The guide helps teachers develop supportive learning environments that focus on the voices and needs of all students and explore possibilities for informed career choices. This is complemented by a set of training videos with practical tips for supporting specific groups of vulnerable or marginalised students.
Resources to help young people make positive choices
These evidence-based free resources were created using a participatory design approach. Have you already used the resources? Please give us your feedback.
Resources for Parents & Carers
The guide for parents and carers illustrates how the world of work has changed, and the implications this change has on young people’s career choices. It contains helpful advice on how to support young people when they are thinking about future careers, with examples and suggested activities.
Resources for Young People
The interactive online game helps young people discover their skills and explore possible future jobs and careers. Using a space scenario, players travel between several weird and wonderful planets to find out more about themselves. The helpful professor then recommends jobs based on their skills.
Project News
DesignMyFuture is an EU-funded initiative that aims to reduce early school leaving, promote positive decision making and prevent young people from entering the job market with insufficient skills. The initiative was funded from 2019 until 2022 to produce the set of resources. Since then, project partners continue to promote and further develop these resources.
Talks from the Project Conference now available online
The DesignMyFuture project concluded at the end of 2022 and to celebrate and share the project outcomes, we hosted a free hybrid conference at Universidade Lusíada, Porto, on 13 December 2022. You can now access these videos and learn about what motivated us and how we created these important resources.
The Final Conference: a reminder to trust the process
The DesignMyFuture Erasmus+ project is a three-year project which aspired to create resources that would support all young people to make more informed choices about their future careers. When the consortium began the project back in 2019, the team had no idea that within months the world would be turned upside down with the advent…
Multiplier Event in Slovenia
As part of the international DesignMyFuture project activities, we organised an online event for educators on 1 December 2022 at the Slovenian National Institute of Education, where we presented new materials on reducing early school leaving among young people aged 14-17, aimed at teachers and other school professionals. More than 70 teachers and other educators…
UK Multiplier Event – enthusiasm and learnings
On 6 December project partners Ahead Partnership and Leeds Beckett University hosted the DesignMyFuture UK Multiplier Event in Leeds. 50 young people aged 11-16 years old and school staff from the Leeds Learning Alliance attended the event at Carr Manor Community School to find out more about the project and get a first look at…
Conferência DesignMyFuture: Promoção de escolhas informadas para todos os jovens
O projecto DesignMyFuture conclui no final de 2022 e para celebrar e partilhar os resultados do projecto, organizamos uma conferência híbrida gratuita na Universidade Lusíada, Porto, a 13 de Dezembro de 2022. Leia sobre a conferência em: Inglês Esloveno O DesignMyFuture visa reduzir o abandono escolar precoce, promover a tomada de decisões positivas e evitar…
DesignMyFuture Conference: Promoting Informed Choices for All Young People
The DesignMyFuture project concludes at the end of 2022 and to celebrate and share the project outcomes, we host a free hybrid conference at Universidade Lusíada, Porto, on 13 December 2022. Read about the conference in: Slovenian Portuguese DesignMyFuture aims to reduce early school leaving, promote positive decision making and prevent young people across Europe…
Vabilo za učitelje: delavnica 1. decembra
Spoštovani učitelji in učiteljice! Na Zavodu RS za šolstvo pripravljamo smernice za učitelje in druge strokovne delavce, ki nastajajo v sklopu mednarodnega projekta DesignMyFuture – Opolnomočenje mladih za premišljene izobraževalne in karierne odločitve. Cilj naših prizadevanj je strokovno podpreti mlade v starosti od 14 do 17 let, da sprejmejo premišljene karierne odločitve, dokončajo šolanje oz….
Project partner meeting set for Porto in December 2022
We are delighted to confirm that the final project partner meeting is set for 12 December 2022 at Universidade Lusíada do Porto in Portugal, hosted by PIN – Partners in Neuroscience. This will be swiftly followed by the DesignMyFuture Final Conference on 13 December. At the final project meeting all of the partners will be…
Chasing lights in Tromsø – October 2022
It was my first time in Norway. As soon as I arrived in Tromsø my wish was to go chasing the aurora borealis. I had already seen them on the internet, either in photos or videos. Just like so many other things you can see on the internet, but you feel it’s not the same….
Research phase: Parents and carers – paths are made by walking
Throughout our lives we realise that the decisions are always there. And if at the beginning of the path we have some people who decide for us and a little later advise us on the decisions to take. In adulthood we feel that most of the decisions are made for us. And that many of…
Project partner meeting set for Tromsø in October 2022
We are delighted to confirm that the next project partner meeting is set for 10 – 12 October 2022 at UiT The Arctic University of Norway at their Tromsø campus. At this next project meeting all of the partners will be working on completing the teacher and parent guides (Project Intellectual Outputs IO3 and IO4) as…
Partner Meeting in Lisbon June 2022
Earlier this month all of the DesignMyFuture partners flew to Lisbon to take part in a project partner meeting hosted by PIN – partners in neuroscience. With the research phase of the project completed, the two days of meetings focused on finalising teacher and parent/carer guides (Project Intellectual Outputs IO3 and IO4) based on the…
Parents/carers from across Europe are invited to be part of the research stage for DesignMyFuture in 2021
Parents and carers of young people aged 14 – 25 years old who are currently attending secondary school or have left school in the last five years are invited to take part in the research for DesignMyFuture. Parents and carers are asked to complete a survey which asks for views on how they feel their…
Research Phase: How did we reach young people with our research questions during the pandemic?
