COOPOWER Shares Cooperative Employment Practices at Back on Track Final Conference

On 17 June 2026, COOPOWER participated in the final conference of the Back on Track project, held in Timișoara, Romania, under the title “Navigating Transitions, Creating Futures: Supporting Young People into Meaningful Employment, Education and Training in Rural Areas.” The event brought together policymakers, employment experts, youth organisations, practitioners and project partners from across the Danube Region to discuss effective approaches for supporting young people facing barriers to employment, education and training.

Representing COOPOWER, Lily Yakova from the Center for the Study of Democracy participated in the conference's discussion and outlook session, presenting insights from the project’s work on cooperative employment practices and their potential to support young people, particularly those who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and other vulnerable youth.

The presentation focused on the importance of cooperation in addressing the complex and interconnected barriers that many young people face when transitioning into employment. While education providers, employment services, social services and employers often work separately, young people experience these challenges as a single journey. Cooperative employment practices seek to bridge these gaps by bringing together different stakeholders to create more coherent and supportive pathways into work.

Drawing on the experience of COOPOWER, the presentation highlighted the project's Quadruple Helix approach, which promotes collaboration between public authorities, education and training providers, employers and civil society organisations. By fostering cooperation among these actors, the project aims to develop more integrated and effective responses to youth employment challenges at the local level.

The presentation further explored how cooperative approaches can improve coordination between services, strengthen outreach to vulnerable young people, enhance the relevance of skills development activities and facilitate smoother transitions into employment. Examples from COOPOWER activities demonstrated how mentoring, workplace learning, employer engagement and job-matching support can be combined into integrated pathways that promote both employability and empowerment.

The conference provided a valuable opportunity to exchange experiences and lessons learned with organisations working on youth employment and social inclusion across Europe. It also reinforced a key message at the heart of COOPOWER: supporting young people effectively requires strong cooperation between institutions, sectors and communities. By working together and ensuring that support is available when young people are ready to engage, stakeholders can create more inclusive and sustainable pathways towards employment and social participation.