NEET INCLUSION PROJECT - activeeurope.org · • To create model for inclusion of NEETs and increase ... the gender question. ... area of -NEET INCLUSION PROJECT. NEET INCLUSION

NEET INCLUSION PROJECT

REPORT FROM STUDY VISIT STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 21-23 MAY 2017

WWW.ACTIVEEUROPE.ORG

Supported by

During the year 2017, Active - Sobriety, Friendship and Peace is implementing the project “NEET Inclusion” that is supported by European Youth Foundation and the Council of Europe, as a part of Annual Working Plan. Ten countries are participating in the project activities: Sweden, Slovakia, Poland, Iceland, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Latvia, Estonia and Romania.

The aim of the project is to build capacity of local civil society organizations for inclusion of NEETs and creating opportunities for their participation in decision-making processes. Objectives:• To collect data about current status of NEETs in the 10 countries encompassed by the project• To analyse good practice examples of inclusion of NEETs• To build capacity of CSO representatives from 10 countries for inclusion of NEETs in their programs• To create model for inclusion of NEETs and increase their participation in decision-making processes

at local level• To empower young emerging leaders at the local level to influence decision-makers in creating

opportunities for involvement of NEETs

In the first phase of the project, the research was conducted, targeting young people 15 - 30 years of age that are not Employed, not in Education and not in Training. Further on in the text, we refer to this target group as NEETs. The research and the findings are presented in the other document that is the output of this project.

A study visit took place in Sweden, country with one of the lowest NEET rates in Europe (7,8%). The goal was to learn more about NEETs inclusion from experts and practitioners from relevant Swedish organizations and institutions. Gathered information was discussed and analysed by the all participants, where project team was also involved.

The reason why Sweden is chosen as one of the best practice examples to conduct this study visit is that even after several years of rising youth unemployment in connection with the financial crisis, unemployment among young women and men in Sweden is falling. The proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in Sweden is well below the EU average.

The Government introduced a 90-day guarantee for young people. This sets an upper limit on how long a young person can be unemployed before being offered a job or a measure that leads to a job or an education. Several initiatives are being carried out to make the 90-day guarantee possible: education contracts and trainee jobs have been introduced; the availability of higher grants within the student financial aid programme for young people aged 20–24 who go back to school has been expanded; and the option to take study-motivating courses at folk high schools has been extended.1

1 - Sweden’s National Reform Programme 2016 Europe 2020 – the EU’s strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, Government Offices of Sweden, p. 20

NEET INCLUSION PROJECT2

2 - Ibid3 - Sweden’s National Reform Programme 2016 Europe 2020 – the EU’s strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, Government Offices of Sweden, p 26

The Government also believes it should be possible for young people who have not completed higher secondary school to be employed via trainee jobs. The Government has established the Youth Employment Delegation, whose remit is to work towards ensuring that labour market policy initiatives against youth unemployment have greater impact at the local level, foster central and local government cooperation and develop new forms of partnership. This is being accomplished by encouraging local agreements between municipalities and the Public Employment Service on initiatives to reduce youth unemployment. Almost all municipalities in the country have drafted agreements with the local Public Employment Service office. The agreements contain measurable goals, action plans for attaining the goals and identifying NEETs in the municipality. 2

In November 2015, the Government adopted the Paths Ahead Strategy – A Strategy for NEET Young

People. The strategy provides an overview of measures the Government has taken or intends to take during the period of 2015–2018 to improve the opportunities of these young people to become established in working life and the community. Young people in various age groups are in different phases and situations and thus have different needs and rights. For NEET young people in the 15–19 age group, the measures should primarily be oriented towards motivating the young people to begin or resume and complete higher secondary education, while those aimed at young people aged 20–25 may involve motivating them to participate in other education or work. Individualised and coordinated support is essential. 3

