During the Covid-19 crisis young people have witnessed an integral transformation of their lives. However, changes in education, leisure or technology have not occurred as quickly or have not been able to adapt to meet their new needs and demands. Culture and non-formal education have been paralysed and have recovered their activity slowly with consequences. The crisis has favoured a decrease in youth participation and youth work. But it has also brought a perception that culture and creativity are secondary. They haven’t been a priority in policies and they have been forgotten by both citizens and institutions.The environmental crisis (like the health crisis) is affecting the world. It is urgent that governments, businesses and citizens take an active role and act to curb its effects, just as we are facing the Covid-19.For all these reasons, we believe it is important to provide this project with a transversal approach based on creativity and sustainability, which are key to focusing on responsible and innovative solutions to social challenges. Within the youth work, we aim for the implementation of innovative methods that include creative and active learning. We want to bring environmental sustainability closer to youth work to not leave the climate issue aside.Objectives:1.To strengthen cooperation between youth organisations through the creation of a support network between organisations in the sectors of creativity, culture and sustainability; at a local, national and European level.1.1.To strengthen the transnational cooperation of the three partners in digital and mixed environments.1.2.To facilitate the access of youth organisations to creative and innovative tools and materials to transmit values related to sustainability.2.To promote youth participation in environmental sustainability through innovative methods of non-formal education based on active and creative learning2.1.To promote the application of active learning methods based on creative and innovative intelligence in youth work.2.2.To increase young people's skills and tools to provide creative and sustainable responses to new social challenges and to improve their own habitsThe activities are:Intellectual output: a training manual will be the central part of this project. The manual will comprise active and creative non-formal education methods on sustainability.Youth Mobility: after the finalization of a draft manual, the partners develop a training plan to test and evaluate the developed methods. There will be online sessions for the online part of the blended mobility. There will be 15 participants, young people interested and motivated to take part in the training.Multiplication events: one event in each partner country after the finalization of the intellectual output. There will be 20 participants in each event and they will be local and national youth organizations, youth workers, municipality representatives and other professional stakeholders.Methodology:The methodology will be based on the collaboration between the partners and it is participative, dialogued and equitable. For the project execution it will be important that the agreements and decisions are taken jointly and that the communication allows to advance in short terms to avoid delays. Results:Expansion of the support network of the participating organisations, at local and transnational level.Launched, tested & developed manual with non-formal education methods on sustainabilityIncreased socio-professional development of youth workers and young leaders that are equipped with knowledge, key competences and employable tools related to creativity and sustainabilityDeveloped open educational resources on sustainability and creativity methodsGreater integration of creativity and sustainability in the youth workCreativity and artistic expression will be strengthened within youth work.Increased environmental awareness and capacity to apply environmental sustainability to the work already being done by youth organisations.Impact: Young people are 'multipliers' of the messages and values they acquire during the activities, such as environmental awareness, creativity and citizen participation.The organisations that access and make use of the manual created during the project will not only enrich their tools and materials for working with young people, but will also add the value of sustainability to the actions they already carry out. In a long term perspective, the partner entities will live experiences and develop new competences within the cooperation actions that will allow them to increase their capacity to implement projects in the future. This network of support and collaboration will extend beyond the duration of the project and will give continuity to joint initiatives and to the trajectory of our entities.

