SOCIALNEET in Slovenia

Progress, achievements and results of SOCIALNEET project in Slovenia (June 2020)

University of Primorska, Faculty of Management

Koper, 27.6.2020

Report: Progress, achievements and results of SOCIALNEET project in Slovenia

25 awareness and information workshops were organized in Slovenia. There were representatives of volunteering organizations, educational organizations, NGOs and other entities. Information was well taken, interest seemed genuine, and promised support in sharing information about the project.

Preliminary research activities were ongoing mostly through desk research. We sent the report on local social capital in Slovenia on 12th November 2019. Main findings:

• The cooperation between CSOs and other institutions is not very developed.
• Characteristics/values that may mobilize CSOs towards collective action: trust, reciprocity, past experience. Common goals sharing capabilities to achieve target group needs.
• Collective action is difficult in the region, maybe because of the competition for same money.
• Stakeholders are not willing to share knowledge, and risk.
• Declaratively they are all for collaboration.
• Identified gaps in the institutional framework regarding the cooperation of CSOs: no tenders grant additional points when grading projects for partnering CSOs.
• CSOs are too fragmented.

Main findings about the unused resources:

• 53 spaces have been identified throughout Slovenia.
• Some of them can be given to the NGOs free use, if they work in public interest,
• It’s also possible to negotiate for a low rent with municipalities,
• There are some other possibilities: it’s possible to use co-working spaces with all the amenities, which might be interesting for starting social entrepreneurs, or use open offices, incubators, youth organizations premises, hubs etc.

Meeting point has been opened on the Info day, February 18, 2020 by vice mayor of Izola, vice dean of Faculty of Management and vice rector of University of Primorska and it stayed opened until the March 9, 2020. Activities and events such as presentation of Social economy association were planned; it will be reopened when health circumstances allowing.

Training courses have started on February 28, 2020 at 16:00 and have been interrupted by the epidemics on March 9. Initial training has been delivered for each of the groups, explaining the principles of social entrepreneurship, search for problems to be addressed in the society, methods of idea generation etc. On the third week, University closed all the activities and we stopped with trainings. Nobody knew how long this interruption would go on, after a while we decided to change a little bit the concept, in order not to lose the NEETs motivation for the project. So we reassumed with trainings online at the end of March.

Exemplary and innovative business plans are being developed in details during the activities with NEETs. After the end of training courses and work-based trainings, they will be available for NEETs in the Meeting point for further consulting sessions, when it reopens.

---

Progress, achievements and results of SOCIALNEET project in Slovenia (January 2020)

University of Primorska, Faculty of Management

Koper, 22.01.2020

Report: Progress, achievements and results of SOCIALNEET project in Slovenia

Until now two focus groups with the representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) have been organized, interviews’ transcripts prepared and translated, questionnaires translated and sent to CSO’s. Local social capital has been researched and identified. A report has been sent to the project lead partner on November 8, 2019. Voluntary work and NGOs are not very widespread since the government of the Republic of Slovenia takes care of most important services. List of unused resources has been also put up, it showed that there are not many empty buildings and spaces in Slovenia. The office equipment that might be used by NEETs is mainly to be found at different NGO’s premises, but also could be rented by hour for a small fee. Report about unused resources has been sent to LP on November 12, 2019.

Since the group of NEETs is difficult to reach directly, there have been taken actions to approach them through diverse communication channels. Workshop with the director of the local Employment Service of Slovenia brought an important drive: a contract between University of Primorska and the Employment Service is in preparation. It will allow NEETs from a wider region (approx. 100 km distance) to receive a refund of travel costs, if they would decide to participate to SOCIALNEET programmes and events. Employment Service of Slovenia is a government body and they have a possibility to support similar programmes, which allow unemployed persons to upgrade their competences for the integration into the labour market.

Another important vehicle of dissemination of the SOCIALNEET project goals and invitations has been identified at the workshop with two representatives of local People’s University. This is an institution which offers various informal trainings and seminars, where some of the NEETs and young people that dropped out of the education system are taking advantage off. They will continue informing them about the possibilities to join the SOCIALNEET project activities.