On 1 December 2015, the Government appointed a national youth NEET coordinator. The coordinator’s remit is to foster better cooperation among government agencies, municipalities, county councils and organisations at the national, regional and local levels concerning NEET initiatives. The coordinator has been instructed to work in close cooperation with the Youth Employment Delegation established by the Government in December 2014 to promote local agreements between municipalities and the Public Employment Service on initiatives to reduce youth unemployment. The Swedish Education Act was clarified on 1 January 2015 as regards municipal responsibility to act on behalf of young people aged 19 and under who are not attending or have completed higher secondary school or higher secondary school for individuals with learning disabilities. The responsibility to act means that the municipality must keep itself informed about which young people are covered by the system and offer them appropriate and individualised interventions. The responsibility to act means that the municipality must keep itself informed about which young people are covered by the system and offer them appropriate and individualised interventions.

www.activeeurope.org - NEET INCLUSION PROJECT 3

Supported by

The responsibility to act means that the municipality must keep itself informed about which young people are covered by the system and offer them appropriate and individualised interventions. The interventions should primarily be aimed at motivating the individual to begin or resume education. In early 2016, the National Agency for Education published general advice in the area to provide support to the municipalities.4

During the study visit, project team had the meeting about project implementation and the best ways to utilize project results into youth network and member organizations. The aim was to build capacity of local civil society organizations for inclusion of NEETs and creating opportunities for their participation in decision-making processes. This day was also dedicated to understanding the annual working plan and all the activities that should take place during the year 2017, including further communication related to different activities and budget scope. This process created important preconditions for future implementation of the project and planned activities.

The next two dates were dedicated to the field visits to different organizations and institutions in Stockholm so participants can learn about different forms of practicing democracy and the involvement of under-represented young people. Participants got quality insights into Swedish democratic and welfare systems and opportunities provided for young people.

Briefing and debriefing sessions, discussion and reflections were taking place at the beginning and at the end of every working day, in order to ensure an analysis about the best model of NEETs inclusion.

4 - Ibid


Jobbtorg Ung GlobenThe first place that the group paid a visit to was Jobbtorg Ung Globen, a unit supported by the Stockholm Municipality that was specifically targeting young people that for some reason dropped out from the system, and helping them to find suitable jobs and change their futures.Jobbtorg Ung Globen focused on young people between 16 and 29 years old that were unsure of their future, and trying to provide support, educative services and counselling in order for young person to find suitable employment in the future. Street youth work is one of their strongest approaches, where they don’t just wait for young people to show up on their doorstep, but they make an extra effort, and go out into the communities, find out where young people hang out, and approach them in a friendly way. They are offering opportunities and young people seem to be responding. One of the difficulties they face is regarding the gender question. It is much harder to meet girls. Young men hang around street corners, benches, and different outdoors places, where girls are mostly in closed areas, often unapproachable from outside.

This innovative Municipal project is using social media to attract young people, so they are present on both Facebook and Instagram. They use their IT services to tackle different gender issues, and provide accurate info for youth development. The information they shared about different approaches

towards young people were highly valuable. Young people want someone to care and to help them, but they often don’t know how or are afraid of the first contact. That is why it is important that services like this one take this important fact into consideration. Jobbtorg employees were using every means possible to pass useful information, for example, put it on the wall next to coffee machine since they know young people will spend some time there or by installing different applications on the computers young people are using and making sure they see where this specific

info is. Statics about specific websites visits are available. Friendly chat and honest approach is something that makes their work successful.


The language they are using is very youth friendly, and the environment as well. Professional staff was giving their best to provide all necessary information, in order for the Active study visit group to understand the daily activities and purpose of the Jobbtorg Globen. Also, it is worthwhile mentioning that the Jobbtorg Young Globe’s is LGBTQ certified, which gives a picture of their effort to involve all marginalised youth.

If you want to get into contact with or visit this excellent Stockholm Municipality service, these are the contacts:

Address Phone E-mail

Palmfeltsvägen 1 E +46 (0)8-508 491 28 [email protected] 25 Johanneshov


Agency for Youth and Civil Society - MUCF Our next stop was MUCF - Myndigheten för ungdoms- och civilsamhällesfrågor, a Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, a government agency that works to ensure that young people have access to influence and welfare. MUCF also supports the government in issues relating to civil society policy.

MUCF represents autonomous Agency under The Ministry of Education and Research and it exists as a government agency since 1976. There are two areas: Youth policy and Civil society policy, but it is also important to mention that they are a National Agency for the EU Programme Erasmus Plus. Approximately 75

employees are a part of the agency and their main target groups are decision-makers, civil servants and civil society organizations.

