Most recent Eurostat data show that in the European Union there are almost 17 million young people that are neither in employment nor in education or training: the so called NEETs; policymakers are increasingly concerned by the economic and social consequences of their disengagement. This strategic project is needed to give an answer to EU youth for qualified work-based education inspired by the successful German model and at the same time to limit brain-drain, that strips Eastern and Southern EU countries from human capital that is a fundamental growth factor. Work-based experiences have been proved to be leading to employment even in countries with high unemployability rates. Furthermore, PRO-YOUTH focuses on a specific growing sector in Eastern and Southern EU regions, where labour market offers concrete possibilities of employment: the tourism industry, with a a particular focus on hospitality and cultural heritage. Recent OECD statistics indicate a huge potential for cultural tourism to continue to thrive in the industry. In Eastern Europe price competitiveness is a strength, but the sub-region has not yet invested enough in cultural resources.PRO-YOUTH general objective aims accordingly to enhance the competitiveness of regions with high unemployment rates of NEETs, through addressing key tourism policy and management issues such as quality assurance through developing work based learning schemes focusing on linking culture, tourism and destination attractiveness. Project results have the specific aim to: offer better chances to young people (NEETs) to be better trained and to be more competitive in the tourism job market of their region; enhancing and assuring the quality in the field of tourism by the introduction of work based learning schemes tailored on local needs and opportunities; fostering a strong link between tourism and culture;strengthening the regional economic development through increasing competitiveness of local communities and assets.Countries affected by high unemployment rates are looking for ways to improve the transition between school and employment and are increasingly turning their sights on German WBL schemes. PRO-YOUTH model will outline innovative solutions for work-based learning through collaboration with companies and employers, thus training trainers to be able to offer more effective on the job training. Innovative intellectual outputs produced will be tailored on the needs of the countries where strategic partners are located: Croatia, Romania, Southern Italy and Bulgaria.As a first step PRO-YOUTH methodological framework will be designed and developed. It will lay out how to implement work-based learning schemes tailored to the needs of the local/regional labor markets in the field of hospitality and heritage tourism. Its design will be based on transnational and intersectoral cooperation, creating joint responses to reconcile the needs of the labour markets with the aquired skills and competences. The created methodology will be applicable and replicable by other organisations/regions/countries outside of the current partnership: other actors can easily follow the designed framework and adapt it according to their needs and implement it on site.In the next stage the methodology designed will be put to test by the means of designing learning modules, organizing regional pilot trainings in the tourism industry and including transnational mobility of professors, teachers, trainers, educational and administrative staff working in participating organisations. During the training, participants will have a chance to experience how the work-based learning/training activities are organized in Germany, where this learning scheme has a long tradition. Final learning modules will be produced in several EU languages.After pilot testing of the methodology and learning materials, PRO-YOUTH Practical Handbook for introducing work-based learning schemes, aiming to reintegrate unemployed youth in the labor market in the field of tourism, will be ready. Relevant stakeholders will be involved at local/national/EU level to adopt innovative WBL tools and contribute to dissemination of results and sustainability strategy.Policy Recommendations will be the core of a wide mainstreaming strategy, aiming at making transition from education to work in the tourism industry smoother for NEETs and furthermore fostering a strong link between VET, tourism industry and culture.The new approaches developed thanks to strategic transnational cooperation will support competitiveness and youth employment in particular at regional and local level. Those innovative WBL schemes, addressing prospective trainers of NEETs and fostering a strong link between tourism industry and cultural heritage will moreover contribute to strengthening the regional economic development through increasing competitiveness of the involved regions as locations to live, visit, work and invest in.

EuroDuaLE had pursued the objective of developing and testing an original transnational Dual Learning framework. 13 partners participated in the project, namely Centre for Studies in Law, Economy, Environment, and Work of the Marco Biagi Department of Economics of the Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, SOPHIA R&I, Fondazione ADAPT, Camera di Commercio Italo-Germanica, Otto-Von-Guericke-Universität Magdeborg, University of Southampton, Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, University College Leuven, Cofora International Projects BV, European Foundation for Education e.V., Universidad de Sevilla, Università degli Studi di Padova, and Università degli Studi Roma Tre.The background of the project was characterised by:¥Skills mismatch: a growing number of employers highlights the disequilibrium and the difficulties to recruit people matching with their constantly evolving needs¥Higher education programmes sometimes lag behind compared to the emerging needs of the economy in general, and specifically to emerging career paths ¥High youth unemployment, even among highly skilled young adults, is also the result of such delay, particularly dramatic in Southern EuropeThe main goal of the project is to help fighting youth unemployment, through the improvement of youth employability and the reduction of the mismatch of competences between education and labour market. The project wants to clear the path of synergy between HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) and labour market actors, giving students the chance to test new academic curricula and combining formal training (in class) and training on-the-job, geographical and virtual mobility.Therefore, the EuroDuaLE project aimed at facing these critical issues by seeking primarily to reduce the mismatch of competences. This was pursued by involving companies in the definition of the academic studying and training programmes; taking advantage of the potentials offered by dual learning programmes to substantially increase youth employability, not only at the conclusion of but also during the education experience; giving students the chance to combine and integrate formal academic training and training on-the-job.In this sense, the project set out the main objective of producing a framework for dual learning in higher education that combines dual learning and transnational mobility, giving students the possibility to integrate notional and practice training in collaboration with companies in different European countries.The first phase consisted in analysing learning and job mobility of young people (IO1) and the current situation of different dual learning systems in some European countries participating in the project (IO2).In the second phase, partners produced a model for transnational dual learning programmes in higher education. The model was firstly developed from a theoretical and methodological point of view (IO3). After that, a Practical Handbook was created considering the related issues as regards the realistic implementation of this model (IO4) in order to guide both the piloting phase planned by the project (C1 and C2) and other possible stakeholders who would like to develop dual learning programmes by following the model proposed by EuroDuaLE.The last phase of the project consisted in the realisation of the piloting phase, which gave some students of the universities involved in this project the opportunity to gain a dual learning mobility experience (physically and virtually), and to draft a methodological and practical guide for designing and implementing a quality dual learning higher education programme (IO5).The project was integrated by assessment activities of the project execution, which considered: methodology, implementation and reporting; validity and transferability of this innovative project idea; mainstreaming activities for the targeted dissemination of the project outcomes; set of recommendations directed to national and European political decision makers; the paper presenting all the methodological as well as practical aspects of the EuroDuaLE project. The objective of these activities consists in making it a scientific reference point in order to introduce the innovative elements of the model also in the already existing programmes of study.The dissemination of the project outcomes took place through multiplier events, along with other canals and instruments described in the specific section.The expected result, which consisted in defining a model to design transnational dual learning programmes in higher education, has been reached. The impact is represented by an extended awareness of the value of dual learning in general and transnationally in particular, as well as of its feasibility.