"Summary of the project""Boost your possibilities! - Youth Centres for Youth mobility and Intercultural learning”- Strategic Partnerships brought together 10 Youth Centres (and 1 research partner) from Finland (4), Slovenia (3) and Estonia (3) for a 27-month project. The project focused on improving the quality and supporting individual centres’ strategies - starting from each centre's own needs and reality - through international mobilities (4 partner meetings), learning activities (15 job shadows, 1 training course) and a strong research and activity dimensions on local, regional, national and international level. The project and its activities were implemented in full in all three countries over the duration of 27 months, working on multiple levels and dimensions (such as local level activities, regional networking, research, international exchange of practices and youth workers) at the same time. Looking from contextual basis, the need for developing international youth work competences in each partner centre was very unique to all. Some centres had already years of experience in IYW, where as some were beginners in the field. The project design aimed to allow development in centres regardless of their previous experience or capacities, offering a wide range of activities and ""peer support"" successfully to each other.The project's main aim was to collect, develop and transfer methodologies, approaches and competence of international youth work, carried out in different local and regional settings, and study their impact on young people across the partner countries. A set of objectives had been created to be tackled in the duration of the project. The project focused on:- Exchanging and remodeling, and gathering good practices of international youth work between youth centres- Exchanging and establishing expertise and work ""flows used"" in practice in the international projects - Creating clear and concrete links between regional / national / international level strategies and our international youth work practices- Research the impact of international youth work in different cultural and regional realities- Create a stronger (strategic) community around the youth centers to create sustainable surroundings and support for the growth of international youth work in youth centres- Improving the intercultural- and international project work competencies of individuals working in youth centresFurthermore, the project worked on multiple levels and we had also divided it's objectives on 3 different levels - local / regional, national and international:Local / Regional level:The project aimed to support the individual youth centers' and their strategy implementation in developing international dimension as a tool for youth work. In concrete, it was foreseen that the project brought resources, preconditions and support for individual centers to act upon their plans to become more ""international"" and offer activities that promote it as a value. A network and a ""guiding community"" was be created through the implementation of this project to support youth centre's taking their next steps (what ever the entry point was), through sharing good practices and experience. Exchange of expertise through the activities carried out in the project acted as the means for doing so. Beside the sharing of good practices to local and regional youth centre's all had their own ""focal points"" to work on (concrete objectives), that were also supported and used as basis for the international ""spin-off"" mobilities set up during the project. As one of the key elements, the project offered also resources for individual youth centres to set up regional cross-sectorial cooperation and research dimension to be implemented in their practice.National level:The project aimed to create a sustainable and contributing network between the international youth work actors in each local / regional reality. The idea behind it is that each youth centre could get better and more sustainable support on national level from their peers from this network as a result of the project. This was foreseen to happen through national level meetings, on-going support and structural reflection and evaluation of the project process, coordinated by each national coordinator (umbrella organisations). The project set up an impact research together with youth researchers, to determine the needs and affect / impact of our work, in order to make it more visible and improve the quality of it. International level:The project aimed to bring added value through exchange of practices and approaches form different national realities shared through seminars, individual mobility and training elements. This was done through a strong research dimension on international, national and regional level supporting the concrete actions of the project. As an output a publication was created to conclude and summarise the results of this process, and added value of IYW."

Young people from across Europe are faced with similar challenges in the areas of Youth Wellbeing, Climate Change and the Natural Environment. In order to address these challenges, the staff and young people of 4 European Youth Organisations - Waterford and South Tipperary Community Youth Service (Ireland), Asociacion Region de Murcia Limpia (Spain), Metsakartano Youth and Wilderness Centre (Finland) and InMotion Armenia Youth NGO (Armenia) - came together to develop an Exchange of Good Practices Key Action 2 Project.The 4 countries and organisations were chosen because we have strong history of working well together, and also because we'd learn from the contrasts in terms of Youth Work development, economic development, geographical area (i.e. North, South, East and West of Europe) and environmental differences (Desert, Arctic, Mountain and Temperate Climates). The Project started with the needs of young people and what changes they wanted to make in their world. The young people worked to develop their vision and this became:'We want to develop youth work methodologies for young people to work with the natural environment in the age of climate change, and we want to learn from each other, exchange good practices, implement initiatives that deliver real positive change, and learn and grow as organisations together.'Following on from this vision, the objectives of the Project are:1. To impact on our organisations by increasing our capacity to work transnationally, developing and strengthening pan-European networks with European values at the core.2. To help young people develop themselves, impacting positively on wellbeing, through sharing and examining ideas, practices and methodologies that are relevant to young people, and therefore connecting, engaging and empowering young people to take part in civic, social and economic life across Europe. We want to provide a 'vehicle' for disadvantaged young people to develop their capabilities and enhance their employability.3. To have a positive impact on the environment and the climate in each of our countries, through putting some of these learnings and ideas into practice in meaningful ways in our own local contexts. We aim to use these interventions and practices as a baseline for engaging with other organisations, leveraging possibilities, and impacting on political decision-making in our communities.The Project is built on the foundations of youth work that is already going on in each country, and is seeking to empower a total of 84 participants from the countries, who will then use their knowledge and learnings to work with further groups of up to 400 young people in their own countries through the implementation of a series of Local Environmental Initiatives. Participants come from communities that are disadvantaged - many are from the NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) community, and many others have challenges around their mental and phsyical health.Young people and staff members will take part in 4 Transnational Project Meetings to coordinate, review and evaluate the Project. A Staff Training Event in Armenia around 'Team Development and Communication' will underpin the whole Project through improving relationships and communications.Groups from different countries will participate in Blended Learning Mobilities in Spain, Finland and Ireland, with the aim of inspiring young people, examining best practices in the field of the natural environment and climate change in the different countries, and generating ideas that could be implemented in the different local contexts. Then the young people will co-design plan, implement and evaluate Local Environmental Initiatives in their own countries, with the support and backing of their European Project partners.The whole Project will take place over a 20 month period, from September 2020 to April 2022. Each of the Activities will be carried out using youth work methodologies, such as experiential and participatory learning; physical activities such as camping and hiking; immersive activities such as living and working with local people in a 'hands-on' way; reflective practice and values development.Ultimately, the organisations will have strengthened and reinforced their long-term capabilities and networks for continued international youth work, as well as creating new innovative Programmes inspired by learnings from countries across the continent. They will have developed needs-led youth work responses, and helped young people to address the challenges that are current and urgent in their lives. The young people will have become 'Climate Ambassadors' in their local areas - they will be connected into civic life and will have a stake in society - and they will have developed long-term community leadership skills and attitudes. Young people will have become empowered to deliver real, meaningful change in areas that matter to them.

