Care4Youth is an Erasmus+ Youth funded project focused on supporting young people in the care system and care leavers by enhancing their personal and professional development through a combination of non-formal education and outdoor sporting activities. The project tackles the specific challenges these vulnerable youth face as they transition into adulthood, providing them with the skills and support necessary for independent living.
Objectives
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Develop Personal and Professional Skills: Combine non-formal learning training and outdoor sports activities to build skills such as self-esteem, teamwork, leadership, and emotional intelligence.
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Promote Social Inclusion: Support young people’s well-being and inclusion through sports and community engagement.
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Improve Employability: Offer training in digital skills, entrepreneurship, and job preparation to help youth transition into the workforce.
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Raise Awareness: Highlight the challenges care leavers face and promote positive societal attitudes towards them.
Methodology
The Care4Youth project adopts a participatory and experiential methodology that integrates non-formal education tools with outdoor sports-based learning. Activities are designed to be interactive, inclusive, and learner-centered, allowing young people to actively engage in their own development. The methodology emphasizes:
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Learning by doing, through practical workshops and outdoor challenges.
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Peer-to-peer exchange, encouraging young people to learn from each other’s experiences.
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Holistic development, balancing physical activity with emotional, cognitive, and social growth.
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Flexibility and adaptability, ensuring activities are tailored to the specific needs of care-experienced youth.
e-Toolkit
A key output of Care4Youth is the digital e-Toolkit, which includes:
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The full description of the Care4Youth methodology.
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Case studies from Spain, Italy, and Serbia that informed the development of the methodology.
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Ready-to-use training and sports-based activities.
The e-Toolkit is available online through the project’s official website, ensuring open access for youth workers, educators, social workers, and organizations across Europe who want to replicate and adapt the Care4Youth approach.
