Members of the CLEAR research project have met in Genoa, Italy, on September 11-13, 2024, for the fifth Consortium meeting. Hosted by the University of Genoa in the splendid Palazzo Lercari-Parodi, the meeting was devoted to discuss the findings from the empirical fieldwork conducted early this year, develop a roadmap for the upcoming comparative analyses and prepare the researchers for the planned participatory events – the Innovation Forums.
We have started the Consortium meeting on September 11. Partners from Codici (Milan, Italy) have prepared and conducted a series of small-group workshops on all relevant topics around Innovation Forums. Partners have been involved as active members of the workshops, discussing the preparation, implementation, and evaluation of the Innovation Forums, focusing in particular on their main objectives and possible side-effects. Issues regarding safety, ethical conduct, organisation and arrangement of rooms, but also the identification of and communication with various stakeholders have been discussed.
During the second day, September 12, we have resumed the main research findings from the empirical fieldwork. Together, we have conducted over 160 narrative interviews with young people, especially those in vulnerable positions, and more than 100 interviews with professionals of education and employment policies. We have also reviewed more than 500 pieces of grey literature (curriculum plans, statistical assessments, white books, policy evaluation reports) and conducted online expert survey with nearly 500 policy experts at national and regional level. The massive amount of data has been partly analysed and reported to the Commission. Yet, the main evaluation, comparison and reporting period is ahead of us. For this reason, the second half of the meeting was about discussing how to approach and account for the complexity of the data gathered.
The last day of the meeting, September 13, has started with a group workshop. Divided into several groups, the project members have brainstormed and discussed how the project’s overall objectives and main research questions could be best addressed and how the data collected can be utilised to deliver extant knowledge to various audiences, including research, policy and practice. As a result, Partners have drafted a number of focal points that need to be targeted in our comparative analyses. During the closing session, Lisbeth Lundal (Umeå University, Sweden), who is part of our External Advisory Board, has shared with us her observation and feedback, pointing at the necessity to think outside the box when putting the various pieces together.
The meeting was closed with a view to refine the strategy for comparative analyses and draft discussion papers for the Innovation Forums that would provide a narrative description of the findings at national, regional and local levels. The next Consortium meeting will be held in March 2025 and will be hosted by colleagues from Porto, Portugal.