SYW aims at improving quality of youth work, especially regarding its economical sustainability, and fostering the non-formal learning recognition of its achievements. It seeks to reach its objectives pursuing the main targeted measures listed below.Development of a complex learning path that combines an online course created by CultNet (E+ funded project), the elaboration of new interactive ICT tools and the formation of solid intercultural teams. The MOOC focuses on youth participation and inclusion via cultural engagement and it is the starting point of the SYW learning path. SYW produces: Wiki area, APP for virtual mobility and Digital Compendia. The Wiki area allows youth workers to improve the course adding their personal experience and registering feedbacks by end-users. The mobile APP for virtual mobility permits youth workers and volunteers to be constantly cooperating and enlarging the international network; the can share and comment live videos, experiences of engagement, and exchange good practices. The APP is complementary at the mobility exchange. Finally, the Digital Compendia gives a solid structure to all material elaborated during the intercultural team work and collects the best example of dissemination and implementation of the non-formal learning path.Establishment of Intercultural teams of 8 youth workers based in Italy, Poland and Kenya also involving people from Ghana focusing on people with less opportunities. These teams work together to transform the organization and management of a cultural event into a business-oriented and sustainable action in each country thanks to ICT tools and mobility foreseen in the project. The network born with Cultnet project is so increased and enlarged.Engagement of business world. 2 SMEs, one from Spain, one from Ghana, and a sport association from Italy share their ‘business oriented’ model of work. That is summarized and structured in the Digital Compendia. SMEs welcome 2 youth workers each from Programme and Partner countries for a volunteering training period of 2/3 months. There, they learn and practice the new model experimented. At the same time companies involved can enlarge and improve their activities and business thanks to added values given by youth workers collaboration in the SMEs.Involvement of local institutions. A Memorandum of Understanding is prepared and presented by each partner to private and\or public institutions to ensure the official recognition and adoption of training path produced. SYW involves 6 partners from 5 different countries which are coming from 4 sectors: cultural, business, youth and sport sector to ensure the transfer and experimentation of a business model into the youth work, create enhanced cooperation clusters and build-up strong capacity building transfer of knowledge. Dissemination and communication of SYWs’ achievements and results are pivotal for all the project duration and it is ensured by the partners involvement and commitment.
Sustainable Youth Work has been an ambitious project, born from the relationships and enthusiasm of CultNet, a previous E+ project developed by some of the partners involved in SYW.The partnership is led by Associazione Glocal Factory (IT) expert in non-formal learning and in projects. It is composed by:•youth sport association USMA (IT), •youth association CZ-Art (PL),•music company Marmaduke (SP),•youth association EmpServe (KE),•ICT company ISpace (GH).The project aims at expanding and improving the learning path and international network of youth workers which are its heritage and to improve their skills in engaging young people in the local community. In details, the learning path has been improved by:-to enlarge and improve the MOOC already developed by CultNet through a new chapter about sustainability (https://yedu.eu/signup);-the development of a Web APP for virtual exchange and international teams (https://app.yedu.eu/login);-the development of a Wiki Area for the share of knowledge and expertise (http://wiki.yedu.eu/).The international network has been enlarged by:-international mobility of youth workers through study visits, trainships and final seminar-national and international dissemination events-virtual international teams on the YEDU App.YEDU (=Youth Education) is the acronym we selected to include both the projects: CultNet and SYW. (https://yedu.eu/) Culture was the focus of CultNet, sport and business are which of SYW. Partners experts in all these sectors (culture, sports, business and youth work) have been selected in the phase of design. Meeting and exchange among different “worlds”, such as volunteering and business, Europe and Africa, culture, sports and ICT has consequently been the core of the project.The equal exchange between African and EU partners, involving both youth association and company from one as from the other, and between volunteers and business world, has been another of the main focus of the project. The last important point is the network built with official institutions, companies and associations not directly involved in the project for the recognition and implementation of its Learning Path. This has been guaranteed by the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between each partner and one of the stakeholders mentioned above.In the end, Sustainable Youth Work is part of a process of growing of ideas and relationships among people, and this feature characterized its development. The health emergency caused by the pandemic of Covid-19 has put the consortium to the test and has created some difficulties for the implementation of the project, that was in the last months of implementation in March 2020, with last important mobility activities and exchanges missing – which in Ghana of 2 EU YWs, in Spain of 2 African YWs and the final seminar. The consortium asked for a suspension and then an extension in order to keep these important last steps. They couldn’t always be implemented successfully – mobility in Spain didn’t take place and part of the mobility in Ghana was implemented online. But this difficult situation and the solvable and unsolvable problems, the clashes, the pacifications, the difficulties that each one, differently and specifically, has faced, gave a strong contribution to the strengthen of the partnership and of the network involved directly or indirectly in the project, and in this way to the achievement of SYW’s objectives, its sustainability and future developments.