WHAT WE DO
Info in a Nutshell
The core of EUCONTACT´s project development activities and services is to reach Europe´s educational and social-political goals by means of innovative TRANSNATIONAL strategies and practical approaches beyond oversized bureaucratic and often less efficient structures, targeting a democratic, social and sustainable EU, benefitting mainly young people, undertaking a vocational qualification and based in structurally weakly developed EU-regions.
In this respect, EUCONTACT has been developing and refining the following project schemes:
The FREE MOVEMENT OF CITIZENS IN EUROPE and the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET, as both common EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL AREA and common LABOUR MARKET, lay at the core the above activities.
Moreover, we can operate as project and bid developers on behalf of educational and research institutions, based in various countries of the EUROPEAN UNION, within the EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT funding programmes (from the previous INTELLIGENT ENERGY EUROPE funding programme to the current HORIZON EUROPE funding programme.
For the service line EUMATCHING, EUCONTACT has developed and successfully tested WORD-STORM, our label for our bespoke, sector-specific language courses in online delivery mode (current focus on the German language), thus supporting the development and recruitment of young people, originating from poorly developed EU regions, holding a vocational qualification, working in sectors with LABOUR SHORTAGE, respectively HARD TO FILL VACANCIES / HFV in economically developed EU regions, for example in German-speaking countries.
Last, but not least, EUCONTACT´s members of staff can give dedicated LECTURE on the MISMATCHING between structurally weakly developed and highly developed EU regions, on segmented youth unemployment and skills shortage on grounds of demographic change, such as:
„Single European Market´s Unregarded Potentials of Young, Skilled Labour Force from Weakly-Developed European Regions“and“Strategies for International Staff Retention, Immigrants from Europe“.
We play a part in implementing Europe´s cohesion goals
Disparities, not significantly waning over the last years of economic growth in the European Single Market, hand in hand with an increasing social inequality gap, especially in structurally weakly developed EU regions, are among the greatest challenges for the future of the EUROPEAN COMMUNITY.
The Corona pandemic, the war in the Ukraine and hence the skyrocketing inflation will lead to an increased risk of poverty, especially of young people, lacking adequate professional and income prospects in the weakly developed EU-regions.
On grounds of the above reasons, the target group of EUCONTACT activities are young people, with a vocational qualification, between 13 and 35 years of age, living in EU-regions, weakly developed from a structural point of view.
EUCONTACT specializes in piloting, with and without EU Funding Programmes, innovative strategies and concepts, fostering the employability of young people from structurally under developed EU-regions, against the background of unemployment and poverty of these European regions. A special emphasis is laid on innovative project developments and activities, supporting the sustainable and socially appropriate further development of the COMMON EU LABOUR MARKET, as well as of the COMMON EU EDUCATIONAL AREA.
Hence a significant aspect in this context is the hands-on promotion of the cross-national mobility in the EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET of young people, undertaking initial vocational education and training / IVT and originating from structurally underdeveloped EU-regions.
The INCOMING/OUTGOING Project Schemes: Promoting the vocational mobility of young people, holding avocational qualification, yet with reduced employability prospects
Within the framework of our INCOMING/OUTGOING schemes, we back IVT providers from structurally less developed regions in Europe, on grounds of the European common educational area, as part of the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET, supporting them with the process of developing and implementing bids / project applications, promoting EUROPEAN MOBILITY in VET, under the ERASMUS+ EU-funding programme for young people, between 18 to 35 years of age, undertaking initial vocational training in a weakly-developed region in Europe.
Promoting the vocational mobility in Europe and boosting the employability across Europe of these young people, originating from less developed EU regions, lay at the core of these INCOMING/OUTGOING projects.
For more information, visit: INCOMING/OUTGOING
Our EUMATCHING Strategy
In order to achieve a sustainable MATCHING STRATEGY between young people (between 18 and 35 years of age), struggling with segmented youth unemployment, originating from underdeveloped EU regions and companies and public institutions from developed EU regions, struggling with skilled staff shortage due to demographic reasons, EUCONTACT conceives and puts into practice, under the label EUMATCHING, bespoke CROSS-NATIONAL PROJECTS, targeting these young people ON THE VERGE OF GRADUATION, completing their vocational education in their respective home country.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/cohesion-report_en
An appropriate ONBOARDING STRATEGY is of utmost relevance for EUMATCHING projects , aiming to reduce the risk of discrimination of these young people in their new living and working environment.
