The overall aim is to develop a mechanism that will prove the importance of youth work in Europe, create a legacy for future advocacy activities in order to ensure recognition and quality of youth work programs. Specific objectives of the project "Measuring impact in youth work- mission (im)possible!" are: 1. to conduct mapping of existing practices, mechanisms tools, instruments at EU, national, local levels related to the impact of YW on youth; 2. to develop mechanism and instrument(s) related to the impact of youth work on youth and its usage for advocacy purposes; 3. to develop and test mechanism and instrument for measuring the social impact of youth work (economical aspect incorporated) and its usage for advocacy purposes (with a segment which implies how to translate data for advocating). 4. to foster multi-sectoral cooperation in the field of youth.
Youth work is crucial for the development and support of young people in local communities, offering various opportunities, including international mobility. To justify its importance, it is necessary to understand and demonstrate the impact of youth work on different levels. This project aimed to address this by creating a new segment focused on measuring the impact of youth work, leading to better recognition. Meetings with partners and other relevant actors in the youth field revealed that existing tools and mechanisms for measuring the impact of youth work at the European level are either used only nationally, focus solely on Erasmus+ project impacts, or are not well-promoted and accessible. This project aimed to map existing tools, mechanisms, and practices, and package them for the youth sector. It will create a mechanism to measure the impact of youth work on individuals and develop new methods to assess the social impacts of youth work. These new mechanisms are tested and will be offered to the youth work sector across Europe. By starting with these significant steps, the project paved the way for future advocacy efforts.