Adding rhythm to life – inclusion through group activities

Supporting unemployed people towards education and employment

Project Duration

1.9.2026 – 31.3.2029

Source of funding

European Social Fund (ESF+)

Total Funding

€267,993

The goal of the “Adding rhythm to life – inclusion through group activities” project is to strengthen the inclusion and well-being of the unemployed, increase cooperation among various stakeholders, and establish sustainable regional practices for implementing group activities. Unemployed individuals participate in the activities as active contributors and developers. Through group activities and co-development, the project seeks solutions to enhance well-being, a sense of self-efficacy, and employment opportunities. The project’s results will be compiled into a handbook for widespread use.

Target group

The target group of the project consists of unemployed adults living in the Southwest Finland region. Participants may include, for example, long-term unemployed individuals, people with an immigrant background, and unemployed persons facing health-related challenges

Objectives

Our objectives are to:  

• Support the inclusion and well-being of unemployed people through group-based activities and provide them with opportunities to participate in the development of these activities.
• Enable cooperation among regional experts in creating a group-based operating model for unemployed people.
• Establish a sustainable regional operating approach in the project areas to ensure the continuation of group activities beyond the project period.

Group Activities

The project will organize group activities designed to support participants’ well-being, work ability, and functional capacity. The aim is to strengthen unemployed people’s inclusion, personal resources, and sense of self-efficacy in order to improve their opportunities for education and employment. The group activities will utilize, among other approaches, nature-based methods as well as solution-focused and strengths-based practices. A total of 70 participants will take part in the group activities.

Expert Collaboration

The project will also facilitate collaboration among professionals from different fields through workshop activities. These experts will contribute to the ideation and planning of group activities to develop and implement approaches that meet local needs. In addition, they will participate in the evaluation and further development of the activities in their respective regions. The goal is to create a regional operating model that enables the continuation of group-based activities after the project has ended.

A handbook will be published as a result of the project

As a project output, a nationally accessible handbook will be published for organizations and professionals working with unemployed people. The handbook will describe methods for the co-development of group activities and outline the development process. It will support different organizations in enhancing their services for unemployed people by promoting inclusion, participation, and collaborative planning at the regional level.l.