According to MUCF data, there are around 1,6 million young people in Sweden, aged 13 to 25 years. About 20% of young people have a foreign background and about 10% have immigrated themselves. The current immigration situation is a massive challenge Swedish society is facing now and for years to come.

There are two main areas of work the Agency is providing: a) Knowledge based support b) Financial grants.

Knowledge based support is available for the actors in the public sector and civil society, such as: reports, publications, method material, conferences, workshops, cooperation with stakeholders etc. Grants are divided in operational grants for running organizations and national and European grants. Operational grants are provided to organizations for children and youth, Ethnic organizations, LGBTQ organizations and Women’s organizations.

Examples of the supported projects are: Establishing local democracy canters in neighbourhoods with low voting turnout, Organization of young people, Anti-discrimination activities, Gender equality projects, Grants in the field of racism and extremism, EU program Erasmus+ grants: mobility, strategic partnerships & structured dialogue and Grants to NEET’s.

MUCF is very active in the area of Youth Policy, specifically municipal, national and international youth policy.


Objective of National Youth Policy is: all young people 13-25 years are to have good living conditions, the power to form their own lives and to have influence over the development of society. The government and parliament formulate national youth policy, whereas MUCF is responsible for following up and analysing young people’s life situation in the most important areas of youth policy.

National youth policy is not binding on the municipalities. Each municipality formulates its own local youth policy - Municipal Youth policy. MUCF supports and develops youth policy work and ensures that it is based on knowledge about young people’s situation and opinions. Half of Sweden’s 290 municipalities use our youth questionnaire “Lupp”, which is a follow-up tool for youth policy at a local level and includes questions for young people on work, school, health, future dreams, influence and democracy.

NEETs in SwedenThe Swedish government launched a new national strategy in November 2015 addressing the issue of NEET’s, with the overall purpose to improve opportunities and reinforce the structures for young people, age 15-25, to take part in education, employment or training. The National Coordinator for NEET’s in Sweden is overall responsible for the implementation, and MUCF has a strong role in this work. MUCF implements the strategy in Sweden through knowledge and grants, and in cooperation with relevant stakeholders and outreach work towards our target groups, municipalities and coordination agencies.Coordination agencies were founded, by Swedish law in 2004 with the purpose to facilitate the coordination between public agencies on a long term basis.

They comprise of:

• The social insurance office• The public employment service• Municipalities • County councils/regions

There are 82 coordination agencies in Sweden that are targeting individuals 16-64 years in need of coordinated services from two or more agencies.Furthermore there is a theme group on youth. Theme group Youth gathers and disseminates knowledge and experiences from labour market projects (ESF projects) since 2009, directed at young people.


This represents a cooperation project between:• The Swedish Public Employment Service, • MUCF,• Communicare (NGO), • the Swedish Social Insurance Agency,• the National Agency for Education,• the National Board of Health and Welfare and• the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions,with the purpose to achieve a strategic,

long-term, higher level impact.

More information is available at: http://www.temaunga.se/en

Number of NEET’s among young people aged 16-24 years: 7.5 % 2014, 8.8 % 2009 and 7.1 % 2007.

Individuals who have received child support or activity compensation for extended schooling are excluded from the group who neither work nor study from 2010 and after. The difference between the sexes has been negligible throughout the entire period studied: • 7.2 % girls 2014• 7.7 % boys 2014During 2016/2017 MUCF funded the project with 34.8 million SEK with the purpose to decrease the number of NEET´s 15-25 years in the Swedish municipalities. Measures used could be rehabilitation, individual counselling, coaching, entrepreneurship, health measures etc.

Address: Phone E-mail

Medborgarplatsen 3 +46 (0)8-566 219 00 [email protected] 94 Stockholm


Ung i Centrum (Jobbtorg)Since Stockholm is a dynamic growth region, many people from other areas in Sweden and other countries are moving to the region. Jobbtorg Stockholm was established in 2008 to support people to move from welfare to gainful employment. Jobbtorg Stockholm is the city’s common entrance into various labour market initiatives. There are six local Jobbtorg Stockholm offices and the one visited is the main one. Jobbtorg provides work training and estimations about young people’s ability to work in different environments. Also it is possible to join different types of educational and vocational training. Professional service is helping young people with the job plan through individualized support. They provide dynamic cooperation between the applicant and different occupational groups; Job coaches, Job matchers, IT instructors and Study and career advisors.

