Abstract:

Youth work, a critical component in the development and support of young individuals, often relies heavily on the dedication and effort of volunteers. These volunteers, while enthusiastic and committed, may not always possess the specialized expertise necessary to base their practices and interventions with youth on research or evidence-based methodologies. This challenge is more pronounced in disadvantaged areas, where resources and access to professional development are limited.

The Active Youth Hub project emerges as a strategic response to this gap in youth work. Funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Program, the project aims to address the needs of youth workers, particularly those engaging with underprivileged youth who lack access to high-quality learning resources and innovative pedagogical methodologies. The project's core objective is to design, prototype, and develop evidence-informed guidance and support tools for these youth workers.

In the ever-evolving realm of youth work, the cultivation of essential competencies like active citizenship and entrepreneurial skills is of utmost importance. This paper is poised to unveil two intricately designed handbooks, envisioned to serve as pivotal instruments for youth workers in fostering these critical skills among youth. The inception of these handbooks is anchored in a thorough needs analysis, meticulously executed through a series of focus group discussions. These discussions, involving 17 youth workers from Romania, Greece, and the Netherlands – the foundational countries of the project consortium, have been instrumental in shaping the content and structure of the handbooks.

This paper not only introduces the handbooks but also delves into the synthesis of the focus group findings, providing a clear understanding of how these insights have been seamlessly integrated into the handbooks' framework. This approach ensures that the readers gain a comprehensive perspective on the rationale behind the handbooks' structure and their practical application in the field of youth work. The detailed exposition of these discussions illuminates the diverse challenges and needs encountered by youth workers across different cultural and socio-economic contexts, thereby enriching the handbooks with a wide spectrum of perspectives and strategies. Each handbook includes an introduction with the key concepts their definitions, followed by instructions on how the handbook can be used by youth workers. The main body of each handbook is divided into two main sections. The section on good practices in promoting youth entrepreneurship and active citizenship, and the section on how to use research-based resources in youth interventions. Finally, a number of standards and indicators is identified to support youth workers in evaluating the impact of their interventions.

Such an inclusive and participatory approach in the development of these handbooks underscores the project's commitment to addressing the real-life scenarios and challenges faced by youth workers. By equipping them with these handbooks, the project aims to enhance the effectiveness of youth work, promoting the development of active, engaged, and entrepreneurial young citizens who are well-prepared to contribute meaningfully to their communities and the broader society.

Keywords:

Active citizenship, entrepreneurship, youth work, active youth hub, Erasmus+.