"BACKGROUNDResearch shows that young people living below the poverty line face multiple barriers to access education, employment, housing, etc. To be poor is a very stigmatizing experience, which affects self-esteem, confidence and personal security. Thus, low income is a strong predictor of low educational performance, lower aspirations for the future and finally social exclusion. The 2013 Annual Growth Survey showed that poverty and social exclusion are major obstacles to the achievement of the Europe 2020 objective of inclusive growth. There is a lack of extensive knowledge on how young people experience poverty in the different member states and much to learn about how the dynamic nature of poverty and youth intertwine. A better understanding is urgently needed for achieving the Europe 2020 goal of “at least 20 million fewer people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion"". OBJECTIVES, NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTSYES Forum, the European network of organizations working with and for disadvantaged young people, having members and affiliates in 18 EU member states, led the strategic partnership “Our life. Our voice. Young people and poverty”. We placed young people’s views at the heart of this project to explore their attitudes to poverty and what it means for them to live in families struggling to make ends meet from day to day. By listening to the young people experiencing poverty we wanted to bridge the gap between policy and practice. We provided fresh ideas for both actors in the field of youth services and youth work as well as policy makers on what real support should look like and how to better target resources to disadvantaged young people’s needs.The project partnership involved 6 partners and the YES Forum, as the coordinating organization. We implemented the project in 5 countries, different with regard to welfare system, historical development, and economic performance. We collaborated with partners coming from the UK, Italy, Germany, Finland and Romania, covering different regions of the EU. All participating organizations have had strong experience in delivering services for those experiencing poverty, listening to young people and influencing policy to improve the lives of those in or at risk of poverty. To reach a large audience ranging from youth work organizations, service providers, policy makers and public authorities, we involved another strong European network, active in the field of street work, Dynamo International. Through the activities of the partner organisation in the life-time of the project, we have reached 1.700 young people. Through extensive dissemination activities, as described in detail in the section ‘dissemination’, we reached around 6.500 multipliers across Europe. ACTIVITIES AND METHODOS USEDThis strategic partnership was built on a model established by The Children’s Society, a YES Forum member from the UK. We transferred this method and applied it within the strategic partnership by setting groups of young people with an interest to explore poverty. These groups of 12-15 young people were accompanied by youth workers applying interactive and participatory methods to get an insight into the experience of young people in poverty (IO1). The young people themselves created discussions on different perceptions of poverty and as a result formulated their recommendations against poverty and what real support should look like (IO2). At regional and national events, they met with representatives from youth organizations, service providers, local authorities, and policy makers to discuss their suggestions. The methodology used for engaging those young people who might be hard to reach was also published in a tool-kit for practitioners (IO3). The activities then culminated in the final international conference organized by the YES Forum together with Dynamo International. This event was held in Brussels, presenting the project findings in creative and interactive ways, devised by the young people to reach the various actors working with disadvantaged young people across Europe, ranging from professionals of youth and social work to decision- and policy-makers at EU level.RESULTS, IMPACT, LONGER TERM BENEFITSBy applying this participatory approach the project filled a gap in the discourse around poverty, where often the focus at national and EU level is on statistics and the definition of poverty rather than the day to day experience of young people. Local authorities and those responsible for developing services and policies for young people benefited from our substantial knowhow in including those young people who may not otherwise be engaged in established platforms for policymaking in the youth field (e.g. youth councils, youth organizations)."

