1. Youth Competence Centres (YCC) integrated youth policy city of Antwerp

2. Background Total number of young people in Antwerp: 140 705 (29.2%)
Metropolitan Antwerp context
~ school arrears (secondary education): young people
(39% in Antwerp, 35 % in Ghent, 21% in Flanders)
~ youth unemployment: % (16.71% in Flanders)
Leads to:
~ negative experiences with social institutions (school, work,
VDAB - the Flemish public employment and vocational training service,
police, …)
~ no believe in oneself
~ reproach about the lack of appropriate competences or attitudes
~ negative spiral 2

3. Objective
General:
Let (unskilled) young people develop a more positive self image so that they can form part of the community and enhance their position.
Achieve this by describing their competences in a positive way and give them the opportunity to develop these competences. 3

4. Priority target group
Less privileged young people between 16 and 25 years old.
Recognition of competences: not so easy for the target group (and for many other young people).
YCC is open to all young people and organizations that work with young people. 4

5. YCC: what?
Low-threshold centre for young people with an integrated operation based on 3 elements:
1. leisure: youth centre, event office, WKJ-working
2. competence development: consciously work with young people to
recognize, determine and develop their competences + EVC-expertise (Previously Acquired Skills)
3. work and training: job competence consultants, job
application training, support to find an appropriate training or a job.
Apart from a specific offer per element, the YCCs work on the internal
referral between the pillars and referral to external partners.
Young people voluntarily take part. 5

6. YCC: what? 6

7. YCC: year
Strong cooperation between the 3 YCCs and the city by means of cooperation agreements.
Priority in Antwerp European Youth Capital 2011
Reach 2009:
~ approximately participations to leisure activities
~ approximately 800 young people participated in training and
supervision;
~160 young people participated in competence programmes;
~ expertise sharing: information for about 30 organizations (youth
work, colleges of higher education, international delegations, …);
~ guidance to work and training: 72 intensive guidance files (actual
steps in the search for work), 148 contacts with young people. 7

8. WAC: Work related counsellor8

9. The WAC… W  Work (related) A  Acquired C  Competences
Mostafa: youth worker from 2000 until 2009, a local (from the neighbourhood). Since 2009: stepstone between the street and work. 9

10. Priority target group WAC
The priority target group of our WAC-counsellor:
* +18 and qualified
* +18 unqualified (MOST)
* +18 economic crisis unemployed
 School dropout, unemployed, vulnerable
How?
* outreaching
* networking
* streets and squares
!!! Accents on competence development 10

11. JES – RAC and WAC counsellors
YCC Deurne:
1 RAC-counsellor
1 WAC-counsellor
Youth workers
and other
employees
YCC Zappa
1 WAC
1 RAC (Zappa)
All other employees by Zappa
YCC De Branderij
1 RAC - counsellor
1 WAC – counsellor
All employees: 11

12. RAC and WAC RAC – guidance: can be individual or group based
3 counsellors (2 JES + 1 Zappa)
100 youngsters in Branderij + 80 Zappa + 50 Deurne
WAC – guidance: can be individual or group based (trainings)
3 counsellors (3 JES)
40 youngsters each
cooperation VDAB (Flemish employment service)
cooperation Levanto (Deurne), Werkhaven (Zappa)
RAC and WAC: empowerment
positive
active
holistic
competence development 12

13. C-stick
To gather and to develop useful methods to work on competences with lowly skilled youngsters :
Become acquainted with terminology (What is a competence? Which competences exist?)
Discover their own competences and be able to talk about them
Translate this in a (digital) personal development plan
A digital portfolio (on a USB flash drive)
Easy to handle for young people
Possibility to update
Possibility to integrate in other web-applications like ,
the website of the Flemish employment service,
vacature.com,… 13