The training activities in the Netherlands on May 8-12th 2023 was hosted by Pieter van Schie, director of the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work (DFW2W). Sixteen delegates experienced the LTT, which was held in Leiderdorp and was aimed at enhancing on the one hand the potential of the participants for work based learning schemes and professional organisation of workplacements on the other hand. The blended mobility was also an activity that leads to the achievement of the project objectives. Below Part 1 in which we have outlined and showcased the Dutch Good Practice ‘ComOn’, VET System presentations, a VET-Circle Guide and tips and tricks on how to establish a good connection with the companies and how te motivate the students to get workplacements in companies:

Project ComOn – Dutch Good Practice

On Monday May 8th, Pieter van Schie, director DFW2W outlined the agenda with all the learning, training and teaching activities. A start was made with a good explanation about the difference between Holland and The Netherlands. Click this link to watch this excellent and funny video.

The first day we kicked off with Good Practise ‘Project Comon’. The VET Circle partnership has delegates from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia and they were very impressed by the organisation and market between employers and students. It’s interesting to see how the VET education systems can anticipate on a project like ComOn. For more information about the preparation and arrangements around this ‘Comon’ marketplace, see the link of the ComOn presentation below:

VET Circle Work Based Learning Guide

The VET-WBL Guide was also presented to the delegates. This is a comprehensive good practice guide detailing the steps towards setting up and running a work based learning programme for schools and companies in accessing employment or employability training.

The WBL guide includes information about the VET systems in the partnership countries, statistics of the youth unemployment rates and leavers from Education and Training in the European Union and the VET-WBL countries. Further it provides examples of good practice and work based learning templates, student, tutor and employer surveys, partnership agreements and service user consultation tools.

We have carefully described the definition and outline of the structure of the work-based learning activities regarding the ‘VET business partnership for WBL’ skills qualification, and the assessment criteria for identifying this as a good practice of work-based learning. The aim in this guide is to provide an overview of theoretical perspectives on Work based learning education, support for young people, schools and companies out there. This Guide is for schools and companies, finding the identifying ‘good practices’, to use this knowledge to be able to innovate and have impact. We anticipate that this will likely include training, self-education, and practice by doing.

Through a couple of articles we have summarised the VET ingredients of each of the VET Circle Partner country partners. Please click the links to get the VET Systems better explained:

• Dutch VET System
• Greek VET System
• Turkish VET System
• Bulgarian VET System
• Macedonian VET System

The Dutch Welfare State, Employabillity and Entrepreneurship

A couple of facts of the Dutch Welfare state:

* Population Netherlands: 18 million

* The Netherlands is the most densely populated nation in Europe ((800 persons per square mile.

* 371,000 open Dutch job vacancies

* The Dutch economy is booming, but the downside is that there is a major shortage of personnel. Our economy is already bigger than before the corona crisis. On the labor market there is a lot of demand for employees, so much that there are shortages. There are 126 vacancies for every 100 unemployed.

* In the Netherlands, 800,000 people are no longer able to do their work in whole or in part.

* Overall, 38% of Dutch adults (25-64 year-olds) have a tertiary education, similar to the OECD average of 39%.

More information is showcased in the Prezi presentation below (in PDF):

The Erasmus+ project SESYCARE offers social entrepreneurship skills to young caregivers and provides them with opportunities for accessing EU funded projects. This is the second newsletter of the Sesycare project.

The Erasmus+ project SESYCARE offers social entrepreneurship skills to young caregivers and provides them with opportunities for accessing EU funded projects. This is the first Newsletter of the project.

The Partnership PLACES-3T is up to speed and visited Manu Village in Lyon september 29th-30th 2022. The EU-project is all about 3rd type places for Collaborative Creative Learning and Entrepreneurship. Supported by Erasmus+, the Places-3T partnership is at the verge starting with their pilot actions, which aims to further develop and make sustainable places of the “third type”, i.e. physical, virtual and/or hybrid collaborative spaces that enable social, cultural and entrepreneurial innovation.