"Young people are the ones hit hardest by unemployment and precarious employment. At the same time, all EU and national elections in the last few years have revealed increasingly low youth turnout combined with growing Euroscepticism, as dramatically illustrated by the Brexit referendum. The complex situation of young people in transition to adulthood thus calls for trained and experienced European youth workers. Driven by YES Forum’s membes, YES Academy addressed this issue by contributing to achieve a greater impact of the Erasmus+ Youth Inclusion and Diversity Strategy by:• Creating a more inclusive environment, with more and diverse young people participating in civic activities throughout Europe• Enabling organisations working with and for vulnerable young people to be a more effective force in making it easier for them to actively participate in society• Increasing the capacities of youth workers and their organizations in working with young people and fostering greater cooperation and synergies among youth organisations and other stakeholders throughout the EUThe project idea came from our partner organizations and their ongoing interest in increasing civic participation of disadvantaged young people. All the project partners brought strong expertise in working with young people affected by various disadvantages (e.g. educational, psychological, economic inequalities) in their own communities. Ranging from school social work to street-based youth work, our partners aim to prevent, resolve and avoid the worst effects of exclusion while helping young people to flourish. Through 4 major events conducted over the span of 16 months and involving 115 participants from 15 EU countries, the YES Academy project innovatively combined a process-oriented learning approach prioritising youth worker’s reflection and exchange of experience to create tools for sustainable approaches in working more effectively with young people across Europe:-Through a Contact-Making Event in Germany, the first activity built a common approach based on mutual understanding and fostered the exchange of experiences on promoting youth engagement, active citizenship, participation and social inclusion, preparing the ground for an action-oriented report on how to be more effective in reaching young people.-The second activity, an International seminar held in Brussels, continued the learning activities while providing the space for a dialogue between project partners, representing the youth field, and European policy and decision-makers – the European Parliament and the European Commission in particular – as well as public bodies involved in youth social inclusion, youth unemployment, and active citizenship.-The third activity, a study visit in Finland, was co-organised with After Eight, an organization with a long standing experience in the development of youth active citizenship, participation and social inclusion. The event offered an in-depth look into After Eight’s measures, projects, methodologies and political, financial and administrative infrastructures targeting youth. The event also enabled further exchange of experience between youth workers, resulting in a Good Practices Guide for the Promotion of Active citizenship and Youth social inclusion-The last Contact-Making Event in Germany facilitated transfer into practice. The action-oriented report on how to be more effective in reaching young people was finalised and prepared the ground for future projects following this objective. Policy recommendations on Erasmus+ were also finalised thanks to the partners’ gathered feedback.The tangible results of the project include (all available under ""Downloads"" here: goo.gl/CtAhD9) :• An action-oriented report that summarized the next steps in order to better promote youth active citizenship and participation through concrete project ideas, leading to several Erasmus+ project applications by YES Academy partners on the 4th October 2016 deadline;• A Good Practices Guide for the Promotion of Active citizenship and Youth social inclusion, based on the experiences and case studies shared during the project in order to share them with youth workers throughout Europe. • Policy recommendations on Erasmus+ to help public institutions better support youth and social work across the EU in the future, thanks to feedback from project partners, all grass-root organisations involved in Erasmus+ Youth.The learning results for youth workers were:• Deeper knowledge of structures and support measures for young people and youth organisations at EU and national levels• Qualitative support for the dialogue between the European youth sector and stakeholders in the field of European youth policies with a focus on youngsters with fewer opportunities;• Greater knowledge of good practices related to the social inclusion of young people and the promotion of active citizenship, leading to the concrete implementation of new"

"Lia Lucca is a mobility project between Musikcafé After Eight in Pietarsaari, Finland, Zefiro in Lucca, Italy and Femtioettan in Skelleftea, Sweden. The objective is to promote mobility as part of learning for the students in the region. We want to develop our mobility projects so more students will have the opportunity to practice abroad.The goal of mobility periods to find new ideas and experiences to further develop the education and daily operations.. Our goal is to provide a broad and quality education in the munincipality, in order to meet the needs of industry in the region. The training conveys knowledge and understanding of cultural differences. Students will need knowledge and skills to participate in the international context.Participants of the mobility consists of 13 students who will be attending their third year of the Optimas line of ""Youth and Leisure instructors with emphasis on culture"" when the mobility occurs. They are aged 17-18 years. Youth and Leisure instructors with emphasis on culture is a study line with one vocational teacher and one group at a time. Through improved communication and social skills the students increase their chances of being able to implement projects in different environments and cultures and to be able to mentor individuals and groups.Mobility provides an important introduction to the world of work outside of Finland. Mobilitys length is two weeks because a shorter period means that the whole group can participate. With experience from the 2013 mobility project revealed that eight students is a good sized group and two weeks a suitable timeperiod. Therefore, the 13 students will be divided 2 groups. These students have the opportunity to choose either Lucca or Skelleftea."