"How much do coworking spaces really contribute to developing competences, social inclusion and employability for young people? How and how much can they promote solidarity, youth protagonism, involvement, participation? If instead, as it looks like, these experiences are not so effective, which innovations could improve the impact of what is promoted by these “new spaces” for youth?In business-oriented coworking spaces, the management often ends up considering social impact as a side effect and/or a corporate social responsibility - based marketing strategy. Employees in charge of managing spaces, activities and projects may be skilled on new labour market trends, but often, not very much on connecting with the community at a local level.In social innovation-oriented coworking spaces, the management instead might use some business strategies just to get a sort of quality award in the eyes of their users. Employees in charge of managing spaces, activities and projects are often expert in social intervention but so, they may be more inclined towards looking for public support and funding, than towards entrepreneurial attitudes and self-sustainability.Successful experiences show that interaction among the users/inhabitants of a coworking space cannot be left to chance; specific methodologies and tools are needed, in order to improve interaction and synergies among these users: some social work must be put in motion here. More often, although, coworking spaces tend to become closed systems which only relate to labour market, limiting social interventions to simple marketing value or avoiding them completely. Co(youth)working project idea is to empower coworking spaces and networks to reach a relevant social impact on their local context, to assure economical self-sustainability and support effective development of entrepreneurial skills by youth hosted in the spaces. We aim at opening coworking spaces to new relationships, putting them in an ongoing dialogue either with their young users, and with surrounding local communities, improving participation, active citizenship, local development of human and social capital.Specific project objectives are:1. outline the role of the youth worker as a key figure in the management of a coworking space, identifying the necessary skills and the training and development path for them; in fact we aim at enhancing the animative actions and the youth work approach to support young entrepreneurs and new startups on the one hand, and human, social and economic development of local communities on the other;2. propose a tool, a useful guide for organizations that want to open a coworking space (or innovate the existing one), that is the synthesis of the partners' experiences: a collection of recommendations, tools, activities, possible resources and risks (and possible solutions to be adopted to overcome them);3. enhance the role and involvement of public bodies and territorial networks in the management of coworking spaces, so as to facilitate dialogue between stakeholders, provide a broader view of the society in which they are inserted, monitor the processes in their continuity, coherence and long-term impact on the territories;4. define a cross-sector strategy for coworking spaces management, combining attention to social impact with support to development of startup enterprises hosted in the spaces.The actions will develop in 3 phases:PHASE 1 - September / December 2019:in this phase we will build two working groups that will collect (October) the characteristics of the coworking spaces / networks involved and the indicators to evaluate their functioning; a local survey activity will follow, which then (December) will be pooled to build a unique benchmarking.PHASE 2 - January / May 2020:in this phase we will carry out a training course (January) on the skills (hard and soft) that a youth worker must possess to animate a coworking space, transforming it into a relevant subject for the social impact on the territory and ensuring together the economic sustainability. Following what was learned during the training course will be tested in different territories (until April), and then meet in a mid-term meeting (May) in which the coordinators monitor the progress of the project.PHASE 3 - June - December 2020:in this phase the guidelines will be built (June) to be disseminated in the territories (until October). A final event will then be held (November) and a final evaluation and follow-up meeting, in the hypothetical form of a training course for future operators, to create a network of ""social oriented"" coworking spaces."

