The final meeting with stakeholders of the EDIBO project was held on December 17th at the Hotel “Cherno more”, located in the city center of Varna. During the event, organized by the partner Institute for Youth Initiatives and Innovation (IMII), the idea of the project aimed at the dramatic problem of youth unemployment in Europe was shared. The project, which uses a completely innovative approach, gave a central role to the local business and its needs for young employees with specific knowledge. More than 1,000 unemployed young people under the age of 29 from Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Italy, Lithuania and Latvia participated in the intensive training courses (bootcamps) to develop their digital skills, including improving of English language and entrepreneurship skills. More than 120 of these young people have already started work, and another 246 are involved in active job search in the labor market.
Due to covid measures at the national level, only a limited number of participants were invited to attend in person. Mainly representatives of local authorities and institutions from Varna district, including mayors of rural municipalities from Varna region, trainers and mentors, attended the information day to discuss the sustainability of the project results, national and local policies regarding NEETs, guidelines to be followed for the implementation and multiplication of the EDIBO model in other countries or regions.
The first session of the event was dedicated to the results achieved, lessons learned, difficulties and challenges for the implementation of the project in Bulgaria, a meeting with lecturers and moderators who participated in the training activities, and in the second part was presented the final document “EDIBO Manifesto”. The information meeting ended with a discussion between representatives of local authorities and institutions about the possibility of continuing the IT&entrepreneurship training courses for unemployed youth (NEETs), living in rural areas in the country after the project end.
All attendance received a certificate for participation.