Youth unemployment has been one of the pressing problems of both Croatia and the European Union for many years, and the inactivity of young people on the labor market has recently been recognized as a major problem. This is why the name NEET (eng. not in education, employment or training) was invented, which refers to young people aged 15 to 29 who do not work, are not in the regular education system or in the adult education system and are not registered in the Croatian Employment Service’s unemployment register. Data from the end of November 2017 on the generation of pupils/students in 2016/2017 who have left the education system tell us that out of 2,658 of them, 87.9% are in NEET status, which confirms the thesis about the pressing problem of youth inactivity on the labor market and in our county. The implementation of the Youth Guarantee measures and the inclusion of the age group from 25 to 29 years had an effect on the reduction of youth unemployment, however, a part of the youth remained not covered by the Guarantee measures.

Recognizing these needs, together with our partners we submitted the RADAR project to the public call “Find me!” (UP.01.2.0.04) from the European Social Fund, Operational Program Effective Human Resources 2014 – 2020. By decision of the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, the Managing body of the Operational Program “Effective Human Resources 2014 – 2020”, made a decision on May 19, 2021, which determined that HRK 1,825,847.86 was allocated to the project with 100% co-financing from the European Union.

Center of Technical Culture Rijeka, through the RADAR project, wants to increase the employment opportunities of 40 inactive young people in NEET status from Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, changing their perception of their own position on the labor market and positively influencing their actual position on the labor market through strengthening self-confidence, knowledge and necessary skills for (self) employment.

RADAR offers a free program of counseling, mentoring during education and job search, development of soft and transversal skills, gaining work experience, involvement in the work of associations in the field of sports and technical culture, and training in the field of administration.

In order to reach inactive NEET people and determine the reasons for their inactivity, a public campaign will be conducted, as well as testing and a selection interview with people who belong to the target group. 40 people will join the program of reactivation on the labor market, and for this purpose, through orientation interviews, individual plans will be created that will define the interests and needs of the users. All users are required to participate in the process of counseling, mentoring and creating an individual plan, and after that users will be involved in other project activities that they choose based on their individual wishes and interests.

Young NEETs will be able to engage in three types of activities: (1) support activities, (2) activation activities and (3) education activities.

Support activities, in which all project beneficiaries are involved, include the assistance of advisors/mentors who will carry out counseling and mentoring activities. The goal of counseling and mentoring is to identify and remove obstacles that make it difficult for a person to access employment, provide professional support in education and training, and support users during their job search to help them achieve their individual plans and maintain their motivation for further personal development. Counseling and mentoring have proven to be crucial in the work with NEETs so far, as they increase the willingness to look for a job, as well as the self-confidence and belief of the users that they will get and keep a job.

Activation activities include the development of transversal and soft skills. The transversal skills covered by the project are: digital literacy and foreign languages, where users will participate in ECDL education and foreign language learning. The goal is to develop skills that are necessary for all professions, especially for administrators in sports organizations and EU project assistants. Soft skills covered by the project are: presentation skills and business communication, development of working habits and taking responsibility, teamwork, negotiation, resource management, especially time and motivation. For this purpose, two half-day workshops will be organized in Rijeka, two weekend workshops in the area of Gorski Kotar or the island, and the involvement of users as volunteers in the work of associations in the field of mountaineering, sailing, photography, digital drawing and other associations depending on the interests of the users. Joining the aforementioned associations will enable users to become familiar with some of the professions that are in demand on the market, and the acquisition of which is not regulated by the formal high school system. These are occupations such as workers for height works and skippers on ships, and people who are more focused on creative occupations will be offered the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills in the field of photography, digital drawing, etc.

Education activities include familiarization with job search tools as well as the job search process itself and opportunities for self-employment. As part of the educational activities, 8 workshops will be held where users will be introduced in detail to:

(1) the situation on the labor market and measures of the Youth Guarantee aimed at (self) employment, and all the conditions for realizing the rights will be explained to them in detail. (half-day workshop);

(2) CV and job search tools (half-day workshop);

(3) the selection and interview process for the job;

(4) the basic elements of a company’s financial operations through a one-day workshop;

(5) reading the financial statements of entrepreneurs, where participants will learn the basic types of financial statements and how to read them through a half-day workshop;

(6) the basics of a marketing plan where, through a one-day workshop, participants will learn what a marketing plan is and what its basic elements are, and will learn to design it based on a selected example;

(7) writing a business plan, where participants will learn the structure of a business plan, how to collect relevant data, and will learn to write a business plan based on a selected example;

(8) procurement procedures for persons who are not bound by the law on public procurement, since project beneficiaries will be involved as assistants on EU projects in associations that are bound by the Public Procurement Act.

As part of the educational activities, users will also attend verified education programs for Administrators in sports organizations or Assistants on EU projects.

Systematic monitoring of project users will ensure insight into certain characteristics, the importance of which can be formally determined in future national analyses, as well as integrated into operational programs for the next financial period. The entire program for the integration of inactive young NEETs will be available on the website of the project coordinator so that it can be used by other organizations in the Republic of Croatia interested in implementing such a program in their local communities. A database of interested organizations in the Republic of Croatia that could use the program will be created, and they will be notified via e-mail about the possibility of using the program.

If you want to find out more information about the project, feel free to contact Zagorka Prce Vesela, the project manager, at zprce@ctk-rijeka.hr.

The RADAR project is implemented by: Center of Technical Culture Rijeka (coordinator), Croatian Employment Service – Regional Office Rijeka, PAR Business School, Maxi Sailing Club and Tuhobić Sports Climbing Club.