CLUSTER – advanCing Youth and Women SociaLInclUSion in The MEditeRranean

CLUSTER – advanCing Youth and Women SociaLInclUSion in The MEditeRranean

Duration: 2021-2023

The economic hardshipsfollowing the Covid-19 pandemic haveheavily affected employment opportunities in the Euromed region,raising numbers of citizens at risk of poverty and social exclusion.The most vulnerable groups – youth and women – are facing,as a result, serious socio-economic challenges. Moreover, changing labour market demands and the growing importance of diversifying and investing in sustainable economy sectors to better cope with future economic and climate crises require reskilling or upskilling of youth as part of an effective response to such challenges.

 

Against this background, CLUSTER adapts multi-actors, integrated and regional approach, and aims to create a supportive environment for youth/women employment schemes, by equipping NEETs, in particular women, between 18-30 years with employability skills in Blue Economy, Circular Economy, Green Economy and Sustainable Agriculture sectors, promoting long-lasting partnerships between TVET and the private sector, and raising awareness of public authorities and policy makers.

 

The overall objective of CLUSTER is to tackle social exclusion and poverty amongst vulnerable groups in Cyprus, France, Italy, Jordan, Palestine, Spain, and Tunisia by capitalising on results of previous projects and equipping NEETs and women with marketable skills in the Sustainable Economy sectors. To that end, CLUSTER seeks to:

 

  • Facilitate access to the labour market for NEETS, in particular women, through targeted online and on-site training courses and coaching and tutoring actions, based on innovative models of intervention, developed following needs assessment and combining successful experiences.
  • Encourage partnerships between TVET Institutions, SMEs and professional sector stakeholders operating in the Sustainable Economy sectors through local, regional and cross-border exchange, networking practises and best practice sharing initiatives.
  • Engage public institutions and policy makers in providing supportive environment and implementing youth/women employment schemes, through Action Plans, policy-oriented regional reports and advocacy sessions at the Euromed level.

CLUSTER will create lasting impact on its final beneficiaries across the Euromed region. Through online tools such as training courses, e-platform and coaching sessions, the project will impact atleast 2800 NEETs, strengthening their skills in sustainable economies and increasing their employmentopportunities.

 

Employment services and educationproviders will boost their capacities to blend demand-supply skills,and economic actors will benefit from skilled youth workforce, which willcontribute to long-term growth of the companies. Moreover, public operators in the Euromed area will be provided with tangiblerecommendations on the design of sustainable youth/women employment schemes based on designed Action Plans.

 

The CLUSTER project is co-funded by the European Union under the ENI CBC Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme.