Increasing employment potentials in Pomurje region

The project focuses on increasing the employment potential of young people in the Pomurje (Mura) region, notably where the need for a developed support environment is most pronounced. The project activities are aimed at strengthening the capacity of the existing support environment, and connecting educational institutions and the economy in the region; they are also focused on testing the scheme of practical work for young people on the basis of identified professional challenges by companies. The youth and the labour market analyses show that youth unemployment is most problematic in the east of Slovenia, especially in the Pomurje (Mura) region, where young people make up for over a quarter of all unemployed. Additionally, the age structure of the population in Pomurje is the least favorable, as the share of young people in the population structure is the lowest and the labour force participation rates record lowest figures among all Slovenian regions. The population dynamics in Pomurje shows that 131,272 people lived in Pomurje in 1990, with the number decreasing gradually on a year-on-year basis (emigration of young people), so that in 2019 the population in Pomurje was by 13% lower than in 1990. Most young people do not return to the region after finishing their studies in Maribor or Ljubljana, while young people with completed vocational education look for opportunities in neighboring Austria.

Specific objectives: 1) Establishment of a sustainable mentoring scheme of services for young people Within the framework of the specific objective, the aim is to ensure an increase in the employment potential of young people in the Pomurje region with the help of a regional mentoring scheme for young people, which will offer free services to two target groups (1) young people who have finished school and (2) young people who are in the process of completion of schooling. Since the region is faced with the problem of young people leaving the region or the non-return of those who go to school outside the region, it is necessary to start the support program already at the stage when the young people are still in school. 2) Raising the competencies of the support environment Within the framework of the specific goal, the aim is to ensure the enhancement of the competencies of the support environment by introducing common digital tools for users of the scheme (common database), the identification and exchange of good practices of supportive programs for young people, and the expansion of the network of mentors and consultants of the support environment with the multidisciplinarity of mentors’ competences, which will be the result of the educational academy. 3) Solving entrepreneurial challenges and involving young people in entrepreneurial projects Within the framework of a specific goal, the aim is to launch a support program for young people by involving them in solving entrepreneurial challenges. On the one hand, it will encourage and help start-up young entrepreneurs. On the other hand, it will enable the identification of talents alrerady in the schooling process, which will be activated and motivated to remain active after schooling in the home region.

Specific project objectives: - Establishing a sustainable mentoring scheme - Increasing the competences of the support environment - Solving entrepreneurial challenges and involving young people in entrepreneurial projects - 50 young talents and 20 Pomurje companies will be involved in entrepreneurial challenges - Solving entrepreneurial challenges in the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 school years. Reducing brain drain in the Pomurje region by involving young people in applied research projects of Pomurje companies.