CIVACT was an ERASMUS+ Key Action 2 project which ran from October 2018 to December 2020. Over the course of the two-year project, the partners explored various facets of their respective local situations, from political support to funding to institutional cooperation, as part of developing the project’s outputs and adapting them to their local contexts.The overall goal of the project was to upskill youth workers in methods specifically designed for engaging disadvantaged young people, and, in turn, to offer these young people new experiences with civic engagement and the confidence and tools needed to propose changes to urban regeneration and local development in the areas in which they live.

The Council of the European Union (2009) has as a key strategic objective the promotion of equity, social cohesion & active citizenship. It outlines that 'education & training policy should enable all citizens, irrespective of their personal, social or economic circumstances to acquire, update & develop over a lifetime both job-specific skills & the key competencies needed for their employability and to foster further learning, active citizenship and inter cultural dialogue' (pg. 119/4)The SCOPE project aimed to develop a transnational partnership with organisations working in an employment, guidance and/or VET setting with client’s who have drug misuse problems, & who are currently providing services to enable them to re-integrate into society through education, training & employment progression pathways. The overarching goal of this partnership was to share current practices, methods & experiences with similar EU organisations, with a view to establishing a model of best practice & guidelines for implementation, that could potentially be piloted in VET associated organisations .A core objective was also to document & strengthen quality standards in career guidance and job seeking support for this extremely marginalised groupThe activities carried out by the project partnership to achieve theses aims & objectives were:•Focus groups with jobseekers, stakeholders and practitioners: In total 42 focus groups were carried out across the partnership. These focus groups acted as a knowledge exchange & gathering exercise, to appreciate the current VET provision of services for high support, drug dependent jobseekers, along with the clients experience of engaging with these services.•Transnational meetings & study visits: these study visits and meetings were an opportunity for partners to engage with the best practice models for supporting the target client group through the VET system. Over 12 best practice study visits were arranged during these meetings. •Case study compilation: the partners carried out local desk research to establish alternative best practices that could not fit into the meetings agendas. This bolstered the numbers of case studies to collate appropriate information for, ensuring a broad range of client, practitioners and stakeholder experiences were accounted for. •Widespread dissemination activities took place through local, regional, national and transnational target groups. This dissemination has resulted in long term impacts and ongoing sustainability of the project results. The project also created a website https://scope.home.blog/, 2 project newsletters and a project leaflet to support this dissemination.Throughout these activities the project has achieved a number of deliverables and resulting impact:•Scope Best Practice Framework: a framework of best practice has been created to engage marginalised clients, who have ongoing or potential drug misuse problems, in the most appropriate way through VET services. Using exchange of best practice, study visits, along with focus groups with jobseekers, practitioners and stakeholders, the Scope partnership have developed a new methodology for engaging these clients. This methodology focuses on five principle of best practice in which VET service should always seek to utilize when providing services to these at risk clients. These principles are bolstered by a full framework of implementation, along with a client threshold which identifies the most appropriate level of intervention according to the client’s profile.•Scope Website: the website acts as an ongoing dissemination tool and information resource for VET organisations who aim to implement the results of the Scope project•Implementation: a number of organisations have already begun to pilot the results of the Scope project; in 2018 the City of Stockholm adopted a new program surrounding policy’s regarding alcohol, narcotics, doping and tobacco. The program contains different goals and activities for the entire city. Amongst them is creating a strategy for the city regarding young adults using drugs where Jobbtorg Stockholm will be one of the partners. It is planned that the results of the Scope Project, including the framework will be utilized, directly impacting the program design. 6 organisations (Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Romania, Germany and Italy) participated including VET providers, employment services, community based organisations, and research consultancies. The Impact of this project is evident at delivery level, most specifically in terms of career guidance and VET. Partner organisations have increased capacity in terms of appropriate services and understanding of client needs. The potential impact on job seekers in the longer-term is increased well-being both physical and psychological, and improved support enabling access to VET and quality sustainable employment.

The project GUIDE+ contributes to a better participation of low skilled people in society and the labour market through high quality guidance. This project wanted to establish and provide case study training modules for guidance practitioners that are used on a regular basis in the training systems of the participating countries, in order to prepare them for the specific challenges in guiding low skilled people.The project will hence contribute to the aims of the EU2020 strategy that 75% of the 20-64 year-olds shall be employed as well as that 20 million fewer people shall be in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion.Career guidance for low skilled people has to use special methods and has to be addressed especially to the needs of the low skilled. The method that was used in the project was the case study method. Implemented activities1. development of additional case studies and corresponding teaching notes (training and teaching material) from a French and a British context usable in every European context and different guidance settings which are also focusing on needs of the low skilled people (translated into all partner languages).2. development of case study training modules for guidance practitioners who work with low skilled people based on case studies focusing on lowskilled people3. development and sustainable implementation of the developed case study training modules in the training systems for guidance practitioners of the participating countries (DE, IE, FR, IT, AT, UK)4. 13 local events in 6 countries (AT, DE, FR, IE, IT, UK) have been conductedParticipants in the project:(1) local/ regional/ national policy maker active in the field of guidance(2) local/ regional/ national training providers active in the field of guidance(3) local/ regional/ national Organisations responsible for curricula development and certification development(4) local/ regional/ national guidance practitioners working with the group of low skilled(5) local/ regional/ national networks active in the field of guidance and/or in the field of social inclusion of low skilled people(6) transnational networks & organisations active in the field of guidance(7) policy maker, training provider and guidance practitioners beyond the partner countriesIMPACT:The most relevant impact was received on local, regiona and national level. The feedback about the Material we received was in general positive. For example the Testing training was considerably appreciated by the participants: 150 out of 180 evaluations ranged between excellent and very good. The participants found both the content and methodology adequate to reflect on their competencies and to update them. The main reasons for that were the way the content was produced as it offered room for discussion, self-reflection, exchange and networking among colleagues. In all cases the training was found very informative, well-structured and well balanced and the case study method was appreciated because of the practical and realistic nature of the stories – many were found to be reflective of daily work situations.. So case studies are confirmed to be a useful method for training because they allow to go beyond theory, presenting real cases which prompt lively and interesting discussions, and provide clear examples on how competences can be appliedQuantitative indicators- GUIDE+ conducted 7 Local kickoff Events in 7 European cities with in total 87 participants - GUIDE+ conducted the Case Study Curricula Testing in 7 European cities with in total 272 Participants- GUIDE+ developed 7 final curricula based on the local needs of 7 European cities with in total 42 Modules and a total length of 203 hours. - GUIDE+ conducted 6 local final Events in 6 european cities with in total 109 participants.