<< Background >>Youth+ is a step toward destroying prejudices, negative beliefs and establishes successful inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities. It gives tools and recognition to youth work where the target groups are challenging. Youth + raises the quality of youth work with the development of an innovative online learning course (O1). It also creates a collection of guidelines for youth workers working with fewer opportunities and implements social media campaigns as best practices to adapt abroad (O2). The online course targets an effective youth work method which enables youth with fewer opportunities to work long-term in self-governed groups on local volunteer projects according to their own initiations.According to our experiences, youth with fewer opportunities get very little positive feedback on their qualities from the part of the society, communities they live in and their families. They do not know them and they do not own them therefore they often feel unworthy or useless.Within the current partnership we welcomed the initiation of Erasmus + programme to run long-term local youth projects (ESC) with the most difficult youth groups. This act inspired us to build up a youth work strategy within our partnership that works long-term, mostly at grass-root level and empowers vulnerable youth to create their own projects within their larger context and communities. However, with the target groups of most in need (poverty; traumatized family background; foster homes; segregation; low level of education; NEET youth; migrants) national ESC programme is not low-entry-leveled even with the extended support of National Agencies and the programme itself. We believe strongly that the establishment of empowered youth groups who are capable of initiating local volunteer actions are the best solution to break the negative circles of their life and make a step toward positive changes thus realizing “tangible” social inclusion. With the development of the Youth+ project we intend to fill this gap.The objectives of YOUTH + is to increase the competences of youth workers in the community centres of young migrants,of Roma settlements, of youth at risk with mild drug addictions and rural areas. This happens through using blended non-formal education methods, online learning course and tools, for the youngsters through: volunteering, role modelling, peer learning/leading, reinforced mentorship. In the partnership there is a wish to learn from good practices, transfer and adopt methodology from abroad, which is innovative in the context of youth work in participating organisations. Youth+ aims to increase the quality of youth work - specifically with youth of fewer opportunities resulting in O2 youth work guide - and develop digital competencies of youth workers and partner organisations through the O1 developed online course. Furthermore the purpose is to create an enhanced social media campaign and its best practice (O2) toward different stakeholders of society (governmental - and formal education institutions, companies and civil actors) in order to address the grass-root inclusion strategies and practices to all level of society, to start discussions and actions and sustain best practice projects.Working with challenging youth groups (drug addiction, NEET of rural areas, minority segregation, migrant background) is often stigmatized. When NGOs are reaching out for financial or other resources in the wider society to sustain these projects, organizations often receive negative answers from the public, or different stakeholders (e.g. companies, municipalities, local environments). However with targeted measures (Youth+ and similar initiatives) the trends can be returned. We want to spread a message about these youth groups that they are a useful and essential part of the society if they are empowered. They can offer volunteer projects to others that make them role models in the eyes of other stakeholders.<< Objectives >>Our vision is that, step by step, starting with implementing local actions, youth with fewer opportunities with increased sense of initiative, social and civic competences will feel more empowered, more involved in society and will play an active role in shaping Europe into a sustainable, non-discriminatory and inclusive society.The developed Youth+ online learning course (O1) aims to increase the quality, innovation and recognition of youth work. The quality aspect is ensured through the development standards of SALTO HOP Council and online platform. The innovation comes from the fact that such a result (online learning course to work with youth o.f.o) has never been developed before. We target a very specific youth work - to work with youth w.f.o but with those who are the lowest scale of to be able to reach with non-formal education tools (the next step would be therapy). We aim to find easy to use tools and practices for running workshops with the most difficult target groups of youngsters. The experience of the partnership is that the youth sector in non-formal education, especially the majority of civil organisations, are lacking the courage and the tools to approach, reach out and engage them into long-term learning relationships. The partnership owns the experience of the best ways to do youth work with the most in need, with various target groups who give a wide coverage of youth w.f.o. The most important goal we want to reach is to engage the most vulnerable youth with fewer opportunities to be involved in long-term non-formal learning activities initiated by themselves - the so called future “youth+ groups”. Partners want to empower them so they can form their own self-managed groups (with extended mentoring and facilitation support). To prepare them to be active citizens, initiate local ESC projects but also be able to reach beyond the Erasmus+ programme, empowering them to run their own ideas and manifest them into activities. We aim to increase the quality of youth work and promote social inclusion and active participation of youth with fewer opportunities by 1) creating an online course to share a best practice FUY method (including role modelling, volunteering and empowerment for the development of youth with fewer opportunities' competences, awareness and knowledge linked to integration) that facilitates the emergence of youth+ groups (self-governed groups of youth