Youth workers Online Learning OpportunitiesDigital Youth Work and Online Learning of youth workers is high on the agenda in Europe and initiatives are met by stakeholders and practitioners with a lot of good will and enthusiasm. Nevertheless the experience of the last years also shows that the initial enthusiasm tends to drop significantly when online courses are put into practice on a European level– lack of time, of a common reality of youth work or of formal recognition of the achievements are among the most mentioned reasons.Still poywe sees a great potential in online learning and believes that digital approaches have reached everyday practice in youth work – at least on the level of engaging with young people in online environments and concrete activities. We also see that our practice might lack incentives for youth workers to stay involved in online learning – such as formal certificates, fun and experimental methods, tailored offers to the real needs of youth workers, trainers that are equipped to function in those online settings. We therefore propose a Strategic Partnership on the topic of Digital Learning of youth workers, which we wish to build on our own experiences gathered in the past years with first online courses and other projects and on the expertise of a diverse partnership.We see the following Intellectual Outputs/Activities for this project:Step 1 – ResearchFind out what grass root youth workers really need and want, in an online learning activity that is not linked to their studies and thus part of their education, in terms of:topics, methods, time, needed support, recognition and the right combinations of those. And also investigate the main obstacles or triggers to in the end not engage in an online learning offer or drop out during the course.We would like to use a series of diverse, creative methods for this research part instead of launching the 1000th online questionnaire. Methods could include: short quizzes with only one or two questions over a longer period (your Friday quiz moment), discussion groups, prototyping (!), idea labs...Step 2 – Online Youth Work Learning MenuYouth workers are often faced with flexible times, project based necessities of work loads and not least giving priority to the needs of the young people they work with when planning their time. This is one factor that might make following a classic structured course (e.g. 4 hours/week for a certain amount of weeks) difficult. We therefore would like to offer a self-directed, self-paced learning opportunity for youth workers.We aim to create a platform that works like a restaurant menu, where people can choose their own menu according to their needs. It should consist of a collection of relevant material to diverse topics e.g. youth work principles, digital youth work, quality in youth work,.. (also that based on the research done at the beginning of the project) – the learning resources should include: video (tutorials), exercises, games, papers and documents,..Youth workers can decide to just find one paper they are interested in at the moment, watch a series of videos covering diverse aspects or to go through proposed learning experiences that include a mixture of the above mentioned options and create a wider learning – thus potentially in the future could lead to certificates and/or credits.Step 3 – Reflective Practice SpaceYouth work is a reflective practice – monitoring and evaluating your own work and intervisions with colleagues (and if offered professional coaching or supervision) are an important part of providing quality youth work. Especially for youth workers in small settings that might even be alone in running a service or centre in a rural area, this is an important element of their professional development that is difficult to arrange. Therefore the platform should include tools for self-abasement, training and information on reflective practice and if possible an interactive place for matching mentors or peers with similar questions (e.g. the digital youth work cafè every second Tuesday a month...)Step 4 – Capacity Building/Training of eTrainersOnce this online learning approach is developed, we need to train eTrainers that can provide it – so a Training of eTrainers incl. a Manual for using an open setting like the learning menu and facilitating reflective interactions will be foreseenThe target group is youth workers on all levles and we are espeically aiming to reach out to those youth workers who for diverse reasons are not able to attend offline training or follow existing courses: because of lack of time and resources, because they are alone in their workplace, becaus of lack of permission by employers or any other reason.

"<< Background >>Youth work plays a very important role within the projects for the accompaniment and growth of young people within the various local communities, offering various opportunities, including some for international mobility. To be able to actually justify that we need to see the impact and to know what youth work brings on different levels. Because of that, this project is opening one new segment striving to be able to justify the impact on youth work in different processes that leads to better recognition. Generally, after the meetings with partners and other relevant actors in the youth field, we come up that there are several tools and mechanisms on the European level that measure the impact of youth work but there are used either on the national level, measure only Erasmus + project impact on youth or not well promoted and available to wider usage. Based on this project will contribute to mapping the all-existing tools/mechanism/practices, pack and offer to the youth sector. It will create a mechanism for measuring the impact of youth work on youth/individuals. Moreover, the project will create new mechanisms to measure the social and economic impact of youth work, test it and offer it to the youth sector on the European level. The field itself is huge but we have to start with the small steps ensuring the data for future advocacy activities.<< Objectives >>The overall aim is to develop a mechanism that will prove the importance of youth work in Europe, create a legacy for future advocacy activities in order to ensure recognition and quality of youth work programs. Specific objectives of the project ""Measuring impact in youth work- mission (im)possible!"" are:1. to conduct mapping of existing practices, mechanisms tools, instruments at EU, national, local levels related to the impact of YW on youth; 2. to develop mechanism and instrument(s) related to the impact of youth work on youth and its usage for advocacy purposes;3. to develop and test mechanism and instrument for measuring the social impact of youth work (economical aspect incorporated) and its usage for advocacy purposes (with a segment which implies how to translate data for advocating).4. to foster multi-sectoral cooperation in the field of youth.