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Ready for Life
Start date: Aug 1, 2014, End date: Jul 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Ready for Life is a project carried out by Alliance Youth Exchanges for the purpose of supporting graduates of secondary level vocational education to gain employability, to become more internationally mobile and for personal development. The aim of this project is to offer internship opportunities for recent graduates, as often limited work experience can be an obstacle for the employment of young people. For those participants who are interested in entrepreneurship, it is possible to do an internship with the emphasis on it. This project aims to provide the opportunity of foreign workbased learning, especially for those recent graduates who have not previously had the opportunity for this. The project also aims to support the learning of European languages. The project is aimed at the young adults between the age of 18 and 35 and who have graduated within a year from secondary vocational education. This project is open for graduates from all fields of study. When choosing the participants, the emphasis is on the applicant’s background and previous experience abroad. Priority is given to the applicants with no previous experience abroad and who are unemployed or at risk of exclusion, for example, due to their socio-economic background. Also, applicants who have limited opportunities to go abroad or to find employment in their home country are a priority when selecting participants. Also, people living in remote areas and young adults interested in entrepreneurship are encouraged to apply. During the project, 50 young adults will be sent either individually or in small groups to Montpellier, Seville, Berlin, Dublin or Celano for 8 to 12 week long period, which will be a combination of language and cultural learning and a work placement. In addition, one support person from Allianssi Youth Exchanges will attend the first group leaving for Italy at the beginning of the term. The project will be carried out between the years of 2014 and 2016. Allianssi Youth Exchanges will be the organisation selecting and training the participants. Allianssi Youth Exchanges will also participate in travel arrangements and will support participants through the whole period abroad. After the mobility period, Allianssi Youth Exchanges will instruct trainees in the final reporting and will carry out an overall assessment of the trainees. Allianssi Youth Exchanges will also conduct a follow-up survey for the participants with in a year after finishing the mobility project. The role of the host organisations is to find internship placements for the participants, arrange the accommodation, and language and cultural training before the onset of the internship. Additionally, host organizations follow up and support participants during their internships and act as contact persons to the internship placements. They also participate in the evaluation of the periods and make the necessary certificates. The internship placements will have a contact person who will be responsible for the internship, inducting the participants and evaluating the work. Each project participant will set individual goals for themselves before departure, they will be keeping a learning journal and evaluate the implementation of their goals, report about their period abroad and participate in the overall evaluation. After returning to their home country, the participants will act as mentors for new participants and will be actively participating in informing other young adults, schools, and fairs about their experiences. This way they can process what they have learned and understand the value of the mobility period. The project will primarily promote the employment of the participants and their career development. It will also offer them a seamless move to the work life. The entrepreneurship program offers its participants new ideas, viewpoints and competencies to start their own companies in Finland. The project acts as a preventative measure against exclusion and activates young people at risk. The project provides an opportunity for international experience, even for those young people who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity and who were not able to attend international exchange programs during their studies. Social empowerment and development of language skills and intercultural competence are the non-formal and informal outcomes of the project. These outcomes have a lasting effect on the participants’ growth at becoming active citizens. Developing language skills and using foreign language actively in everyday life during the practical training also increases participants’ professional options in the future. At the European level the project aims to strengthen the European identity among the participants as well as the project partners. Working with people from different cultural backgrounds increases all parties’ intercultural knowledge and understanding. The project will also meet the changing needs of European labour market.
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