BtF Blog

Dan Zastawny of BtF has just returned from Lodz Poland where he has been discussing with our ETOS Project partners the development steps that are going to be taken for the project to get underway. ETOS stands for “Effective Training for Outsiders of Society”.  The strategy the team have undertaken is to help marginalised minority groups who are made up of people that are unskilled and consequently workless. These minority groups are extremely diverse; ranging from school drop outs, immigrant groups and those without any formal qualifications. The ETOS team are outlining creative and effective ways to develop stable jobs and employability skills for a lifetime.

The strategies that the team are formalising will help minorities engage with employment by focusing on building skills through on the job training. Skills for these individuals will be gained by practical work and further developed by a mentoring scheme.  The mentoring scheme is a setup of mentors who will train entrepreneurs and support them when they take on minority individuals.  The entrepreneurs will pass on their skills and experiences to the unemployed so that these individuals learn in a way that will benefit their employment for the long term and not the short term.

The meeting established that the official strategy for the ETOS plan and decided that the Pilot will start in 2012. The project looks to involve 90 stakeholders in 6 EU countries, with 144 beneficiaries.