Page 30 - Open_the_door_to_the_world

Opening up Mobility as a real

Opportunity for Disadvantaged

Groups

Participation in transnational learning mobility has traditionally been the privilege

of the most resourceful, adventurous, and/or career-conscious young people, and
most mobility activities have consequently been designed with this target group
in mind. But in 2008, as a response to the rising level of youth unemployment and
the alarming levels of early leaving and drop-out of the school system, the Ministry
of Labour of Germany launched the programme “Integration durch Austausch”
(Integration Through Mobility). The programme finances work placements abroad
for disadvantaged young people, with a view to facilitating their insertion into the

labour market or motivating them for formal vocational training. It is not merely
some small scheme of relevance only to a few; rather, the ESF-funded programme
4
has a total budget of € 145 million for the period 2008–15, and it aims to sponsor
at least 10,000 stays abroad. Neither is it a uniquely German phenomenon: in the
coming ESF-period (2015–2020), 10 other European Member States, including
Sweden, have announced their intention of setting up similar schemes at a national
or regional level and have established a European-level network to support the
activities .
5

Author:

Søren Kristensen
phD, techne, Denmark “Disadvantaged young people” are persons
with a lack of formal qualifications, often com-
bined with other problems of psycho-social
character and/or perceived negative issues
related, for example, to health, gender, or race.
the arguments for including this target group
in transnational mobility projects are often mo-
tivated by notions of equity and representa-
tion: they should have the same opportunities
for participating as the mainstream youth has.
however, involvement solely for the sake of
involvement seems a risky proposal, unless we

4) esf – the european social fund.
5) see www.tln-mobility.eu.

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