Building bridges to careers: participation in the BRIDGES project
My professional career as a Career Counsellor has taught me that every young child, regardless of where they grow up, deserves access to quality guidance, information and empowerment. This is why my involvement in the new project BRIDGES (Building Relationships, Inspiring Development, Guiding Empowerment and Sustainability) of the Laboratory of Counselling Science and Career Counselling at the University of Athens is not only a professional success but also a deep personal commitment.
The funding of BRIDGES from the Erasmus+ 2025 gives us the opportunity to work with students from remote areas of Greece, Italy and Spain. In collaboration with schools in Ithaca, Sicily and Andalusia, we aspire to create "bridges" for sustainable professional development, so that geographical location ceases to be a barrier and becomes a springboard of opportunities.
Why is BRIDGES important?
The literature points out, and experience confirms, that young people living in remote areas often associate their career dreams with the possibility of moving to a large urban centre (Alexander & Fuqua, 2024). This raises dilemmas: to leave for more opportunities or to stay in place, accepting limited options. This is precisely where BRIDGES focuses: on highlighting local specificities as advantages and empowering students to envision a "good life" that is not necessarily synonymous with urbanisation.
The project has clear Targets:
- Strengthen the capacity of schools and organisations to offer inclusive activities that equip young people with tools for sustainable career choices.
- Raise awareness of the concept of sustainable careers, reducing over-reliance on short-term professions - especially of the tourist type.
- To strengthen the digital skills teachers and provide them with innovative guidance practices, with an emphasis on strengthening young people's critical thinking.
- Promote international cooperation, exchange of good practices and implementation of innovations in countries with similar profiles and challenges (Greece, Italy, Spain).
Similarly, the deliverables of the project are equally important:
- Development educational material and methodologies for teachers.
- Creation of a Digital Career Guidance Platform, specifically designed for the needs of isolated communities.
- Organization face-to-face visits and practical actions that will bring students, teachers and communities closer together around the issue of sustainable careers.
- Implementation workshops for students, where career paths beyond traditional industries will be explored.
In all this, BRIDGES is not limited to a one-off intervention; it creates infrastructure, resources and methodologies that will remain useful after the project ends. Its importance is thus not only pedagogical but also strategic: it shapes a a sustainable guidance ecosystem at local and international level.
The experience from the actions of the Workshop
The Laboratory of Counselling Science and Career Counselling of the University of Athens has already demonstrated the value of extroversion. Through educational interventions in schools in Ithaca, Kasos, Amorgos and many other islands, the intervention team has experienced the power that a teenager gains when he/she discovers his/her strengths, is informed about career paths and is encouraged to plan his/her future with hope.
(*) The qualitative and quantitative findings of the interventions are encouraging: high rates of satisfaction, increased self-awareness and confidence, enhanced goal orientation. As students typically report: "I'm more clear about my choices and I feel more oriented" ή "I was worried, but I feel more optimistic about the future". It is these voices that motivate us to continue.
(*) Katerina, Argyropoulou & Vrettou, Anastasia & Karavia, Aspasia & Belki, Penelope & Haidemenaki, Olympia. (2025). Treating geographical location as an opportunity for new career horizons. In NEA PADEA, Vol. 193-194, pp. 19-27.
My personal dimension
For me, as Irini Andrioti, participating in BRIDGES is not just another professional project. It is a natural continuation of my career, as in the last few years I have had the opportunity to implement numerous interventions on islands, in rural areas and in contexts with particular social challenges. I have worked with refugees, migrants, young offenders and prisoners; groups who often lack access to guidance, support and perspective.
Through these experiences, I have come to understand how crucial it is to recognise each young person as a unique individual with his or her own needs and potential. I have seen how counselling can act as a "bridge" that connects people to opportunities, but also to hope. This is exactly what I want to bring to BRIDGES: the belief that even in the most challenging circumstances, there is always room for growth, creativity and dreams.
Our vision
BRIDGES aims to leave a legacy of a legacy of a sustainable career. To cultivate in students life and career skills that are not limited to the logic of "matching" profession and environment, but include creativity, entrepreneurship and social responsibility. To empower teachers and parents to become active participants in the mentoring process. And, above all, to give young people the confidence that they can plan their future without having to give up their home country.
Closing
My participation in BRIDGES is for me a invitation and a challenge: to contribute to a project that unites scientific knowledge with social contribution, research with practice, the local with the European.
I firmly believe that every student has the right to be heard: "You have options. You have power. You have a future.". And this is exactly the message we want to convey with BRIDGES.
Irene Andrioti
Career Counsellor - Member of the scientific team of the BRIDGES project
