By developing best practices to help underprivileged youth develop their entrepreneurial, creative, and technological skills, the EU-funded Atlantic Youth Creative Hubs (AYCH) project aims to increase employability and reduce poverty across the Atlantic region.
- 29 November 2019
Young people are empowered to see themselves as the change agents we desperately need in society. It’s a longitudinal project and AYCH is the start of a transnational collaboration that will continue to foster entrepreneurs across Europe who can be comfortable, confident and skilled in a society and job market that is constantly changing and unstable, building social and financial capital.
To accomplish this, the project has established a region-wide network of connected, multidisciplinary hubs where disadvantaged youth seeking a career or self-employment in the creative sector can get the start-up support they need. Furthermore, by serving as an intermediary between young talent and employers, these hubs support local economic growth and job creation and play a pivotal role in reducing youth unemployment.
A case study in success
The flagship outcome of the project is the Creative Jam, a place where young people can come to experiment and develop a product or service that responds to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Here they can develop, pitch, and refine their ideas to peers, experts, investors, and local authorities. To understand how this works the image of a hundred of youngsters from different countries working and learning together has to be settled. During the development of a creative jam language is not a barrier, teamworking, will of learning and discover new things and the sustainable model are the language to be spoken. Young people attend different formations carried out by experts connected with the AYCH Project, and after that they are divided into trasnational groups for developping different ways for tackling a particular issue.
The formation received during the first part of the event and the melting pot resulting from the different level of studies, cultures and backgrounds of the members of the groups, lead into innovative and interesting different ways of understanding a common problem from different points of view.
A big impact
Although a work in progress, AYCH expects to engage over 1 600 youth and 800 SMEs. By providing them with tailored business support, including showcases and seminars, it is estimated that the network of hubs will result in the production of 40 market-ready products and 40 product prototypes, the launching of 50 new businesses, and the creation of 200 new jobs and 200 internships.
When the project closes in 2021, the AYCH model will be transferred to participating regions, thus ensuring an ongoing impact.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “AYCH – Atlantic Youth Creative Hubs” is EUR 4 227 620, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 3 170 715 through the “Atlantic Area” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Stimulating innovation and competitiveness, addressing the challenge of accelerating intelligent growth”.