Meeting point has been chosen at the Cankarjeva 5, Koper and it is now in the phase of editing. It will be freshly refurbished in the colours of our institution and SOCIALNEET project. New chairs have been chosen and ordered. Public call for eight computers has been issued and we are waiting for offers. In the beginning of February, the meeting point should be ready and the Info day Slovenia will be organized there. Seminars will begin in late February.

Awareness and dissemination activities about the project are taking place, through personal contacts, interviews, presentations, institution’s web site news, radio interview. Discussions with potential members of civil society that could jump into the project as mentors for NEETs are taking place all the time.

---

Progress, achievements and results of SOCIALNEET project in Slovenia (January 2020 – Slovenian)

University of Primorska, Faculty of Management

Koper, 22.01.2020

Poročilo: Napredek, dosežki in rezultati projekta SOCIALNEET v Sloveniji

Doslej sta bili v okviru projekta organizirani dve fokusni skupini s predstavniki organizacij civilne družbe, pripravljeni in prevedeni prepisi intervjujev, prevedeni vprašalniki in poslani organizacijam civilne družbe. Lokalni družbeni kapital je bil raziskan in opredeljen. Poročilo vodilnemu partnerju projekta je bilo poslano 8. novembra 2019. Prostovoljno delo in nevladne organizacije niso zelo razširjene, saj vlada Republike Slovenije skrbi za vse najpomembnejše storitve. Sestavljen je bil tudi seznam neuporabljenih virov, ki je pokazal, da v Sloveniji ni veliko praznih stavb in prostorov. Pisarniško opremo, ki jo bodo morda uporabljali NEET-ovci, najdemo večinoma v različnih prostorih nevladnih organizacij, lahko pa si jih tudi za najamejo uro za manjše zneske. Poročilo o neuporabljenih virih je bilo poslano 12.11.2019.

Ker je do skupine NEET-sov težko priti neposredno, so bili sprejeti ukrepi za približevanje po različnih komunikacijskih kanalih. Delavnica z direktorico lokalnega zavoda za zaposlovanje Slovenije je prinesel pomembno spodbudo: pogodba med Univerzo na Primorskem in Zavodom za zaposlovanje je v pripravi. NEET-som iz širše regije (približno 100 km razdalje) bo omogočil povračilo potnih stroškov, če bi se odločili sodelovati v programih in dogodkih SOCIALNEET projekta. Zavod RS za zaposlovanje je vladni organ in ima možnost podpiranja podobnih programov, ki brezposelnim omogočajo povečanje kompetenc za vključevanje na trg dela.

Na delavnici s predstavnikoma lokalne ljudske univerze je bilo identificirano še eno pomembno sredstvo za širjenje ciljev in vabil projekta SOCIALNEET. To je ustanova, ki ponuja različna neformalna izobraževanja in seminarje, kjer nekateri NEET-si in mladi, ki so opustili izobraževalni sistem, ponovno privajajo na izobraževalni sistem. Še naprej jih bodo obveščali o možnostih za vključitev v projektne aktivnosti SOCIALNEET.

Stičišče je bilo izbrano na Cankarjevi 5 v Kopru in je zdaj v fazi urejanja. Prostor bo prenovljen v barvah naše ustanove in projekta SOCIALNEET. Izbrani in naročeni so novi stoli. Objavljen je javni poziv za osem računalnikov in čakamo na ponudbe. V začetku februarja naj bi bilo stičišče pripravljeno in tam bo organiziran Info dan Slovenija. Seminarji se bodo začeli konec februarja.

Dejavnosti ozaveščanja in razširjanja informacij o projektu potekajo z osebnimi stiki, intervjuji, predstavitvami, novicami na spletnih straneh institucije, radijskim intervjujem. Ves čas potekajo razprave s člani civilne družbe, ki bi se lahko kot potencialni mentorji NEET-som pridružili projektu.