For more information, visit: www.eumatching.eu
Our EDUMATCHING Approach
Another MATCHING STRATEGY, coined by EUCONTACT, is described below under the keyword EDUMATCHING . This is about the development and implementation of bespoke EU-PROJECTS in the form of CROSS-NATIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING.
This core activity tackles vocational qualifications marked by a significant MISMATCH, manifested in the form of EXCESSIVE SUPPLY of vacancies / apprenticeship positions in STRUCTURALLY DEVELOPED EU REGIONS and a LACKING DEMAND or INSUFFICIENT HUMAN RESOURCES there in – young people willing to undertake an apprenticeship in these VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS.
On the flip side, POOR EU REGIONS often feature a HIGH QUOTA of young people, but UNAVAILABLE VOCATIONAL PROSPECTS due to UNAVAILABLE JOBS, this leading to a HIGH RISK OF POVERTY in the respective EU regions.
This situation has led EUCONTACT to develop EDUMATCHING, a CROSS-NATIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING scheme, between companies / public institutions from STRUCTURALLY DEVELOPED EU REGIONS and vocational education and training institutions(VET providers) based in WEAKLY DEVELOPED EU REGIONS FROM A STRUCTURAL POINT OF VIEW.
For more information, visit: www.edumatching.eu
Further opportunities
Upon demand, based upon its international cooperation structures, EUCONTACT can also operate in the CANDIDATE COUNTRIES for the membership in the EU (the Balkans and probably Ucraine in the future) with both the EUMATCHING and EDUMATCHING schemes, benefiting young people, undertaking a vocational education path in structurally weakly developed regions in Europe.
Our JOBMOBILITY tuition scheme
Within the framework of our developed and implemented multi-year transational INCOMING/OUTGOING mobility projects, it has become clear, each and every time, that our young project participants usually have no practical knowledge about the job prospects, in the national and European labour market, related to the vocational qualification of their choice.
Moreover, our young project participants lacked information about the opportunities offered by the EUROPEAN FREE MOVEMENT and SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET to counteract the segmented youth unemployment and dumping wages in the home labour market.
On grounds of the above, we have developed for the participants in our EUMATCHING and EDUMATCHING project lines, the JOBMOBILITY tuition modules on CAREER GUIDANCE IN THE SPECIFIC NATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LABOUR MARKET, available in online delivery mode, as a regrettably rather neglected component of a modern, innovative vocational education in the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET, as EU LABOUR MARKET and EU EDUCATIONAL AREA.
This shall simplify the job search process in the home labour market, as well as in SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET for the participants in our EUMATCHING and EDUMATCHING project lines, on the verge of completing their vocational qualification.
EUROPASS, a personal tool documenting a period of learning and working in Europe, shall be used in all project activities.
For more information, visit: www.jobmobility.eu
Our consulting module WORKING-IN-EUROPE
There is less knowledge about the human resouces / HR potentials, represented by young people, with a vocational qualification, based in structurally underdeveloped European regions, lacking jobs and hence career prospects.
Through our consulting module, under the label WORKING-IN-EUROPE, these potentials can be presented to interested companies and public institutions, based in economically strong European regions, due to the existence of enough employers and jobs, aiming to reduce the continuously growing number of hard-to-fill vacancies / HFV there in.
Thanks to the right of FREE MOVEMENT IN EUROPE and the EQUIVALENCE OF EGULATED AND UNREGULATED VOCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS, the potential represented by young replacement labour force can be yielded within the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET, and, at the same time, the RISK OF POVERTY in Europe can be downsized.
Companies and public institutions, interested in benefiting from EUMATCHING and/or EDUMATCHING PROJECTS at cross-national level in the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET, in order to reduce their manpower shortage, are given the opportunity by EUCONTACT to be coached, for specific occupations, on the potentials and long term prospects, existent in the SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET.
For more information, visit: www.working-in-europe.eu
Accessing European Funds – Bid/Project development, due submission and implementation of funded bids under ERASMUS+
On grounds of the long-term experience of its staff in the area of project/bid development to acquire EU funds from 1999 until present, from Leonardo da Vinci until ERASMUS+, with the service schemes INCOMING/OUTGOING, EUCONTACT supports both public VET Schools and private VET providers, operating in the initial vocational education and training, to develop bids/project applications in order to access European funds, such as under the ERASMUS+ Funding Programmes and carries out coordination tasks, aiding in implementing the funded bids at cross-national level in the European Educational Area.
