In short, the YouthPass is a certificate, with the help of which you can prove that you have developed a series of skills. Especially if you do not have professional experience in a certain field, such a certificate shows that you are still a worthy candidate.
The YouthPass is issued in several activities that are part of the Erasmus + program or the European Solidarity Corps. If you have participated in any of them, you have certainly learned something, and everyone should know!
But let's start with the beginning: what are the actual competencies? A skill is a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes that if you master well, you can become very good at something. Competence refers not only to what you know but also to the way you put into practice what you know, which makes it a little more relevant than a grade you received in your thesis.
The YouthPass does not aim to show the competencies for which you already have evidence from school, but focuses on 8 competencies, which are called key competencies. They can develop in almost any context, we all need them for personal fulfillment and to be better prepared for a job.
What are the skills?
- Multilingualism
These skills include both your ability to express yourself clearly and specifically - to understand and express thoughts, emotions or facts, in writing or orally - in your mother tongue, the language of the host country, or the lingua franca of the group, openness. and your curiosity about other cultures and their diversity.
- Personal, social and learning skills
Here we are talking about your ability to adapt to different social situations, to work with others, to go through conflicts in a constructive manner. How flexible are you when things don't go the way you want them to? How well do you do in uncertain situations or how do you recover after a hop? How much do you care about your well-being and last but not least, how well do you know how to learn new things?
- Civic skills
Active citizenship skills highlight your ability to act responsibly and actively participate in civic life in the host country. In order to act, you need to know and understand a little about the economic, political, legal and social system of where you are.
- Entrepreneurial skills
Do you have an idea that you always wanted to turn into reality? Then know that such a project is for you. Because the following skills are entrepreneurial, which include the ability to take initiative, innovate, think critically and solve problems. They manifest themselves in collaboration and lead to the planning of projects with social, cultural or even economic value.
- Cultural expression skills
Cultural expression skills are those skills that help you express and better understand different notions, concepts, beliefs, and habits, through artistic expression. This requires a good understanding of the local, European or even global cultural context and the ability to express ideas and emotions through an art form.
- Digital skills
Digital skills couldn't be missing from the list, could they? And that's because they are downright critical in everyday life. This includes the ability to use responsibly and respectfully the technologies at our fingertips, the ability to create digital content, and knowledge of concepts such as digital security or intellectual property.
- STEM skills (mathematics, science, technology and engineering)
When we talk about STEM skills we think of your ability to apply in practice the knowledge you have in the fields of mathematics, science, technology and engineering. It refers to your ability to work with certain tools or devices, to use different software or applications and even to manage your money.
- Literacy
And no, we're not talking about sorting things alphabetically. Literacy refers to the ability to express our thoughts, ideas and feelings in the most appropriate way in different contexts in which we find ourselves. You also know that the way people communicate differs not only from one country to another but even from one group to another. We express ourselves in a way in the family, among friends, or at an exam. However, this adaptability to different situations means that you can correctly understand the context in which you are. And at the same time, you can analyze the subtext of the words actually spoken or written.
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You will be able to describe all these competencies by yourself at the end of the project and they will be found in the YouthPass Certificate, a certificate valid at European level that includes three parts:
the first part contains information about you and confirms your participation in the project
the second is a personalized description of your project and the activities you participated in and presents details about the host organization
and the third is a self-assessment of skills
