About the project

This project covers the aim of promoting entrepreneurship among young people by creating outcomes that will equip youth workers with innovative drama therapy-based education tools designed for young people who have experienced traumatic events (witnessing a violent death, serious accidents, e.g. a car crash, physical or sexual assault, serious health problems or being in intensive care, war and conflict, and others).

The traumatic events cause confusion, lack of creativity and adaptation, and most importantly, create fear of making mistakes, feeling helpless and unable to make a change. These are opposite characteristics that are needed for entrepreneurship or successful employment. However, by combining post-traumatic growth theory, drama therapy and digital tools an innovative set of entrepreneurial and employability skills can be built.

Justyficaction

Adequate support is essential to enable young people who have experienced traumatic events to fulfil their entrepreneurial and professional potential. Although there are many entrepreneurship programmes, they focus on hard skills such as business plan development, business management, communication, etc. As a result, even if young people have the right idea, knowledge and skills, they are not able to overcome their psychological fears and doubts to make the first step to realise them. Traumatic events negatively affect young people’s self-worth, confidence and, above all, create a fear of making mistakes, which is understood as a lack of resilience. The greatest detriment to the entrepreneurial mindset is fear and doubts young people face – in themselves, their surroundings, and their abilities. Many dreams are destroyed by self-doubt long before any external factors enter the picture.

Innovation of the project

This project will use an innovative and probably never used in entrepreneurial and employability education, a three dimensional approach, combining disciplines of psychology, arts, and digitalization.

Target groups

Young people (aged 18-29), who have experienced traumatic life events, such as accidents, ongoing stress such as bullying, long-term illness or living in an unstable or unsafe environment.
Youth workers, social workers, educators, career consultants and others working with young people.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

To understand trauma relation to young people’s entrepreneurship and employability potential in 4 partner countries
To support youth to move beyond trauma and increase their wellbeing, employability and entrepreneurship
To develop an innovative methodological guide, tool-kit and recommendations to better equip youth workers
To contribute to the development of youth workers’ competences in supporting young people
To contribute to a more innovative and well-functioning youth work system in EU.

Events in the project

Pilot test for youth worker in Budapest
Pilot test for young people in Lodz
Multiplier Event in each country

During the project, 220 young people who have experienced traumatic events, 172 youth workers and around 15000 people online will be directly engaged.