<< Implementation >>There are several activities that will be done: Mapping of existing tools, mechanisms and practices in measuring the youth work on the European level. Development of mechanism to measure the impact of youth work on youth. The development of a mechanism to measure the social and economic impact of youth work will be tested during the project. 3 partners meetings, one LTTA - capacity training for partner organizations, 4 national and 2 international virtual multipliers involving different stakeholders.<< Results >>Results planned by the project are: - Booklet “Mapping of leading practices at local, national and European level regarding youth work impact on youth” containing up to 20 methods and tools, reflecting Serbian, Portuguese, Italian, Macedonian and EU level.- Developed mechanism for measuring youth work impact on youth, along with instrument(s).- Research study containing mechanism and instruments for measuring social and economic youth work impact, along with a report of implemented mechanism in 4 countries involving 300 youth. - Capacity building training in Italy for 12 employees of national associations from 4 countries for the implementation of the mechanism for measuring the social impact of youth work and translation of data into advocacy arguments. - ME - “How to measure youth work impact on youth” for 120 youth workers, organisations and representatives of national and local institutions from Serbia, Portugal, Italy and The Republic of North Macedonia. - International ME - “How we can measure youth work impact?” for up to 30 participants from EU and CoE institutions, international organisations and researchers. - International ME – “Creating a plan for measuring the impact of youth work across Europe” for up to 30 participants from National associations of youth workers and European Network of Youth Work Associations. - Visibility and promotional actions reach youth workers from 250 organisations and 100 research and academic institutes from Serbia, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and The Republic of North Macedonia and up to 200.000 people of the wider public across Europe.At the level of outcomes: - Collected local, national and EU leading practices in measuring youth work impact on youth and development of new mechanism enriched the capacity of national youth work associations and resulted in advocacy initiatives grounded in evidence-based data. - Various multiplying events raised awareness of relevant stakeholders (youth workers, youth organizations at local and national level, European institutions, researchers) about the importance of investing in measuring youth work impact. - Capacity building training increased the professionalism of national associations by gaining knowledge and skills for creating and collecting evidence-based data for the social impact of youth work and its usage in the creation of advocacy initiatives.- Laid foundation for fruitful cross-sectoral cooperation among youth workers and research and academic institutions at national and European levels."

"<< Background >>The European Union has been reinforcing its investment in Young Europeans for the past 20 years, either through the promotion of Youth Summits among its member states, either in terms of legislative and intellectual production, or in the promotion of financing and support programs. to direct and indirect actors who work with and for young people, in promoting equal opportunities, in promoting active participation and in promoting human rights and also in the rights of young people. The new European Strategy 2019/27, reinforces this vision and the need to invest in clear quality criteria in the measurement of this strategy, but also in its evaluation.In this sense, the central objective of this project is to reinforce the quality, innovation and recognition of Work with Young People and at the same time in the recognition of youth professionals who can and should help to materialize this European Union Action Plan.The New European Youth Strategy goes further by defining a “Modus Operandi” in working with young people, the need to Involve, Connect and empower Young Europeans through a renewed framework of Youth Dialogue and oriented towards concrete objectives, resulting from the cycles of youth dialogue of the 6th and 7th Cycles of structured dialogue. However, the new European challenge does not stop there. this European youth strategy must be closely linked to the new guidelines of the European Council and the German and Portuguese Presidencies of the European Union. The Digital Need, green and sustainable positioning and the social imperative must be present in the work with and for Young People.The third Youth Work Convention, promoted in December 2020, by the German EU Presidency, but also the Strategic Partnership Charter of several Erasmus + agencies known as “Europe Goes Local”, affirm this need and the bet on “Youth Work” but also in Youth professionals and in the need to train the whole European Youth sector.The “The Future of Youth Work”ers"" ”is the flagship project of the Portuguese Association of Youth Professionals in conjunction with other National Youth Workers Associations in the EU representative space, but also of the CoE, in defining a training and capacity building plan for youth professionals who focus on the priorities described above and who affirm the Youth Work and the “Youth Work” ers in the new European commitments.<< Objectives >>The “The Future of Youth Work”ers"" Project, has 3 main objectives. The first is linked to the need to map the existing models in Europe, of training and qualification of Youth Professionals and to realize the existence of National Associations of Youth Professionals, in which they promote quality programs of training and qualification of Youth Professionals. A second objective in order to analyze if the training and qualification programs of youth professionals are oriented and adjusted with the fundamental documents of the European Union related to the Youth area and with the new transversal priorities of the European Union and, of course, with the strategy European Youth 2019/27.A third objective related to the design of a European training proposal for Youth Professionals, designed, recognised and transversal to the work of all national associations of Youth Professionals.These three objectives are intended to give a complete answer to the Bonn process, which continues the III Youth Work Convention and in which the commitment to create the European Network of National Associations of Youth Professionals was born. The result of this project will be the contribution of Portugal and APP Juventude in particular to the heritage of this future European Network, but also a contribution to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the new European Youth strategy 2019/2027.