Colours of youth work

Every organization has its own tried-and-tested ways of making youth work more meaningful, creative, and effective. At EduEra, we wanted to bring these experiences together, learn from one another, and create space for honest exchange. That is how Colours of Youth Work came to life.

During an international expert seminar in Bardejov, in eastern Slovakia, 34 youth workers from 28 organizations and 18 countries across Europe and Asia met to share, experiment, and co-create.

Over six inspiring days, participants exchanged methods, tools, and approaches for working with young people and volunteers. They shared not only success stories, but also challenges, doubts, unexpected moments, and the situations that make youth work deeply human. There was space for laughter, reflection, and the kind of honest conversations that often lead to the most valuable learning.

The project led to the creation of the Good Practice Manual in Youth Work, which gathers useful activities, practical ideas, and inspiration from the seminar. Its aim is to highlight local, regional, and national examples of youth work and make them available to others who want to enrich their own practice.

The manual brings together activities and good practices shared by 34 experienced youth workers. It also includes reflections from participants who experienced these methods directly during the seminar. The result is a rich source of inspiration for NGOs, facilitators, trainers, and youth workers looking for adaptable approaches that can respond to the needs of different groups and communities.

A special part of the seminar was that each participant contributed their own “taste” of good practice through mini-workshops. The training room kept transforming throughout the week: at one point, it was covered with magazine and newspaper clippings during a session on using creative materials to address conflicts among volunteers. At another, it turned into a lively space for the improvised workshop “F*ck Up Moments of Youth Work”, where participants shared funny, difficult, and very real experiences from the field.

Participants also explored the power of art therapy and discovered new tools and methods that many of them immediately wanted to bring into their own work. The seminar showed that youth work grows stronger when people are willing to share openly, learn from one another, and add their own colour to the bigger picture.

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"Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or NIVAM – the Slovak National Agency for Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them."