On 20 January 2025, the Horizon Europe Project Next-Up had its kick-off meeting at the ECIU partner university Tampere University. The 3.5-year project investigates the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on youth employability.

In "Navigating the Next Normal: Innovative Approaches to Enhancing Youth’s Education-Employment Transitions in Post-COVID-19 Europe" (NEXT-UP) brings together the following ECIU partners:

1. Tampere University, Finland (Coordinator)
2. University of Stavanger, Norway
3. University of Aveiro, Portugal
4. University of Twente, Netherlands
5. Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
6. University of Trento, Italy

Heidelberg University (Germany) and Tallinn University (Estonia), the Center for Research in Higher Education Policies (Portugal), the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Austria) and the National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (SAMOK) (Finland) are project partners, supported by an international advisory board:

NEXT-UP aims to explore and forecast the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the transition of youth from school/education to work/employment (YTSTW). The project emphasises inclusivity, particularly supporting disadvantaged groups for equitable job access. It integrates the Quadruple Helix Model for social innovation with concepts of agency between employability and employer-ability, intersectionality, and policy learning.

Press release from Tampere University.