Kompetensare 2.0 (Competencies 2.0)

Youth unemployment is an increasing problem in Sweden as well as in the rest of Europe, partly due to the worldwide economic crisis. In the regions of Skåne and Blekinge the unemployment for young persons 16-24 years has reached around 11%, but in some municipalities it is over 20%. However, the municipality of Kristianstad has developed a program for young unemployed persons in close cooperation with local companies and entrepreneurs as well as the local employment agency. This program called Kompetensare (Competencies) has proven to be quite successful; about 60% of the participants have found employments or has started studying. Other municipalities in the southern parts of Sweden have shown great interest in this program and therefore the regional administration of Skåne (Region Skåne) has offered to develop and coordinate a project in which we would like to spread the method and results of the program Competencies. In the project we are also going to, develop the methods used in order to reach a greater number of the target group. We believe this activity might be proving to be even more important than only spreading the method and results of the program Competencies.
9 municipalities in Skåne and Blekinge, local employment agencies and other stake holders are involved in this project.
Youth unemployment is a problem in many countries in Europe today therefore we would like initially to share methods and experiences with others as well as developing new methods in collaboration with our international partners. We also hope that the relations that we are establishing today can lead to other positive effects when it comes to the way we are working with unemployed youth. For instance, when it comes to internships, maybe we could cooperate which would lead to a greater mobility for unemployed youth both in Skåne/Blekinge and in other regions.