‘Viveuropa CyL’ will help almost 100 young people from Castilla y León improve their level of employability
Work experience is the most direct manner of obtaining experience and know-how about the internal workings of organisations. Proficiency in another language, especially English, also opens doors. These two factors increase young people’s employability prospects and are the basis of programmes such as Erasmus+ or the Global Training grants. The government of Castilla y León, in cooperation with the universities of Salamanca, Burgos, León, and Valladolid, has decided to create its own programme.
Known as ‘Viveuropa CyL’, this mobility programme dedicated to improving people’s skills and employability prospects will give 96 young people the chance to obtain work experience in European enterprises and study languages so that when they return to their region, they will have a better chance of opening a business or finding a job in local companies. This programme is aimed at young people from Castilla y León who have studies and are registered with the Youth Guarantee System as well as people under the age of 30 who have been unemployed for a long time or are at risk of social exclusion.
The programme will take place in two stages. It will begin with a stay of up to five months in any EU member state to obtain work experience in companies or institutions, which will be selected by the universities, and, at the same time, the participants will receive English language classes. In a second stage, once they are back in Castilla y León, participants will be given the option of gaining work experience in local companies. The reason for this is to try to stop the depopulation of this region.
With a budget of 670,000 euros, ‘Viveuropa CyL’ will add to other European mobility initiatives developed in 2016 although with certain improvements, such as the work experience period has been extended from three to five months, participants will be given English classes, and the programme now covers the entire European Union instead of only four countries in the past.
Applications can now be submitted through the website www.viveuropa.es. The universities will be in charge of selecting the candidates through their foundations by means of personal interviews. One aspect that will be highly valued is fluency in the language of the country where the work experience is going to take place or at least a certain level of English.
