The European research project EDU-LAB, funded by Horizon Europe (grant agreement No 101177428), held the webinar ‘Voices of Youth in Transition’ on 7 October, devoted to what young people say about their transition from school to work. The session was coordinated and moderated by Filomena Parada, integrated researcher at CeiED – Lusófona University, the project’s national coordinator and, at European level, leader of the work devoted to hearing young people.

The webinar brought together around 60 participants and presented the first results of 12 case studies in Austria, Finland, Italy, Kosovo, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In her opening, Filomena Parada showed that around 700 young people aged 15 to 30 have already taken part in group discussions, and almost 500 in more than 200 participatory workshops where they themselves identified problems and proposed solutions. ‘In this study, young people are recognised as co-authors of the solutions to the challenges they themselves identify,’ she says.

The Portuguese results were presented by Taísa Oliveira and Natália Azevedo, research assistants on the project at Lusófona University. Drawing on work with young people in the Porto region and Santarém, they described pathways travelled ‘without a map’. Starting work feels like a shock: young people feel unprepared and run into the ‘experience paradox’, needing experience to get a job, but a job to gain experience. When they do find work, it is often precarious and unwelcoming. The weight of these difficulties falls mainly on their wellbeing, frequently without institutional support.

Teams from the other six countries painted similar pictures. In Finland, mental health emerged as a central concern; in the UK, young people criticised outdated career guidance; in Poland, they called for stronger labour rules. In Kosovo, young people show persistence in the face of institutional barriers; in Austria, young people outside education, employment or training spoke about the support they need; and in Italy, personal growth emerges as a driver of their pathways. The young people’s proposals, addressed to policymakers, schools and employers, were then discussed by Ingrid Schoon, of University College London and a member of the EDU-LAB advisory board, and Cynthia Harrison, of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training.

The full recording of the webinar is available on YouTube. The teams’ presentations and short proceedings with abstracts and the main points of the discussion will soon be published on the event page.

The project’s next webinar, ‘Governance of youth transitions to education and labour’, takes place on 10 December 2026 and will focus on policies supporting young people’s transitions. Registration is free.

EDU-LAB brings together 11 institutions from nine countries and runs until December 2027.

More information: edu-lab-project.eu