Youth employment problems are essentially structural, not a passing issue of the economic crisis – though the impact of the crisis has been severe and risks converting conjunctural problems into additional structural burdens.
As such, the issue needs to be addressed in a sustainable way; thus, to address the problem, this project proposes the creation of Local Partnerships for the Advancement of Youth Employment and Opportunity.
These partnerships need to put in place comprehensive strategies whereby multiple factors leading to youth unemployment are addressed at the same time. As such, the approach is systemic; interconnected actors are involved in developing, learning and adapting their methodologies and approaches, in an ongoing joined up process.

The Local Partnerships for the advancement of Youth Employment and Opportunities will cooperate in particular around:

• Developing or improving approaches to learning, and the acquisition and validation of competences and qualifications.
• Work-based experience. Developing new and better approaches to apprenticeships, traineeships, entrepreneurial experience and other direct ‘hands on’ experiences of, or contact with, the world of work.
• Identification and forecasting of needed skills and competences, stemming from developments in the labour market and the resultant shifts in demand for skills and worker profile. This will be done by liaising directly with local employers and agencies, and by building on what is offered by existing structures (e.g. Skills Councils , Regional labour market observatories, and so on) and information resources.

Motivation in joining Jobtown:

• To develop a method of survey, analysis and understanding of current local context regarding the issue.
• To mutually transfer good practices and direct contact with similar European experiences.
• To better understand and implement methodologies and approaches to the problem and its resolution.
• To establish a relationship with the managing authorities of structural funds to support and accelerate the creation of job opportunities for young people.

With Jobtown we aim to create opportunities for young people who are the main target of the project, but also for our town and all its components. The Municipality of Cesena can benefit from the work achieved in this project too by involving local economic and social stakeholders in the planning of new strategies, with the aim of increasing job opportunities and improving existing services.