<< Background >>Reaching and keeping contact with marginalised groups has always been a challenge, but the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up an already unstable field and pushed marginalised young people more to the side and in isolation. Thousands of young people at risk of social exclusion have lost touch with their support contacts since March 2019, when the whole world went into lockdown overnight. The unstable on-off situation still continues until now and it will be a long way to countermeasure the effects that have spread into every aspect of life. Current data shows that the situation of young people looks severe, because the young generation is confronted with huge challenges, first climate change and the consequent climate crisis, and now recovering from the COVID pandemic. Young people react differently to these future outlooks, and while some show resilient and motivated behaviour to spark change, others react with ignorance, paralysis or even anxiety. A recent study of Unicef (10/2021) on the mental health of children shows that 1 out of 5 (Unicef Austria) young people suffer from psychological consequences (i.a. depression, anxiety, eating disorders) and about 80% exercise insufficient physical activities. In March 2021, young people were 30% to 80% more likely to report depression or anxiety than adults (OECD, 05/2021). Furthermore, open jobs and apprenticeships are less accessible. Bertelsmann-Stiftung has implemented two surveys with young people in Germany (2020/2021) and investigated their perspectives for (VET)-education, and the results are devastating. 78% of young people with a low education level say it is harder for them on the job market. As coordinator and initiator of this project, the social enterprise Jugend am Werk Steiermark is recognising these effects in their frontline youth work offers. The young people, especially the marginalised groups and minorities, have withdrawn from support offers and it has become difficult to reconnect with them. Making first contact with marginalised young people has become even harder.The open and low-threshold offers in youth work have been disrupted due to COVID-inducted restrictions, and official policies have neglected this sector for far too long. Frontline youth work needs to be visible and for this we need cross-sectoral communication & cooperation and an improved link to policy makers on local, regional and national level. For this, a threefold approach is needed:1) reach marginalised young people & (re-)connect them with support systems.2) empower the young people to take care and responsibility of their own physical and mental health, and consequently realise that they have power to change their situation by participating actively in social and civic life.3) connect frontline youth work with policy makers by enabling dialogue between young people and decision makers facilitated by youth workers. Hence, the addressed target groups must be:A) young people (12-25 years), marginalised due to obstacles in their life or who do not identify with the mainstream for personal reasonsB) youth workers, who are professionals, volunteers, social & street workersC) multiplier organisations & networks who work with youth & employ youth workersD) research organisations and policy/decision makersTo bring this approach to life and improve the post-covid situation of the target groups, the YOUTH COURAGE project has assembled a multiprofessional, transnational partnership from Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, and Slovenia. All project partners are relevant entities on regional, national and EU level with direct contacts to frontline youth work as well as broad networks of high impact potential. They all recognise the strong demand for innovative solutions to enhance the repertoire of youth workers in these troubling times. Each partner brings unique competences to the table, which ensure a professional implementation of the project as well as high-quality project results.<< Objectives >>The core aim of the project is visible in its title:YOUTH COURAGE - You are part of the solution!Empowering marginalised youth to reconnect with their social support system and facilitating personal growth to enable more active citizenship and solidarity.To fully answer to this aim and the needs described above, the YOUTH COURAGE project partnership works on three objectives:1. Provide modern, future-proof ways to (re-)connect with marginalised youth who have lost contact with their support system in times of crisis.2. Empower youth and marginalised young people to become active citizens, to take responsibility for their own physical and mental health, and to enrich their personal growth through acts of solidarity and civic participation.3. Provide innovative survey instruments to capture the current situation of marginalised youth and their support workers in transnational reports to further strengthen the link to policy makers and research centres across Europe.These objectives are further complementary to the EU Youth Strategy and the 11 European Youth Goals (both 2019-2027), that focus on three areas of action: engage, connect and empower. Just as in the approach of the YOUTH COURAGE project, cross-sectoral areas are addressed, and this project will contribute to at least 8 of the 11 goals: Connecting EU with Youth, Equality of All Genders, Inclusive Societies, Information & Constructive Dialogue, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Moving Rural Youth Forward, Space and Participation for All, Youth Organisation & European Programmes. The YOUTH COURAGE project will firstly, reach out and connect with marginalised youth and secondly, re-activate and empower youth who are already (re-)connected with their support system to become more resilient and take on responsibility for their physical and mental health as well as for their social environment through acts of solidarity and civic participation. The project will offer insights as well as innovative and suitable resources for youth work in four main topics:◼ Health (physical & mental health, awareness of responsibility for herd protection through vaccines)◼ Empowerment and Inclusion (gender, cultural, and ethnic identity, pride, special needs)◼ Active Mobility (youth visibility in the city, ownership of public space, sport activities, Erasmus+)◼ Solidarity (social & civic activities, volunteering, participation in local community)The set objectives and topics are corresponding further to the framework of the Erasmus+ programme by the European Commission, in which the YOUTH COURAGE project is serving three main priorities and addresses three complementary topics: ◽ Promoting active citizenship and young people’s sense of initiative◽ Inclusion and diversity in all fields of education, training, youth and sport ◽ Reinforcing links between policy, research, and practice◽ Inclusion of marginalised people◽ Quality and innovation of youth work◽ Promotion of alternative forms of participationThe ultimate goal is to make young people aware that by becoming active citizens who participate in social and civic life, they can shape the future and make it more inclusive and solidaric, while empowering them to pursue these goals. At the same time, it is important to raise visibility and awareness for the situation of the young people, especially the marginalised groups, by supplying current data from the frontline youth work to policy and decision makers through suitable research operations.