Happy and positive even if unemployed? Too controversial or possible?
We all know that there is overwhelming evidence that unemployment takes a heavy toll on life satisfaction. Usually youth unemployment is associated with the symptoms of depression that often involve a lack of positive emotions, lack of meaning in life, and lack of engagement and optimism. When you are unemployed you get involved into a vicous cycle of negative frame of mind that restricts motivation in the job search.. However, you cannot give up! Stay positive with the project EAGLES!
EAGLES – Empowering and Activating the young Generation through the Learning of Employability skills project aims to tackle youth unemployment by developing important employability skills in combination with positive emotions, psychological resilience, optimism and self-esteem. The project EAGLES uses the main principles of Positive Psychology to develop and test interventions that can help unemployed people to manage their aversive situation and maintain an acceptable level of mental health and well-being.
EAGLES partners from the beginning of the project in April 2016 have focused attention on the extensive Needs Analysis in order to find out whether young unemployed people have the necessary skills needed nowadays from the employers. The partners examined existing programmes and best practices in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Ireland giving emphasis on employability skills and positive psychology, administered 2 online questionnaires targeted at employers and young unemployed people to identify their training needs.
After the first stage of the Needs Analysis, the representatives from CESIE (Italy), GrantXpert and Neophytos Ch. Charalambous (Institute of Development) Ltd (Cyprus); Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (Greece) met in Maynooth, Ireland for the 2nd partnership meeting that was hosted by ICEP Europe on the 11th and 12th of September 2016.
During a very productive meeting EAGLES partners have reviewed the findings and discussed the topics to be included in the training package. The training package will consist of intentional activities and exercises to cultivate the positive aspects of personality, positive emotions, positive cognitions, and positive behaviors. The partners are going to develop training modules based on “Self-relations-action” model. The model assumes that if you are aware of yourself and you know how to handle your emotions, you are better in engaging in relationships with others and that leads you to the action, hence increasing your opportunities in finding a job that you want.
In December, 1 representative from each partner organisation will attend a Train the Trainer workshop in Cyprus and will be peer trained on various exercises linked to positive psychology. In the early beginning of 2017, trained youth workers will organise workshops in each country to transfer positivity to young people while improving their empoyability skills.
Follow us and we will inspire you how to be more positive and move forward towards envisioned future! EAGLES project, (co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, Key Action 2 – Strategic Partnerships in the field of Youth), trusts in the positive potential of each individual for greater career opportunities!
For further positive information about the project, visit the http://eaglesyouth.eu/ follow us on Facebook, Twitter or please contact directly Ruta Grigaliunaite: ruta.grigaliunaite@cesie.org.
