The YouthEmploy project provides a response to the EU wide crisis of youth unemployment through the development and introduction of an innovative cloud-based framework to support VET and FET providers, employers and unemployed young people to undertake and validate relevant and practical work experience and by so doing prevent and break the cycle of structural employment and lost generation effect threatening young people today. Young people face major barriers to entry to the work force such as having to compete with experienced workers in an over-supplied labour market making it more difficult to obtain employment. Employers prefer to recruit people with a demonstrable track record, so how can young unemployed people gain experience if they are not given the chance to work in the first place? The aim of the project is to assist these people who have qualifications but lack practical experience to undertake relevant work experience and professional development which is supported, captured and validated in order to enhance their prospects of entering employment and commencing their careers. The target groups are unemployed young people, VET and guidance providers and employers.The main project activities were:a) Development of an innovative internship framework incorporating a cloud-based Skills Assessment Log Book (Template) which facilitates the intern, the VET and FET provider/ career guidance practitioner and the employer to track progress, capture and validate the application of learning, the skills acquired and personal / professional growth.b) Establishment of synergies and strengthening links between VET and employers by improving the relevance of education provision – through harmonising the integration of technical / academic learning with the practical application in the workplace.c) Development of a Best Practice Code for Internship Programmes outlining the Key Elements of a good internship programme including the importance of appropriate induction, the role of Mentoring and the necessity of structured validation of the applied learning in the workplace to support the effective progression and career development of participants.The main project outcomes were:1. YouthEmploy Internship Framework – a cloud based platform which is accessible to the intern, employer and education provider. 2. YouthEmployPass – a structured comprehensive reference populated by the employer. 3. YouthEmploy Employment Support Toolkit – set of paper and online based resources to help interns with their continued job search and professional development. 4. Online YouthEmploy Careers Marketplace – employers have access to a cloud based recruitment tool containing the EmployPass and CVs of all interns. 5. Report for policy makers on the value and benefits of the YouthEmploy Model.Impact:The project consortium brought together the experience of organisations from countries with high youth unemployment such as Spain 53.6%, UK 30%, Ireland 26% and Belgium 24.1%. The methodology adopted incorporated a research phase which reviewed intern programmes and policies across 10 European countries. This helped to inform the development of the tools and the piloting phase which involved 77 young people and 36 employers. Thus the project had the opportunity not only to develop its results but also to pilot them and to demonstrate their effectiveness. The impact was substantial because the need it addressed is both very widespread and difficult for policy makers to solve. The impact was measured both quantitatively and qualitatively with the use of surveys, phone and face to face interviews. Feedback and input was assimilated from all of the stakeholders both in development, testing and evaluating stages. The results of the piloting based on the feedback from the participants is presented in the external evaluation report and overall this was very positive. The consortium has excellent access to networks of employers, VET and FET providers and EU networks. The project consortium expects very important longer term benefits as it will demonstrate how synergies and links between VET and employers can lead to greater efficiency and effectiveness and assist both sectors in achieving their objectives – VET will produce candidates with more relevant and practical skills and employers will be experiencing new recruits who can ‘hit the ground running’.If not tackled, the youth unemployment crisis will become a tragedy not just for individual young people themselves, but for their communities, their countries and the EU as a whole. Past recessions have shown us that long term unemployment at a young age leaves permanent scars and leads to a ‘lost generation’ effect as employers opt to employ newer graduates rather than the young long term unemployed when economic growth resume. Youth Employ project is one of the tools that can help to tackle the youth unemployment crisis. The project enables young unemployed people not only to get