Accompaniment Process

The Places-3t path has brought us to Manu Village in Lyon, France. During the transnational project meeting we discussed the current stage of advancement. A lot of mini-COOL examples and scenarios were displayed, such as an animation version of how to set up a places-3t. This animation will soon go live! Also the partnership thinks it will be very interesting to do short Questions & Answers videos (e.g. like Linked Learning) .

Italian Pilot-action Goals

The Italian Places-3T perspective is two-fold: Starting from existing projects and starting from the Mini-COOLs. The Italian pilot-actions are focused on setting up helpdesks to accompany actors in places evolutions, around:

1. Italian Federation Therapetic Community. Create a Support Desk: To support young people in which way they consider themselves Places-3t and how they can act as a Places-3t hub, re-entering young people in the labour market
2. Regional office of Emelia-Romagna Youth Policies: Support a youth places-3t to be a real network: Add the EU dimension
3. Supporting professionals by learning how to support Places-3t traineeships: A marketplace for good practices
4. Implementing Mini-COOLs in private spaces and creating network links among them

Spanish Pilot-actions

The Spanish perspective is focused on the Fab Lab space in Ibiza, where the young people can create objects with a computer and develop innovative ideas. the main goal is to make the Fab lab space more dynamic for young students and young entrepreneurs. The period of the action is October 2022-February 2023. The City Council will help and promote their ideas, accompanied with the professors of the Universitities of the Bealearic Islands. Five activities are implemented during the pilot actions:

1. Recruitment of the young people and stakeholders to carry out the pilot-actons
2. Through a seminar is explained what objectives are and what we want to achieve
3. Training and learning through mini cools, as a self-learning practise
4. job orientation session on entrepreneurship, with counseling sessions and assessments
5. (Preperation of the) Reports

The personal assessments could be done through practice by doing and at the same time in a class structure. This is currently the rough framework around the Fab Lab spaces.

Pilot-actions Belgium: From mini-COOL to BIG-COOL

Since March 2022 Smart decided that La Vallee will be taken out the SMART structure and becoming independent. This means that SMART will accompany La Vallee for another 3 years but will let them go after this 3 years of accompaniment. This means La Valleen neeeds to subsitute a big loss of finances. There is a two-speed

• SMART is open for ideas how to run La Vallee on short term – How will it be run on short term?
• What will be the new La Vallee structure after 3 years?

This is a very challlenging adventure. How are we going to frame the pilot-action? Foreign examples can be a best practice to improve the current business and make it a profitable independent one.

Hybridasation of a Places-3T

Another pilot-action takes place around hybridisation: The process, actors, activities and resources must be going from online to hybride. So, how to create a real-community in person as well? It’s about networking from different places. An action plan will be made on short term.

Dutch Pilot-actions

The Dutch are focussing on 2 pilot-actions

• Setting up a new Entreneurial hub in the Hague – It’s initial stage has just begun and is very depending on the back up fo the municipality of The Hague and the University Leiden (Campus The Hague)
• Fine tuning the Care hub Sittard-Geleen, a 3rd place of ‘Care and Work’ and expand it to other Dutch municipalities

French pilot-actions

The French are developing the following pilot-action activities

• AFPA Venissieux: Meeting point early Octobre 2022
• AFPA Pont de Claix, currently creating a new 3rd place
• Special Focus on migrants accompaniment is also a very interesting 3rd place
• Formalise the intention of a 3rd place in deserted village: CCC – Elected in a small village in Drome with an issue of desertification (a lot of people leave the area). This project is financed on a national/European grants to develop the village from rural deserted place into a vibrantdynamic ‘village centres. So the project aims here to create a ‘scattered’ 3rd place in the village centre: Keeping what is already existing, regrooming some elementswith local antennas with different competences. To reanimate the village centres and keep the activities going…

AFEV – Des Espaces de Vie

The aim is to connect the Priority districts with the university, the AFEV students, to create solidarity. Students are offered co-living spaces, which they also share with the local community and the students need to support the local community with projects for their local community. The 3rd places are all different because of the different regions/districts, it’s a social public service which aim is that in the future it generates money and added value to the local social eco system. The AFEV-students are given housing in co-living spaces, which als include social services for the local community. The students usually stay in the community for a short period (1-2 years) and pay lower rent, because they are part of these social projects. The universities give credits for the work the students do. So the students gain work experience, earn credits and progress in their study and the local community (the priority district) profits from the social work the students do for the local community.

The students have freedom and are self-organised, they decide what they want to initiate for the local community. The 15 priority districts usually have a population with a migrant background. Through a natural process the co-living spaces involve the local population. This is also known as Solidarity Kaps: The activities are a.o: Supporting services for mental health, sustainabilliyty services (community gardens), supporting isolated old people, waste management solutions, introducing priority district youth to university life and introducing students to street life, etc…

Currently the perspective of the 3rd places (the so-called Solidarity Kaps) are two-fold:

• 3rd places in the university, to open the university for the priority districts
• 3rd places in the priority district, to open the district for the university

In the period May 11th – May 27th 2022 the EU programme ‘An Entrepreneurial Journey’ will run for the third time. The Entrepreneurial Journey is a European collabouration of the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work (DFW2W) and Dutch entrepreneur promotors with Young Enterprise Scotland (YES) and Scottish young entepreneurs. The Training will support entrepreneurship capacity building of the AEJ students thus helping the development of the necessary entrepreneurship competences. Thus AEJ students will be trained in a Dutch training course, that follows the principals of non-formal education to promote young entrepreneurship.

The Partnership PLACES-3T comes to Holland on April 28th-29th 2022. The EU-project is all about 3rd type places for Collaborative Creative Learning and Entrepreneurship. Supported by Erasmus+, the Places-3T aims to develop and make sustainable places of the “third type”, i.e. physical, virtual and/or hybrid collaborative spaces that enable social, cultural and entrepreneurial innovation.

Dutch Foundation hosts at Area071

The Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work (DFW2W) host the Places-3T partnership at Area071, In Leiderdorp, Zuid-Holland. Area071 is an excellent 3rd Place, a Dutch entrepreneurial hub full of potential, start-ups and young entrepreneurs. On the agenda a presentation by Bart Hoenen on the 28th, accompanied by a tour. On the 29th we will also attend the Comon Market of young marketeers and entrepreneurs offering their services to businesses in the region Leiden/Leiderdorp (the 071-region).

Dutch Places-3T Agenda

On February 26th, 27th, 28th 2022 the Dutch Foundation organised the Dutch Sesycare Training Days at the venue Area071. The Sesycare training supports the capacity building of staff and stakeholders. During the workshops in Leiderdorp the principals of non-formal education and the objective of inclusion of young caregivers through social entrepreneurship were placed centre stage.

From Caregiver to Social Entrepreneur

From caregiver to social entrepreneur must be done step by step. Learning independently can be challenging, even for the brightest and most motivated young Caregiver / social entrepreneur. There are four key stages to independent learning, known as self-directed learning:

* Are you ready and motivated to learn and work hard to be a social entrepreneur?

* Setting social entrepreneur goals

* Engaging in the social entrepreneurial process; and

* Evaluating social entrepreneurial learning.

Area071 Study Visit

Director Bart Hoenen founder father of AREA071 shared with us his experience in working with young entrepreneurs and vulnerable groups. Bart mentioned several synergies with the University Leiden and the Leiden Bio Science Park, that “finds the keys for making animal and human lives healthier and longer.” This incubator provides solutions that have a huge effect on all our well-being. These could be drug innovations, but also medical instruments, or a new technology that doesn’t exist yet.

Some AREA071 Facts:

• Founded in 2012 as an hybrid incubator
• Program and support
• Started with 1500m2 open workspace
• Community: Areanauten
• Strong connections with education and research
• Positions in regional boards
• Growth to 8000 m2
• Meeting rooms and mini conference center
• Diversity
• One of the biggest startup hubs in the Netherlands

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

Andreas Stefanidis President Academy for Entrepreneurship (Greece) explained in which way social entrepreneurs in the European Union can benefit of this scheme for future entrepreneurs. Further Dr.Öğr.Üyesi AMAN SADO ELEMO https://gavsis.gelisim.edu.tr/aselemo/kimlik made a presentation on the psychological aspects of social entrepreneurship.

