The ProjectThe Youth Work eLearning Partnership [YWeLP], is an Erasmus+ funded KA2 strategic partnership across five countries (Ireland, Finland, Estonia, Northern Ireland and Australia) during the period 2017-19. The project is co-ordinated by the Centre for Youth Research and Development [CYRD] in the Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University with partners in Humak University of Applied Sciences in Finland, Talllinn University in Estonia, Ulster University in Northern Ireland and Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. Each partner is supported by a youth work organisation in each country namely, the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI), Youth Action Northern Ireland (YANI), the Estonian Youth Workers Association, the Victorian Youth Workers Association in Australia and the Kanuuna Network of directors of youth services in Finland.Each of the partner universities provides professional youth work education and training in their respective countries. As well as well as teaching and research each is connected into the wider youth work sector. YWeLP looked at that sector to support the development of the project, taking as its starting pint that youth work organisations and universities engaged in youth work education can support each other, can work together, can learn from each other to promote and sustain quality youth work to directly benefit young people. ContextYouth work is in an international practice and while the issues facing young people will change, the contexts will change and our responses to those contexts will change, the principles on which youth work is based remain stable. These principles include the primacy of relationship and educational processes based on voluntary participation, working in ways that are enabling and empowering and promoting young people’s capacity for agency not just in their own but in those communities lives. YWeLP's final product is a website called Youthworkandyou.org which contributes to quality youth work by providing youth workers (voluntary, paid or students) with access to e-learning materials to promote their capacity to engage effectively with young people. As Carmel (in Module 1 Unit 3), says we need to empower youth workers in the same way that they empower young people – YWeLP's intent is that youth workers find engaging with this material an empowering experience which in turn has positive consequences for young people. The YWeLP team is committed to supporting a youth work ‘community of practice’ dedicated to the development of quality youth work globally.The ProductYWeLP has created, designed and hosts youthworkandyou.org which provides digital curriculum materials on five contemporary youth work themes. Youth work is a dynamic field and there are many themes in contemporary youth work on which the team could have chosen to focus. In making its decisions YWeLP considered the practice and policy context of youth work across Europe and the wider world choosing to prioritise those most relevant right now:1. Communicating Youth Work led by Maynooth University in collaboration with Tallinn University. 2. Youth Participation and Non-formal Learning in Youth Work led by Tallinn University in collaboration in with Victoria University3. Ethics and Human Rights in Professional Youth Work led by Victoria University in collaboration with Ulster University. 4. Youth Work in Diverse Societies is led by Ulster University in collaboration with Humak University of Applied Sciences.5. Youth Work in the Digital World led by Humak University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with Maynooth University.Each module consists of three units. Each unit consists of an interactive video (using H5P technology) along with downloadable material accessible from a variety of devices. All videos are subtitled in English. Each video is approximately five minutes if watched through without the interactivity and in the region of 20-30+ minutes with the interactivity. Both options are available on the website.While each video is informative in its own right, the interactive dimension invites participants to engage more deeply with the topic, to ‘watch, read, reflect and act.’ The downloadable resource in pdf format delves deeper again and provides additional information and resources on each unit’s topic. In this way, the module promote the practice of self-reflection in all learning activities. Time for reflection is important to integrate new knowledge and insights in any youth work work context and a core aspect of reflective practice. Participants are welcome to dip in and out, look at an individual video or check out a single pdf resource document in any order, at any time though learning is likely to be deeper if units are engaged with sequentially . Another aspect of what youthworkandyou.org does is act as a hub for curated resources to support practice - the intention is that the web site will continue to be relevant and updated.

The aim of this project is to establish a strategic partnership between Estonia, Iceland and Australia to strengthen youth workers professional associations and provide an impetus for the greater application of national Youth Work Codes of Ethics. It will build on the strengths and experiences of each participating country: the strong legislative framework and well-developed network of youth clubs in Iceland; the strong occupational standard, policy and legislative framework for youth work in Estonia and the unique experience of Australia in having a voluntary human rights-based Youth Work Code of Ethics which is endorsed and widely implemented by the youth sector.The objectives of this strategic partnership are:- to establish a long-term strategic partnership between youth work professional associations in EE, IS and AU for the purpose of furthering a youth work agenda of professionalisation through ethical practice using peer learning and utilisation of an international experience;- to strengthen the evidence base by undertaking comparative analysis and mapping of the application of Youth Work Codes of Ethics and the professionalisation of youth work in three countries;- to increase the level of knowledge and understanding among youth workers on the importance of ethical practice in youth work and how it relates to the professionalisation of the sector;- to provide guidance and collate practical examples for the use of Youth Workers in order to support the application of the Codes of Ethics in their youth work practice.This project will produce following outputs:- Research paper on professionalisation of youth work in Estonia, Iceland and Australia- Research paper on the use and application of Youth Work Codes of Ethics in Estonia, Iceland and Australia- A Comprehensive Manual capturing theory, case studies and guidelines on how to embed Youth Work Codes of Ethics into the youth work practice;- Three international seminars (teaching and learning events) focussing on the exchange of practices to contribute to the development of research papers and the Comprehensive Manual.

The project “The art of Ethics in Youth Work” gathered Australia, Serbia, Finland, Croatia and Portugal with the aims to improve the quality and recognition of youth work through advancing ethical frameworks on policy and practical level, in Europe and beyond. Project will last for 24 months (August 2019 - July 2021). The project is giving base for future evidence based research and work on ethics as part of youth work education. Project raises awareness of importance of ethic in youth work and how ethic influences quality and professionalization of youth workers. Within the project different aspects will be discuss in order to summarize previous ethic practice and develop new curricula’s for future education of youth workers. The involvement of Australian partner is important because of their experience that gives fresh perspective onto European practice. This will be a good step for putting ethics in focus as an important part of youth work on policy and practical level. Through the project different activities will be implemented in order to reach the goals: - Research on Ethics in youth work - Curricula’s and training scheme for NFE and higher education;- Seminar with recommendations concerning supporting mechanisms;- Transnational and national training courses;- MOOC and WEB conference that will be open for participants on global level;- Online awareness raising and educational campaign.Research findings, Seminar recommendations, Curricula within NFE and MOOC will be at the disposal to all interested youth workers and youth work associations to create programs form local to international level and to advocate with evidence based data for the greater recognition of youth work.In addition to mentioned above, the project will develop cooperation among stakeholders and institution on local, regional and international level. All implemented activities will be widely promoted online and in media in order to have the largest impact possible on youth work and educational society in Europe and Australia.