Paths to Inclusion is an innovative strategic partnership project which aim to create products for the promotion of participation of young people with special needs and to fosterpreparation of youth workers, educators, teachers and social workers to booster involvement of such target groups. This project want to be a resourse also for these youth workers,educators, teachers and social workers who belong to special needs group themselves and face difficulties in finding accessible educational training material.A network of 5 organization, coming from Italy, Belgium, Spain, Slovenia and Turkey will work for 2 years in the development of 4 intellectual outputs:-EU experiential activity map: a research and analysis of existing accessible activities and services among the EU territory-AccessAbility toolkit: an accessible manual with containing methods to organize activities and events (live and digital) accessible for all-EU accessibility platform: an open educational resource that contains results of the project (map, toolkit, online course), downloadable material and literature, tips and suggestions,contacts of experts-Path to Inclusion online Course: a massive online course on accessibility. To do's and don'ts with disabilities (visual, hearing, mobility and learning), the use of technology forinclusion, formal, informal and non-formal education elements, outdoor and experiential learning methods.The partnership will organize 5 transnational meetings and study visit on good practices and a join training activity with the participation of 20 youth workers, educators, teachers andsocial workers willing to work with mixed ability group.A group of 10 young people with special needs per participating Country (total 50) will be involved in focus group and validation of outputs.2 multiplayer events per participating Country will be organized (total 10), one to promote the use of the AccessAbility toolkit (IO2) with the participation of 50 youth workers and thePath to Inclusion conference which aim to present the 4 IO to a wide audience composed by professionals and stakeholders. 2 of these events, in Italy and in Belgium, will beorganized at international level.The platform and its content will stay online after the end of the project and will serve as a reference to all young people and youth workers among EU.

"<< Background >>The Strategic Partnership “Network for the active improvement of Youth Work” (NAIYW) takes place in the context of a 5 year-lasting programme called “Generation Europe: The Academy” (GenE:A). 45 European youth work organisations from 16 EU-countries work together in trilateral partnerships and in various working groups with the aim, to improve youth work structures and capabilities in Europe. One of the aims behind this is to support organisations to excite youths with fewer opportunities to become active on local and European level according to the concept of Critical Youth Citizenship.To support this, the official Partners of NAIYW will actively involve in and contribute to the Bonn-Process and make it feasible also for the associated partners for their work on local level. The aim is to connect local and European youth work by supporting local structures. This will be done, among other activities, by collecting best practices, by working on strategies for lobby and advocacy work, by training professionals, and by disseminating the results. Further, the inter-level-connection will be strengthened by finding a common language for ""non-formal civic education'', inventing and improving participatory methodology for diverse target groups, and connecting local youth work with European strategy instruments.NAIYW systematically builds on the results of the project ""Network for Active European Citizenship” (NAEC, 2018-2-DE04-KA205-016959), thus making this project even more sustainable. The experiences gained there and especially the developed products ""Guidance Papers'' and ""Methodbox'' are the starting point for NAIYW.Based on research, the Guidance Papers describe the conditions and needs of youth and youth policy in the countries of the (associated) partners of NAEC. During the process the network realized that youth work organisations are often not used to doing advocacy and lobbying for their needs and for the field of youth work in general. However, this is necessary for recognition of youth work and youth work organisations as well as for real improvement in the field.Further, the Guidance Papers identified the following shortcomings of youth work and in youth policy:- a lack of structured and long term youth work in the local communities and therefore a lack of networking in the european youth work- a lack of support from policy makers to the youth sector- lack of support for the youth work organisations during and in the aftermath of the covid-19-pandeminc on several levels (mental health, economic, guidelines how to start again, pedagogical level...)- lack of representation of the sector youth work on a local and international level- lack of exchange/share of experience and best practice of lobbying for the youth sectors.Additionally, the work over the Methodbox revealed the following needs in local and european activities in the field of non- formal education:- lack of appropriate tools and methods for value-based education in terms of Critical Youth Citizenship (CYC),- lack of understanding of participatory and inclusive pedagogical approaches by local youth workers.All activities of NAIYW are dedicated to address the above-mentioned needs and to develop new strategies on how to deal with them.Task Forces (Professionals from the 11 project partners who are in the same time being active in the network of GenE:A) will work on the aims in the frame of the project for and with the associated partners in the network GenE:A. Further they will open results up to the community of practice (COP) (including the fields of science and political and institutional levels) beyond the concrete network.<< Objectives >>The Network for the Active Improvement of Youth Work (NAIYW) takes place in the frame of a 5 years lasting programme called Generation Europe: The Academy (GenE:A). During GenE:A, 45 European youth work organisations from 16 EU-countries work together in trilateral partnerships and in various working groups (for example, Generation Europe: The Ambassadors, 2020-3-DE04-KA205-02058) with the aim to support the inclusion of all young persons and especially of those with fewer opportunities in activities of international youth work, explicitly in international projects that work on the topics of Critical Youth Citizenship (CYC) and European values. Moreover, GenE:A aims to provide inclusive and qualitative non-formal civic education for youth with fewer opportunities. The way to achieve this is to stimulate a European exchange with young people about European values, solidarity and CYC. Thus, GenE:A is coherent with the EU Youth Strategy and supports the implementation of its core ideas and objectives. Eventually, GenE:A aims for quality development of youth work, professional development of youth workers, as well as for strengthening international youth work and its recognition.More specifically, NAIYW sets as main objectives of its work (also in line with the national priority set by the National Agency in Germany) to be committed to recognition, innovation and development of the youth