Sesycare Capacity Building by Entrepreneurship Video’s

During the Dutch workshops we have also talked a lot about inspiration and how to turn dreams into ideas, and ideas into start ups. One very inspirational video is Moonshot Thinking: Why aim for a 10% when you can aim for 10X? Instead of a mere 10% gain, a moon-shot aims for a 10x improvement over what currently exists. The combination of a huge problem, a radical solution to that problem, and the breakthrough technology that just might make that solution possible, is the essence of a moon-shot.

Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator

The TED talk presents in an innovative way how is the mind of a procrastinator and what procrastination means and implies: Enjoy the watch:

We have just finished the Dutch ProCKD training Days at Area071 in Leiderdorp, Zuid-Holland. The short-term joint staff training event was held in AREA071 an Employability and Entrepreneurial hub at the border of the city Leiden (The Netherlands) from February 23rd to the 25th 2022. The presentations and workshops supported the capacity building of the stakeholders and partners, thus helping the development of the necessary patient competences. The learning activities have been a good chance to show good practice in integrating patients with Chronic Kidney Disease as peer leaders in the world of work. The Dutch training days directly strengthened the competences of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease and their family to motivate them to engage in further professional development.

Dutch Employment, Employability and Entrepreneurship Study Days
The ProCKD Staff was trained during the Dutch training courses, that followed the principles of non-formal education through social entrepreneurship and employability, empowering them to become creators and promoters of their own brand. The emphasis during the ProCKD Training was on the dutch employabillity and entrepreneurship perspective. Some dutch Facts:

• The Dutch economy is booming, but the downside is that there is a major shortage of personnel. The Dutch economy is already bigger than before the corona crisis and this has impact in the labor market: there is a lot of demand for employees, so much that there are shortages.
• There are 126 vacancies for every 100 unemployed.
• In the Netherlands, 800,000 people are no longer able to do their work in whole or in part.
• 236.515 Dutch people incapacitated for work (WAO : Law for people incapacitated for work)
• 327.952 people are are in a work capacity benefit. (WIA -Work and Income according to Labor Capacity Act. )
• 244.183 young people in the Wajong Act who have no or are unable to develop work capacity (Wajong)
• More than 12% (2 million people) of the Dutch population has chronic kidney damage. Complaints often only arise when the kidney function is only 30%. People with chronic kidney damage have an increased risk of kidney failure and death from cardiovascular disease.

The unemployment rate in Netherlands averaged at 5.47 % from 2003 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 7.9 % in February of 2014 and a record low of 3.6 % February 2008. In January 2022 we are at the same low level.

Work is Treatment

Many people who start dialysis or have a transplant want to go back to work.  Some people feel it helps them get their lives get back to normal. Some people continue to work full time as they begin treatment. Others switch to a part-time or flexible schedule. Some people ask for jobs that are less physically demanding. The topics kidney patients want to discuss with their employer are:

• Changing your work schedule to allow for dialysis and healthcare visits
• Making up time taken off for medicalreasons
• Physical limitations, if any
• What to do in case of an emergency
• Activity Models for All

A very good example of an activity model is the Werkcenter Model. This model consists the following principles:

• One Size fits all
• Sanction
• Participation
• Everybody can do something
• Work First / Work as a treatment: Real Work
• Reward – If you work you should get paid
• From Work to Work
• Own Responsibility
• Local and regional Entrepreneurial strategy of the municipalities / councils: National government forced them to act as a enterprise

ProCKD Study Visit Area071

The local context was that of Leiden/Leiderdorp, the so-called Areao071, whereas the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work runs hosts many projects and training days. The ProCKD participants were able to experience:
* various Dutch ideas and concepts around employment, employability, and entrepreneurship;
 * new development lines of reflection and actions for improving support packages for employment and entrepreneurship for kidney patients
 * the outline of the successful Dutch Labour Market Strategies and Entrepreneurship Culture
 * the basis for building a webinar and knowledge building around the concept ‘Work is treatment and Treatment is Work’;
 * discuss new pathways and strategies of Work, Entrepreneurship, Health, and Quality of Life (and Happiness)
 * feedback and tell about their own experiences and good practices
 
ProCKD II

On Friday February 25th the purpose of the Dutch ProCKD learning activities was also to give feedback (and to assess) the good practices to certain project ideas, like ProCKD II. Especially by checking if proposed tools and approaches, used in the Netherlands to the realities of staff from all the involved countries and different working contexts could be suitable to implement in a follow up EU-project.

