The project: Youth work and learning for life and work, had partners with already established educational programmes for young people who are no longer in the education system and who are not working or being trained for work. The project was carried out trans-nationally since the aim is to develop a non-formal curriculum that can be replicated and refined on a pan-European basis. The project involved 3 partners from the public, private and educational sectors. The objectives of this project are premised on the young people's journey from not being engaged in any form of education, training or employment to being engaged in one, by way of non-formal/relational approaches to learning. The project looked to innovate responses that can be deployed and/or adapted across Europe within a non-formal curriculum. In the process of the development of such non-formal youth work curriculum, the project also initiated training in non-managerial supervision. This energized the generation of a dialogical ethos (the examination, analysis and sharing of practice) that can provide the scaffold on which a learning organization can be established. The project undertook research into outcomes, including looking at the impact of referral routes. Research also investigated learner destinations/progression. The project addressed the requirements of the youth-pass in order that they can be met via non-formal means. The above should make it apparent that the target groups are young people categorized as NEET but also those who are involved in their journey to full and active participation in society.There are various target groups that were involved in this project but the main were the young people over the age of 16 which are not participating in an educational programme, training or work. The other target group is the trainers providing vocational training to the young people and also the youth workers that are providing life skills within the respective programmes. Overall the project established the necessary considerations and means to sustain continuous learning within teaching and learning organizations. It looked to identify and establish innovative ways that will allow organizations to maintain ongoing dialogue and learning in order to adapt and change according to contextual demands and the needs of changing client groups. The publication 'Step back and make room' sums up the project and its outputs.

Project was a partnership between Agenzija Zghazagh in Malta, Asociatia Centrul pentru Dezvoltare Comunitara Durabila in Romania, Stichting JONG Rotterdam in the Netherlands and YMCA George Williams College in the UK. The Project aimed to develop and strengthen detached youth work services in the partner countries through the exchange of good practice and peer learning and support. The project looked at and learnt from existing services and evaluated the newly established services in Malta and Romania. It developed quality assurance tools that can be used in a detached youth work settings working with youth at risk of social exclusion. It drew on the experience achieved by the Dutch and UK partners to enable the Maltese and Romanian partner organisations to develop their practice in a manner consistent with best practice. This was achieved through the provision of training, supervision and mentoring to youth work managers involved in the setting up of new detached youth work services; the provision of training to youth workers that allowed for observation of existing projects and the sharing of experiences; the drawing up of polices and procedures in line with quality assurance systems; the evaluation of new and existing services through a range of methods including observation, interviews and documentation of activities; The project published an evaluation report which also includes a good practice guideline when establishing outreach and detached youth work services. A number of multiplier events were held in order to disseminate the results of the project.Outcomes include an increased capacity of the Romanian and Maltese partners to implement detached youth work services and to monitor their effectiveness as well as offer the required support to youth workers involved in service provision. The Romanian partner sought to establish links with community leaders such as local councils in order to ensure that the project could continue beyond the duration of the project. In Malta the service of detached youth work continues through national funds now that the pilot phase has been completed.

Against a background of increasing health risks, The EU Youth Strategy (2010-18) identifies health & well-being as a key initiative. This project, Bushcraft as a Youthwork Tool (BYT), addresses 2 defined aims of that initiative: a)promoting mental and sexual health, sport, physical activity and healthy lifestyles; b)raising awareness of how sport can promote teamwork, intercultural learning and responsibility. The learning and development of this project will take place outdoors, an environment, in respect of physical activity, experienced less and less by youth today. The approaches and methods, framed as part of non-formal and relational practice, are designed to promote young people’s well-being and mental health. This innovative project focuses on a specific outdoor youth work methodology, BYT. It will provide youth work practitioners and youth volunteers with the necessary competences to directly engage young people in BYT activity; and it will producea 35-page accessible and practical, ‘Forest Schools and Bushcraft Practices’ E-Toolkit, based on the training, to support the delivery of BYT elsewhere. The 2-year project involves 6 partners: Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, UK, the applicant, with the necessary BYT expertise to deliver the training, 4 partners, to benefit from the training, SEAL Cyprus, National Council of YMCA’s Ireland, Futuro Digitale, Italy, and CDCD, Romania, and 1 partner, YMCA George Williams College, UK, to develop a quality curriculum and producing the E-Toolkit. The project objectives (abridged): 1)To train 24 youth work practitioners, from different EU contexts, in a new methodology, BYT, for engaging and working with young people. 2)To enable these teams of youth work practitioners to go on to deliver BYT activity for other young people. 3)To create a group of youth mentors to operate as ‘peer educators’ (youth participation in this process is fundamental) in the promotion and delivery of BYT programme through multiplier events and future activity. 4)To develop a ‘Forest Schools and Bushcraft Practices’ E-Toolkit, for use by youth work practitioners and young people (to be available in each of the partners’ languages). 5)To enable the EBGC TrainerTeam to acquire greater intercultural competence in delivering BYT. 6)To explore and affirm how relational/non-formal approaches in the delivery of outdoor education can enhance the general wellbeing of young people, including their mental health. 50% of the estimated 300 young people, participating in the BYT ‘pilot’ activities, are young people with fewer opportunities. The activities will comprise: 9 short-term training residentials across 5 partner countries, in intercultural contexts, involving youth work practitioners, youth volunteers, young people and researchers; a multiplier event in each of the partner countries to introduce the E-Toolkit and promote and disseminate the BYT programme. The programme will be delivered through acascading process: the delivery team will take youth work practitioners through each topic, practitioners will then take their youth volunteers through the same topics, and later, this joint team of youth work practitioners and youth volunteers will deliver the BYT programme to new groups of young people. The topics will comprise, for example: principles of survival; shelter building; fire lighting; water purification; knife skills; wild food and foraging. There will be workshops on broader social issues, such as reflecting on the role of sport and outdoor learning in local communities. Competence development is central to this project, from the viewpoint of youth work practitioners, the EBGC delivery team, youth volunteers and young people. Several learning assessment frameworks will be used for guidance; Youthpass, a Level 3 Outdoor Learning Diploma and the ETS Competence Model for Youth Workers to Work Internationally. The YMCA GWC will coordinate the evaluation of learning throughout. The work will culminate in the E-Toolkit, presented at the multiplier events in each country, the SALTO-Youth Toolbox platform and events such as the annual SALTO Tool Fair. Project aims:- 1)To create joint teams of youth work practitioners and youth mentors, to deliver BYT activities, immediately in the partners’ national contexts, and later, across Europe and elsewhere. 2)The production and dissemination of a practical, accessible, E-Toolkit, to be used by practitioners and young people alike, to run a variety of BYT activities. The main long-term benefit lies in the wider availability of an innovative, outdoor, NFL methodology, that can be used across the youth and other sectors, to contribute to the improvement of the health and well-being of Europe’s citizens.