Youth in city of StockholmThere are around 176.700 young inhabitants in the Stockholm, aged 16 - 29. Approximately 9% is unemployed and not in studies (16.700 youth) and more than 50% is between the age of 25 and 29, 52% male - 48% female, 50% NEETs (Statistics from 2013).

Unemployment rate in Sweden is 6,8% whereas in Stockholm is 6,1%. Out of the total number of unemployed people, 20,3% are youth between 15-24 years old, and in the city of Stockholm this rate is 18,7%. 20,9% of total unemployed people in Sweden are born outside of Europe (Statistics

from 2016). Labour market administration is responsible for the unemployed people in the city of Stockholm.

Jobbtorg Unga Stockholm According to the law, Swedish municipalities are responsible for young people who are registered in a municipality and who have not reached age 20 and have not completed education in national programs in higher secondary school. Furthermore, the

City of Stockholm has chosen to offer services for young adults, 20 - 29 years old.

Central coordination for outreach activities is provided for young people 16 - 19 years old. The system has 1 central coordinator and an additional 11 coordinators at the job centres. The aim is to have open activities for youth.To reach young adults from 20-28 years old, it is necessary to do field work, cooperate with city districts, NGOs and talk to parents and relatives.


Jobbtorg focuses on continued development of young people, spreading information about different opportunities, creating trust and building relationships with youth, and focusing on needs of the individual, oriented to solutions that can assist young person.

The project SUVAS, supported by the City of Stockholm and co-financed by European Social funds, reach out to 20-29 year old NEETs. Project is on-going from 1st June 2016 and it lasts until December 2018. The project engages 16 employees and it has a budget of 35 million SEK. The team of experts are developing municipality’s methods for reaching out to NEETs.

The SUVAS steps presented in picture are explaining how a young person is becoming part of the system where it can get all the necessary support to find a job. SUVAS focus groups are young people involved in crime, young people with disabilities, young people that stay at home, and young women.There are different activities young people can join at the Jobbtorg. Job coaches, job matchers and IT educator, as well as study and social advisors are at disposal for young people. Furthermore, young people can attend preparatory courses for study or work so they can be in job training, FILUR and youth employment activities.


FILUR presents intensified service for NEETs. It consists of 8 weeks of program plus 4 weeks of work placement. Young people are participating in daily group activities, as well as one individual coaching session per week. The aim of the group work is to strengthen participants’ self-esteem and to create a belief in one’s own ability to take charge and influence their future. At the individual level, the aim is to establish routines, figure out what kind of profession they would aspire to, behavioural change, coping with group situations, etc. FILUR uses 7Twenty method of work - used in work with individuals in the process of change or reorientation. This approach represents linked efforts during the three months whereas young people are also introduced to topics related to heath, visiting schools and employers and are provided with career and educational guidance.


Hornsgatan 124, floor 1 +46 (0)8-508 48 000 [email protected]


Tensta Community CentreSince Stockholm is a dynamic growth region, many people from other areas in Tensta Community Centre (TCC) - a unique project in Ross Tensta Gymnasium and is fully financed in Järva program. It is located in one of the Stockholm districts often promoted in the media as a vulnerable area. It is the place where immigrant youth is integrated in Swedish society. TCC is not a youth club. The centre is not open late at night. Its aim is to act as an extension of

school, clearly focusing on development, both in typical school subjects such as maths and Swedish and in areas such as culture and civic information. The activities at Tensta community centre have attracted more girls than boys since their inception.

