"BACKGROUNDResearch shows that young people living below the poverty line face multiple barriers to access education, employment, housing, etc. To be poor is a very stigmatizing experience, which affects self-esteem, confidence and personal security. Thus, low income is a strong predictor of low educational performance, lower aspirations for the future and finally social exclusion. The 2013 Annual Growth Survey showed that poverty and social exclusion are major obstacles to the achievement of the Europe 2020 objective of inclusive growth. There is a lack of extensive knowledge on how young people experience poverty in the different member states and much to learn about how the dynamic nature of poverty and youth intertwine. A better understanding is urgently needed for achieving the Europe 2020 goal of “at least 20 million fewer people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion"". OBJECTIVES, NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSYES Forum, the European network of organizations working with and for disadvantaged young people, having members and affiliates in 18 EU member states, led the strategic partnership “Our life. Our voice. Young people and poverty”. We placed young people’s views at the heart of this project to explore their attitudes to poverty and what it means for them to live in families struggling to make ends meet from day to day. By listening to the young people experiencing poverty we wanted to bridge the gap between policy and practice. We provided fresh ideas for both actors in the field of youth services and youth work as well as policy makers on what real support should look like and how to better target resources to disadvantaged young people’s needs.The project partnership involved 6 partners and the YES Forum, as the coordinating organization. We implemented the project in 5 countries, different with regard to welfare system, historical development, and economic performance. We collaborated with partners coming from the UK, Italy, Germany, Finland and Romania, covering different regions of the EU. All participating organizations have had strong experience in delivering services for those experiencing poverty, listening to young people and influencing policy to improve the lives of those in or at risk of poverty. To reach a large audience ranging from youth work organizations, service providers, policy makers and public authorities, we involved another strong European network, active in the field of street work, Dynamo International. Through the activities of the partner organisation in the life-time of the project, we have reached 1.700 young people. Through extensive dissemination activities, as described in detail in the section ‘dissemination’, we reached around 6.500 multipliers across Europe. ACTIVITIES AND METHODOS USEDThis strategic partnership was built on a model established by The Children’s Society, a YES Forum member from the UK. We transferred this method and applied it within the strategic partnership by setting groups of young people with an interest to explore poverty. These groups of 12-15 young people were accompanied by youth workers applying interactive and participatory methods to get an insight into the experience of young people in poverty (IO1). The young people themselves created discussions on different perceptions of poverty and as a result formulated their recommendations against poverty and what real support should look like (IO2). At regional and national events, they met with representatives from youth organizations, service providers, local authorities, and policy makers to discuss their suggestions. The methodology used for engaging those young people who might be hard to reach was also published in a tool-kit for practitioners (IO3). The activities then culminated in the final international conference organized by the YES Forum together with Dynamo International. This event was held in Brussels, presenting the project findings in creative and interactive ways, devised by the young people to reach the various actors working with disadvantaged young people across Europe, ranging from professionals of youth and social work to decision- and policy-makers at EU level.RESULTS, IMPACT, LONGER TERM BENEFITSBy applying this participatory approach the project filled a gap in the discourse around poverty, where often the focus at national and EU level is on statistics and the definition of poverty rather than the day to day experience of young people. Local authorities and those responsible for developing services and policies for young people benefited from our substantial knowhow in including those young people who may not otherwise be engaged in established platforms for policymaking in the youth field (e.g. youth councils, youth organizations)."