<< Implementation >>To achieve the objectives of the YOUTH COURAGE project, the partnership will implement four project results, with strong involvement of the target groups in the developments: ◼ R1: EUROPEAN YOUTH SURVEY: Investigating the post-covid situation of marginalised youth and the connection status to their support system.◽ Engagement of 300 youth & youth workers in the transnational survey◼ R2: YOUTH COURAGE OUTREACH FOR ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP - Social pedagogical interactive toolkit to (re-)activate marginalised youth during and after crisis.◽ Participative, bottom-up development of new resources and updating established methodologies to longlasting, future-proof form◽ Testing the resources with 150 youth & youth workers in all partner countries◽ Providing an open platform to exchange best practices among youth workers◼ R3: ESCAPE THE GLOOM: A low-threshold escape game that empowers marginalised youth to reignite their courage.◽ Open innovation social media campaigns for young people to shape the educational game◽ Testing the escape game in all partner countries & filming video teasers/walkthrough◼ R4: YOUTH COURAGE POLICY PAPER: Strengthening the collaboration between frontline youth workers, research institutes and policy makers to further investigate the situation of marginalised youth in Europe.◽ extended re-implementation of the EUROPEAN YOUTH SURVEY (2024) with 400 youth and youth workers in more countries◽ development of policy recommendations based on the deductions from comparing survey results◼ E1-E5: National YOUTH COURAGE Interactive Workshops◽ 20 youth and youth workers per country will participate in these national events and develop new, target-group friendly methodologies to reach and empower youth in a flipped classroom style◼ E6: YOUTH COURAGE Final Conference◽ 30 policy makers in Brussels of local and EU level are invited to this final event, which will be broadcasted online and involve 30 more target group members in all partner countries◼ C1: YOUTH COURAGE LTTA◽ From each country, 2 young people as well as 1 youth worker and 1 project staff will meet in Brussels to work on R2 and R3. The event will enhance the European identity of all participants and enable the young people to become EU advocates to their peers. To assure these results are developed in a high quality, are relevant to the target groups addressed & generate a broad sustainable impact on national as well as international level, the implementation process is facilitated by the following activities:◼ Project Management ActivitiesThe coordinator Jugend am Werk Steiermark has vast experience in EU project management and has successfully led Erasmus+ projects for years, including the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. ◽ Monitoring & time management supported by a detailed Project Plan◽ Regular budget & progress reports of partners (M6/M12/M18/M25)◽ Frequent risk assessments◽ 4 transnational project meetings (M1/M7/M14/M25)◽ At least 4 online work sessions (M3/M10/M19/M23)◽ Interim (M12) & final report (M25)◼ Quality Management ActivitiesMultiple formal and informal assessments of the project process and result quality amongst internal staff and external target groups as well as through a professional external evaluator are planned. Indicators of the project’s success are transparently set in the quality management handbook supplied by P4/Auxilium.◼ Promotion and Sharing Activities◽ Development of project logo & CI◽ Project website◽ Strategic promotion guide (incl. social media schedules)◽ 7 newsletters (M3/M8/M12/M15/M20/M23/M25), of which at least 3 are published on EPALE◽ Regular reports of promotion activities (M6/M12/M18/M25)◽ Promotion of the project on online & offline channels of all partners and at conferences, seminars, events◽ Close collaboration with associated partners & press organisations◽ Sustainability and Exploitation Strategy for long-term impact beyond the project & partnership<< Results >>In a nutshell, the YOUTH COURAGE project foresees the following tangible results:◼ R1 EUROPEAN YOUTH SURVEY◽ 2 modern, target group friendly survey instruments for (marginalised) youth & youth workers in all partner languages + research guideline for future implementation beyond the partnership◽ transnational survey report in EN◽ video summaries in all partner languages ◼ R2 YOUTH COURAGE OUTREACH FOR ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP◽ responsive, interactive online platform in all partner languages featuring:◽ 100 collected resources and methodologies: 60 resources by the time of the piloting, 20 more during piloting, 20 more during expansion phase that runs until the end of the project through: ◽ accessible online form to upload new methods easily ◼ R3 ESCAPE THE GLOOM◽ targeted escape room game to empower youth on 2 difficulty levels in all partner languages◽ broad engagement opportunities through open innovation approach via social media polls◽ transferable guideline to create own escape game for youth settings ◼ R4 YOUTH COURAGE POLICY PAPER◽ current results of EU wide youth survey (2024) in comparison to first results (2022) and hard facts◽ deductions and recommendations for policy makers and research institution to foster link to frontline youth workAll project results are provided primarily in a virtual online format and are characterised by an innovative and accessible format, however they can be printed as PDF and on paper if demanded.The project envisages the active engagement of more than 1000 participants in the above mentioned project activities and more than 150.000 persons and organisations reached by all promotion and sharing activities together. The YOUTH COURAGE project aims at a long-lasting, sustainable and transferable impact for local, regional, national and transnational target groups on:(a) Individual level: young people, marginalised youth, professional & volunteer youth workers (target groups A & B)(b) Organisational level: youth organisations and networks, umbrella associations (target group C)(c) Structural level: public bodies/authorities, policy and decision makers (target group D)(d) Multiplier level: all of the above plus related networks, wider stakeholders, press, publicAll YOUTH COURAGE project results and promotion channels stay available long after the project has ended and due to their high transferability potential, they will extend the impact far beyond the partner countries.