The project “Helyben hogyan? Fiatalok a településeken” aimed to strengthen the quality, visibility, and professional coherence of youth work in Hungary, with a particular focus on supporting actors and practices operating at the local level. The project was based on the recognition that youth work actors in Hungary often operate within fragmented structures, lacking a shared professional language and framework, as well as platforms that enable structured dialogue and cooperation. At the same time, there is a significant need to strengthen the renewal and sustainability of the youth work sector, particularly by supporting the practical experience of university students and early-career professionals. These needs were identified based on the findings of our research “Are You Engaged in Youth Work? Research among Youth Workers and Volunteers 2023”, conducted during the preparation phase of the project, as well as our professional experience and feedback gathered through cooperation with early-career professionals and university students in traineeships. The project pursued a dual objective. On the one hand, it aimed to establish processes that support professional dialogue and knowledge exchange, enabling youth work stakeholders – including early-career and experienced professionals, decision-makers, and representatives of related sectors – to engage in joint reflection. On the other hand, a key objective was to actively involve young people throughout the entire project cycle, with particular emphasis on ensuring the participation of community organizing students and early-career youth professionals. To achieve this, the project strengthened existing partnerships and established new collaborations with several relevant organisations and institutions within the youth field. Through cooperation with higher education institutions, students were involved in the project as part of their traineeships, actively contributing to its implementation while gaining practical experience in youth work processes. The project was implemented as a consciously designed participatory and iterative process, consisting of interconnected phases: outreach and awareness-raising, a central national conference, subsequent professional workshops, and the co-creation of results. Throughout the implementation, participant feedback and needs were continuously integrated into the process, which in several cases led to deviations from the original plans. While keeping the project objectives and the expectations of the application in mind, we consistently aimed to respond flexibly to participants’ needs and to incorporate as many of their suggestions as possible into the implementation. The outputs produced aimed to support the professionalisation of the field, including the development of a shared conceptual framework, the initiation of an ethical code, and the strengthening of professional networks. These efforts also contributed to supporting the renewal and sustainability of the youth work workforce. Overall, the project did not merely focus on delivering events, but also succeeded in initiating a longer-term, bottom-up sector development process based on incoming feedback and proposals. This process contributes to strengthening cooperation, developing shared professional frameworks, and building the capacities of youth work actors at local, national, and European levels.