COOLSKILLS – Cultural heritage as a fountain of modern youth skills

Thematic area of the project: Creativity and culture / Social entrepreneurship / Social innovation / Entrepreneurial learning / Youth education
Project leader: Foundation for Support of Local Democracy, Małopolska Institute of Local Government and Administration in Kraków – Poland

Project partners:
EDUcentrum, z.ú. – Czech Republic
Vidzemes Planosanas Regions – Latvia
Powiatowa i Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna im. Marii Fihel w Miechowie – Poland

Timeframe:
The project is implemented in the period from 1/4/2021 to 31/3/2023.

Focus of the project:

  • enhance key competences through culture arts and heritage education
  • foster new type of creativity, innovative thinking and entrepreneurship & social activism
  • support formal and informal learning in youth work with a cultural and creative component
  • sustainable development and social inclusion through culture and arts

Target group: youth staff – project coordinators, coaches, trainers, members of boards responsible for youth work, key youth local policymakers

Main project assumptions:
Objectives related to the labor market and youth employment are key pillars of European Union programs, sustainable development, economic and social growth. EU countries, despite of large public programs supported labours market, have to face challenges with youth employability. Youth unemployment is caused by structural challenges like segmentation of labour markets, and at times the low capacity of public employment services to provide tailored services to young people, unsatisfactory outcomes in education and training. Education and training still are focusing on hard skills but there is a big gap of soft and transversal skills. To foster the role of the youth in contemporary world, COOLSKILLS project aims to enhance personal development through culture and arts, and provides with new and innovative tools to shape youth soft skills. Joint achievements from different heritage fields can help in shaping creative thinking, which is so important for innovation creations in labour market and social life.

Main activities of the project:
3 Transnational Project Meetings – plans, evaluations, management
3 Learning, Teaching, Training Meetings – international workshops, trainings
3 Multiplier Events – promotion of project results in each project partner country

Project Outcome
COOLSKILLS youth education set including curricula and open quiz application to assess, evaluate and develop knowledge and soft skills of young people

Result of the project

COOLSKILLS – cultural heritage as a fountain of modern youth skills

This set contains:

  • Tool to assess the youth soft skills
  • 3 educational curricula
  • Open QuizApp – an educational competitive game on a gamification model in the field of culture

The Open QuizApp is available on-line in the Play Store by “CoolSkillsApp”, or “coolskillsapp”, or similar (important – don’t use space, “cool skills app” will not be found).

Contracting authority: Foundation for the Development of the Education System – National Agency of the Erasmus Program+ in Poland, KA2 – Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices