This project’s main objective was to mine the wisdom of ancient cultural practice, reimagining and reinvigorating it to create tools that empower youth workers. This project took as its premise the function of ritual - private, public, ceremonial - as crucial currency for communicating values, inviting participation and providing frameworks that foster belonging in young people struggling to find place and purpose. Our objectives, as agreed with our partners, were as follows: - To provide participants with a memorable learning experience through which they feel empowered and inspired; to equip them with new and useful skills with which they can more effectively serve their communities, promoting creative leadership practices and leading to enhanced self-confidence and employability. - To enhance understanding of the maturation process and what it demands at a personal and collective level; to identify the key points of initiation in a young person’s life, to involve participants in a personal learning journey for their own lives and to transmit this learning to those they work in their home communities. - To introduce participants to the tools and techniques of rites of passage so that they can more effectively mentor young people in their home communities. - To promote the values of peace and cooperation that underpin European culture and combat the threat to peace arising from extremism and radicalisation of the young; to help a new generation of youth workers develop these values through creative outreach activities and non-formal learning practices. - To develop a programme of creative activities to be carried out by participants on return to their home countries; to support these activities with ongoing discussions and tool-sharing and lay the foundations for future collaborations in the field of youth self-development. The essential premise of ‘Rites of Passage: Youth Worker Tools for Change’ was that, in reinvigorating the cultural practice of rites of passage, we would support the archetypal maturation process through which young people become positive contributors to their communities. It worked to initiate curiosity in ancient practices and empower the young to evolve rites that transcend division and forge diverse but cohesive communities composed of strong individuals ready to engage with society and the natural world. By empowering a new generation of youth workers in this, they would help young people feel a belonging to, respect for, and participation in society, making a real contribution to the peace and stability of Europe. The goal was to equip a new generation of youth workers with the knowledge and tools to support young people in their home communities with the codes for practical community leadership as they grow into elders. It was a plan for empowerment, whose purpose was to guide young people into a confident, effective maturity capable of meeting the challenges they face, of triggering positive change and promoting a cohesive Europe. We desired to equip participants with new knowledge about the journey to maturity, and with practical experience of ‘self’, ‘other’ and the natural, animate world. We intended for participants to leave with an increased aptitude for, and attitude to, empowered leadership, a listening heart and the qualities of active citizenship. We expected they would leave equipped with the skills to lead practical and sacred rituals, biography study, and artistic forms for powerful expression; that they be stimulated in active personal participation, project design, development and delivery and furnished with a functional and dynamic toolkit. We wanted the language of rites of passage to become common parlance in youth work and for these practices to receive attention both at the grassroots and policy-making level, recognised as the valuable, practical youth worker tools that they are.