The absolutely fundamental issue has been to form a strong, united group of staff that back each other up and work towards the same goals. Through regular

staff meetings, feedback and handpicked staff, the premises or activity become less important in the context. The two mainstays of Tensta Community Centre are helping with homework and activities for boys and girls. By working with various local associations and voluntary organizations, the students at Tensta Gymnasium upper secondary school can receive help with their homework at the centre four days a week. Adult volunteers from the Red Cross spend a few hours in our classroom on each occasion and provide support to those students who ask for it. Homework assistance forms the core of our activities, and although we focus on the core subjects of maths, Swedish and English, we also offer support in other subjects when needed. Together with Tensta Gymnasium we work to be able to provide as flexible support as possible to our young students. The youth encounter a great deal of pressure on a daily basis where their physical appearance is concerned, and we want to play an active role in offering the boys and girls an oasis where they can simply be themselves. Some of TCC’s activities are homework studies, dancing (dancing studio), cinema, recording studio, job-coaching/CV- teaching, different games (card game, table tennis), outdoors activities, sports activities, trips to museums, organizations, events, theatres, concerts and more. Most of the young people visiting the community centre are of an immigrant background and they are showing very authentic and positive images of young people that spend their free time after school in a quality way.


Hagstråket 13 +46 (0)8-508 379 96 [email protected] 63 Spånga


LSU - Sveriges ungdomsorganisationerThe National Council of Swedish Youth Organisations (LSU) gathers Sweden’s youth organisations to collectively improve the conditions for youth organisations, in Sweden and on a global level. LSU consists of 84 independent, democratically constructed, national youth organizations. It is a non-profit, non-political and non-religious organization, consisting of and working for youth organizations. LSU is a meeting place for young people and youth organizations where they can acquire knowledge, contacts and experience.Work is divided into three areas: Organization & Leadership, Policy & Advocacy and Global development. By providing trainings and conferences for young leaders and enabling cooperation with other organizations (national or/and international) LSU ensures that young people are involved in decision-making, in Sweden and the world.

LSU doesn’t work directly with NEETs but they are trying to influence Swedish and European policies and strategies, so the needs of the NEETs are taken into account and excluded young people are on the agenda. In the past there were several projects that were involving NEETs and they were focused on open places for youth. Tensta Community Centre would be a good example.

In 2017, LSU was meeting with relevant stakeholders in order to include focus on integration and work with NEETs in the youth strategy consultations. One conclusion they arrived at was that on the European level, the Youth Guarantee is not working for the NEETs. As a concept it does work, but it does not reach and include everyone. There is a lack of information and numbers about the reality of the situation with NEETs and who exactly falls into the risk categories (refugees for example are not part of the research or the numbers). Therefore it is also necessary to incorporate prevention programs. The European Commission agreed to allocate 200 million Euros for Youth Employment Initiative but there is lack of understanding by the European Commission on how to achieve results. Evidence shows that entrepreneurial actions do not work for NEETs, and that integration approaches are yielding much better results. The Youth Intergroup in the European Parliament is in the middle of a mid-term review of the Youth Employment Initiative and they would need to involve the opinions of youth organizations and marginalized youth. It is crucial to focus on NEETs in the Youth Strategy.


Gammelgårdsvägen 38-42 +46 (0)8-672 66 70 [email protected] (Floor 6 in IOGT-NTO house) 112 64 Stockholm


Junis - IOGT-NTOs Juniorförbund Junis is a children’s organization with over 12,000 members. The target group is children up to 15 years old. Junis has 200 associations across the country and around 1,300 leaders. All the activities that are organized are representing preventive programs where children participate in theatre, film, camp, disco, crafts, circus, sports, tours, baking and more, which help them to build their self-esteem and grow into responsible citizens one day. All activities are based on Junis’ principles: democracy, solidarity and sobriety.

Since 2004, Junis is providing support to municipalities to help children in families with addiction. Much was invested to strengthen the child’s perspective, investing in evidence- based practice and to train professionals so they can do quality work. The framework developed was focusing on setting knowledge into practice, related to substance abuse and addiction issues. Key areas were co-operation, monitoring results and strengthened child/parent perspectives.


Junis reports “The child’s perspective” raises several good examples of cooperation and commitment to the child. Changes are taking place but the process is slow. Still, approximately one in five children lives in a family where at least one adult drinks in a fashion that is considered risky. Therefore prevention work should keep involving relevant stakeholders; committed municipalities, non-profit organizations and enthusiastic individuals.