w.f.o. that carry out positive voluntary initiatives) and 2) elaborating a Guide and toolkit for youth workers and youth organizations to empower them to involve youth with fewer opportunities on a long run in (local development) processes and activities (sustainability of youth+ groups). O2 guide will contain all the necessary steps and approach that makes the long-term impact successful. The result of O2 is that youth workers learn how to engage youth w.f.o. in long term initiatives and to sustain their youth+ groups. The guide, among others, will contain easy-to-use approaches (solution focus coaching, mentoring and intervision) how to support and empower the youth groups and how to make it a mutual learning process for all parties.O2 social media campaign and template will increase the recognition and understanding of youth work for the wider society. Youth work will be shown as an effective tool for social inclusion and to reach the most “difficult ones”. The template helps other youth organizations to dare to start their campaigns, thus the results in youth work in general gain higher visibility.Moreover, the quality of youth work will be increased Europe-wide, the youth workers’ competences, awareness and knowledge linked to inclusion work, non-formal and digital educational methods will be developed, their job satisfaction and employability will be increased and they will be provided with high quality learning opportunities in a real lifelong learning context.<< Implementation >>YOUTH+ aims to increase the quality of youth work, digital skills and promote social inclusion and active participation of youth w.f.o. To achieve this, we’ll create a digital tool (O1), i.e. an online course (MOOC) to share experience and practices of partners (4 modules) and an adapted best practice FUY method (4 modules) which includes role modelling, volunteering and empowerment for the development of youth w.f.o.' competences; we’ll elaborate a guide and toolkit (O2) for youth workers and organizations to empower them to involve youth w.f.o. in a long run in (local development) processes and activities; and we’ll facilitate the birth of self-governed youth+ groups of youth w.f.o. to implement future own initiatives.O1 thematic work starts with the online course designing workshop (C1) for the developer team. This team will work out the design and content of the online course, including adaptation of the FUY method to different target groups of youth w.f.o. External/internal testing of the online course also incorporates the Youth + process: it starts with a kick-off training (C2), and then the online course starts - some modules of which will also imply the implementation of field tests in line with the parts of the FUY method ( Teambuilding & planning (C3-4), national volunteering actions (1 in each country), Evaluation (C5-6)). field tests will be implemented in country pairs (EA-ABD; NEM-VK).The field tests have several functions within YOUTH+: they contribute to the development of tried out project results, as based on them improvements of the final online course will be realizedthe tests are at the same time learning and development opportunities for the participant youth workers (residential parts of the blended learning process) and youth with fewer opportunitiesthey are the field of real input collection from youth with fewer opportunities target group for the development of O2 within a participatory methodOnce the external testing is concluded, final fine tuning of O1 will be realized based on the feedback and evaluation.O2 thematic work will start with focusing on the level of youth workers, and activities start before the field testing process with the elaboration of guidelines on participatory method and also the template for activity description for the Toolkit section. Field tests will serve to collect inputs from youth with fewer opportunities and to try out and collect non-formal engagement activities for the toolkit section. Based on the inputs from the youth target group and experience and knowledge of the transnational team, it will be outlined how youth workers can engage youth with fewer opportunities for a longer period of time.2nd part of O2 focuses on organizational level sustainability, supporting youth organizations with the elaboration of tried out methods and scripts to increase their funds and visibility through efficient low budget sensitizing social media campaigns. For this we’ll prepare the 1st version of the script that we’ll test in 4 countries by running 4 sensitizing social media campaigns. Based on the evaluation and feedback of the tests the general script and guidelines will be finalized.Also to support sustainability of project results (i.e. existence of an active peer leader group of youth with fewer opportunities who will be the motor of further active participation) a youth leader training for sustainable local actions will be held (C7) linked to E1 ” Be the change yourself” multiplier event.To share, promote and disseminate project results to a wider professional audience, the youth target group and the general public, the Source conference (E2) will be carried out as the 2nd major multiplying event (E2) and will be held for 200 international pax.Regular project, financial and thematic management as well as monitoring activities (5 project meetings) will be carried out in order to support successful implementation of YOUTH+ and sustainability of its results.