A leading theme in this context,as well, when developing international consortia for EU projects, is building strategic partnerships between VET Schools, based in structurally weakly developed EU countries, facing youth unemployment and private companies/public institutions, from structurally well-developed countries, struggling with labour shortage on grounds of demographics.
Strategic Consultancy on Accessing European Funds within the Framework of RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Programmes
Its comprehensive past experience, since 1995, with developing bids/project applications to access EU funds within the framework of special EU funding programmes, such as ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS (INTELLIGENT ENERGY EUROPE – SAVE) enables EUCONTACT to successfully operate as developer of EU projects/bids also under the EUROPEAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES (2021 until 2027) HORIZON and DIGITAL EUROPE on behalf of customers, such as education and research institutions, hospitals, private companies and public institutions based in different countries in Europe.
The focus of EUCONTACT´s bid and project development services can be laid on the following subject areas:
MEDICINE
- PRECISION MEDICINE – PERSONALISED MEDICINE: Treating the patient and not the disease: personalised treatment of the patient and disease prevention;
- FIGHT AGAINST CONTAGIOUS DISEASES (e.g. Covid-19 and new pandemics): studies; climate change and new diseases in Europe; Further education programmes, implementing the fight against contagious diseases.
- ICT –Apps for medicine (cross-sectoral approach);
- CYBER SECURITY
CLIMATE CHANGE and ENERGY SAVING
THE EUROPEAN GREEN Deal with the following priorities:
- NEXT GENERATION EU: Reduce the net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030; Putting an end to wasteful packaging, boosting re-use and recycling; 3 billion additional trees to be planted in the EU by 2030;
- REPOWER EU: Diversifying energy supply in Europe; Promote energy saving measures; Accelerate the energy revolution by promoting the production of clean energy.
- TRANS-EUROPEAN TRANSPORT NETWORK (TEN-V) and THE „Connecting Europe“ FACILITY (CEF): electrical cars; development of the railway lines in Europe.
ICT
- ROBOTICS;
- Extensive use of IT IN PRODUCTION PROCESSES, e.g.3-D Printers;
- DIGITAL PARTICIPATION in social and political decision-making processes;
- Implementation of DIGITALISATION IN EDUCATION;
- ICT –Apps for medicine (cross-sectoral approach);
- CYBER SECURITY
FOOD SUPPLY
- ALTERNATIVE FOOD PRODUCTION (Alternative sources of protein; SOILLESS AGRICULTURE in cities and suburbs; Aquaculture; Use of SYNTHETICALLY DESIGNED BACTERIA for food production in bioreactors; Reduction of greenhouse emissions in agriculture);
- FUNCTIONAL FOOD, as bridge between food industry and medicine;
- REDUCTION OF FOOD WASTE.
An outstanding feature of this service offered by EUCONTACT is our competence to develop and duly submit country-specific project applications / bids to access EU funding at international level by complying with the national priorities of the respective EU country – national calls for proposals, in addition to the European calls for proposals/tenders.
The geographical scope of this service regarding bidding for EU funding currently spans the following EU countries: Ireland, France, Austria, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Denmark and Sweden.
In the beginning was the word – Sector-specific language courses in online delivery mode: WORD-STORM
As part of the activity of young staff development and recruitment, within the framework of EUMATCHING and EDUMATCHING work placement projects in OCCUPATIONS WITH HARD-TO-FILL VACANCIES in highly-developed countries in the EUROPEAN SINGLE MARKET, EUCONTACT provides, under the keyword WORD-STORM, sector-specific language courses, currently for acquiring the German and English language, featuring, from the very beginning, the terminology specific to the respective occupation, that related to the employer´s work mentality and environment, getting „linguistically familiar“ with the country and mentality of the future employer, based in EU regions with skilled staff shortage (within a certain EUMATCHING project).
Our pool of native language teachers deliver the WORD-STORM language courses mainly online or in blended learning mode. The acquisition of the foreign language is always accompanied by clarifications either in the native language of the learner or in English, as bridge language.
The language courses are free of charge for the participants in the EUMATCHING or EDUMATCHING projects.
As a rule of thumb, in the language courses provided by EUCONTACT, our learners, future employees, reach the target language level in half the time compared to other „classical“ language courses.
For more information, visit: www.word-storm.eu
Last, but not least: Presentations - Lectures - Talks
On demand or within our own seminars, EUCONTACT can hold lectures / presentations / talks on the following topics: „Single European Market´s Unregarded Sector-Specific Potentials of Young, Skilled Labour Force from Weakly-Developed European Regions“ and „Strategies for International Staff Retention, Immigrants from Europe“.
