Facilitating student integration into employment

• Author: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission)
• Pages: 16-17

SOCIAL INNOVATION: INSPIRATIONAL PRACTICES

SUPPORTING PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES

16

© Riga Technicaluniversity, 2017

Student creative space at Riga Technical University Design Factory

Problem addressed

Young graduates oen struggle to f‌ind their f‌irst employment

opportunities. This is caused, in part, by limited work experience,

lack of a professional network and skill mismatches. In Latvia,

young people are almost twice as likely to be unemployed

compared to the rest of the population. Work-based learning

can be an efficient way of addressing labour market

imbalances, allowing young people to acquire valuable skills

to help them to land their f‌irst job. Nevertheless, access to

quality work-based learning opportunities remains unequal

across the EU.

Innovative solution

The Demola platform, established in 2014 in Finland,

connects companies with university students to give students

a chance to develop their skills, whilst providing a solution to

a company need. The main innovation of Demola is that it

presents students to companies as potential problem-solvers

instead of as young people in need of work experience.

Companies can submit a specif‌ic problem situation for

students to address. Students participate in teams in

problem-solving workshops, facilitated by university staf‌f.

Each team presents potential solutions to the company

in a f‌inal pitch session and, if it is interested, the company

can purchase one of the innovative solutions. The f‌inancial

compensation is then shared among the students.

Since 2016, the Demola platform in Latvia has been run by

the Riga Technical University (RTU) Design Factory and the

University of Latvia, with the support of the Investment and

Development Agency of Latvia. The universities primarily

liaise with companies and support the students’ work.

Key results and benef‌its

Since 2016, 625 students in total have applied to the project

in Latvia. Of these, 195 students from 15 dif‌ferent secondary

education institutes were eventually selected to participate in

50 dif‌ferent cases submitted by the participating companies.

One of the key benef‌its of this project is that students are

given the opportunity to gain practical experience in designing,

Facilitating student integration

into employment

Demola

Latvia