<< Results >>The two main project result are O1 “YOUTH+ online course: a practice and guide on how to prepare youngsters with fewer opportunities to implement their own local projects (e.g. ESC)” and O2 “YOUTH+ Guide and toolkit on Sustainable Local Youth Engagement (special focus on how to increase visibility and funds)”O1 is part of a blended learning event within Youth+ but it is designed to act as an individual learning process (MOOC) that can be done as a self-directed learning by learners at any time in the future.It has 2 main parts:youth work of youth w.f.o (4 modules) in the first part based on a well-thought structure where partners give inputs about their experiences, best practices and approaches. adapted From Us to You (HU) best practice (4 modules) - this part is about acquiring the necessary knowledge to run FUY with different target groups of youth o.f.o O2:The guide will contain all the necessary steps and approach that makes the long-term impact of youth work with youth with fewer opportunities successful. Youth workers learn how to sustain their youth+ groups. The guide contains easy-to-use toolkits and approaches on how to support and empower the youth groups/youth workers and how to make it a mutual learning process for all parties.For the civil actors or any other stakeholders we provide a concrete template/flow of how to run a low budget social media campaign. So called impactful messages relating matters of youth w.f.o. This challenging task will be split into easy-to-follow tasks, with the contribution of y.w.f.o.The two main results YOUTH+ online course (O1) and YOUTH+ Guide and toolkit on Sustainable Local Youth Engagement (O2) supported by the following activities:workshop on online course creation (C1) with 9 participantsblended learning process for youth workers (YWs) carried out linked to O1 online course testing (within that residential trainings: 1 training of youth workers (C2), 2 Teambuilding & planning field tests (C3-4), 4 Volunteering days field tests, 2 Evaluation field tests (C5-6); and 1 online course participation; 4 webinars; 3 meetups; 12 online mentor meeting; 12 participants)blended learning/development process for youth w.f.o carried out (within that residential trainings: 2 Teambuilding & planning (C3-4); 4 Volunteering days, 2 Evaluation field tests (C5-6); plus 20 mentoring/coaching/per country (individual or group); 18 residential training daysa “Youth leader training” for sustainable local actions (C7) carried out for 20 yw.f.o.R7- 4 local volunteering projects carried out by youth w.f.o for communities with fewer opportunities (4x5 days, 80 + 400 participants)These will be supported by dissemination tool and events:set of dissemination tools (project logo, website, FB&insta pages, 2 short promotional videos, F2F exhibition, 4 podcasts) 2 international dissemination events (E1-2, 200 participants) Face to Face exhibitions held in 4 countries (4000 visitors) local YOUTH+ parties (4) dissemination events (YOUTH+ parties) (200 participants)social media campaigns (4) carried out (280.000 pax. reached)5 Transnational project meetings execute, that the project reaching the set objectives.As a final long term result 4 local Youth+ groups will be formed, who are empowered to run local volunteer projects in their communities.As an impact 9 youth workers familiarized with online course development; 80 youth w.f.o with increased sense of initiative, social and civic competences and more active participation in society,and improved digital skills and 200 youngsters with fewer opportunities (via volunteering days) with increased social competences, 12 youth workers with improved digital skills and professionalism; 200 youth workers with improved digital skills and professionalism (actively involved in YOUTH+ and dissemination events) and 4 organizations with increased recognition and visibility thus approx. 300.000 ppl reached and sensitized about social inclusion.

<< Background >>Young people are currently facing a number of challenges in their personal and working lives, among which the economic crisis, temporary contract forms, and the recent pandemic that produced inequality among the population where young people have been deeply affected (Labour Market and Wage Developments in Europe, 2020, EC). “Situation of young people in the European Union” (2018) shows that improvements on youth unemployment, with particular reference to NEETs, has been achieved, but quality level of employment and its social context should still be addressed. Young people are less likely to be self-employed than an older target because of finance barriers, lack of experience and skills and knowledge on funding opportunities. By providing the right support in overcoming these barriers and by encouraging innovative practice, young people’s potential can be positively affected. Nevertheless, the pandemic brought along challenges for communities and organizations all over Europe. Young people are the most affected in terms of jobs and social opportunities (ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. 