Connect’ED

The project at a glance

Key points

01/07/2024 - 30/06/2027

Duration
€4,046,486

Total budget

“Connect’ED” is an Interreg VI project dedicated to career guidance for secondary school pupils in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine.

Supported by the European Union and the Interreg Meuse-Rhine programme (NL-BE-DE), it is 50% funded by ERDF funds.

The project

What subjects interest me, and do I really want to go on to higher education at all? What job do I want to do? What jobs actually exist? These are just some of the questions young people face from a certain age. If these questions are not answered satisfactorily, the result is young adults who spend years searching for their path before finally deciding on a university course or vocational training. That is time today’s labour market does not have, because the shortage of skilled workers keeps getting worse in a wide range of sectors.

Connect’ED is the Euregional response to this problem: nine partners from across the Euregio are joining forces to offer pupils aged 14 to 18 a genuine alternative to existing career and university guidance.

The aim of the Interreg Meuse-Rhine project is both to connect businesses with schools and their pupils, and to organise further training for teachers, so that they can give their pupils a Euregional view of the labour market through the project’s products.

After all, if national borders did not exist in our Euregio, the Euregio Meuse-Rhine would be a metropolitan area offering the best conditions for young people starting out in their careers or studies.

What’s more, looking across borders reveals huge educational potential and an unexpectedly wide range of career options. Young people are thus offered a genuine alternative to looking for work or studying within their own country.

What makes it special?

The project does not give pupils questionnaires or standardised questions and answers in an interview. No!

Connect’ED speaks the language of young people: digital!

25 schools and 25 companies from the Euregio Meuse-Rhine are brought together,

university and career guidance becomes tangible, and pupils are introduced to future-oriented sectors in a motivating and innovative way, for example through

A mobile escape room
Virtual reality tours of companies in the Euregio
Cross-border (language) company visits
Lessons given by speakers from outside the school
Career guidance days
Access to training for teachers, so that pupils can make the most of Connect’ED’s products.

The role of the Euregio Meuse-Rhine

The Euregio Meuse-Rhine is the lead partner of the project. It will mainly play a coordinating role, take on project management tasks and ensure that the project receives the visibility it needs.