sector in a qualitative way in this post-pandemic period and to support and implement the EYWA (European Youth Work Agenda) as well as the Bonn Process on different levels.In particular, this strategic partnership with its implementation and with the development of the project results (see section below), will achieve to ensure the connection of local and European youth work and a long term support for youth work, on three main dimensions (these main aims will be specified in the project description):InclusionNAIYW will allow the exchange and support of the professional multi-level experiences (educators, youth workers, psychologist, sociologists), within the official and associated partners and indirectly within their local and national community. The dialogue is directly connected to the needs of the community of practice and the direct experiences from different European local communities. This also ensures that the needs of youth work organisations and young people are heard and further solved.Recognition of youth work on a local, national and European levelNAIYW will contribute to the increase and development of youth work by supporting the Community of Practice in its dialogue with stakeholders, coordinating actions, and motivating to bring youth work to the political level through strategic advocacy or lobbying. By training the associated partners, they are encouraged to work for the improvement of youth work conditions at local, national and European level. Moreover, NAIYW will inspire the associated partners and indirectly their local and national community to get involved in the EYWA / Bonn Process in a strategic way and as a common European Process. Lastly, NAIYW will promote non-formal European civic education activities and their value for supporting democratic culture on local, national and European level.Development of youth work qualityNAIYW will provide long term instruments to maintain and guarantee the quality of youth work at the local, national and European level, will contribute to the international dialogue on non-formal civic education and stress its role in democratic societies. Further, it will support with practical know-how the activities with the target group in order to improve and develop the local work. Eventually, NAIYW will develop a concept on non-formal european civic education to be used within the youth work of the associated partners and to be used as an experiential document in the international dialogue on non-formal activities about CYC and “Politische Bildung''.<< Implementation >>To achieve the goals, many activities are building the project structure. They can be summarised as follows:Preparatory activitiesThe implementation of an in-depth survey to better understand the status quo and the needs of the project partners and the associated partners will be carried out in the very beginning of NAIYW. The Survey will build on the recommendations described in the Guidance Papers and also on the learnings from developing the Methodbox. The survey is a starting point to adjust all further project activities and the concrete project results.Project management and monitoring activitiesSeven Transnational Meetings will be organised. Most meetings will take place within the Task Forces. During the meetings, the project partners will focus on project management within their defined area of responsibility. Beyond these meetings, the detailed plans are regularly brought together: Transnational meetings in which all task forces (being built with members from all project partners) come together for general decision-making, monitoring and planning steps of the overall NAIYW project. In addition, there were and will be numerous other digital or presence meetings financed by other sources within the task forces (see Management section).Feedback loops and other activities with the associated partners from the GenE:A networkHere the annual 5-day GenE conferences and interface activities with the young professionals from the Ambassador Network (2020-3-DE04-KA205-020581) and the associated competence group shall be mentioned. Also we will evolve and include feedback from early Pilot Workshops and Trainings to strengthen the concepts for the LTTAs.Communication with the youth work world outside the GenE:A networkActive involvement in conferences, meetings, political events and committees especially on the Bonn Process (all funded from other sources) is planned.Learning, Teaching and Training Activities.Trainings: Building up on the Methodbox as a concrete result of 2018-2-DE04-KA205-016959, a Task Force will develop and execute two seven days lasting training sessions for project partners and associated partners. Methods and tools for non-formal civic and value-based education will be collected, adapted and often developed completely new. The training will enable the participants to initiate, implement and exchange context- and needs-based solutions in youth work, to facilitate educational activities for youth with fewer opportunities based on principles of CYC.Workshops: A concrete result of NAIYW will be a manual for advocacy and lobby work in youth work. A corresponding series of four workshops will be developed and offered as LTTA within the framework of NAIYW. Later, the workshop concept and the manual will be published and offered as part of NAIYW's dissemination strategy (see below).Multiplier Events (MEs)A series of MEs will take the project results far beyond the circle of official and associated partners and reach the larger COP. One project partner from each project country will organise an ME. Target groups are professional youth workers from other organisations in the region. Additionally, there will be MEs organised by the coordinating organisation IBB. They will be in an international context, inviting international representatives of the COP.Activities in the Field of Youth PolicyTogether with the connected project GenE:A the strategic partnership implements further activities (funded by other sources) to engage in a constructive, empathetic, and versed way with the power of all (associated) partners in the Bonn Process and to motivate the associated partners of the GenE:A Network to engage as well.<< Results >>During its 23 months, NAIYW will reach different results to address current needs of European youth work (see section above).NAIYW will create three concrete products, along the lines of the objectives of the Bonn Process: ensuring a long term support for the youth work on professional level, giving long term instruments to ensure the quality of youth work and promoting the recognition of the youth work on local, national and european level.The products will be created with the support of the associated partners and youths. There will be a constant exchange within the official partners, associated partners and youths to assure the inclusion of their perspectives. This cooperation will strengthen the quality of the final products.Collection of Booklets on participation and inclusionThe five booklets will focus on: supporting the motivation and engagements of local groups in civic education and in the participatory process, making the local youth work inclusive and connected with European values and activities, creating long term and strategic structures for youth work and supporting mental health practice in uncertain post pandemic times. At the end of the