The Junis report emphasizes the situation of children from families with parental alcohol problems. It is not possible to determine with 100% accuracy just how many children grow up in homes with parental alcohol problems. What is certain is that in Sweden at least 100,000 children have parents who are currently being taken care of by governmental abuse and addiction services. Almost 400,000 children are estimated to grow up in families with parental alcohol problems. No matter which number is being considered, the children that receive municipal help are appallingly few.

In 2017, Junis organized 70 camps involving around 3500 children doing outstanding prevention work. Different leisure time and socializing activities are organized for kids throughout the year. Research shows that Children of Alcoholics are at much bigger risk of developing their own difficulties; twice as likely to experience difficulties in school, three times more likely to consider suicide, five times more likely to develop eating disorders, and four times more likely to become alcoholics themselves. Drug experts consider alcohol as one of the most dangerous drugs that also cause harm to others, not just individuals who are using it .5

The support Junis provides for all children is tremendous. They don’t point out or emphasize to any child the difficulties they face, but in the environment supporting democracy, solidarity and sobriety, they help children to grow and develop in a healthy way. Junis thinks children have the right to professional help and to play and grow together with fun and safe adults, who are always sober.


Gammelgårdsvägen 38 +46 (0)8-672 60 70 [email protected] (Floor 3 in IOGT-NTO house)112 64 Stockholm

5 - Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, based on analysis of UK Drug use, The Lancet 2010


Ungdomens Nykterhetsförbund - UNFUngdomens Nykterhetsförbund (UNF) is a Swedish youth temperance organisation, founded in 1970 after a merging between Sveriges Godtemplares Ungdomsförbund (SGU) and Heimdal. Organization today has around 7000 members, primarily for the young people between age 13 and 25. Organization doesn’t have political or religious affiliations and it is a part of IOGT-NTO Movement. UNF vision is a world of democracy and solidarity free from drugs. It is involved in all project activities that are free from alcohol and other drugs. The activities are conducted in the local clubs, regions/districts and on the national level.UNF is doing a lot of prevention work. It doesn’t work directly with NEETs or its better to say, they do not identify this specific group within their programs, even if some of the young people could be identified as NEETs before joining. Around 100 youth clubs are situated in the Sweden that are under the UNF umbrella. The clubs are offering wide range of activities by young people for young people, and all of them are safe, inclusive and sober. Even if everyone is free to form their own club, the requirement is to base activities on UNFs code of quality (IGLOR). Swedish acronym IGLOR stands for ideology, reward, and attractiveness, improving the world and providing recourses.

Several projects and campaigns are recognized widely among young people as a UNFs work withinIOGT-NTO Movement. • White Christmas - is a campaign driven by the IOGT-NTO movement from 2017 with the goal is to have

more adults abstain from alcohol during the three Christmas days so that more children and young people can celebrate Christmas with safe and present adults.

• Fake Free is a mind-set inspired by the organization ADIC from Sri Lanka. It is addressing change of behaviours by solving myths about intoxication and alcohol. Fake Free examines alcohol cultures and anti-drug methods. Instead of just highlighting the negative consequences of alcohol, Fake Free challenges norms created around alcohol culture.

• Bryt/ Break - questioning alcohol norm in student life, organized tour at different universities and having conversations with students

• Municipality ranking – questionnaire is measuring Swedish municipalities involvement in youth participation and provision of services for youth, based on which UNF releases report every year and rank the Swedish municipalities

• Trivselgerillan/ Guerrilla of well-being - project is strengthening factors in life that protect people from developing abuse problems. Furthermore it provides tools for youth so they can change their environment and increase involvement in democratic life

• UNG / Youth is a recruitment method that gives youths the tools to easier create meaningful spare time activities for themselves.


Gammelgårdsvägen 38 +46 (0)8-672 60 60 [email protected] (Floor 3 in IOGT-NTO house)112 64 Stockholm


FryhusetHow to start to write about Fryshuset and not to overwhelm everyone with the impressive youth centre that is providing a variety of opportunities for young people in Stockholm. It is not only about the size of the building, but also about the impressive numbers and stories that have improved the quality and interactive levels of young people’s lives. Above all it is a vision based on the conviction that encouragement, confidence, responsibility and understanding are necessary in order to enable young people to develop their innate abilities and find their way into society. This is exactly what Fryshuset is trying to do and the place is therefore packed with all kinds of creative and constructive activities. Young people mix with grown-ups in order to participate, contribute and learn. Fryshuset is a meeting place where people share and develop passionate interests, social commitments, sports, entertainment, culture and innovative educational programs.

