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Asociația pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă Slatina
ALMA Network by ADDS: Building Bridges Between Young People in Romania and Opportunities Across Europe
digix
octombrie 7, 2026
4:11 pm

The Association for Sustainable Development Slatina (ADDS) has launched ALMA Network by ADDS, an open European community that brings together organisations, host institutions, employers and young people in Romania around a shared goal: turning transnational mobility into real pathways towards work, education and inclusion.

For a young person who has left school early, struggled to find a first job, experienced repeated setbacks in employment or gradually lost confidence in their ability to find a place in the labour market, the distance to meaningful opportunities is rarely only about skills or qualifications. It may also reflect discouragement, unsuccessful attempts to enter or remain in employment, limited access to guidance, difficult personal circumstances or the absence of an environment in which they can rediscover their abilities and potential. For many young people in Romania, the challenge is not simply finding an opportunity, but regaining the confidence, motivation and support needed to pursue one.

Across Europe, there are organisations ready to help create such opportunities. Youth workers, training providers, social enterprises and employers in other countries are looking for partners with whom to welcome, mentor and support young people from abroad. Very often, however, the two sides never meet.

ALMA Network by ADDS was created to change that. It is a space where those who build opportunities, those who host them and those who need them can find each other, talk and start working together.

A challenge Romania cannot ignore

Romania continues to have the highest share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in the European Union.

According to Eurostat data for 2025, 19.2% of young people aged 15 to 29 in Romania were neither working nor participating in education or training, compared with an EU average of 11.0%. In practical terms, almost one in five young Romanians in this age group remains disconnected from both the labour market and educational opportunities.

The situation reflects a persistent structural challenge. While the European Union has made substantial progress over the past decade, reducing its average NEET rate from 15.2% in 2015 to 11.0% in 2025, Romania continues to experience significantly higher levels of youth exclusion. Despite a slight improvement compared with 2024, when the national NEET rate stood at 19.4%, the gap remains substantial.

National averages also hide deep territorial and social inequalities. Regional analyses based on 2024 data reveal significant differences between major urban centres and less developed areas, including parts of southern Romania. Young women, young people with low levels of education and those living in disadvantaged communities face particular barriers to entering employment or continuing education.

Past experience points to a clear lesson: funding is necessary, but not sufficient. Significant European resources have been invested in youth employment in Romania, yet structural barriers to inclusion remain. Reaching young people who are disconnected from existing support systems and accompanying them throughout their transition towards employment or education requires more than isolated interventions.

What makes the difference is the quality and continuity of support: personalised guidance, real work experience, mentoring, opportunities to rebuild confidence and develop practical skills, and follow-up over time.

ALMA: a European answer built on mobility

ALMA (Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve) is an initiative of the European Commission, supported through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), designed to promote the active inclusion of disadvantaged young people who are not in employment, education or training.

The ALMA model is built around three connected stages:

  1. Preparation at home. Participants receive personalised guidance, coaching, training and support in their own country, helping them develop the skills, motivation and readiness needed to benefit from an international learning experience.
  2. A supervised learning experience abroad. Young people spend a period, typically between two and six months, in another EU Member State, undertaking work-related learning placements in companies or other organisations. These experiences are facilitated through cooperation with host organisations and accompanied by mentoring, guidance and practical support.
  3. Follow-up after return. Back home, participants receive continued assistance in using their newly acquired skills and experience to take the next step towards employment, an apprenticeship, further training or a return to education.

What distinguishes ALMA from other mobility schemes is its focus on young people who often remain outside traditional international opportunities: those with insufficient qualifications, limited resources, disabilities, long periods of unemployment or other circumstances that make access to work and education particularly difficult.

For them, a structured experience abroad can build practical skills, self-confidence, autonomy and intercultural understanding, and above all a clearer picture of what their future could look like.

ALMA is therefore not simply about mobility. It is about using mobility as an instrument for inclusion, learning and sustainable personal and professional development.

The Missing Link: Partnerships

The potential of ALMA depends not only on available funding but on something less visible: the ability of organisations in different countries to find each other, trust each other and work together.

An ALMA mobility cannot happen without a chain of partners.A sending organisation must identify, prepare and accompany young people. A host organisation in another country must help identify and organise suitable work-based learning placements, cooperate with local employers and institutions, facilitate appropriate living arrangements and ensure that participants receive mentoring, guidance and practical support throughout their stay. Mentors, employers, training providers and other relevant stakeholders must work together, with a shared understanding of objectives, roles, responsibilities and quality standards.

