This article aims, on the basis of a project for long-term unemployed young people, to discuss whether or not projects, as a labour and social policy measure, can support and help unemployed people involved in a project to find new ways forward in their lives. The results are based on a case study that was carried out as part of an on-going evaluation. The results reveal obstacles that individuals meet when seeking work; they further reveal how projects can help them to break their isolation and to reorient their lives. In most cases, however, this must be seen as a mere first step in a longer process. It is not given that everyone wants to, or can, change their situation because they do not see an alternative or do not know how to pursue it. This article also discusses possible reasons why experiences generated in a project do not seem to be utilized in the organizations that run projects.
Utbildning och lärande. Tidskrift