Fryshuset was founded in 1984 as a result of joint efforts by the YMCA of Stockholm and a couple of unyielding enthusiasts, among them Fryshuset’s legendary founding father Anders Carlberg. Initially the centre was located in an old storage building (Fryshuset means cold store in Swedish), but after a couple of years it was transferred to larger premises (24 000 square meters) on the south side of Stockholm.At the outset, sports and music were the sole activities, but social issues made their way into the agenda as a reflection of young people’s wants and needs. One such early example came in the summer of 1986 when violent riots occurred between differing teenage groups in Stockholm. The Swedish government asked Fryshuset to step in and help control the situation. Fryshuset launched a campaign, touring around the country lecturing on constructive alternatives to violence. During the tour it became obvious that most teenagers deplored violence and had a lot of vital ideas on how to counteract it and how to a build a better future.


Vision: “We enable young people to change the world through their passions”

Values: The Fryshuset has a unique value base that was highlighted during Fryshuset’s more than thirty years of history. The foundation of values is deeply rooted in the organization and began to grow as an unspoken rule for how people with different values, from different youth cultures and environments could agree on things while being under the same roof. Fryshuset’s value base accounts for the force of action throughout the organization and the strong conviction that all energy is positive. And the only prerequisites are for targeting it.

Fryshuset’s value base:

• “We provide encouragement, trust and responsibility. It builds knowledge and self-esteem that highlight the individual’s inherent power“

• “We listen to what is happening in society and act directly. We are not afraid of what’s new and unknown. We see opportunities and mobilize forces where others see problems. We try to correct and constantly improve our methods“

• “We assume the needs of the individual. Here the door is always open to anyone who wants to engage and develop, regardless of the background“

• “We believe in respectful meetings where the desire to participate and shared interests bridges all contradictions, differences and increases understanding”


Fryshuset is constantly changing and developing. It is now as famous for its social work as it is for education, skateboarding, basketball, music and other leisure activities. Today Fryshuset runs several schools and programs for vocational training, seminars and conferences, courses in theatre, music, and sport as well as hosting events, concerts, parties and discotheques. It even has its own church, the Fryshus-Church.Public funding covers around 5 % of the activities, the rest is financed by a mixture of grants, endowments and fees for services such as educational and social programs (fees that are not paid by young people or individual clients but by our co-operational partners and government agencies). Some of activities are also running in Göteborg and Malmö – Sweden’s second and third largest cities – as well as in several other parts of Sweden. All in all Fryshuset employs around 600 people and receives around 40,000 visitors every month.

Fryshuset is a religious and politically independent organization. It welcomes all young people and focuses especially on those who live in exclusion. They believe that everybody can succeed and are worth a chance.

The Fryhuset mission is to:

• We listen and build relationships with young people. We assume their passions and create communities where young people listen, their opinions count and they are allowed to develop. It strengthens their self-esteem.

• We work for society to take young people’s opinions and ideas seriously.• We work with all young people, focusing especially on those who live in or risk falling into exclusion.

We believe that everybody can succeed and are worth a chance.• We provide young people with the tools to take their future into their own hands by taking

advantage of their inner power and motivation.• We listen to what’s happening and are quick to act. We see opportunities where others see

problems.• We are brave enough to dare to make changes, over and over again...


Aside from everything, Study visit group had opportunity to see, they were excellent hosts and have done their best in presenting different areas of work they do. Opportunities arise for potential international cooperation, which will hopefully be established in the future. This report is not able to present all the projects that Fryshuset has experience in delivering, but here are few of them that are involving NEETs:

CIDES – Centre for information about destructive sub-cultures works with developing and disseminating effective approaches for combating the formation of destructive subcultures (street gangs, the white power-movement, soccer-hooligans, etc.) reducing their recruitment and facilitate in defection. Only the police cannot fix problems with destructive groups. There are several stakeholders in society who need to work together. And we all need to start listening to what the young people claim that they need in order to keep out of these groups.

