The modern world is currently facing new social threats, which pose a challenge to the existing aid systems. Circumstances like intensive migration processes or the uncertain situation resulting from ongoing military conflicts cause increased cultural differences, which intensify the marginalisation and social exclusion of minority groups. The Acting in Context by Training the Trainers in Social Empowerment (ACTTE) project was prepared to respond to emerging needs. The project was implemented in a consortium of 4 universities and 4 NGOs from Poland, France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. The main goals of the project were: (1) development of tools for intervention work (toolbox) based on the Empowerment concept (emphasising increased control over one’s own life, self-confidence, and one’s abilities, and social integration among recipients of aid activities) for employees of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with marginalised and socially excluded people as well as academic teachers educating future educators and social workers, (2) developing competencies/skills in DPA (Developing the Power to Act) – an approach using the concept of Empowerment in people participating in training (both NGO employees and academic teachers). The article focuses on the project’s implementation process.

The social assistance system faces challenges related to the emergence of new problems (e.g., migration processes, military conflicts). The ACTTE project was prepared in response to these needs. It is based on the Empowerment concept, which emphasises the social strengthening and restoration of people’s total possible participation. One of the project’s tasks was to conduct research. Its methodology was based on the action research concept. As part of the research, interviews were conducted. Data were collected on participants’ experiences gained during the training and utilising the acquired knowledge and skills in professional practice. The results are presented in the article.

The article is dedicated to the research of soft skills structural units and their formation of future social workers, as well as the issue of their professional growth and development. Professional skills consist of specific knowledge and abilities important for performing a particular job and that can be mostly identified, evaluated and measured. Until now, there was a perception that hard or functional- -technical skills were the only skills needed for career growth and development. However, a study carried out at Harvard University shows that 80% of career achievements are determined by soft (social and communication) skills and only 20% by functional and technical skills. Since the labor market currently requires diverse professionals, higher education institutions face new challenges. One of these challenges is to create pedagogical conditions for the development of soft skills, including those of future social workers. The professional competence of a social worker involves three groups of skills, namely hard skills, soft skills and meta skills. We suppose that the mechanism of their formation in the conditions of professional training should be focused on the development of all components of soft skills, and their development provides the necessary professional qualities, the implementation of abilities, and the realization of values in social work. In accordance with the characteristics of future social workers in the development of «soft skills», its characteristic features and peculiarities are clarified, including: creating an informal environment for the formation of social leadership in higher educational institutions; filling the educational program with options for «soft skills», activities aimed at increasing the practice-oriented training of future specialists, the use of active and interactive techniques, forms, methods and means of developing the «soft skills» of social workers. The results of the study include the definition of the concept of «soft skills», the identification of their general characteristics, the outlining of groups of soft skills, and the description of their main components. It was found that the most in-demand flexible competencies are: teamwork, critical thinking, leadership, creativity, meeting deadlines, responsibility and discipline, as well as communication skills, emotional stability, ability to work in stressful situations, adaptability to a new team or working conditions, conflict resolution, critical and creative thinking, public speaking skills, reliability, flexibility, responsibility, priority setting, planning, adequate perception of criticism and readiness for improvement, and professional etiquette proficiency