2020). Equally, we can state that this emergency showed societies how digital media, if used correctly, can support quality learning and professional development.This project focuses on digital entrepreneurship to create a community of young people who can shape a better and inclusive world for them and future generations. Entrepreneurial competences are not only useful to youngsters who actually want to start a company but encourage them to find creative solutions, see opportunities and learn to take calculated risks. Such competences are of great importance in many areas of life, including social engagement through local initiatives and for diverse professional careers. In our post-pandemic societies, the ability to adapt and develop innovative ideas has become even more crucial for young people to find their career paths.The consortium partners work closely with (second-generation) young migrants who often face additional cultural or educational barriers in accessing formative experience and employment. There is an urgent need to foster inclusion in youth work and non-formal education. The project therefore aims to apply more inclusive practices in training on media literacy & digitalization, and in the support of entrepreneurship and social engagement.The project thereby responds to the need of more actively engaging young generations with diverse backgrounds in common activities. In YISEM, partners will share best practices and identify tools to develop young people’s entrepreneurial mindsets, their understanding of the interrelations between economy and human and cultural environments.The project addresses youth educators, NGOs, youth centres and institutions involved in the field of non-formal learning who are in direct contact with the target groups. YISEM proposes tools for practitioners to better engage young people in self-directed initiatives and foster a more sustainable and social entrepreneurship based on innovation and media communication. The tools are comprised of new formats to better reach and communicate with young people.Although educational materials on entrepreneurial competences exist already, partners see a great added value in having well-structured learning content in different working languages based directly on the needs of the target groups. For the production of the project results, partners combine tested know-how and best practice on European level with specific information needed to implement social entrepreneurship initiatives in the local context.<< Objectives >>The project will foster the exchange of good practice among youth work organisations, increasing youth work quality and sustaining the creation of new educational material in podcast format. Furthermore, “YISEM” creates formative and experiential opportunities for young people, including youth with fewer opportunities, by developing small-scale social projects based on entrepreneurial principles. The YISEM consortium fully supports the program priorities of the E+ program and the European Youth Work Agenda. Firstly, a main focus is the promotion of active citizenship, young people’s sense of initiative and social entrepreneurship. Secondly, the project is designed to address digital transformation by promoting digital and social entrepreneurship with a positive use of the media, encouraging media literacy and digital marketing for social purposes. And finally, inclusion and diversity play a central role in all activities. The project consortium works daily with young people from migrant backgrounds and/or second generation and young people facing economic challenges (young unemployed or looking for further education opportunities), being sometimes overlapping situations. In the project’s needs analysis, partners identified an added value in bringing together the specific target groups with other motivated youngsters to create a common identity and foster understanding. Encouraging acceptance of different perspectives, ideas, and backgrounds will foster social innovation and create more inclusive environments.In times of the Post-Covid Pandemic YISEM also pays special attention to the reconstruction and capacity development in the area of transnational partnerships and networks. The project strengthens European partnerships through the exchange of ideas and sharing of best practices to coping with challenges in youth work that the different partners are experiencing. The development of online learning formats will help the partners with less experience with digital tools to strengthen their capacities and increase their reach of the target groups in post-pandemic times.The specific objectives addressed by the project are- to promote digital entrepreneurship competences and social engagement of young people through attractive non-formal education tools (in podcast format) and experiential and peer-learning opportunities (international training and local innovator hubs)- to foster quality youth work by providing open educational material for youth workers to support young people in their development and to facilitate implementation of youth-led projects - to strengthen capacities of youth work organizations in the fields of social entrepreneurship and digital media, and the inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities by sharing best practices- to raise awareness among local and European stakeholders on the values of inclusion and diversity, and the potentials of youth participation for social innovation- to promote digital entrepreneurship competences and social engagement, ideas for innovative career paths and non-formal education opportunities among local stakeholders in the EU countries through a cross-sectoral approach (youth & education fields, private sector and public institutions)<< Implementation >>The project objectives will be achieved through a number of activities involving partner organizations, young people and youth workers.3 transnational project meetings: - Kick-off meeting- Mid-term monitoring meeting- Final evaluation meetingRegular partner meetings, including frequent online contact, will ensure the quality implementation of the project. Partners exchange their best practices to use the full potential of each organizations’ expertise and existing tools in the fields of non-formal education, social entrepreneurship and youth initiatives, and digital media. 