The project addresses the well-acknowledged need for a common European understanding of what constitutes quality in street based youth work as well as means to do documentation and follow up on to what degree this quality is actually achieved. This common understanding (ground) will be achieved through the development of a set of quality indicators for street work (published in a booklet) and a corresponding web-based system for documentation and follow up of street work. The indicators will be both qualitative and quantitative, thus taking all aspects of street work into account and providing a solid ground for further development. In order to have outcomes that are relevant and applicable throughout Europe the project gathers four partner organisations (KEKS from Sweden, Zavod Bob from Slovenia, CAS from Czech Republic and CAI from Portugal) that work in different contexts and under different conditions. The core team of the project will consist of nine persons; one trainer/process leader experienced in the development of quality indicators and two experienced street workers from each partner organisation. This way it is ensured that the outcomes will be relevant and useful for street work practitioners regardless of under what circumstances they work. The project will use a participatory methodology where the core team members together with their respective groups of co-workers and reference groups of young people participating in street work will develop the project outcomes together. The set of indicators and the web-based system for documentation and follow up will be developed in parallel and step by step during eight project meetings and based on consultations with co-workers and young people between each meeting. The participants of the project will all develop knowledge and skills regarding quality development and the setting of indicators. More important is, however, that the common understanding of what constitutes quality in street work, concretized in the set of indicators and the web-based system for documentation and follow up, will create a solid ground for the further development of street work through peer-learning, exchange of best practices and benchmarking. It will also make it possible for street work providers and street workers to show the outcomes of their work and to do knowledge based advocacy. This will deeply affect the partner organisations ability to further develop their work and to get proper recognition. All the partner organisations coordinate and have vast networks, including both municipalities and NGOs, on both national and European level, including DISWN (Dynamo International - Street Workers Network), which is composed of 51 national platforms from Africa, America, Asia and Europe.) This secures that the project outcomes will be spread throughout Europe and hopefully be used by many actors in the sector. This way we hope that the project also will have a profound impact on the European street work sector as a whole.
Our two primary aims were to: • Develop a set of quality indicators on street work. • Create a web-based system for documentation and follow up of street work. We also wanted to strengthen the project participants competence to formulate quality indicators in general as well as more specifically on street work, and to function as facilitators for similar processes in other organizations, thus strengthening the general quality development of youth and street work.
The expected outcomes of street work are seldom clearly articulated in policy documents and even more seldom being documented, followed up and assessed in a structured way. Hence, the project addressed the well-known need for a common European understanding of street work, and the subsequent need for • making clear what constitutes quality in street work • creating means to do documentation and follow up on to what degree this quality is actually achieved. Through running we wanted to: • Create a common ground for street work that in turn enables mutual learning, exchange of good practices and further common development. • Create the necessary conditions for an accurate recognition of street work from the political level, as well as from the general public. • Be able to gather the information needed in order to do knowledge-based street work and to assess and further develop street work activities, including doing knowledge-based advocacy. • Be able to define and further develop the competencies needed to do quality street work. We were also convinced that this in turn will lead to better and more efficient inclusion of young people at risk, thus preventing marginalization as well as mental health problems, drug abuse, etc.