Active Citizenship Programmes for Unemployed Young Adults with Low Skills in Southern Europe: Participation, Outreach, and Barriers

The political aim is to create feelings of belonging, participation and democracy through social activities and learning. Even if the European education system appears to have been successful in enhancing active citizenship in terms of participation in educational initiatives and educational attainment, some particularly vulnerable areas remain. The pledges and aims of ‘Europe2020’ include two priorities. The frst is to decrease the rate of early leavers from education and training, and the second is to reduce the proportion of people at risk of poverty. According to the European Commission (2012) high quality adult education and highly trained adult educators in particular, can enhance the chances of early leavers from initial education and training to enter labour market through upgrading their skills and qualifcations. The potential to stable income will reduce the quantity of population at-risk-of-poverty or exclusion. The development of relevant policies and targeted initiatives for young unemployed adults with low skills have not passed unnoticed in southern Europe for the last decade. However, and despite the existing policies and strategies, most countries in the region do not place active citizenship programmes for low-skilled adults as a priority.