<< Implementation >>The project “The Future of Youth Work”ers ”, is being developed by APP Juventude and a wide group of National Associations of Youth professionals since the 3rd European Youth Work Convention, organized by the German presidency of the European Council and the German Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The discussion on the heterogeneity of training models and the recognition of skills of youth professionals in the European and pan-European space was recognized as an urgent area of ​​work in the recognition of the so-called “Youth Work”, of its quality, innovation and impact.APP Juventude assumed this responsibility both within the framework of European cooperation with other national associations of youth professionals, but also within the Portuguese framework in its relationship with the national youth authority, the IPDJ and likewise, within the framework of the national working group of the Bonna process.“The Future of Youth”ers ”, started to be designed in January 2021, formed an informal consortium in March 2021 and promoted 3 national meetings with the APP Juventude working group and 6 digital meetings with the Consortium partners, in addition to meetings with partners responsible for the development of results envisaged in the implementation of the project.The Architecture of “The Future of Youth Work”, presents 3 Transnational Meetings, 14 Virtual Meetings, 3 Dissemination Activities and 1 Training Action. it is a project that was guided by realistic criteria and so as not to burden the costs of the projects, but to ensure the operational capacity of the consortium to execute the project with clear criteria of effectiveness and efficiency. In this way, the budget is balanced and fair.All activities are duly justified in the application fields and demonstrate full co-management of the project by all members of the Consortium.<< Results >>The expected results of the “Future of Youth Work”ers are quite pragmatic and oriented to the identified needs, related to the recognition of Theraining and Empowerment of Youth Work professionals and its link to the priority of Quality and Innovation of Youth Work.Result O1Map of the best practices youth workers training programmes in the countries of Consortium members and among National Association of Youth Workers;Result O2Establish a Perfect Link between the Youth Workers Training program with Erasmus+ 21/27 (Green and digital), Boon Process implemented by the National Associations of Youth Workers from EU and CoE Countries Result O3Co-create and Co-Designed Training programme for Youth Workers by National Associations of Youth Workers."

"<< Background >>Implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda. There is a need to strengthen youth work and youth workers associations to have a strong voice of youth workers on all levels of governance. As well as the need to have space for peer-learning and discussion to speed up digital transformation in the youth field, ensure that environmental topics are addressed, quality of youth work developed. It is crucial for youth work and youth work policy development to have a strong social partner as a European Network of youth workers. Thanks to the project this may come true. Thanks to the project and its results will be able to encourage better recognition of the youth sector, set up a clearer political commitment, and stronger links with stakeholders and researchers which are essential for the existence of the youth work. During the third European Youth Work Convention, the participating youth workers from the EU and COE member states and other stakeholders strongly recognized the need for an international network of youth workers, to give youth workers a voice and support peer learning, quality developments in the youth sector across Europe. Final declaration of the conventions' call to action – create a European Network of Youth Workers Associations. To support the achievement of this goal 12 organizations agreed on a memorandum to move towards the European Youth Workers Association. Most of them according to agreement by all joined forces to speed up the process in the frame of this project. Project aims are: to increase quality, innovation, recognition of youth work; to establish a strategic partnership between participating countries to strengthen youth workers' engagement in policymaking and professional consolidation and improve cooperation between youth workers in Europe (both EU and COE countries) in general; to establish an innovative and green, modern managed umbrella organization for the field and to support the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda - horizontal. This aims lead to the objectives to be achieved. Please follow the mindmap scheme in the attachment.<< Objectives >>The project has 4 main objectives: 1)explore problems and best practices for political, professional, and learning-outcome recognition of youth work and enforce strategic communication of youth field to improve recognition, 2)increase quality and innovation of youth work via improved peer learning, advocacy, training development, cooperation, between youth workers in Europe (both EU and COE countries); establishing stronger links between policy, research, and practice, 3)prepare, establish, and implement a European network/association of youth workers, based on green and innovative management and communication approaches. As well as analyze needs and possibilities for using (green and digital) tools for peer learning, advocacy, internal and external communication, management of the network, practice sharing between members of the network,4)build the capacity of the network and its’ members, including development training packages and other necessary services to support national associations of youth workers and youth work quality development.