Europe needs more young people with green entrepreneurship skills if it is to achieve its EU2020 target of ‘Sustainable growth - for a resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy.’ Delivering this target requires young people with the skills, knowledge and commitment to build a more competitive low-carbon economy that makes efficient and sustainable use of resources, protects the environment, reduces emissions and prevents biodiversity loss. The green economy is an increasing source of jobs in Europe (CEDEFOP) and Eurobarometer (2013) reports that green skills in SMEs are increasing with 4/10 employing at least one full-time employee working in a green job. Recent research shows that start-up rates increase by as much as 20% when entrepreneurship lessons are provided in schools. The GEE (Green Entrepreneurship Europe) project brings together the twin necessities of a green economy and increased entrepreneurship that provides meaningful jobs and restores our natural wealth. GEE will improve the capacity of schools to teach the competencies and skills for young people to take an active role in the green economy and strengthen cooperation between school and the world of work. GEE has been identified by the partners as a response to the need for a pan-European response to building the green economy, a belief shared by our project schools that have identified entrepreneurship education as a priority.The overall objective of GEE is ‘to improve the key competencies and skills of young people to take an active role in building the green economy and strengthen cooperation between school and the world of work.’ This project aims to achieve this through linked specific objectives:• Improving the capacity of schools to connect learning with the world of work within the context of building a green economy.• Providing pupils with a range of meaningful real-world experiences linking the classroom with business and entrepreneurship.• Developing the skills and competencies of pupils to rethink business models in-line with the need to build a green economy.• Enhancing the ability of teachers to teach entrepreneurship.• Increasing the sharing of educational resources for schools across Europe.• Sharing and enhancing good practice in integrating sustainable development into business thinking.In delivering the specific objectives listed above we will aim to work with 15 associate secondary schools in five countries, 30 teachers and approximately 375 pupils. Through dissemination and exploitation activities we aim to reach a further 125 secondary schools, impacting 3125 pupils, and 250 teachers as well as education providers and local education departments. The project results will be freely available as open online resources during and beyond the project.The overall impact of GEE will be to improve the competencies and skills of young people to take an active role in building the green economy and strengthen cooperation between school and the world of work. Pupils will benefit from entrepreneurial learning, developing business knowledge, essential skills and attitudes including developing: creativity, initiative, tenacity, teamwork, an understanding of risk and a sense of responsibility. This is the entrepreneurial mind-set that helps entrepreneurs transform ideas into action and also significantly increases employability.GEE blends two learning approaches: learning outside the classroom and real world learning. Learning is embedded through students' direct contact with business and entrepreneurs. We will connect schools with local businesses and entrepreneurs so that they can work together to develop green business plans and ideas for new products based on reality rather than fantasy. GEE methods develop entrepreneurial solutions that support a green and sustainable economy. To achieve this it uses the natural world as a metaphor and measure for sustainability. Outdoor learning helps pupils understand how nature works and the key operating principles. For example, in nature, waste from one process is food for another thus creating a virtuous cycle rather than the linear take-make-dump found in traditional business models. GEE applies these principles from nature to business through creating entrepreneurship ideas. Pupils use natural principles to explore what some businesses are already achieving (GEE case studies), work with real businesses and entrepreneurs through our Coffee House Challenge Events, and finally develop their own business ideas and plans which are shared with local business.In addition to the activities developed for pupils, we will offer online and face-to-face support for teachers and schools, and disseminate the results widely through teacher seminars, conferences and a project website.

