Objectives
The project “InnoBoost” gathered motivated and creative representatives of the youth sector to brainstorm, spar, share and develop project proposals, to ensure that transnational youth projects, now and in the future, are implemented with an emphasis on value creation. The purpose of the project was to address the need for youth organizations to be always evolving and pushing the limits of value creation through innovative and qualitative projects.
The project had the following objectives:
1) Create a platform for youth workers to test and spar their creative and innovative ideas with peers from other countries
2) Encourage creative thinking amongst youth workers and motivation for thinking outside the box.
3) Inspire Youth workers with examples of ambitious projects to spark creativity
4) Foster cooperation between the youth workers in developing unforeseen and innovative mobility projects
5) Develop the capacity of youth workers to identify and analyse stakeholders and their needs when developing and implementing transnational youth projects
6) Encourage youth workers to reflect upon project management in youth work from the perspective of long term ‘Evolutionary’ impact and value creation’
7) Strengthen youth workers competence to facilitate learning through transnational youth projects maintaining the core values of non-formal education and safety and security.
Implementation
Two activities were implemented in this project: a “Contact Making” event in Slettestrand (Denmark) in the period between 24 November and 1st December 2021 with 40 participants; and a “Training Course” event in Heidesee (Germany) in the period between 21st and 29th March 2022 with 35 participants.
The first activity addressed the need for youth workers in leading/managerial positions at the partner organisations to come together to share and foster innovative ideas for transnational youth projects that have potential to yield a high level of long-term impact. 36 youth workers from 16 organizations plus four facilitators participated in this event. The participants in A1 were youth workers in leadership roles/managerial positions within their organisations with the mandate to make decisions on behalf of their organisations. They are members of the partner organisations who have the role of steering the organisation towards its objectives through identifying new activities, partnerships, and organisational strategies.
The second activity addressed the need of ensuring that youth workers from the partner organisations who are responsible for project management and overviewing and delivering youth work activities, have the right tools and competencies to deliver on the visions of ambitious projects. 31 youth workers from 17 organizations plus four trainers participated in this event. The participants in A2 were youth workers that have a role within their organisation on project development and managing project delivery.
Results
The two youth worker mobility activities organized in this project strongly impacted the participant’s daily work. As a result of the project, most of the partner organisations committed to at least one new transitional project proposal that will be of benefit to the young people they work with. The contact making event resulted in at least eight new partnerships on which the partners are working on securing financial support, whilst the TC gave the participants the opportunity to develop together six new project ideas.
Once the participants returned home from the training course, they began to prepare and plan for the implementation of new transnational youth projects. They engaged in dissemination and exploitation activities together with their organisations.
The end target group for this project are young people, and the youth sector across the EU at large. The Erasmus + programme is forming young people’s lives through Youth Exchanges and EVS. Through these actions, an Erasmus generation of mobile citizens is being formed; young people who are confident to travel and live across Europe, and who value democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights. On a large terms perspective and with consequent activities, this project shall contribute at innovative and value creating learning activities that continue to build upon the movement towards a generation of EU citizens that embody the values of the EU as per Article 2 of the treaty of the European Union.
