The first and most important goal was to facilitate an exchange between the partner institutions on the topic in order to achieve greater professionalism and awareness among the participating educational staff and organizations as a whole. In this way, we wanted to take a small step toward greater inclusion and equality and improve the quality of our youth work and that of our countries so that the concerns of queer young people are consistently addressed. In addition, we also wanted to raise awareness among other institutions and our community, increase understanding of the challenges and needs of queer young people, and at the same time offer them the opportunity to have their needs and problems heard. In order to extend the sphere of influence beyond the consortium, we therefore published and disseminated the results of our discussions in an online article. Another goal was to connect local youth groups in the partner countries and give young people a sense of European belonging. In fact, many of the young people were highly interested in working on European projects when they could make such a clear connection to their own lives.
All participating organizations have identified a need in their work to obtain more information about the situation of queer young people and to develop a better understanding of their needs. Openness to diversity and awareness of discrimination are issues that are of great importance in youth work and must be continuously addressed and developed. As we see ourselves as Europeans, it made sense for us to promote this development not only with national data and theory, but also through exchanges with people from other countries where the situation for queer people may be different, and in some cases more difficult, but where there are also exciting and beneficial approaches to supporting them. So we set out together, made new contacts, and learned a lot as professionals. We also tried to network local youth groups in the partner countries and give young people a sense of European togetherness in order to create another support structure.