As part of the DesignMyFuture project, throughout the summer period Ahead Partnership have been working with our international project partners to collect data from young people aged 14-25 years old about their skills, learning preferences, ideas on future careers, how they find out about careers and their favourite types of apps and games to help inform the…
Research phase: How did we reach teachers with our research questions during the pandemic?
In anticipation of Slovenia’s EU presidency, the National Education Institute has been paving the way for the future of young people from vulnerable social groups In adolescence, the youth are faced with numerous changes and aspects of growing up that play a significant part in shaping their identity. Another considerable influence in this regard is…
Young people from across Europe are invited to be part of the research stage for DesignMyFuture in 2021
Young people aged 14 – 25 years old who are currently attending secondary school or have left school in the last five years are invited to take part in the research for DesignMyFuture. Young people are asked to complete a survey which asks for views on how they learn about their skills and future careers…
Design our Future after COVID-19: UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Winter is now (finally) on its way out here in the North of Norway above the Arctic Circle and, while there have been a few local outbreaks of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, we have been fortunate not to experience any significant second or third wave and thus have avoided any more extensive lockdowns. Norway is quietly…
Design Our Future after Covid-19: Leeds Beckett University
In March 2020, the UK government issued advice to all schools, colleges and universities that they should immediately stop face to face teaching and research activity due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 throughout the UK. This sudden move to digital provision of teaching was challenging for all university staff and students. At Leeds…
Being part of the pandemic, and DesignMyFuture
If there is anything we have discovered over the past year, it is that we are a part of it. Many will say that this was not new, since they have always been part of a family, school, group of friends or even a football club. Not to mention being part of the human species….
Teachers from across Europe are invited to be part of the research stage for DesignMyFuture in 2021
Secondary school teachers are invited to take part in the research for DesignMyFuture by completing a survey which asks for your views on how young people learn about their skills and future careers. The survey is completed online and available in several languages so that participants can respond no matter where they are currently working…
Design Our Future after Covid-19: National Education Institute Slovenia (NEI)
In March Slovenia switched from face-to-face to distance education virtually overnight. Most educators tackled the new conditions with great zeal, dedication and professionalism. We stepped up together, learned from each other and helped each other. We believe in solidarity and worked to the best of our ability. A number of teachers at all levels, specialist…
Design Our Future after Covid-19: CESIE
Everyone has to face and handle all types of situations in his/her lifetime, and we eventually learn that there are things we can do something about, and others that we can do nothing about. The initial spread of Covid-19 virus falls definitely into the latter category. Back in March, when Italy was the first European…
Life during Covid-19: Ahead Partnership
When we started this project, little did we know what would be round the corner. It is probably unnecessary to say that 2020 has brought one major surprise to all of us and has changed the very way we all live, work and learn. In the UK, schools/colleges/nurseries and many businesses closed at the end…
Partner Introduction: UiT and Teacher Training Materials
UiT The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) is the northernmost university in the world, and the third largest university in Norway offering education from bachelor to PhD level across a broad selection of subject areas. The university has around 16,500 students and 3,500 staff members located in six campuses across Northern Norway, with the main…
Partner Introduction: National Education Institute Slovenia (NEI) and Guide for Teachers
The National Education Institute (NEI) is a national authority which performs research and development tasks by linking theory and practice to formulate various conceptual solutions in the field of education. The NEI covers all levels of pre-university education, including about 30,000 teachers on a national level. It is organized in nine regional units and employs…
Partner Introduction: Progresso Infantil (PIN) and Guide for Parents
PIN are just one of the partners working on the DesignMyFuture project over the next three years. PIN’s work on this project is led by Pedro Rodrigues, Clinical Psychologist. Since September 2012 we’ve been bringing together an experienced and cohesive team, of recognized merit inside and outside Portugal, united around the ideal of serving families…
Partner Introduction: CESIE and Evaluation
CESIE is one of the partners working on the DesignMyFuture project over the next three years. CESIE’s work on this project is led by Giorgia Scuderi, Project Manager, and Irene Pizzo, School Unit Coordinator. CESIE is a European Centre of Studies and Initiatives based in Palermo, Sicily. It was established in 2001, inspired by the…
Partner Introduction: Ahead Partnership and Project Dissemination
Ahead Partnership are just one of the partners working on the DesignMyFuture project over the next three years. Ahead Partnership’s work on this project is led by Sophie Greenwood, Head of Operations, and Lola Wilson, Marketing & Communications Manager. For 15 years Ahead Partnership has been bringing communities together by addressing their needs, tailoring solutions…
Project kick-off meeting in Leeds, November 2019
DesignMyFuture aims to reduce early school leaving, promote positive decision making and prevent young people from entering the job market with insufficient skills. The project was officially started, or “kicked off”, in Leeds (UK) on 28 and 29 November 2019. 15 partners from 6 organisations in 5 countries came together to confirm their roles and…
A welcome from the project leaders
Welcome to Design My Future, an Erasmus+ funded project that will help young people, predominantly from marginalised groups, as they plan to make the transition from compulsory schooling towards future positive destinations. We will use games, guides for professionals and training to help the young people and those who support them. The 3-year 400k Euro…