Opening Spaces for Experience, Not Just Jobs, for Young People

This paper proposes a new policy framework for addressing youth employment by shifting the focus from creating conventional jobs to creating structured opportunities for young graduates to gain meaningful professional experience. Rather than viewing recent graduates primarily as job seekers, it presents them as a valuable national resource capable of measuring, analysing, verifying, and helping solve real-world public, environmental, technological, and social challenges. The paper introduces the concept of a "Türkiye Field Missions Network," in which interdisciplinary teams of young professionals undertake measurable field assignments that generate both professional experience and public value. It explores potential application areas including urban systems, climate adaptation, accessibility, public service evaluation, agricultural loss assessment, repairability, and artificial intelligence validation. The paper further discusses implementation strategies, pilot evaluation methods, economic impacts, institutional challenges, and policy implications. It argues that transforming unmet societal needs into structured experience ecosystems can strengthen human capital, improve institutional capacity, and create new sectors of economic activity while providing young people with a meaningful bridge between education and working life.