Cooperation partnership in Youth
About the project
The FOODY project was created to address two main issues: food waste and NEET unemployment. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 30% of all food produced globally is lost or wasted. In the EU alone, an estimated 20% of food is lost or wasted with an important impact on the global economy, society and the environment. Food that is discarded at any stage of the supply chain directly causes the wastage of the energy and water resources that would have been used up in its production, harvesting and delivery to the market. Reducing youth NEET rates is one of the targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The difficulties faced in entering the labour market can lead NEETs to social exclusion and can have negative long-term social consequences, not only for the young person but also for society.
FOODY project focuses on the creation of a programme that responds to the need for personal and professional development of NEETs, through the use of social entrepreneurship applied to the food industry. The final objectives include increasing the self-confidence of participants, improving their behavioural skills, and enhancing their entrepreneurial skills while educating them on environmental issues related to food and waste management.
Objectives
The FOODY project promotes empowerment, participation and a sense of initiative using social entrepreneurship as an effective intervention to re-engage young NEETs and help them overcome the barriers preventing their participation in their community or the labour market. As a result of taking part in the programme, NEETs will experience the following benefits:
- enlarged perspectives on issues such as entrepreneurship, climate change, sustainable development, and food waste
- improved civic skills enabling their social participation and increased awareness of social responsibilities
- increased transversal skills needed for employment and a full transition to adulthood
- professional development for Youth workers so they can increase their ability to address the learning needs of the target groups, their knowledge in food waste management, entrepreneurship possibilities, employability and soft skills needed for a successful transition to adulthood, together with a better understanding of the specific needs of the target group and the specific challenges they face
Results
PR 1 – a virtual Training Course for youth workers, social workers, and trainers who are active in NGOs that work in the field of youth. The e-course aims at enhancing the skills and knowledge of the target group in the fields of entrepreneurship, sustainability, participants’ engagement and support, multi-actor program coordination different form of assessment to be performed by participants, monitoring and assessment of participants’ activities and production.
PR 2 – the FOOD-y Handbook, a guidebook that illustrates a program made of workshops and tools that can be used to increase youth employability and entrepreneurial spirit, using the food industry and its waste management system as an inspiration for community improvement. This resource provides information about food, how its produced, processed and disposed, to prepare the scope of possible (social) enterprises that can contribute to solve one real local issue, connected to the food industry.
Project Card:
Project title: Foster youth employment and entrepreneurial skills using circular economy applied at the food industry
Start: 31.05.2022 – End: 30.05.2024
Project Reference: 2021-1-CZ01-KA220-YOU-000029075
EU Grant: 81.705 EUR
Programme: Erasmus+
Action Type: Cooperation partnerships in youth
Coordinator: Qualo, Czech Republic http://www.qualo.eu/
Partners:
SEAL CYPRUS, Cyprus https://www.facebook.com/sealngocy
FUNDACJA AUTOKREACJA/ AUTOKREACJA FOUNDATION, Poland https://autokreacja.org/
FRAMEWORK associazione culturale, Italy https://www.aframework.it/associazione/
MV INTERNATIONAL, Italy https://minevaganti.org/en/