results, which will achieve the objectives set and will target the priorities chosen. Since the very beginning, the project was planned with the aim to generate innovative, sustainable, impactful and transferable results to other educational sectors.The main TANGIBLE RESULTS will be the PROJECT RESULTS, which will be 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.These 2 project results are divided into activities which will generate DELIVERABLES, as tangible results.Deliverables of PR1:PR1/A1Research on the current changes in the dynamics of the european labour market and most demanded jobs & skills PR1/A2Research on the regular european opportunities (training, internships, traineeships etc.) PR1/A3 Index of the Guide PR1/A4Content of each chapter PR1/A5Practical non-formal activities to develop the needed skills and competences and evaluation methods and tools for each PR1/A7Proofread Guide PR1/A9Final version of the Guide according to the feedback of youth workers and youth volunteers Deliverables of PR2:PR2/A2 Database of stakeholders PR2/A5 Descriptions of the stakeholders PR2/A8Content of the Open call for further european stakeholders and youth volunteers to join the platform More TANGIBLE RESULTS will be generated through the sharing and promotion activities during the entire life cycle of the project. - Sharing, promotion and communication plan - The logo of the project- Content to be published on the project websites and on the partners’ website- Posts regarding the project to be published on the social media pages of the project and of the partners- Photos and videos taken during the multiplier events or any other sharing and promotion event- Project’s brochure and newslettersThroughout the project one of the priorities will be to make visible the project, the needs that we have demonstrated, the problems associated with those needs as well as the SOLUTION that we provide, in such a way, we are not only manifesting and making visible the problem but our interest in providing youth associations, centers, or any other sector easily accessible and useful digital tool.INTANGIBLE RESULTSThe intangible results are expected to be seen in the partner organizations, direct and indirect target group in terms of:. increased participation of young people in volunteering projects. improved collaboration between NGOs, stakeholders and youth. expanded knowledge and skills of the youth workers in using innovative digital resources to improve youth sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. hosting organizations and youth workers, volunteer coordinators enabled with a tool to provide to their volunteers support to access the labour market"