project, these booklets will be gathered in one collection. The collection will be a support and source for the community of practice in order to help them in their work on European non- formal civic education on different levels. Moreover, the collection will support the work on a local level with methods and practices. This product will bring structure to the community of youth work, will develop and innovate the quality of its work.Paper on civic educationThis paper will be the result of research, discussion and exchange within the groups of official and associated partners and also external experts about existing concepts of non-formal civic education in Europe. The paper on civic education aims to connect European values with non-formal activities. It will be the basis for the methodology of the booklets and for the associated partner’s activities with the target group. Moreover, it will be used to promote non-formal European education activities and their value, to support democratic culture in local communities and on national and European level. Manual for lobbying in Youth WorkThe Manual shows a strategic process that youth work organisations can follow to make advocacy for their own work (mostly on local level) and for youth work policy on European level, in a network of practice. Moreover, it shows how to lobby for concrete changes in local communities: giving advice on how to implement the European Youth Work Agenda on a local level, giving advice on how to connect with existing networks and structures on a European level and mapping a European Stakeholder-Schema. Additionally, a series of workshops for the associated partners is going to be developed in a parallel process of mutual adjustment loops.NAIYW also expects through the training to make projects on CYC accessible and attractive for diverse target groups. With its associated partners, NAIYW integrates substantially different youth work organisations and thus holds great potential for the professional exchange about how to make non-formal civic education more inclusive. NAIYW will include policy makers from different political levels to promote the dialogue between them and youth work organisations: we expect to raise the interest in supporting further projects in the regions to become an active part of a European network that works on a common strategy.Eventually, by the combination of the GenE:A and the strategic partnership we aim to improve the accessibility of international projects in the field of CYC for youths with fewer opportunities."

Context:“Generation Europe: The Ambassadors” takes place in the context of the 5 year-long programme Generation Europe 2 (GenE2). 45 European youth work organisations based in 13 European countries are going to work together in trilateral partnerships with the aim, to excite youths with fewer opportunities, to become active on local and European level. The main topic of Gen2E is Critical Youth Citizenship (CYC) and European values.Participants:The project will directly involve two types of participants. We will have GenE Ambassadors (Young professionals) and experienced professionals in the field of youth work. Also, young participants from the local group will indirectly be involved via the Ambassadors. Finally, youth work organisations and stakeholders (see above) as well as policy makers will be reached by the project. The ambassadors are young people between 18 and 30 who already have experience in international exchange and non-formal education as participants. They are the representatives of their local peers and thus also the mouthpiece of the wishes and demands of the young generation. The long-term-professionals are professionals, experienced in the field of professional youth work and/or group leaders with a pedagogical background. They are project managers and / or group leaders of local youth groups and the mentors for the ambassadors and are accompanying them in their individual process.Objectives“Generation Europe: The Ambassadors” aims to strengthen diversity and inclusion in international youth work. The future professionals are going to come from more diverse backgrounds in contrast to the current image of youth work professionals, being often white, female and with an academic education. In order to reach diverse youths and heterogeneous groups, the next professionals should have a more diverse background themselves. The Ambassadors will be mentors and role models and inspire new young people to take part in activities of European youth work. This will make international youth work more accessible for disadvantaged youths on the participation as well as on the professional level with the help of the developed p2p concept and handbook. Another objective is to create with young professionals and the youths a concept to empower young Europeans to become Critical Youth Citizens on local and European level. Ambassadors are creating a sustainable process of involving and exciting more than 800 youths from diverse target groups and marginalized groups for civic engagement. ActivitiesThe Ambassadors will attend three training and teaching activities, in which they will acquire and develop basic skills and key competences of non-formal political education for diverse target groups. They will be introduced to methods and activities to excite young people for CYC. adapt existing methods and later create new ones where necessary for their purpose (Handbook on activism) based on their experience as former participants and their experience from working with the local groups. further thematic priorities of these activities involve human rights, democracy, education, employment, sustainability, and climate change. Another key point are the frequent transnational meetings, in which they meet to organise the steps necessary for the creation of the intellectual outputs. Beyond that various multiplier events will be implemented where all partners and associated partners in the involved countries come together, invite stakeholders and youth organisations and the Ambassadors present the Activism handbook and the p2p conceptResultsAs tools to inspire youths the Ambassador Network creates a peer education strategy and a product, the “Activism Handbook”. During this project but also end especially during the two years after this project, the Ambassadors will work with the p2p concept and the handbook with the young participants from European communities. Those young participants will develop in the process skills and competences connected with Critical Citizenship on local and European level. The project will have an impact on multiple levels. It aims to strengthen diversity and inclusion in international youth work. In addition to structural changes, the reality in youth organisations must also change. Addressing them is therefore essential for success. Dissemination towards youth organisations inspires them to follow the positive example of the SP and to integrate people from different backgrounds at participant and staff level. Stakeholders in this project are politicians, foundations, universities, and think tanks. The SP is aiming for change and starts an innovative new approach involving diverse target groups. Politicians on local, national and European level are addressed, to inform them about the needs of European youth work and provide them ideas on how to support the process of diversification.

