NEETWorks Rural Neet Youth Network

The next decade will bring considerable changes to economies and societies. On one hand, the side-effects of the COVID-19 combined with the uncertainties coming out of the war in the Ukraine will certainly affect globalization, mobilities and policy-making at national and international levels. On the other hand, the succession of crisis show the importance of shifting societies to greener, more sustainable societies, supported for ever more sophisticated technologies. We are, therefore, facing a transition between eras with all the transformative energy, but also with all the destructive power that transitions bring attached.

Mark Brennan, a professor of Sociology at Penn State University and a UNESCO Chair in Community, Leadership, and Youth Development closes our podcast series with a broad reflection about young people dreams, expectations and similarities across the world.

Our guest argues that massive technological changes as well as the need for a more sustainable way of life may represent a tremendous opportunity for rural communities. If this scenario is confirmed, rural people can have a pivotal role in reshaping rural ways of life.







(Contains excerpts of "Dream Come True": https://bit.ly/3iZdeMd , "Little Idea": https://bit.ly/3JW5LJV and "Think BIG": https://bit.ly/3J9Np7b , all by Scott Holmes Music, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 )

School to work transitions should have as an end goal to achieve a decent job. Decent jobs depend on multiple institutional and social arrangements as well as on key individual factors. However, the definition of decent work seems to still overfocus on job conditions such as income. On the other hand, for younger generations, especially those from marginalized groups, decent jobs are hard to reach.

In this episode, Jonas Masdonati shares with us the concept of decent work. He discusses how this notion stems from both the need to find stable, legal, and well paid jobs, but also to find personal and social meaning in work.

Our guest points out how career development and career choices among younger generations will increasingly involve sustainability dimensions, something that will shape the future of work.







(Contains excerpts of "Dream Come True": https://bit.ly/3iZdeMd , "Little Idea": https://bit.ly/3JW5LJV and "Think BIG": https://bit.ly/3J9Np7b , all by Scott Holmes Music, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 )

According to the Eurostat, in 2020, across the EU27 member-states, the proportion of NEETs was higher in rural regions when compared with the same rate in cities. More importantly, a substantial uneven NEET distribution by the degree of urbanization was evident in many Eastern countries such as Bulgaria or Romania or Southern countries such as Greece. In these countries, gaps between cities and rural areas ranged from 10 to more than 20 percentual points.

The research community is reacting slowly to this trend. A recent bibliometric review confirms that from 324 papers focusing on NEETs published on the Web of Science, between 2002 and 2021, only 16 focused on rural NEETs.

Paul Flynn from Ireland and Emre Erdogan from Turkey offer a summary of the special issue “Challenges Associated With European Rural NEETs Youth Inclusion” promoted by the Rural NEET Youth Network.

An important message coming out of this episode is that rural NEETs deserve to be considered as specific subgroup of NEETs, to the huge territorial disparities between urban and rural areas across Europe. These differences come to affect greatly youth future prospects.





(Contains excerpts of "Dream Come True": https://bit.ly/3iZdeMd , "Little Idea": https://bit.ly/3JW5LJV and "Think BIG": https://bit.ly/3J9Np7b , all by Scott Holmes Music, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 )

Being a young person not in Employment or in Education and Training, a.k.a. NEETs is a risk factor leading to worst mental health. Some authors dispute, however, that being NEET is a risk factor for mental health issues, creating a myth that these youths are in a worst psychological condition. In any case, Rural NEETs struggle more to get access to mental healthcare services. Frida Jonsson, a researcher from Umeo University of Sweden, discusses in this episode how can rural neets mental health needs be addressed, in particular how much those needs changed with the pandemic.

This and other questions like if the digitalization of health care can improve service provision in rural regions and the pros and cons of this process are taken in account in an episode that can be listened in full at rnyobservatory.eu





(Contains excerpts of "Dream Come True": https://bit.ly/3iZdeMd , "Little Idea": https://bit.ly/3JW5LJV and "Think BIG": https://bit.ly/3J9Np7b , all by Scott Holmes Music, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 )

COVID-19 seems to have accelerated the need and demand for the digitalization of public services. On the other hand, international bodies such as the European Union are pushing forward for the improvement of citizens’ digital skills. For instance, by 2025, it is expected that the share of low-achieving eighth-graders in computer and information literacy should be less than 15%. In this talk, Łukasz Tomczyk from the University of Macerata in Italy, discusses how can digitalization support young people to achieve their educational goals, especially vulnerable people like rural NEETs

Other aspects are discussed in this episode, namely how can digital tools and skills contribute to ease the school to work transition.





(Contains excerpts of "Dream Come True": https://bit.ly/3iZdeMd , "Little Idea": https://bit.ly/3JW5LJV and "Think BIG": https://bit.ly/3J9Np7b , all by Scott Holmes Music, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 )

As a COST Action, Rural NEET Youth Network is committed with involving more people in developing in-depth knowledge about rural young people, especially the most vulnerable ones.

Emerging, talented young researchers can help to move forward this aim across Europe in areas such as spatial mobility, young people’s social networks, or their transition from school to work in the countryside.

How can COST Actions support young researchers in developing their research careers? What are the tools available out there to help them excel? And How has the Rural NEET Youth Network manage to promote these goals? These topics are discussed with Alen Mujcinovic, a researcher from the University of Sarajevo that shares in this talk how did COST Actions, and specifically Rural NEET Youth Network, contribute to his professional and personal development.







(Contains excerpts of "Dream Come True": https://bit.ly/3iZdeMd , "Little Idea": https://bit.ly/3JW5LJV and "Think BIG": https://bit.ly/3J9Np7b , all by Scott Holmes Music, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 )