Next-UP

NEXT-UP Horizon Europe project (2025-2028) addresses the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on youth transitions from education to employment (YTSTW), with a special focus on growing inequalities and labour market shifts across Europe. The project integrates the Quadruple Helix Model for social innovation with concepts such as youth agency, intersectionality, and policy learning to enhance the theoretical and practical understanding of youth transitions from education to employment (YTSTW) processes. The project’s research design includes the Living Lab approach, machine learning, psychometric surveys, longitudinal interviews, and agent-based modeling. Building on lessons from the COVID-19 experience and the identified emerging labour market trends, we will develop the typologies of education-to-work transitions and forecast the potential skills gaps to inform our foresight activities. We will collaborate with policymakers, youth, educators, and employers to co-develop actionable, evidence-informed, and future-proof policy recommendations. These recommendations aim to support young people in their transition from education and training to employment, promote social and geographical mobility, and mitigate the risks of youth unemployment, underemployment, and social exclusion.