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"ENOC (European Network of Outdoor Centers) pursued the goal to further develop the European cooperation of outdoor centers in Europe and to initiate a steady network of organisations working in the field of outdoor adventure and experiential education. This specific strategic partnership put its focus during the project span on the topic ""Aesthetic Education"" in youth work. For this purpose, a practical handbook was developed which contains a collection of best practice activities combined with several articles dealing with different aspects of and approaches to aesthetic education. The project started with a kick off meeting in Marburg/Germany in order to set a common ground of the understanding of the aesthetics. At the same time all organisations presented their work with youth groups, backgrounds, target groups and own professional approaches (again with focus on aesthetic education). By this the cornerstone was laid for the development of a train-the-trainer seminar, which was carried out in a next step for a total of 20 professionals from all organisations involved.The implementation of the train-the-trainer seminar (Radenci/Slovenia) made it possible to carry out best practice activities of each involved partner organisation and to systemize them and reflect on it in accordance with its possible uses and limits in the work with youth groups. Subsequently, each partner took the new practical impulses back into the individual working contexts during an intensive testing phase of best practice. All new experiences with those activities were briefly documented. At the same time all partners were engaged in spreading best practice approaches and didactics of aesthetic education within the own organisation. From time to time also multiplying events were held in order to inform others about the project and to share experiences in the field of aesthetic education. A second project meeting of all partners in Ambleside/England was used to evaluate this testing and implementation phase in detail. This resulted in a collection of best practice activities, which was – in a next step - prepared uniformly to transfer those with a didactical processing into the planned handbook. A content concept for this publication was also developed. Besides the best practice activities it was decided to include a number of articles into the handbook contributed by some experts involved in the strategic partnership project. As part of the final meeting (again in Marburg/Germany) the results were brought together and experience gained from working with aesthetic education was again collected, exchanged and discussed. The whole group also visited an independent project that has a lot of experience with aesthetic education in various fields. In addition, new/previously unmentioned approaches to aesthetic education were discussed. Extensive consideration was given to the continuation of the collaboration. The partners debated on ideas/proposals for expanding the network and talked about opportunities to continue with the work on aesthetic education (e.g. developing a teaching seminar and implementing youth meeting activities). During this process also other core issues could be identified that are elementary for the work in educational and outdoor centers (including health and wellbeing, environment & sustainability, personal / social development).The partners: Institutions from Germany (bsj Marburg), England (Brathay Trust), Slovenia (CŠOD), Finland (Metsäkartano) and Poland (Centrum Edukacji Nieformalnej i Outdooru ) were involved in the partnership project. All organisations have a long tradition and great expertise in adventure and outdoor education. They carry out extensive practice in the outdoor centres of their own countries with a large number of youth and adult groups, as well as families, companies and other groups. The involved organisations are also members of the EOE network (European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning).Results and effects: The project led to an intensive examination of processes of aesthetic education and stimulated a strong professional exchange between the organisations involved. Although all partners can be seen as institutions with great expertise in aesthetic education, the project has shown a high need for professionalisation in this area. Experience processes in the implementation phase have shown that target group-specific access is fundamental, especially in the field of aesthetic education, and that specialists are faced with major didactic challenges to implement this practice when working with large and sometimes heterogeneous groups in outdoor centres. The intensive examination of the potential of aesthetic education, but also of the corresponding success factors, has led to professional development within the organisations and has made aesthetic education a central part of the work of all partner organisations. In addition to the reached impact and development of the topic itself, the network now is represented by a website and established different ways (social media, leaflets) to address other potential partners, to promote the products and results of the project (best practice handbook) and to advertise for the benefits of engaging with ENOC. A huge impact will come from the new handbook, which will serve as a tool for professionals across Europe and beyond and also can raise the importance of the often underrepresented field of aesthetic education in schools and formal learning settings as well as in many informal/non formal learning settings, too. This, in turn, means that thousands of participants of the programmes of outdoor centres benefit from the project results and the growing European network that brings raising opportunities for the youth as well as for practitioners and involved organisations in general."