"Context: The project NAEC was designed as part of a 3 years lasting program called Generation Europe (GenE). It was based on the following observation from the GenE Network: The youth with fewer opportunities tend to describe themselves as non-political and were comparatively hard to motivate to get involved in projects handling political content. However it was also noticed that they could identify and engage more easily in political topics when the projects were handling an issue affecting them personally or their direct environment. objectives: Taking in consideration the above mentioned statements NAEC followed 3 main objectives: 1. Connecting the youth work organisation with youth work policy makers (on a national and European level) in order to implement and support strategies to make political democratic education more accessible for young people with fewer opportunities. 2. Supporting organisations who want to implement AEC in their project by developing new methods as well as adapting existing methods to make it more approachable and accessible for young people with fewer opportunities. 3. Disseminate the created methods in making them available to organisations outside of the project and therefore create a wider network of youth work organisations that want to address the topic of AEC and make it accessible to diverse target groups. participants: NAEC addresses professionals in youth work as well as representatives from youth politics at a national level as well as at a European level.Activities:Guidance Papers: The (associated) partners formed advocacy groups in their regions (North, East, South and Germany) and conducted research in order to assess the situation and the conditions for projects for AC with diverse target groups in their countries and regions. Based on this research discussions with local youth groups in order to identify their concrete needs and expectations in the matter of youth work were conducted. The results of this discussion were transported to and discussed with representatives of youth politics and (local) decision-makers. Based on the research and the insights from the dialogue with policy makers, the partners constituted the base of the Guidance Papers including recommendations for a course of action to address the problems in the field. In a second step, the partners met during regional transnational meetings and had the opportunity to exchange about their experience and common problems where insights about successful and unsuccessful strategies from other regions / countries were gathered. The result of the evaluation, exchange with youth work policy makers and lobby experience were gathered and formed the final version of the Guidance papers. ToolboxNAEC mobilised the GenE-Network To collect existing methods and develop new methods on the topic of AEC, civic and democratic education. Next, the existing methods were adjusted to fit the needs of non-formal education with diverse target groups in a European context. The (adapted) methods were then tested during the youth activities of GenE and subsequently evaluated and further developed. The final version of the methods were then gathered in the form of a document named “Method box”.Digital.DThe digital platform was implemented in cooperation with politik-digital e.V.. The platform was developed and improved throughout the entire project period. Due to the Corona crisis, the pedagogical goal of the tool had to be adapted. In fact, the necessity to give young people the opportunity to communicate and make decisions across the partnerships digitally became a necessity. At the same time, it became increasingly important to embed the tool in a new overall digital pedagogical concept. This concept was successfully implemented in 2020 under the name ""Let's take Action"". Additionally to the intellectual outcome transnational Meetings and Multiplier Events were organised. results/ impact: The project succeeded in reaching all objectives despite challenges along the way. Results thus are: strategies on the level of youth politics that support the implementation of international youth work projects on AEC; connection of practical yw and politicians; provide tools to make international AEC projects more accessible to diverse target groups and to connect the local and European level; improvement of the accessibility of international AEC projects for young people with fewer opportunities.Longer-term benefits: In order to implement the local strategies developed during the project in a sustainable way schools and vocational schools have been included in the process. The SP created a strong and sustainable partnership that is motivated and enabled to work on the topic of AEC in the future. Furthermore it established connections with policy makers on different levels to continue to improve the conditions for the youth work."