Navigating the Next Normal: Innovative Approaches to Enhancing Youth’s Education-Employment Transitions in Post-COVID-19 Europe -NEXT-UP (Horizon Europe)

Rationale: Youth employability has been a key focus of EU policy, reflected in the initiatives such as Youth Employment Support (YES) and the European Youth Guarantee. Although youth unemployment has decreased from 24% in 2013 to 13.9% by 2023, it remains twice as high as the adult rate, and the rate of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET) still exceeds the EU target by 2.7%. The COVID-19 crisis has further exacerbated these challenges, leading to increased inactivity, underutilization, and a growing skills mismatch between job seekers and employers. Given that one socially excluded young person can cost the society up to EUR 1.2 million euro, addressing these issues is now more critical than ever.

Research design: NEXT-UP integrates the Quadruple Helix Model for social innovation with concepts such as youth agency, intersectionality, and policy learning to enhance the theoretical and practical understanding of YTSTW processes. The project’s research design includes the Living Lab approach, machine learning, psychometric surveys, longitudinal interviews, and agent-based modeling. Building on lessons from the COVID-19 experience and the identified emerging labour market trends, we will develop the typologies of education-to-work transitions and forecast the potential skills gaps to inform our foresight activities. We will collaborate with policymakers, youth, educators, and employers to co-develop actionable, evidence-informed, and future-proof policy recommendations. These recommendations aim to support young people in their transition from education and training to employment, promote social and geographical mobility, and mitigate the risks of youth unemployment, underemployment, and social exclusion. 

Funding: The project is funded by the European Union in the framework of the call A sustainable future for Europe (HORIZON-CL2-2024-TRANSFORMATIONS-01). The grant amount is 2,914,873.50 €.

We would like to express our gratitude for the seed funding provided by Tampere University, as well as the invaluable support from the university’s pre-award team in securing this grant.

Partner Institutions

The project brings together a consortium of 11 partners from 9 countries, including 8 universities (6 of which are part of the ECIU network), 1 private association, 1 student union, and 1 UN-affiliated intergovernmental organization, supported by an international advisory board:

1. Tampere University, Finland (Coordinator)
2. University of Stavanger, Norway
3. University of Aveiro, Portugal
4. Center for Research in Higher Education Policies, Portugal
5. University of Twente, Netherlands
6. Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
7. University of Trento, Italy
8. Heidelberg University, Germany
9. Tallinn University, Estonia
10. European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, Austria
11. National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (SAMOK), Finland