European Association for Cooperation - AECOOP
We keep ourselves up to date with policy initiatives, programmes and policy in these areas but our passion is to respond to them by working ‘bottom up’ with our partners designing and implementing solutions, extracting and publicising the lessons.
AECOOP is devoted to the social and economic integration of people into the labour market, especially of disadvantaged groups. The professional team of this private non-profit organisation believes in people as the most valuable resource for organisations and territorial development.
AECOOP researches on the causes of unemployment and develops solutions aimed at improving employment opportunities for people. These include career guidance, labour intermediation, qualification and lifelong learning for adults, entrepreneurship and innovation in organisations.
Employment
AECOOP was established with a core mission to support young people in the transition into the labour market, and since our foundation, we have implemented a wide range of effective and innovative provision in this field. Through the integration of employability and skills (e.g. apprenticeships). We also undertake new projects that are targeted to support those who are excluded or at risk or exclusion from the labour market due to various and multiple issues of disadvantage, including people with disabilities and those from minority and migrant communities.
Skills and Learnings
Whether it is training those that are out of work or supporting the skills and development of those at work, we have implemented a range of initiatives in the design, implementation and evaluation of skills, vocational education and lifelong learning programmes as well as the professional development of teachers, trainers, tutors, coaches, mentors and guidance staff, including leadership and management skills.
Our current work in this area includes the development and management of innovative vocational education and training partnerships; designing projects that deliver non-formal, informal and lifelong learning programmes; and pre-vocational and foundation learning initiatives.
New original apprenticeships tools
Innovative techniques for improving learning skills
New toolkits
Design and implementation of guidance and learning toolkits
Innovative teaching techniques
Develop new centers for qualification and evaluation
Competencies
Developing new competency frameworks for vocational educators
Train the Trainer programmes
We include qualification assessors and verifiers
Quality assurance
Quality assurance and evaluation of learning initiatives
Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries
A unique strand of our work is the work that we do with our partners from the arts, and the cultural and creative industries, who utilise artistic and cultural activity to:
New pathways
Create innovative pathways to economic and social inclusion
Employability
Develop new skills for new jobs and foster wider employability and skills
Talent
Nurture the ‘talent pool’ of young people who have been otherwise alienated by mainstream and ‘traditional’ educational experiences
Innovation
Run creative and innovative enterprise and employment programmes for entry into the Creative and Cultural Industries
Social Action and Enterprise
Having a ‘can-do’ attitude, overcoming challenges and implementing ideas is at the heart of effective community and economic development and is more important than ever in today’s tough economic climate. Knowing how to foster enterprise skills and enabling enterprising behaviour to flourish is critical for any organisation such as ours whether we are working with partners to develop new business start-up or business growth programmes, or whether we are developing new social action projects and volunteering initiatives to enable communities to have a greater say and a greater sense of ownership of their own affairs.
Our leading staff have designed and delivered innovative entrepreneurship programmes, social inclusion and capacity building initiatives that have benefitted a lot of pre- start and start-up businesses, voluntary groups and social enterprises.
Our current work in this area includes
- Business coaching for start-up and small businesses
- Entrepreneurship initiatives for young people
- Reaching communities
- Volunteering and social action initiatives
- Youth empowerment
- Capacity building and support for social enterprises
- Developing an international network of cultural industries and creative, non-formal learning partners
