<< Background >>The “Digital Youth: Preparing Youth Workers for a Digital World” project focuses on preparing youth workers to engage in digital youth work by providing them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and competencies. It is a transnational initiative with the cooperation of five partner organisations coming from different countries across Europe: Cyprus, Ireland, Spain and Greece.This project responds to the recorded needs that the field of youth work has across Europe for the advancement of digital competencies of youth workers and young people. It is indicative that in the research conducted for the needs of the 2020 Digital Economy and Society Index Thematic Report on Human Capital, Cyprus, Greece and Spain rank below the EU average in terms of Internet user skills and advanced skills and development. Additionally, Ireland, though is above average in terms of advanced skills, has a lower than average ranking in regards to internet user skills. It also seeks to meet the European Commission’s and relevant organisations’ calls for structured activities and initiatives that will boost the digital skills of young people in Europe (CEDEFOP, 2017; ECDL Foundation, 2014; European Commission, 2017). Digital literacy and 21st-century skills play a crucial role as part of modern-day citizenship and youth work should be able to encourage this involvement according to the European Union’s Work Plan for Youth for 2016-2018 report.Young Europeans spend an increasing amount of their time-consuming digital media and use daily devices such as mobile phones, tablets, notebooks, laptops and computers (Eurostat’s statistics 2016). On the other hand, many youth workers do not yet wholly understand what digital media includes besides social media (Verke 2015) and as a result a lot of youth work practitioners lack the digital skills to fully benefit from and utilize the opportunities created by digital technologies. Consequently, youth workers lack the competencies needed to design and deliver digitally-oriented interactive and engaging actions and services that will best meet the needs of youth. According to the Council of Europe report in 2016, ‘youth work’ is a relatively well-defined distinct practice in some countries (such as in Ireland) while in others (such as in Cyprus, Greece and Spain) is not well defined as a term and its practice is not formally recognised. Therefore, there is a prevalent need to improve the competencies of youth workers and to further elevate the appreciation and role of youth work in participating countries. Moreover, youth workers themselves need to enhance their digital skills and introduce new activities and ways of learning that will be more effective in this constantly shifting environment.‘Youth Work’ is mentioned in the European Youth Strategy of 2019- 2027 and has its own agenda to support youth empowerment through quality, innovation and recognition of youth work. Thus it is essential that action is carried out to bring additional value to the activities and work of youth workers and most importantly to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, practices and experiences between countries (Official Journal of the European Union, 2017). By cooperating in a transnational youth-oriented participatory context, quality improvements in youth work and innovation and exchange practices will be fostered with the aim to develop youth workers’ knowledge and improve the impact of their work.<< Objectives >>•Promote the importance of Digital Youth Work in the partner countries and Europe•Build the competencies of youth workers to use digital tools in youth work•Develop quality resources for digital youth work•Improve the overall quality of youth work conducted in the participating countries.<< Implementation >>To further and achieve its objectives, the project will carry out the following activities:- Establish a Youth Work Committee that will consist of stakeholders, youth workers and youth in each participating country- Host Focus Groups in each implementing country to record the needs and the challenges youth workers face in regards to the incorporation and use of digital tools in their work- Host Focus Groups in each implementing country to collect-record suggestions, good practices and effective approaches that will be documented in a policy paper - Carry out pilot implementations in each partner country to test and finalize the Training Package to be produced by the project- Organize and facilitate blended learning training sessions with Youth Workers in each of the implementing country using the material of the Training Package and the resources of the eLearning platform of the project- Organize and host Multiplier Events in Ireland, Spain and Greece- Organize and host an International Conference in Cyprus- Hold face-to-face partner meetings in Greece and Cyprus- Hold 6 online partner meetings- Carry out a comprehensive dissemination campaign that will involve participation in a wide array of events as well as the engagement of the project's target audiences and relevant stakeholders<< Results >>DigitalYouth will produce and make available a comprehensive set of tools and resources that will have a strong positive impact on youth work across Europe. It will help further the digital skills and knowledge of youth workers elevating their capacity to plan, design and implement action utilizing digital tools in a manner that will enhance the quality of youth work as well as the recognition attributed to it. It will also empower it main target audience to facilitate the empowerment of youth so that it can mitigate modern challenges and obstacles as well promote inclusion in training and youth work. Specifically the project will produce the following Results: - R1: Digital Youth Training Package- R2: E-learning platform and digital learning resources- R3: Policy and Practice Recommendation PaperAdditionally, the following will be produced:A Project plan: A detailed plan clearly presenting the scope, objectives and work of the project that will guide partners through the implementation of all the tasks entailed as well as provide concrete quantitative and qualitative indicators to monitor its work. •Partnership agreements contracts: CARDET will prepare partner contracts for securing rights and duties of all partners involved in this project •Project website: a platform that will host all the work and resources of the project as well as provide relevant information about the Digital Youth and the field it is working on. The website will be available in all partners’ languages. •Digital Youth E-learning platform: An eLearning platform that will host all the resources and tools of the project, making them accessible to its target audiences •Dissemination and exploitation plan: KMOP will prepare a dissemination strategy and lists all evaluation activities, tasks, deadlines and responsibilities•Dissemination materials: CARDET will develop the project’s visual identity and a set of promotional material •Dissemination logs: Each partner organisation will report on every dissemination activity they will do to keep track of the project’s impact and a number of people and target groups reached. • 6months reports: Every six months each partner will provide a full report about all expenditure as well as all content development and evaluation activities. Through these reports (formats will be provided by CARDET), continuous project monitoring at the administrative and development levels will be possible.•Progress and final report: according to the requirements of the project as well as the documents provide by the NA, the partnership will submit progress and a final report (if appropriate)•The Digital Youth Training package which will have a direct impact on young people as well since the youth workers will be prepared for transmitting their knowledge to the young people by practising Digital Youth Work. Similarly, the promotion of such practice will engage their fellow youth workers in practising digital youth work and spreading awareness on the matter.•A report that will include a collection of lessons learned, good examples, challenges and recommendations for practitioners in the field and for policymakers.•Validation and certification of Digital youth workers through the modules available in the e-learning portal that will assess, monitor, and evaluate their learning progress. The certification process will be linked to the Youthpass certification system, the digital youth work competence framework as found in the Youth Competence Framework - by the SALTO- YOUTH network Through the aforementioned results and actions, the project will: - elevate awareness and appreciation of the work and contribution of Youth workers and the new opportunities digital tools offer- Promote the adoption and utilization of innovative and interactive, digitally-based, tools and approaches in youth work- Enhance the capacity of youth workers to reach out and engage young people and consequently elevate the effectiveness of their work