From the 24th to the 25th June 2019 the European workshop on good practices in career guidance and orientation took place at the Impact Hub in Bari. The meeting aimed to analyse career guidance and orientation strategies from school to work for young people, and brought to light tools and policies adopted in other European countries.
There are many projects that have now become an integral part of regional systems. The participating initiatives are members of the StartNet Europe network and are involved in counselling and career guidance. Some are career guidance projects focus on the verticality of pathways through education stages with targeted activities for each class (in some cases starting already in primary school) for example the project #progettiamocilfuturo of ALISEO (Liguria), Ruhrfutur and KAoA Kein Abschluss ohne Anschluss KAoA (Germany, see video in English) and Jugendnetzwerk Oberösterreich, often with the aid of innovative tools, such as an APP (Austria and Italy). Other initiatives have instead specialised in reaching out to marginalised young people, often early school leavers who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), such as Apprentis D’Auteuil (France), Fundación Secretariado Gitanos (Spain, with an emphasis on young Roma people), NOVA Onlus National Consortium for Social Innovation (with cooperatives throughout Italy), Scoala de Valori (Romania). Many offer vocational training and apprenticeships in collaboration with local companies, including Lanzaderas de Empleo y Emprendimiento Solidario (Spain) and Cometa (Lombardy). The StartNet Building Futures project (Apulia and Basilicata) and the Train the Teacher project from Jump Naar Werk/Tracé Brussel (Belgium) both organise free refresher and in-depth career guidance courses for teachers and school directors.
After an initial presentation, the experts discussed the common challenges of the projects and possible ways to make career guidance more systemic and effective. A particularly useful part of the event was the presence of a small group of high school and university students who were invited (in collaboration with Ashoka Italia) and who gave valuable input to the discussion.
The Apulia Region also strongly supported the event. "The European career guidance workshop is an opportunity for a comprehensive discussion on the transition from school to work, which for our young people and their families is often a cause for concern," said the Councillor for Education, Training, and Employment for the Apulia Region Sebastiano Leo.
The best practices presented will be collected in a publication, as an integral part of the Orientamento Consapevole (formerly called Or.Co.), selected and financed by Con i Bambini within the framework of the Fund for the fight against child educational poverty.
