Empowering Youth through the First Step Programme: Fostering Competences and Financial Literacy

In an ever-evolving world, the significance of equipping young individuals with essential life skills cannot be underestimated. With this vision in mind, the Associação para o Desenvolvimento de uma Economia Solidária e Sustentável (AESS) proudly introduces the First Step Programme – a groundbreaking educational initiative aimed at empowering marginalized young people by fostering key competences and enhancing financial literacy. Set against the backdrop of the European Union’s Erasmus+ initiative, this project seeks to bring about lasting positive change in the lives of young people.

Project Background

The First Step Programme was initiated in response to the observed lack of essential key competences, particularly in the realms of financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Recognizing the crucial role these competences play in the holistic development of young individuals, AESS, along with partner organizations EURO SUD (IT), ASOCIATIA GEYC (RO), and Avatud Ühiskond MTÜ (EE), embarked on a journey to address this educational gap.

Empowering Youth and Youth Workers

The primary objectives of the First Step Programme are two-fold: to empower both youth workers and young people through targeted educational interventions. The project envisions a future where youth workers are equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge to effectively engage with young people, and where the youth themselves possess a solid understanding of financial literacy and project management.

Phases and Activities

The First Step Programme encompasses a well-structured series of activities designed to maximize learning outcomes. Divided into four key phases – Planning, Preparation, Implementation, and Follow-up – the project ensures comprehensive coverage of its goals.

The journey commences with meticulous Planning that involves project management and collaborative meetings. As the programme gains momentum, the Preparation phase brings together both youth workers and young participants, initiating the process of assessing the current knowledge landscape.

The heart of the initiative lies in its Implementation phase, where a blend of virtual cooperation, workshops, empowerment sessions, and game development come to life. The innovative use of gamification not only makes learning enjoyable but also enhances engagement. The pinnacle of this phase is the Youth Exchange, fostering cross-cultural interactions and broadening horizons.

Sustainable Impact

The First Step Programme has set ambitious goals for impact, aiming to achieve both immediate outcomes and long-term outputs. Outcomes include the development of the 8 key competences recommended by the EU, along with valuable insights into financial literacy and project management. These outcomes collectively contribute to nurturing well-rounded, capable individuals ready to face the challenges of today’s world.

In terms of outputs, the project generates a wealth of valuable materials and contents, a thoughtfully designed educational game, and a comprehensive project booklet. These outputs extend the project’s reach beyond its duration, serving as resources that can continue to benefit individuals and organizations in the years to come.

A Transformative Journey

As the 2022-1-PT02-KA210-YOU-000081865 project approaches its conclusion, the impact it has already made on the lives of youth and youth workers is undeniable. By championing key competences and financial literacy, the First Step Programme has ignited a transformative journey towards empowerment, knowledge, and sustainable growth.

In the end, this initiative is a testament to the power of collaborative efforts, innovative methodologies, and a shared commitment to nurturing the potential within each young individual. As these empowered individuals step forward into their futures, they do so with a solid foundation, ready to take the world by storm – one informed decision at a time.

We are very happy to share the outcome of the meeting in Bucharest on 1/04/2023, where our colleagues Alessio and Giulio went to continue the “Project – First step” project program.
We met with the other project partners from the Portuguese association Aess- Economia Solid e Sust, Estonian association Avatud Ühiskond and Romania GEYC.
The meeting was very fruitful; we discussed feedback from the previous meeting in Lisbon, which was generally very positive, with a general confidence in the organizational capabilities of the Portuguese association. We also discussed the post-event dissemination activities, which were successfully carried out by all participating associations.
In addition, we discussed the organization of the youth exchange, which will take place next May in Lisbon.
We also discussed the next meeting, which will take place in Estonia on July 4-6, dedicated to the final evaluation of the project. In addition, we discussed the financial education game designed by the Aess association, which the exchange participants are to test during the week in Lisbon. The game is still incomplete, but the most has been done.😀👍

The game is still incomplete, but the most has been done. 😀👍
Finally, we were happy to conclude the meeting with a convivial lunch with all participants. We will continue to keep you updated on the developments of our Project – First step. 🥳👋

We are Ilenia and Luca and, thanks to EUROSUD, we participated from January 23 to 28 in our first Erasmus+ project, held in Lisbon and focused on financial education. We attend the Advanced Training Course in Ethical Finance (called Coffee) organized by the Department of Economics, Management and Institutions of the University Federico II of Naples and we organized a presentation of our Youth Exchange to our colleagues.
Our idea, of course, was not only aimed at an illustrative purpose of the presentation but had as its main objective to spur other talented and willing young people to undertake a youth exchange experience. Obviously, being new to the topic, we first provided a definition of youth exchange and made a distinction between the 3 possible key actions so that our colleagues could have a general background and a first basic idea of the topic.
Next, we explained our youth exchange starting from the end point, the goals we wish to achieve. A general goal of promoting social inclusion among at-risk youth and specific goals related to promoting financial education among youth and using it as a tool for personal growth.

Although the presentation was for master students of Economics and related subjects, we thought it appropriate to provide some insights about the definition of financial education, citing the one drawn up by the OECD, and about the situation, unfortunately not heartening, that Italy experiences on this front.
In this regard, we then showed the activities that we carried out during the youth exchange; in particular, we talked about the GDP methodology that we learned in Lisbon, regarding dividing one’s resources into spending for oneself, saving and giving. We also mentioned the budget management activity that we did during the youth exchange, imagining a family and identifying its income and expenses by trying to find the right balance between the above three items.
After that, we showed the ideas drafted for the creation of the game on financial education and collected the ideas that were suggested by our colleagues who, to our pleasure, actively participated in the presentation.

It also continued with reminiscing about the less formal moments we had spent, which allowed the young people to understand that a youth exchange has not only a specific purpose related to the theme of the individual project, but also a more general purpose, which is to foster socialization among young people from different countries of the European Union; fortunately, they were pleasantly impressed by the atmosphere of friendship that was created during the youth exchange and which we witnessed.
Finally, we explained what was our process through which we learned about this possibility and submitted our application, explaining what documents to fill out, how to draw up the travel itinerary to be submitted, and providing clarification about expenses to be incurred and reimbursable expenses.
Of course, we introduced them to the EUROSUD Association, whom we thank once again for the helpfulness shown to us, and provided them with all the useful contacts for any other information they might want. The presentation then ended amidst anecdotes and curiosities that enlivened the Q&A moment that was actively participated in by our colleagues, especially those who expressed their interest in applying for the May exchange, and we wholeheartedly hope that they, too, will have the opportunity to experience the same feelings that we were fortunate enough to experience a month ago now.

We’re Ilenia, Giulio and Luca and we want to tell you about our Erasmus+ experience. Thanks to EUROSUD , a NGO which deals with youth International mobility, we travelled to Lisbon in order to participate in the First Step of Erasmus+ Financial education Project, promoted by @AESS – Associação Economia Solidária e Sustentável

This project meeting protagonists together with other youth workers and technicians coming from Romania and Estonia and aimed to promote financial literacy in youth through unconventional methodologies and, as a consequence, supply knowledge and tools to youth , to allow them to grow individually and not to be socially excluded. What was our goal? Plan the activities for young people that will participate to the Youth Exchange scheduled in May and design a game that allow youth to learn about financial education in a funny and engaging way.First of all, we met the host association that showed us its work and previous experiences, in particular in the field of activities that spread financial culture even between fragile people and at risk of exclusion such as people under custody measures.

Then, we filled out a survey which goal was to test our previous knowledges in financial literacy and we discussed about results, comparing them with OCSE PISA 2018 data, dealing with financial education’s level in international member countries, Italy included.The activities went on with learning concepts useful to our goal, and during this we learned about GDP method about the partition of our incomes between three main purposes: current expenses, savings and investments.Our last activity was based on a brainstorming in which everyone contributed to the ideation of the financial literacy game providing their own ideas and constructive criticisms, reaching a unique idea shared by everyone.

Our unity of purpose was fundamental to plan the time table that will involve young people who will participate to the Youth Exchange in May; their goal will be to test the game and learn as much as possible about financial literacy and its importance.Sharing experience with other teams was very stimulating and allows us to confront with different cultures that, thanks to these differences, enriched us a lot as UE citizens. Contacts with other cultures gave us the possibility to discover new realities and to delve into ourselves confronting with different ideas and ways of thinking that foment our desire for cosmopolitan.In addition, everything took place in the perfect location, Lisbon, one of the most beautiful capitals of Europe, a culturally rich city which represents a crossroads between many different cultures.

We loved spending our free time discovering the city and its coloured districts, admiring beautiful landscapes and living its less touristic realities that are surely more lived in like the multiethnic district called “La Mouraria”. As real Italians, we obviously tasted as many Portuguese typical dishes and specialities as possible and we loved Portuguese cuisine. We will never forget about the beautiful dinner spent all together enjoying Fado, typical Portuguese musical genre, popular in Lisbon and in Coimbra.

We really believe that these experiences are very precious because they contribute to our personally and culturally growth and, most of all, they promote social inclusion between UE young people who, as we experienced, know each other for the first time just as participants in a project but, at the end of the experience, greet each other as great friends, those ones you can’t forget because of the unique experience shared together. An incredible experience that we suggest to every UE young citizen from the bottom of our hearts.Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity! – Ilenia, Giulio, Luca

Understanding how to manage, save and earn money is becoming increasingly important nowadays. However, the issue of financial literacy in Europe is low, and especially among young people. With EUROSUD association at the space @Ets Mediterranean Women’s House 2022 we started the activities.

With this project, we aimed to promote the need for financial education, increase financial literacy in the participating countries, by introducing youth workers to financial terms, financial management strategies, practical and digital tools that can be used in their work to improve young people’s financial and digital skills, apply different budgeting strategies and make informed financial decisions.

The “FIRST STEP” educational project aims to promote the topic of financial education for both non-formal education educators (youth workers) and youth with fewer opportunities who are interested in the topic.

Within our educational project, the theme of financial education is closely related to that of social inclusion since from good financial education follows an “economic citizenship” capable of integrating people into the socio-economic context in which they live. Financial education is a tool that aims to develop people’s knowledge, behaviors and attitudes so that they can make informed financial choices.

The educational project includes several mobilities throughout 2023 in Portugal 🇵🇹 in Lisbon ,in Romania 🇷🇴 in Bucharest and in Estonia 🇪🇪 in Tallinn.

In all we will have the opportunity to involve about 30 participants from the area who will have the opportunity to learn about and deepen their knowledge of financial education.

Project leader is Portugal with the foundation AESS – Associação Economia Solidária e Sustentável.Colleagues from Romania from GEYC , colleagues from Estonia from Avatud Ühiskond.