In practice, building such a chain is often one of the most demanding parts of developing a successful transnational initiative. Smaller organisations, especially those working closest to vulnerable young people, frequently lack international contacts, information about funding opportunities or the resources needed to identify reliable partners. At the same time, potential host organisations, employers and professional networks may be willing to contribute to mobility experiences but may not know where to find appropriate cooperation partners or how to become involved.

The result is a paradox: the need exists, the willingness to cooperate exists and European instruments exist, but the connections that would turn them into concrete projects are often missing.

ALMA Network by ADDS was designed precisely to help bridge this gap.

About ADDS

The Association for Sustainable Development Slatina (Asociația pentru Dezvoltare Durabilă Slatina – ADDS) is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organisation with more than two decades of experience in designing and implementing initiatives for people, organisations and communities.

Its work is based on an integrated vision of sustainable development, bringing together economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions. ADDS aims to unlock human potential, strengthen organisational capacity and create real development opportunities.

The association works with individuals, employers, civil society organisations, public institutions and other stakeholders to turn identified needs into concrete programmes, projects and interventions, adapted to changes in society and the labour market. Drawing on its longstanding experience in community development, skills development, project implementation and institutional cooperation, ADDS promotes approaches that connect individual opportunities with organisational capacity, social inclusion and sustainable community development.

This experience provides the foundation for the organisation's involvement in developing new European cooperation frameworks and initiatives aimed at expanding access to learning, mobility and professional opportunities.

Why ADDS Started the Network

Drawing on its longstanding experience in community development, skills development and cooperation with diverse stakeholders, ADDS recognises the importance of connecting organisations that can create opportunities with people who need access to them. ALMA Network by ADDS was launched to connect these two realities.

Within the network, ADDS acts as initiator and facilitator. It identifies and invites relevant European stakeholders, encourages the exchange of information and good practices, supports the development of transnational partnerships and raises awareness among young people in Romania about European mobility opportunities. In parallel, ADDS is developing cooperation frameworks and project proposals aligned with the European ALMA initiative, focusing on personalised support, work-based learning, mentoring, skills development and sustainable pathways towards employment and education.

The network reflects a conviction at the heart of ADDS's work: European cooperation is not an abstract concept, but a practical instrument for expanding opportunities for people and communities facing barriers to participation.

More Than a Social Media Group

The community currently meets in a dedicated Facebook group, chosen as an accessible and familiar communication platform for organisations, professionals and young people. But the group is the meeting point of a broader cooperation initiative, not the initiative itself.

Within the group, members can introduce their organisations and professional interests, share information about ALMA and other relevant European opportunities, identify potential cooperation partners, exchange resources and good practices, and engage in discussions with others working in similar fields. The group is intended to encourage direct communication and make it easier for interested organisations and individuals to establish initial contacts.

As the community develops, ADDS aims to encourage connections that may lead to more structured cooperation, including joint project ideas, transnational partnerships and mobility opportunities for young people. Depending on the interests and contributions of its members, the network may also provide a framework for thematic exchanges, online meetings, sharing practical resources and facilitating contacts between sending and host organisations.

ALMA Network by ADDS is conceived as an evolving community in which information can become dialogue, dialogue can become cooperation, and cooperation can generate new opportunities.

An Open Invitation

Behind every statistic there is a young person whose potential is still waiting for the right opportunity. Such opportunities emerge when people and organisations are able to connect across geographical, institutional and professional boundaries.

Whether you represent an organisation looking for transnational partners, a host organisation interested in supporting mobility placements, an employer willing to contribute to work-based learning, or you are a young person curious about what Europe can offer, ALMA Network by ADDS is open to you.

Join ALMA Network by ADDS and help build bridges between young people in Romania and opportunities across Europe.

Join our Facebook community:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1643720934065280

Contact ADDS:
alma.network.adds@gmail.com

Ramona Andreea Georgescu
ALMA Transnational Officer
Association for Sustainable Development Slatina (ADDS)

ALMA Network by ADDS is an independent networking and cooperation initiative created by the Association for Sustainable Development Slatina (ADDS) in the context of the European ALMA initiative. It is not an official European Commission network. Participation in the community does not automatically guarantee access to funded mobility programmes.

Sources and Further Information

Category : ALMA Network