Exit helps young people to leave Nazi, racist or other extremist movements. They receive help from both from professional social workers and from people who have left the Nazi movement themselves, since often they are the ones knowing what people go through. This can include obtaining a secret identity, psychotherapy or treatment against alcoholism, forming new social contacts etc. This god practice example helped authorities in Germany to start a similar project. Passus project has similar target group and it works with helping people who want to leave gangs and criminal organizations. It also provides preventive measures among young people and courses and education for professionals such as school staff, the social service, the police, the prison and probation agency etc.

Lugna Gatan - The Calm Street Project started in 1995 in order to counteract violence and vandalism within Stockholm’s public transportation system. Unemployed young people between 20 to 30 years of age were recruited to work as hosts in order to prevent problems caused by delinquent young people „hanging out” around subways and buses. This has become a comprehensive program of social integration and a way to get unemployed young people back into the employment market.

The hosts have proven very effective in preventing violence, vandalism and crime among youngsters. The program was transferred in Langa outside Cape Town in South Africa.


Aktiviteter för Unga Ensamkommande - A high number of young refugees arrive in Sweden on their own without any accompanying grown-ups to support them. Fryshuset offers various introductory activities, individually or in groups. If needed we help with accommodation, with contacts with public authorities, with mentors, school support. And we introduce them to sports, music, dance and other activities through which they get a chance to meet other youngsters sharing the same interests.

Unga in

The project helps young people (aged 16 to 24) who don’t study nor have any contact with the Employment Service – but want a job! Young-in helps them discover what they want to do and how to do it, how to find jobs and how to apply for them. The Employment Service, Fryshuset, Friends and the authorities of Stockholm City implement young-in, with support from the European Social Fund.


Mårtensdalsgatan 2-8 +46 (0)8-691 76 00 [email protected] 120 06 Stockholm


Instead of conclusionThis report presents collected data that will serve as a precondition for the capacity building activity of the “NEET inclusion project”. Emerging youth leaders should participate in decision-making processes, which will lead to integration of NEETs into meaningful activities and communities. During the study visit we were able to get insights into Swedish system and how they are dealing with the problems young NEETs face today in Swedish society. First of all, concept of NEETs is often misinterpreted in media or policy debates. It is mixing different concepts; from labour market needs and offers, to young people’s engagement into community activities. It is obvious that this group of people is very heterogeneous, and that includes various sub-groups, disadvantage groups, and those ones hard to reach and approach.

It is highly important that the acronym NEETs doesn’t became stigmatizing and labelling young people who are not in Employment, Education or Training. There are many different factors that make young people end up in this difficult situation; from education background, income, health, family environment, location or even ethnic and immigrant background. That is why, this project attempts to provide services for young people in need. Very often youth work programs are targeting those that are easiest to reach, our friends, neighbours, classmates, those that are using youth work services for years. We would like to shift focus and make youth workers and youth organizations aware that with their knowledge, expertise and positive spirit they can do a lot for young NEETs.

Swedish society is making organized effort to deal with the problems NEETs face. First of all, they invested in system that help them see which young people are involved and whether they have received any support from the Swedish Public Employment Service, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency or other public stakeholders during a year period. It is visible that some groups do receive support, but there are also many that are inactive or not visible by the public actors. In Sweden number of NEETs are gender balanced, it’s about the same number of girls as boys, but there are difference in the proportion of young people born in Sweden and abroad. The Swedish model is following population register in Sweden. However, it takes up to two years to prepare these registers and obtain a complete picture. The analysis model also shows that there are many young people not in education employment or training irrespective of whether or not the economy is good. This indicates that there is a need to develop better measures for young people.

Situation of NEETs vary in every country, which is why problem should be addressed in line to specific context. It’s also important to emphasize that youth work is not the only approach for improving the life of NEETs. That is why it is important to combine government strategies, municipal involvement, organized youth networks and CSOs that are doing a lot of prevention work. With joint approach in provision of services for youth, final results could be more effective. A young person falling into NEET situation is challenge for society as a whole.


Supported by

Documents

NEET INCLUSION PROJECT - activeeurope.org · • To create model for inclusion of NEETs and increase ... the gender question. ... area of -NEET INCLUSION PROJECT. NEET INCLUSION