Invitation to Next-UP Living Lab kick-off, [November, 3 at 10.00-12.00, CET]

We warmly invite you to participate in the Next-UP Living Lab activities:

📍The Next-UP Living Lab, coordinated by Tampere University, serves as a mediating space for collaborative innovation. Through interactive workshops (e.g., World Café, Foresight Game, Policy Co-design), it facilitates dialogue among youth, educators and career services, employers and HR professionals, policy-makers and public officials, and youth-focused NGOs.

Below you can register for the
📍 Hybrid-mode Living Lab Kickoff Workshop: Tampere (Finland) & Online
📍 Join the NEXT-UP Living Lab Stakeholder Pool – Becoming part of a vibrant network contributing to 5 co-creation workshops and ongoing feedback across the project lifecycle.

Next-Up Living Lab kickoff program

Time: November, 3 at 10.00 – 12.00 (CET)

Venue: Pinni B building, Room 4125, Tampere University central campus (Kanslerinrinne, 1)

Online: Zoom link will be sent to registered participants

Registration by 31.10: https://forms.office.com/e/XTQ0QwwZqv

Time (CET)	Activity	Facilitators/Speakers
10.00 -10.15	Welcome, coffee, ice-breaker	prof. Yuzhuo Cai, Tampere University/The Education University of Hong Kong
10.15 – 10.20	Next-UP Living Lab what’s in it for me?	Yulia Shumilova, Tampere University
10.20 – 10.35	Keynote: Youth Voices on Employability Challenges and Opportunities in Tampere	Kertu Kajander, Tampere Youth Council, NUVA, President
10.40 – 12.00	World Café: interactive small-group discussions in rotating rounds* on: 1. Positive experiences and enablers of youth education-to-employment transitions in the post-COVID context (20 min) 2. Biggest hurdles that young people face when moving from education into employment: reflections on the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 (20 min) 3. Support services/programs are most needed to equip young people for today’s rapidly changing labour market (20 min) Conclusions – groups reconvene, facilitators summarise the insights from discussions (20 min)	Facilitators onsite: Table 1: Yuzhuo Cai Table 2: Yulia Shumilova Table 3:  (tbc.) Online – 3 breakout groups (facilitators will change rooms)

* World Café format: Participants rotate between three tables, each with a facilitator and one guiding question (20 minutes per round).

🎯 Why  join? 

Each stakeholder group will find its own benefits in joining the Living Lab workshops: 

👩‍🎓 Youth

• Share your real-life experiences and expectations 
• Influence the policies and programs that shape your career pathways 
• Connect with institutions, employers, NGOs  and decision-makers 

🎓 Educators & Career Services 

• Stay informed about policy trends and graduate labour market needs 
• Contribute your insights to improve education-to-work transitions 
• Learn from other institutions across Europe 

🏢 Employers & HR Professionals 

• Voice your needs and challenges in recruiting youth talent 
• Help shape future skill-development policies 
• Network with educators and policy-makers 

🏛️ Policy-makers & Public Sector Representatives 

• Gain early access to research evidence from across Europe 
• Consult with youth, employers, and educators directly 
• Co-create future policies that are grounded in real-world needs  

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