Central Baltic Stories Episode 6: Tour4Youth – Empowering young people towards working life

In the sixth episode of Central Baltic Stories, Tiina Leino from Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK), lead partner in the Tour4Youth project, joined Finland’s national Contact Point to discuss how the project helped young people aged 15–24 build confidence, skills, and real work experience in the tourism, hospitality, and restaurant sectors. During the talk, project manager Tiina Leino shared how Tour4Youth addressed one of today’s key challenges: supporting young people who struggle to take their first steps into working life, especially in rural areas.

“Many young people face challenges entering working life. We wanted to build a bridge between them and employers”, explains Tiina Leino.

A three-step journey: Ready – Steady – Go

The Tour4Youth programme guided participants step by step towards employment:

• Ready: An English-language online course and personal coaching sessions helped young people build self-awareness, motivation, and job-seeking skills.
• Steady: Matchmaking and recruitment events brought youth and companies together, encouraging interaction and confidence.
• Go: Participants were supported in finding internships or jobs: sometimes hand-in-hand with mentors and project staff.

The results were impressive: over 120 young people completed the online course, 77 joined work placements, and more than 100 organisations offered internship opportunities. In Finland alone, over 570 young people took part in the recruitment events.

During the project, many participants found internships that led to paid jobs, others took part in international exchanges. For example, Finnish students gained experience in Latvia and Sweden, and international youth came to Finland.

“Seeing a shy young person grow into a confident employee – that’s the most rewarding part”, says Tiina.

Lasting results and growing networks

One of the project’s key outcomes is the openly available Tour4Youth online course (5 ECTS), which remains accessible to anyone interested in developing their career skills. SAMK has also adopted new ways of supporting and connecting students with employers, ensuring that the project’s lessons continue to make an impact.

“The commitment from companies and the courage of young people were truly inspiring. These encounters changed perspectives on both sides”, reflects Tiina.

🎧 Listen to the episode on Spotify and learn more about the Tour4Youth project and its results at Central Baltic | Tour4Youth and tour4youth.eu.

The Central Baltic Stories podcast explores cross-border cooperation, innovation, and community-building in the Central Baltic region. Hosted by Anne Jylhä, the national Contact Point in Finland, each episode features inspiring stories, interviews, and insights from project partners, experts, and change-makers.

Would you like to share your or your project’s story in the podcast? Please contact Anne at anne.jylha@uudenmaanliitto.fi. Episodes are recorded in Finnish and English.