PATHS – Personalized Approach to Territorial Life and Career Support

 

Project Code: DRP0301100
 Duration: 36 months
 Programme: Interreg Danube Region Programme
 Total Budget: €2,516,726
 Interreg Danube Funds: €2,013,381

 

Empowering Youth. Strengthening Communities.

The PATHS project tackles shared regional challenges by introducing a comprehensive, personalized approach to career guidance and life planning for young people, particularly those living in rural and disadvantaged areas. The project addresses critical gaps in support services, helping to reduce school dropouts, reverse rural depopulation, and improve lifelong learning opportunities.

In many rural areas, limited access to career services, especially for youth from low-income families, increases the risk of educational and social disengagement. The PATHS project provides a solution by designing Life Path Support Services (LPSS) that are accessible at the municipal level and tailored to the real needs of young people.

 

Partner Countries and Organizations

The PATHS project brings together 13 partners from 9 countries, working collaboratively to design and implement effective, community-based career support services:

  • Hungary – PTE (Baranya), CDDA (Tolna)
  • Slovakia – ADEL Slovakia, EUBA (both in Bratislavský kraj)
  • Romania – HCC (Harghita)
  • Austria – IPC (Wien)
  • Slovenia – DCNM (Jugovzhodna Slovenija), Academia d.o.o. (Podravska)
  • Bulgaria – BATTI (Varna)
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina – CCITR (Republika Srpska)
  • Czech Republic – DEX IC (Liberecký kraj), CpKP (Moravskoslezský kraj)
  • Croatia – IRTR (Grad Zagreb)

The Lead Partner is Universtiy of Pécs - one of the most famous, prestigious institutions having a leading role in Southern Transdanubian region.

 

What PATHS Will Achieve

  • Create and implement local LPSS Centres, independent of school systems.
     
  • Provide rural youth (ages 12–18) with equitable access to career guidance, mentoring, and work placements.
     
  • Launch the "I Own the Path!" youth camps to help participants explore interests and career directions.
     
  • Train mentors (teachers, coaches, parents, professionals) to support young people in their career journeys.
     
  • Pilot and refine a transnational LPSS model to be scaled and sustained post-project.
     

Sustainable Impact Across the Danube Region

The project aligns with the 2024 Danube Region Strategy priority of making rural settlements more attractive and liveable for young people. PATHS will deliver a tested LPSS model that is sustained locally by trained mentors. It will also establish a Danube Region LPSS Network that coordinates strategy, methodology, and policy integration. Long-term structures such as the Career Guidance Expert and Methodology Team (CG ECMT) and Intersectoral Working Groups (IWG) will operate as Sectoral Learning Dialogues (SLDs). Additionally, the project will produce policy recommendations aimed at institutionalizing mentor training and supporting lifelong learning systems.

 

Social Innovation Through Local Roots

PATHS presents a socially innovative model that connects career services directly with rural community settings. It increases the availability of local support for disadvantaged youth and promotes cross-sector collaboration between municipalities, schools, businesses, and NGOs. By empowering young people to envision their future in their home regions, the project actively combats brain drain.
 

The PATHS project is building lasting pathways for youth across the Danube Region — from rural challenge to community-driven opportunity.

For more details, visit the Project Website or contact one of our project partners.