STEP a model for mastery, participation and confidence in the future

STEP (Skills, Training, Entrepreneurship & Participation) is a modular learning model developed by MIKS Ressurssenter and AE2O in 2025. The model uses work on ideas, projects and initiatives as a learning environment to strengthen agency, mastery and participation among young people in vulnerable transitions.

Read about the STEP model What did we learn in 2025?

Young people in conversation around a table during a STEP-style learning session.

About STEP

From exclusion to participation

In STEP, participants work on something they themselves want to develop, whether an idea, a project or an initiative. Through small, clearly defined steps, they gain experience in exploring, planning, collaborating, testing and adjusting. The aim is to strengthen motivation, agency and belief in their own potential, and to make the path ahead towards education, work or other activity more manageable.

STEP is designed for young people aged 16–24 who are outside education, work or other stable activity, or who are at risk of dropping out. Many in the target group have experience of leaving school early, low self-belief, mental health challenges or other barriers that make the path ahead demanding.

Academic foundation

Inspired by an MIT framework

STEP is based on Disciplined Entrepreneurship, a framework developed at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to take ideas step by step from concept to implementation. The model is a well-tested and recognised framework for understanding target groups, developing solutions and creating real value in business.

We have deliberately simplified and adapted this framework for young people in the target group. The theoretical framework has been replaced with visual, practical and creative exercises that make the content understandable and engaging.

In STEP, participants use the methodology to work on their own ideas and projects. In this way, a demanding entrepreneurship tool is transformed into a safe learning environment that builds life skills and develops essential soft skills such as self-confidence, communication, collaboration and problem-solving.

Illustration of STEP work with ideas and notes

Partnership

Developed in collaboration between MIKS and AE2O

STEP is the result of an Erasmus+ collaboration, with co-funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries and the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training. Here is a brief introduction to the partner organisations MIKS Ressurssenter and Associação para a Educação de Segunda Oportunidade (AE2O), and their roles in the project.

MIKS Ressurssenter

MIKS Ressurssenter is a non-profit organisation and social enterprise based in Bergen. Since 2014, the organisation has developed tailored programmes for immigrants and young people at risk of exclusion. By using entrepreneurship as a practical learning environment, MIKS creates safe settings where participants can build agency, motivation and belief in their own potential. As the project owner and coordinator of STEP, MIKS has had primary responsibility for developing the professional entrepreneurship methodology, as well as systematising the project's overall learning so that the model can be used by more people.

AE2O

Associação para a Educação de Segunda Oportunidade (AE2O) is a Portuguese non-profit organisation and the project's key partner. Since 2008, it has run Portugal's first "Second Chance" school in Matosinhos, a holistic provision for young people who have fallen outside the mainstream education system. By combining vocational training, artistic development and relationship-based work, AE2O has led the work within the STEP project to develop methods for life skills and soft skills such as self-confidence, communication and collaboration, and has ensured that these are integrated into the shared model.

Local collaboration partners in Norway

Funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed, however, are those of the author or authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.