In addition, the participants gave input and feedback on the overall training and study visits, its content, and the ability to understand and apply the content in different realities. The learning activities were also a space to provide peer support which is crucial in this kind of internal development process and to provide guidance for each other. The training course offered the participants a unique space to become the multipliers of the project in their field of work.

The training directly strengthened the competencies of staff to be able to counsel and mentor other staff and kidney patients for employability and entrepreneurship opportunities, and to motivate them to engage in further professional development.

In about 10 days we will give our Dutch Sesycare Training days in Leiden, Holland. But before we get into that we have a little flashback to January 11th-12th 2022: The Erasmus+ project SESYCARE had a meeting in Turkey at the Instanbul Gelisim University. This 2-day meeting offered a lot of presentations regarding social entrepreneurship skills to young caregivers. The emotional component is something we should not overlook as a big part of their (entrepreneurial) work, which could lead to a Caregiver burnout.

Common Care Giving Problems

Although we are well aware that caregiving is almost like running an enterprise, all focused on care and taking care, caregiving has some common problems, which even sometimes leads to caregiver burnout.

Caregiver Burnout

One of the very interesting topics in Istanbul was: How can young caregivers cope with their burnout? It’s important to:

• Embrace the caregivers choice
• Ask for caregiving help
• Practising self-care
• Joining caregiver support groups
• Psycho education – through provision of skills and information we can assist the emotional and social well being of the caregiver
• Counseling interventions (provision of information, development of coping skills, stress management, cognitive reframing
• Establishing support groups

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs

One of the other great presentations was about the Erasmus Young Entrepreneurs scheme. Andreas Stefanidis President of theAcademy for Entrepreneurship (Greece) explained the opportunities for young entrepreneurs and enterprise. Stefanidis will also present at the Learning Mobilities in Leiden on February 28th 2022.

Coming up: Dutch Sesycare Training Days

The Dutch Sesycare training will support the capacity building of the staff and stakeholders, thus staff will be trained in a training course, that follows the principals of non-formal education to promote the objective of inclusion of young caregivers through social entrepreneurship. The training activities in the Netherlands will aim at enhancing:

• Experience various ideas and concepts around employment, employability and entrepreneurship;
• Develop new lines of reflection and actions for improving support packages for young caregivers
• Outline of the successful Dutch Labour Market Strategies and Entrepreneurship Culture
• Set the basis for building a webinar and knowledge building around the concept ‘Work is treatment and Treatment is Work’;
• Discuss new pathways and strategies of Work, Entrepreneurship, Health and Quality of Life (Happiness)
• Give feedback (Learning Mobility report)

The Dutch foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work is very pleased to announce that we have been recognized as a official SBB accredited training company on 5 January 2022. The accreditation has been issued for the training: Personal counselor specific target groups level 4.

We train Professionals – SBB Accreditation

The Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work (DFW2W) is a accredited independent, non-profit organisation, based in the Rotterdam Region (Papendrecht, South-Holland), which supports professionals (e.g. European institutes, municipalities, councils, provinces, governments, employment agencies, training providers, youth work organisations, non-profit organisations) and young people (aged 14-35) to reach their full potential in the fields of (youth) employment, traineeship, education, social innovation, mental health, social inclusion and (young) entrepreneurship.

DFW2W is accredited and specialized in guiding specific target groups (incl. trainers, youth workers and personal supervisors):

• Guiding, activating and supporting participants in the areas of living, working, learning and socializing
• Drawing up a guidance plan or plan of approach (target-strategy-desired result)
• Attending supervision, aimed at the personal development of the student
• Guiding participants in strengthening their own strength and responsibility
• Guidance on intervention with regard to unforeseen situations and crisis situations
• Activities and coordination aimed at promoting and monitoring quality assurance
• Participate as a junior researcher in European projects (means that the intern goes under supervision to transnational meetings, learning mobility, work-learn training and/or multiplier events in Europe)
• Following European training days focused on empowerment and inclusion
• Evolution and progress reports on the support offered (via Deming Circle, among others)

Our DFW2W Team