<< Implementation >>Transnational meetings support project implementation and follow-up. Seminars and training activities support woking and discussions on results, exploring topics and implementing tools chosen, as well as awareness of the participants on different topics. Multiplier events support the spreading of the outcomes and results for the wider public. Results of the project give input to the fulfillment of the aims and objectives of the project. Actions: map of the best practices for the recognition of youth work (political, professional, learning-outcomes, social guarantees for youth workers (benefits, connections with occupation standard, other related fields including looking back to previous results on a European level; recommendations for strategic communication of youth work and strategic communication plan on European level (for implementation by the ENYWA); seminar of best practices and opportunities for recognition of youth work and training activity for strategic communication of youth fork for better recognition; research report of a study on the state of play of associations of YW in Europe (development challenges, practice, problems, joy, etc) and mapping of quality standards or measurement of youth work including quality models, standards, ethical codes, occupational standards; stakeholders seminar on youth work policy development and youth work recognition; strategic communication and activity plan for public policy for three to five years will be established and a tool/model to monitor implementation of Bonn process at national and EU levels is described including if possible cooperation with EU Commission, Youth Wiki, Presidencies; statutory documents and policies are drafted and published as an example for the wider public; training and seminar for ESG strategy, digital and environmental tools for management, communication, etc; multiplier events will lead to the implementation of the Declaration of the 3d YW Convention and Youth Work Agenda - establishing the network of youth workers. Staff and members training event on organizational issues, as well as green and digital tools for co-operation; Starting training program for beginners of YW associations will ensure green and digital tools are explored and ready to use for organization management, capacity building, communication and training of the members, and support for national organizations to improve their quality and quality of youth work. The organization has an ESG strategy and uses digital and env. tools for management and service delivery. An action plan to support the needs of the National YWA will be established.To ensure smooth and quality management of the project coordinative group will be established. Communication with the partners will take place frequently and regularly via platforms, virtually, emails, calls. Furthermore, we will have 3 transnational project meetings and training events during which enable to meet face to face among partners. We plan ongoing collection of necessary data about activities and completion of the report cumulatively, to avoid gaps and misunderstandings later on and work virtually and in other ways with partners to ensure that. Coordinating organization and coordinating group check progress of the project on an ongoing basis including working on results, activities, motivating experts. Virtual meetings when needed but not rarely than every two months will be held. Extra communication with partners responsible for particular activities and results will be in place mostly virtually. During the project there is an objective to explore ""good to use"" digital tools for better communication among partners and members of the international organization, these tools will be implemented for communication among partners for monitoring of the progress and might include but not limited to ASANA, Slack, Toggl, and others.<< Results >>A European network of the National Youth Workers Association (ENYWA) has been formally established. There is strong cooperation between youth workers associations, ENYWA and other European youth sector groups of interest, and official stakeholders. ENYWA is the appearance of a strong partner for youth policy and youth work development for European institutions. Better recognition of youth work and youth workers at all levels.In addition, we produce 5 results or intellectual outputs available for the wider public: 1) mapping of best practices for the recognition of youth work (political, professional, learning-outcomes, social recognition of the youth worker profession including regulations, benefits, vacation, etc.; 2) research report of a study on the state of play of associations of YW in Europe (development challenges, practice, problems, joy, etc); 3) starting training program for beginners of YW associations created; 4) ENYWA establishing documents, policy description, ESG rules, and other necessary paperwork to establish an organization, examples for other organizations; 5) Recommendations for strategic communication of youth work and strategic communication plan on a European level (for implementation by the ENYWA and national associations). As a result, more support and advocacy for national organizations will be available. Steps will be taken towards digital transformation and environmental behavior. The project has a wide scope and covers many important topics, that is why we expect some extra outcomes from activities of the project e.g. project has increased capacity and professionalism to work at the EU level; strategic communication and activity plan of ENYWA for public policy for three to five years established; tool/model to monitor implementation of Bonn process at national and EU levels is described including if possible cooperation with EU Commission, Youth Wiki, Presidencies. The tool should be applicable to help the development of youth work on the European and national levels; implementation of Declaration and Youth Work Agenda - establishing the network of youth workers; all necessary statutory documents are prepared and application for registration submitted; the organization is established and ready to implement a modern, dynamic, committed, and professional environment inside the Organisation; (Green and digital) tools are explored and ready to use for organization management, capacity building, communication and training of the members, and support for national organizations to improve their quality and quality of youth work. The organization has an ESG strategy and uses digital and environment-friendly tools for management and service delivery; action plan to support the development and needs of National YW Associations, based on result 2 findings."