Young people’s need for clear guidance, realistic examples and familiarity with job search techniques was at the heart of the launch event presenting the Bridge to Employment: Future Ready initiative, held at the ActionAid Youth Center in Thessaloniki.
Aiming to empower more than 500 young people
Attendees were welcomed by Mona Dermata, Director of Operations & Head of the New Agriculture New Generation office in Thessaloniki, and Makis Drakopoulos, Director of Programmes and Institutional Funding at ActionAid Hellas, who presented the purpose of the programme they are jointly implementing with the support of the Citi Foundation. Triantafyllos Karamavros, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Manager at New Agriculture New Generation, and Marina Kaloumenou, Project Manager for the initiative at ActionAid Hellas, then explained that the aim is for more than 500 young people to acquire the skills they need to enter the labour market and pursue meaningful professional opportunities.
During the event, young people, representatives of the labour market and Civil Society organisations engaged in an open discussion, highlighting the importance of developing contemporary skills and creating more opportunities for an equitable transition into young people’s professional future.
Bringing Gen Z’s concerns and priorities to the forefront
Through a group exercise coordinated by Elisavet Konstantakopoulou, Education Coordinator at ActionAid Hellas, and based on a realistic scenario, participants became familiar with basic concepts of financial literacy and budget management. A separate session of the event featured a discussion moderated by ActionAid Youth Center members Danai Pavlou and Ignatios Psarros, with the participation of Tania Banti, Employability Services Coordinator, and Elisavet Konstantakopoulou, Education Coordinator at ActionAid Hellas, as well as Michalis Karagiannis, Capacity Building Manager at New Agriculture New Generation. During the discussion, young people were able to authentically convey Gen Z’s concerns, priorities and perspective. This approach strengthened meaningful dialogue around the connection between sustainability, financial literacy and employment.
Training, counselling and green skills
The Bridge to Employment: Future Ready project includes training in essential career skills and financial literacy, individual counselling, career guidance and job fairs in Athens and Thessaloniki. At the same time, 240 young people will gain certification in green skills in the agrifood sector through activities and seminars organised by New Agriculture New Generation.
The programme is primarily aimed at young people aged 15 to 24 in Athens, Thessaloniki, and rural and semi-urban areas, and will run until February 2028.
Further information about the programme is available here.
New Agriculture New Generation
New Agriculture New Generation supports the sustainable development of rural Greece and accelerates the transformation of the agrifood sector through initiatives of national and local scope, with a significant socioeconomic impact. It was established at the initiative of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), as part of the SNF’s Recharging the Youth initiative, through a landmark grant aimed at strengthening the country’s primary sector. Since 2018, the organisation’s beneficiaries and participating professionals have exceeded 33,000 people, through the implementation of skills development, know-how transfer, and innovation and entrepreneurship support programmes throughout Greece.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is an independent international organisation founded in 1972 and operating in Greece since 1998. With a presence in more than 75 countries, it educates people and communities so that they can rely on their own strengths and claim a life of dignity and a fairer world for everyone. In Greece, through its Child Sponsorship Programme, it has supported more than 130,000 children in 89 communities across 21 countries worldwide. At the same time, it has been designing and implementing educational programmes since 2000, with the participation of 250,000 school students, while since 2017 it has supported more than 11,000 people at its Community Centre in Athens, a support centre for people experiencing poverty and social exclusion. Similarly, since 2020, the ActionAid Youth Center in Thessaloniki has empowered more than 2,600 young people through programmes and services that help them become active citizens and enter the labour market. Further information about ActionAid and its work in Greece and around the world is available here: www.actionaid.gr.
