Under the output title ’Local pilots for better services & inventory’ four YOUMIG-member municipalities have published detailed reports of their pilot actions – interventions for the management of youth migration-related issues that were tested locally. Together with local stakeholders, the YOUMIG teams went through a step-by-step activity of planning and tailoring their pilot actions to their own needs. Partners involved in this exercise learnt a lot about their local settings and their municipality’s needs and perceptions on the subject of youth migration in the process. Local events called Migration Forums held in early 2019 helped bring together for a discussion different people affected – in one way or another – by dealing with youth migration as part of their jobs or by being an immigrant/emigrant or return migrant themselves. Four cities have now published their full reports on the pilot activity, with three more coming very soon.  Reports can be found in the ’Library’ section of this website.

Kanjiža - Stay, work, be happy!

Thinking about their goals behind that motto, the Municipality of Kanjiža (Serbia) has decided to open a co-working space, providing its youth with the opportunity to gain business and language competences to further their opportunities in the Serbian labour market, as part of their pilot action. The need was identified since overall cooperation with the established national structures in this area has been inadequate for the specific situation of the municipality. Through the municipality-owned youth centre, the target group of young potential emigrants in Kanjiža has been offered advice and support, thereby influencing their decision to migrate abroad or not. By means of the pilot activity, the local partner is tackling the issue of youth emigration from the municipality to neighbouring Hungary, especially since the majority of the population is part of the Hungarian minority and has better language competencies in Hungarian than in the national language (Serbian).

Maribor - CWMB YOUMIG (Co-Working Maribor)

Maribor is a city facing both immigration and emigration. Therefore, the co-working space programme they have chosen as their pilot is targeting young people with a migration background or intention to migrate, as well as offering a supportive environment for return migrants. The co-working centre is offering support for young people on their path to self-employment, by offering free desk sharing in a stimulating environment with access to key support organizations within the city (including national SPOT points, a science park, and consultations available at the regional development agency), as well as linguistic support in the case of language barriers for migrants. By offering such support, CWMB YOUMIG provides a hub, staying in touch with its members even in the event of their emigration from the city. It also forms a supportive network for immigrants integrating into society through self-employment. During the pilot period, CWMB attracted 3 immigrants and 12 potential emigrants.

Szeged - Sensitization and multicultural training (SAMU)

The Municipality of Szeged identified an opportunity to facilitate the social integration of young migrants with preschool children (ages 3-6), through a programme provided for public childcare providers. Trainings on sensitisation and multiculturality were conducted among public preschool childcare providers and with municipal staff in order to break down the potential communication barriers between staff and immigrants. The pilot activities contributed positively to both types of public service providers (municipality and nursery school), above all, by raising their competencies in dealing with the issues of immigrants (mostly young parents) who do not share the same cultural background and command of the language as their native peers. The trainings proved successful, and provided staff with tools that could also be applied outside their immediate field of work.

Graz - M-GIST-HUB (Engaging migrant girls from the Danube region in natural science and technology)

The city of Graz is currently witnessing a trend: its youth lack interest in obtaining an education in natural science and technology, which is especially typical of young women with a migration background. It has been found that in many cases there is little awareness of which skill sets are required or what job opportunities exist in obtaining such an education. The M-GIST-HUB is therefore concerned primarily with raising awareness among the target group, and above all, including family members of the target group, since young people rarely make such important decisions independently. Therefore the influence of family members (who may also lack awareness of educational possibilities), is also one of the decisive factors. Ultimately, raising awareness of the opportunities available to the target group has an impact on their integration into society, the Graz team in charge of developing their pilot action found.