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.

The project, over two years, will design, implement and review a Civic Engagement learning programme for socially excluded young people. Organisations from three countries will participate (Ireland, Greece and Portugal). There will be two partners from each country: one with expertise in education, research and review; and the other partner being an NGO with a development base within the excluded community targeted. The lead partner is a Regional Youth Service from Ireland, with extensive experience of integrating innovative practice and learning into mainstream youth work services. Programme participants (aged 16-20) will be drawn from the Traveller youth community in Ireland and the Roma youth community in Greece and in Portugal.The project is based on the premise that the standard progression routes (relating to labour market, education and training opportunities) are often difficult, if not impossible, to access for members of marginalised and excluded groups of young people. Experience to date – working with our target groups in each country – has shown that delivery of broader learning programmes about engagement with society can act as an essential platform for more meaningful progression in the longer term. The learning programme to be implemented and tested through PACE is aimed at increasing knowledge about civil society, and increasing capacity amongst young participants interacting with wider community and mainstream service provision. In order to recognise the formal and informal learning of the young people, the prorgramme will include innovative assessment methodologies , including Youthpass and tools as developed in previous EU funded projects. The experience of our project team to date has also demonstrated that these aims are more likely to be fulfilled if the learning environment is one of mutual support that can be maintained in the longer term. As well as delivering a learning programme about active citizenship engagement, therefore, the PACE project will also impart skills in self-organisation, self-representation and mutual support structures that are sustainable into the future.The project comprisess the following elements:1. Reaching transnational agreement on course content and delivery. The Irish partner will take the leading role in this – based on successful initiatives already delivered, but all partners need to agree on relevance and consistency within their own practice base. This phase will also aim to achieve clarity amongst partners on approach and style of delivery.2. Programme implementation. The programme will be delivered as part of NGO development programme with young people in their own environments. The academic partner in each country will provide advice and support in programme implementation, including assistance with the ongoing application of evaluation mechanisms and instruments.3. Post programme support for participants. All participants will be supported (through information, advice and advocacy delivered as part of ongoing NGO development programmes) in efforts to build upon their learning in the programme. 4. Review of outcomes. All participants will be centrally involved in assessing the programme contribution to their own knowledge, levels of civic engagement and future progression prospects. Central to this will be a multiplier event bringing together youth workers from all three countries in an international seminar. The seminar will allow for presentation of the results and assessment of the programme, recording of outcomes to date, identifying elements of good practice and ‘what has made the difference’, as well as a mapping of future development pathways and routes to influence mainstream policy. Academic partners will act as a resource in seminar preparation: producing data collection instruments for review, supporting the preparation of presentations, and undertaking research into relevant policy environments in each country.The main project outcomes will be:• Increased capacity and enhanced potential for individual participants.• Significant assets for youth NGO sectors in each jurisdiction through the enhancement of leadership skills, mutual support structures and increased capacity to pass on learning content and style.• Greatly enhanced understanding of blockages to progression for those young people who are most excluded from progression opportunities, and an approach to addressing these blockages that is fully tested and reviewed.• Stakeholder-specific recommendations addressing how the approach can be best supported and embedded in the mainstream service responses of each participant country; as well as pointers as to how lessons emerging can be taken on board in the broader European policy context (especially in relation to LLL).