Across Europe, young people continue to face significant challenges when transitioning from education to employment and active participation in society. Despite improvements in recent years, youth unemployment and social exclusion remain persistent issues, particularly among young people who are neither in employment, education, nor training (NEET). According to the European Commission in 2019, more than 6.3 million young people aged 15–24 in the EU were classified as NEETs, while over 4.2 million were unemployed. Although youth unemployment decreased from 23% in 2015 to below 19% in 2018, it remained significantly higher than the general unemployment rate. Large disparities also existed between countries, with Germany reporting around 7% youth unemployment, while Greece and Spain recorded rates above 40%. In addition to unemployment, early school leaving and lack of skills further increased vulnerability among young people. Around 11% of individuals aged 18–24 left education early, limiting their opportunities. At the same time, employers reported difficulties filling vacancies, highlighting mismatches between young people's skills and labour market needs. Many young people lacked competences such as communication, teamwork, initiative, and self-confidence. Volunteering has increasingly been recognized as an effective tool to support young people in NEET situations. Voluntary activities offer opportunities for experiential learning, competence development, and social inclusion. However, many voluntary projects focus mainly on service delivery, while the learning dimension remains underdeveloped. This creates a gap between service and learning, reducing the potential impact of volunteering. Young people in NEET situations often struggle with low self-esteem, limited motivation, and lack of self-awareness. Without proper support, they may find it difficult to re-engage with education or employment. Therefore, voluntary activities should prioritize personal development alongside community service. Youth workers need to design activities that promote reflection, competence development and empowerment. To address these needs, project partners decided to introduce self-directed learning as a non-formal educational approach within voluntary youth work. Self-directed learning encourages young people to take responsibility for their learning, set goals and develop competences. This approach supports autonomy, motivation and lifelong learning skills. The overall aim of the training course was to initiate local and European voluntary youth work activities focusing on competence development of European Solidarity Corps volunteers and young people in NEET situations. The project aimed to achieve this through creative non-formal educational methods, particularly self-directed and social learning. The training included theoretical and practical activities. Participants explored Erasmus+ opportunities, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and models of self-directed learning. They also learned about digital tools and Personal Learning Networks supporting learning processes. Practical activities focused on applying self-directed learning in voluntary work. Participants practiced methods, adapted them to local contexts, clarified roles of mentors and coordinators and developed new project ideas addressing NEET challenges. Participants also exchanged best practices, explored innovative youth work methods and promoted volunteering as a tool for empowerment, participation and employability. As a result, an Open Educational Resource Journal titled “Youthpass and Self-Directed Learning” was created. Additionally, the participants developed nine youth exchange and youth worker mobility projects, three of which were submitted in the 2025 Erasmus+ deadline. The project strengthened youth workers’ competences, improved voluntary youth work quality and created new opportunities for young people in NEET situations.