Navigating the Next Normal

Innovative Approaches to Enhancing Youth’s Education-Employment Transitions in Post-COVID-19 Europe

NEXT-UP

BACKGROUND

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, European youth faced unprecedented challenges in education-to-employment transitions, followed by the revolution of AI technology and shifting geopolitical landscapes. Acknowledging that these challenges likely exacerbated the existing difficulties and including inequalities in youth transitions from school (education) to work (the labour market), NEXT-UP aims to

  1. investigate and predict the long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis on youth transitions from school to work and
  2. co-create, with stakeholders, evidence-informed, future-oriented policies and programmes. 

The project covers European Union and EFTA countries. The European Centre contributes to two of NEXT-UP’s six substantive work packages namely, the analysis and development of youth employability policies (WP 5) and the co-development of policies in Living Labs (WP 6).

AIMS

To meet it's two core aims, NEXT-UP pursues the following specific objectives:

  1. To analyse and forecast how structural changes in education interact with labour market shifts in the post-COVID-19 landscape forming the context of youth transitions from school (education) to work (the labour market) (YTSTW).
  2. To empirically explore the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on young people's experiences and perceptions of both horizontal and vertical transitions.
  3. To explore emerging patterns and typologies in YTSTW across Europe, distinguishing them from trends observed before the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. To predict labour market skill demands and potential discrepancies between educational offerings and labour market requirements over the next decade.
  5. To evaluate EU and national policies that have facilitated youth transitions since 2019 and leverage this analysis to formulate evidence-based, forward-looking policy recommendations.
  6. To collaboratively design innovative approaches that enable educational institutions, national and supranational governments, and youth organisations to enhance the transition of youth through the Living Labs.
  7. To establish a collaborative network among academics, policymakers, and practitioners in the fields of education and youth counselling, leveraging the insights, methodologies, and tools developed by NEXT-UP across Europe.

METHODS

  • Systematic review of literature on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on education and the labour market and youth transitions and the effectiveness of employability policies.
  • Policy design process to create youth employability policy designs.
  • Focus groups with 80 educators and 80 employers in NO, EE, PT and DE.
  • Longitudinal life-course interviews with 125 young people in FI, DE, NL, EE and ES.
  • Statistical analysis youth transitions in Europe before and after the COVID-19 crisis.
  • Agent-based Modelling to replicate individuals’ actions in relation to youth transitions from school to work in NO, EE, PT and DE.
  • Skills-based Curriculum Analytics using machine learning to link university curricula with vacancy notes in EU countries.
  • Social Media-based Psychometric Surveys of 1,200 persons to explore the labour market behaviour for 18 to 34-year olds in NO, DE, PT, ES, IT and PT.
  • Living Labs for testing and further developing research insights with stakeholders.

ACTIVITIES/MILESTONES

Six summary reports on the findings of the project’s work packages on

  • Structural changes in education and labour market environments in the post-covid era (WP1),
  • Perceptions of youth based on longitudinal interviews (WP2),
  • The impact of COVID on education-to-labour market transition paths (WP3),
  • Predicting future scenarios of education-to-work transition (WP4),
  • Policy development, including a typology of employability policies, an analysis of the effectiveness of youth employability policies, policy options and policy recommendations (WP5), and
  • A living labs implementation report (WP 6).

Project findings will be presented at a minimum of 20 conferences/workshops and three clustering events and published in one book and at least 20 journal articles.

The project will conclude with a final conference.

The European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research supports the Sustainable Development Goals

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UN SDG Decent Work and Economic Growth

FUNDED BY

European Commission, HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions, Horizon Europe

PROJECT DURATION

01/2025 – 06/2028