ESSENCE – Enhance Soft Skills to Nurture Competitiveness and Employability

The ESSENCE project aims to increase the employability of students by stimulating the development of soft skills. The aim of the project is to maximize their involvement in the labor market by offering career paths beyond the formal training offered in higher education. To meet the expectations of entrepreneurs and recruiters, courses related to the most desirable soft skills will be based on the employers’ perspective. ESSENCE aims to develop a full set of new soft skills among students and recent college graduates to complement, improve and enrich their education and employment competitiveness. ESSENCE collects an extensive sample of experiences, knowledge and practices represented by each partner involved. The unique experiences of the partners mean a unique opportunity to use the value system based on diversity. The project will be implemented by 7 partners from: Poland, Croatia, Italy, Belgium, Latvia, Bulgaria and Spain representing various environments (business / ICT, higher education institutions and non-governmental organizations) for 24 months. ESSENCE aims to reach the main target groups which include university students and young graduates, academics, higher education institutions, business trainers / mentors, entrepreneurs and SME representatives. The project’s products include an interactive online platform (OER platform) available to all interested parties also after the formal completion of the project in order to better use and valorize the planned results ESSENCE, a comprehensive catalog of training tools supporting university students in soft skills to increase employability, an online business dictionary in the form of concept maps as well as custom training for self-improvement and career development.