17 April 2024 – The final conference of the project A Step Forward for Youth in Less Dynamic Environments (NEKSTEP) took place in Lipica. The project, which is co-financed by the Norway Grants under the programme Education, Scholarships, Apprenticeship and Youth Entrepreneurship, aims to facilitate the transition of young people into employment.
Marjeta Stepančič Slavec, Director of the Adult Education Centre Sežana, addressed the participants as host. In the first part of the conference, the results of the project were presented by Sanda Božeglav, representative of the project partner the Adult Education Centre Sežana, Bojan Mevlja, representative of the project partner Središče Rotunda, Social Centre in the Littoral Region, and Tina Rožac and Ksenija Zečević, representatives of the project promoter Adult Education Centre Koper, who also presented the role of the Norwegian project partner International Development Norway in the project. More than 500 young people in the Coastal-Karst region participated in workshops on career orientation and entrepreneurship, and were also offered personal counselling. The added value of the project was the lectures and workshops for counsellors working with young people, who were able to learn about the characteristics of young people today (what they want from adults, how adults can approach them, etc.), how to have a conversation with young people while taking into account emotional regulation, and how to approach young people using creative methods. The first part of the conference was closed by Particija Horvat from the company Makro 5 gradnje, who presented a good practice example of cooperation with young people from the Upper-secondary VET school Koper, who presented their winning solution for digitising construction at the hackathon.
© MKRR
The second part of the conference included a panel discussion on the entry of young people into the labour market and the characteristics of young people today as they build their careers. The round table was attended by Vladimir Popovič, Head of the Regional Office of the Emplyment Service of Slovenia in Koper, Nassim Djaba from Impact Hub Ljubljana, Neva Strel Pletikos from the Centre for Personal Growth Koper and Ula Stepančič from the Scale with US Institute. Nassim Djaba pointed out that “In a job interview, young people ask what values the employer has /…/ Today, it is the employers who have to present the job well so that young people are willing to invest 8 hours of their time with them every day”. Mr Popovič stressed that the Employment Service of Slovenia is already working to raise awareness among employers so that they themselves also become active and explore new ways of recruiting staff, as the established ways are no longer enough. Neva Pletikos Strel, a long-time elementary school counsellor and now a self-employed entrepreneur, pointed out that young people have a lot of information, including about careers, but sometimes lack the skills to put it into practice. “They are sovereign for a very long time, they ‘freeze’ just before they make a decision,” she added. Ula Stepančič, a successful young entrepreneur, advised young people: “Don’t be silent, dare to ask, seek for help when you need it”, and stressed the crucial role of a mentor to guide and direct you along the way. Mentoring in general was a recurring theme for all the panellists.
Žan Papič moderated the conference and the roundtable, and concluded the event with a stand-up performance.
Source: LU Koper