1 Blended Mobility of young people, including a bootcamp training in Italy, follow-up webinars and local hubs in partner countries- 24 participants (18-26 years old) from 6 partner countries- 8 day training activity with non-formal and peer learning methodsThe project aims at creating a network of young people who are able to put into practice their social ideas by using entrepreneurial and digital marketing competences. A bootcamp will be organised in Italy to give young people the needed competences and skills. For additional learning, visits to start-ups and social initiatives in the field will be organized. During the learning activity, participants will develop their own ideas for social and entrepreneurial engagement and plan the implementation at local level. Coming back to their countries, local innovation hubs will be organised by the project consortium to support the development of these small projects, supported by webinars during the period. At the end of the project, the national groups will present their work in the local multiplication events. Their stories and experiences will be shared with the other national groups through livestream.Production of open educational resourcesSeries of 30 podcasts produced in 6 working languages on topics of social entrepreneurship; including easy to understand theoretical knowledge, inspiring examples from practice, tips and suggestions from experts in the fieldThe series will be divided into 2 main lines:1. Aimed at young people to encourage their entrepreneurial spirit and competences in order to promote their participation in social and economic development of society2. Youth workers will be provided with the necessary knowledge and tools to support young people in their development and in the implementation of their own initiativesInternational and local multiplication eventsDuring one final international multiplication event and local events in each partner country, external stakeholders will learn about the project results. Invited guests (youth workers, associations, educational institutions) will have the opportunity to give feedback on the educational resources and discuss their adaptability to their own working environments. Representatives of the local young innovator hubs present their social entrepreneurship initiatives to a professional public to promote social development of their communities and find potential supporters (strategic partners, expert support, financial support for continuation and sustainability of activities).<< Results >>MAIN EXPECTED IMPACT ON INDIVIDUALSYoung people involved in the project (24 among which 12 with fewer opportunities) are expected to gain- increased empowerment, sense of initiative and active participation in the social and/or economic development of their communities;- increased chances for (self-)employment through specific competence development and first-hand experience;- increased competence acquisition on: digital and social entrepreneurship, digital marketing, media literacy, project management, business planning and communication.- raised networking on EU and local level, experience in working in an intercultural European environment.Involved partner organisations and associatied local institutions:- exchanged good practices and innovative tools, analysis on social entrepreneurship based on digital competences;- exchanged and newly developed tools in supporting young people with fewer opportunities considering different target groups;- creation of local hubs to sustain involved young people.- increased local networking through the podcast promotion in schools and local youth associations: raised consideration in the communities.Youth workers and practitioners working with target groups:- raised awareness on the importance of youth participation, employment opportunities and entrepreunership;- empowered in making impactful changes in their centres through the use of the produced educational toolkit;- fostered cooperation among cross-sectoral youth fields;- raised ripple effect on young people.TANGIBLE RESULTS- Report on the learning needs of young people and needs of youth workers to improve their capacities produced during preparatory research at the beginning of the project.- Podcast series (30 episodes, in 6 languages) as main project result: how to encourage youth social entrepreneurship and civic engagement based on digital marketing. Podcasts will be produced by the consortium before and during the local hub activities and provided to young participants as webinars. They will test them as part of the learning blended mobility giving inputs for improvements. At the end, they will be released to the public, youth workers and young people as open learning tools (OER). The podcast will be issued and translated in 6 languages to ensure inclusive learning opportunities for young people with fewer opportunities and maximise the impacts on target groups while also widely spreading the tool potentially to different EU countries;- Evaluation report on the produced results provided by the project consortium- Creation of a website containing information on the project, podcasts, partner contacts, event information and resources;- Final Event + national multiplication events to promote the project and its results in each partner country , targeting young people, youth workers, experts in the youth work sector and local institutions; the events will be implemented with direct involvement of the young people participating in the project