InterCity Youth Erasmus Project

Project Title

InterCity Youth

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy)

Project Summary

The project addressed the lack of a common ground for youth work and of a clear picture of what constitutes quality in youth work. At the same time it intended, as an overall aim, to build a firm organisational platform where this common ground and view on what is qualitative youth work could be turned into practical quality development through peer learning and exchange of methods and best practices – InterCity Youth – the European Network of Local Departments for Youth Work.

The main objectives of the project were
a) to develop common indicators on participation, non-formal learning and gender equality and inclusion of marginalized groups of youth published in a booklet
b) to create a web-based library of methods and best practices linked to the indicators

The project also aimed at strengthening relations and cooperation between local departments for youth work and youth organizations as well as other organizations in other parts of the youth field on local, national and European level by, as a first step, inviting them to function as a reference group to the project. The activities of the project mainly consisted of a work group with representatives from the different partner organisations that together created the sets of indicators and gave examples of methods and best practices that can be used to see to what degree actual youth work meets the indicators. The approach and methodology of the group was based on the report from the European expert group on youth work quality systems, “Quality Youth Work – a common framework for the further development of youth work”, published by the European Commission.
The foreseen results of the project were sets of common indicators and ways to work with them that are used for common quality development within a strong European network of local departments for youth work, ICY.

The booklet “Inspiring Quality Youth Work” (IQ Youth work) is the result of an Erasmus+ Strategic partnership between eight member organisations of InterCity Youth – The European Network of Local Departments for Youth Work. An additional partner – Municipio de Santa Maria da Feira- was added in the end of the project in order to make the International multiplier event in the Europe Goes Local conference in Portugal 5-7 June 2018. The project has been going on since spring 2016 and was finished entirely in the end of August 2018.

The partners in the project were:
KEKS, Network of municipalities, Sweden – coordinating organisation
Municipality of Cinisello Balsamo, Italy
Kanuuna, Network of municipalities, Finland
Municipality of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands
Municipality of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
Municipality of Thessaloniki, Greece
VVJ, Network of municipalities, Belgium
Municipality of Munich, Germany
Municipio de Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal

The project’s foreseen results were the following- that you can also find on the Intercity Youth website;
A set of indicators on youth participation.
A set of indicators on non-formal learning.
A set of indicators on gender equality.
A set of indicators on inclusion of marginalized groups of youth.
A booklet where these sets of indicators are presented in combination with methods and best practices to be used when youth work should gather knowledge about to what degree activities meet the indicators. The booklet IQ Youth work is available in English, German, French and was also translated into Greek, Italian and Dutch by the different partner organisations.
A web based library of methods and best practices linked to the indicators, including contact information that can be used for further inquiries and cooperation.

The work methods used was transnational work meetings with the work group and project management group consisting of representatives from each partner organisation.
In addition dissemination events were held in all partner organisations and as well in the Europe goes Local conference in Cascais Portugal, 5-7 June 2018.

The project have created a concrete European model and method for working with quality development, relevant and usable in the carrying out and governing of everyday youth work in the very different youth work settings and conditions not only of the participating partners but of local departments in general. Through the combination of common indicators and ways to follow up, and a structured process for exchange of experiences and best practices the ICY-project will create a common ground that is not only based on words and documents but is firmly rooted and integrated into everyday practice.

The work on creating indicators for the booklet IQ Youth work have not only made the different partners in the project familiar with how to work with indicators but have also made them ambassadors for a structured approach towards youth work. Several of the partners in the project were not familiar working with indicators and this was totally new for them. We think that the impact and the longterm effect for those memb

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 179925,69 Eur

Project Coordinator

KEKS STODFORENING & Country: SE

Project Partners

• MUNICIPIO DE SANTA MARIA DA FEIRA
• Stadtjugendamt München
• Lahden kaupunki
• KOINOFELIS EPICHEIRISI DIMOY THESSALONIKIS
• GEMEENTE ‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH
• COMUNE DI CINISELLO BALSAMO
• Bataljong vzw