This project aims to establish the Enterprise and Diversity Alliance (EDA) as the United Kingdom's leading knowledge exchange network for entrepreneurship and minority businesses (that is, small enterprises owned by ethnic minorities, women and young people). It brings together researchers, corporations, the finance sector and professional bodies in order to pursue one central ambition: to 'make diversity and enterprise everyone's business'. The EDA is the culmination of extensive research and practitioner activity. It has had a successful first year, marked by growing interest from corporations and the development of innovative support initiatives for minority business owners. A further year's support from the ESRC would enable the EDA become: the 'go-to' body for guidance on research and practice on minority enterprise; larger in scale; and fully self-financing. It is also is well-placed to fill the policy vacuum that has arisen in the business support world. The profound changes to business support policy mean that the there is a real danger that the learning accumulated from previous initiatives to support minority enterprise will be lost. The EDA will guard against this possibility, and will ensure that insights from research and practice are applied to new initiatives. Three strands of work will be undertaken to ensure that knowledge on minority enterprise is shared widely with relevant stakeholders. First, two innovative peer mentoring initiatives with minority entrepreneurs will be launched. They build on the successful 12/8 network, and will be supported by A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd and National Grid. Minority business owners will receive direct and high level support for their growth ambitions. Minority entrepreneurs across the UK will also be the target for a regular electronic newsletter on key developments and sources of business support. Second, the project will integrate knowledge on diversity and enterprise in the practices of large organisations. This activity will focus on the EDA's new members, A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd., National Grid and Leicester City Council. The proposers will ensure that key initiatives (for example, the leadership development programmes of A. F. Blakemore & Son Ltd., National Grid, and procurement practices at Leicester City Council) apply the knowledge gained from EDA research and practice on diversity and enterprise. Finally, knowledge and insights from the implementation of the EDA project will be shared with the wider peer, professional and policy networks of partner organisations. In effect, EDA members will be ambassadors for diversity and enterprise amongst their peers. This provides an opportunity for the EDA to influence major national initiatives. For example, our finance sector partners will work with the British Bankers' Association to ensure that diversity issues are integrated in key areas, notably data-gathering and the implementation of the national mentoring proposition. Business in the Community will introduce its corporate members to the benefits of supporting peer mentoring networks with minority business owners. Good practice in relation to diversity and procurement will be promoted by CIPS and Leicester City Council. The 16th Annual Ethnic Minority Business Conference, scheduled for October 2012, will be dedicated to highlighting the impact of the EDA.

The aim of this project is to understand how people communicate multilingually across diverse languages and cultures. We define 'translation' as the negotiation of meaning using different modes (spoken/written/visual/gestural) where speakers have different proficiencies in a range of languages and varieties. When speakers do not share a common language they may rely on translation by professionals, friends or family, or by digital means. Such practices occur in 'translation zones', and are at the cutting edge of translation and negotiation. We view 'cultures' not as fixed sets of practices essential to ethnic groups, but rather as processes which change and which may be negotiable. In our previous research in multilingual communities we found speakers are not confined to using languages separately, but rather they 'translanguage' as they make meaning. We will look closely and over time at language practices in public and private settings in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, and London. We will investigate how communication occurs (or fails) when people bring different histories and languages into contact. Outcomes will impact on policy on economic growth, migration, health and well-being, sport, cultural heritage, and law, by informing the work of policy-makers and public, private and third sector organisations. The aims of the research are to: 1. understand translanguaging as communication in public spaces; 2. understand translanguaging as communication in private spaces; 3. understand translanguaging as communication in digital and social spaces; 4. understand local histories of communicative practices; 5. develop transformative, interdisciplinary approaches to researching translanguaging as communication; 6. develop the capacity of researchers to conduct high quality research in the arts and humanities; 7. inform local, national, and international policy in relation to superdiverse community settings. This study takes an interdisciplinary approach to understand communication in and beyond community settings, focusing on interactions between people engaged in legal advice centres, migrant business, sport, and libraries and museums. These community sites are selected because they are contexts in which multiple languages and varieties are in daily use in superdiverse cities. 'Superdiversity' refers to the interweaving of diversities, in which not only 'ethnicity', but other variables intersect and influence the composition and trajectories of urban centres. Multilingual speakers who have institutional roles and make regular use of digital and online technologies will be selected as key participants (librarians, solicitors, migrant business people, sports coaches). They will provide access to other multilingual speakers, and to communication in private and digital spaces. Ethnographic fieldwork will be conducted by researchers in four superdiverse wards in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, and London. Key participants will be 'shadowed' in their workplace by researchers. In each site initial observation will be followed by audio recordings, interviews, and online and digital data collection. Photographing of the linguistic landscape of each ward will continue for 26 months to map the changing cultural and linguistic environment. A succession of published reports and working papers will follow a series of research events including: thematic workshops, network assemblies, city seminars, public engagement showcase events and conferences. A full and differentiated training programme for practitioners, research assistants, early career and doctoral researchers is put in place for capacity building, which will be a key feature and legacy of the project.