The thematic working group on Civil Society Involvment will meet in Stockholm. Participants will jointly start developing new methods and policy recommendations in order to bring young people in NEET situation closer to the labour market, employment or education.

Theme

How can increased cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination make full use of the available resources, knowledge and experience for more effective integration of NEETs into society and the labour market?

Background

Identifying NEETs, motivating them to be enrolled in support measures and guiding and counselling them towards the labour market or back to education is by experience difficult and calls for joint actions of public institutions and civil society organisations. Civil society organisations play a significant role in gaining the trust of young people and providing tailor-made support. There are good examples in the region to learn from. An important topic is the interaction between civil society organisations and public authorities, particularly creating preconditions for sustainable long-term solutions, including sustainable funding models for the support provided by civil society, and social entrepreneurs.

Results

Participants will plan next steps to continue work in transnational partnerships aimed to develop e.g.:

• a network of civil society organisations involved in supporting NEETs
• new tools and methods for actors from civil society sector working with NEETs
• policy recommendations on cooperation between public authorities and NGOs including financial support
• models/methods for identifying and building trust with NEETs
• design of a capacity building programme targeting outreach workers