CG ECMT Expert Team Shapes a New Career Guidance Strategy and Prepares Pilot Internships for Young People
As part of the international PATHS project (Personalized Approach to Territorial Life and Career Support), supported by the Interreg Danube Region programme, a series of three key meetings of the national expert and methodology team CG ECMT (Career Guidance Expert, Coordination and Methodology Team) has been successfully completed. The team brings together representatives of innovation centres, educational institutions, youth organisations and public administration with the aim of modernising career guidance for young people aged 12–18, particularly in regions at risk of talent drain.
From strategic anchoring to analysing needs on the ground
The first meeting of the expert team took place in person in February 2026 at the Scout Institute in Prague, with partners DEX Innovation Centre and CPKP Severní Morava taking part. The discussion focused on defining six strategic priorities: innovating vocational education for Industry 4.0, strengthening the competences of career counsellors, preventing early school leaving, supporting lifelong learning, promoting technical fields of study and connecting regional stakeholders. Emphasis was placed on developing modern tools such as the EduBox digital modules, talent diagnostic courses (e.g. Měj svůj směr) and competence frameworks for digital and green skills.
At the March meeting, the experts followed up with a detailed review of the analytical documents (SWOT and PESTEL analyses) and an interactive mapping of the barriers between schools and the labour market. The outputs clearly showed that rural and structurally disadvantaged areas struggle with a shortage of career counsellors and the fragmentation of existing initiatives. Representatives of the National Pedagogical Institute (NPI), educational organisations and universities confirmed the need to anchor the new LPSS (Life Path Support Service) methodology directly in the Framework Educational Programmes (RVP).
Co-creating key tools: Innovation camps and a Safe-Pack for internships
The third expert workshop took place at the end of June 2026 as an interactive collaboration on the MIRO platform, with ten key stakeholders from organisations such as the National Pedagogical Institute (NPI), JA Czech, Yourchance, Euroguidance Centre, the Institute for Social Innovation and the partner organisations CPKP and DEX IC. The main focus was on concrete tools that will be put into practice:
- Innovation camp concept: Preparing an experiential format that develops entrepreneurship, wellbeing and pupils' ability to solve real team challenges (Design Thinking, the Marshmallow Challenge, micro-projects), with families and parents directly involved in career decisions.
- Administrative package for internships (Safe-Pack): Creating a standardised set of contract and safety templates (including a school–parent–company tripartite agreement) that will free schools and employers from legal concerns about running short-term work placements and job shadowing for underage pupils.
- Turning field input into action: Validating the use of existing regional platforms and funding instruments (such as the OP JAK templates) to keep the services sustainable after project funding ends.
Next steps
The feedback and recommendations from the CG ECMT expert platform serve as direct input for finalising the PATHS National Strategy and Action Plan and for immediate deployment in the pilot regions in the Czech Republic and across the Danube Region.
The PATHS project (DRP0301100) is co-funded by the European Union under the Interreg Danube Region programme. This output reflects only the views of the authors; the managing authority and the joint secretariat of the programme are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
