As youth workers, we created SHIFT out of the need to respond to a challenge we continuously encounter: young people and youth workers often lack access to meaningful, high-quality non-formal learning experiences that can truly support them in developing essential competences to create impact in the moment that are impossible to address on preparation scripts. Many youth workers enter the field from formal education or volunteer backgrounds; while motivated, they often miss the essence of non-formal learning – they struggle to engage participants, design inclusive work forms, or use spontaneous moments as learning opportunities. SHIFT was born from our shared, practical observation across partners: the greatest challenge for youth workers today is recognising and turning everyday, unpredictable moments into meaningful learning. Many professionals, especially those with a strong formal-education background or limited practical mentoring, feel unsure when the script changes, when time is short, or when the group dynamic requires an immediate, flexible response. One common example: even though in theory they know the learning experience belongs to the group and not to them as trainers, in unpredictable situations they often try to save the moment themselves — or freeze. Instead, they could adapt and still give the group the chance to stay responsible for their process, while supporting them from outside. After thorough brainstorming sessions, it was clear that the core aim of SHIFT is not just to deliver better workshops, but to strengthen the ability of youth workers to see learning in the moment. The project focuses on different tools and approaches that help them extract learning points from simple situations, adjust their activity plans to the real needs of the young people they work with, and make meaningful interventions when it matters most. Instead of just delivering pre-prepared activities that participants “go through,” youth workers will learn to stay present, work from connection, and guide individual processes. This way, they can focus more on people than on programs — creating impact one person at a time. As a consortium we also established a concrete methodology we would like to explore: developmental facilitation — an evolved approach that allows professionals to stay flexible and find the right intervention in the heat of the moment. It blends the best of youth coaching and mentoring in action — two powerful tools. Once participants integrate these into their own training style, combined with a non-formal education setup, it will transform both them and the impact they create with youth. The project’s objectives in a nutshell: - involving 40 young youth workers in a series of dynamic, professional development activities (including a training event) tailor-made for them; - supporting these people to improve their professional competences related to non-formal education and personal skills that will support them in this transitional life phase; - strengthen the capacity of partner organisations across Europe by offering a quality training for their young professionals developing, sharing practices, testing new approaches, and building a sustainable network of collaboration that extends beyond the project’s duration. - spreading this knowledge and experience among other youth workers through local activities. From a youth work perspective, SHIFT is about making space for curiosity, innovation and a strong growth mindset. It is about showing young professionals that they do not need to have all the answers, but they do need the skills to hold space for others, facilitate learning processes, and transform challenges into opportunities. By implementing this project, we aim to nurture a movement of youth workers who are not only skilled in facilitation but also grounded in values of empathy, inclusion, and sustainability. Through them we are also supporting more people across Europe that benefit from youth work.