Versatile Action in Youth Work: An ERASMUS+ Youth Worker Mobility Project by the European Sports YMCA Group.
The project demonstrated that versatility enhances inclusion in youth work, making activities more engaging and accessible to all. However, it also highlighted the importance of youth workers having a specific approach and set of practical skills to successfully implement versatile activities.
Some of the key questions explored by the 25 youth workers involved were:
- How do you design your own activities?
- Which activities engage different senses?
- How can activities be adapted for various ability levels, making them easier or harder as needed?
- And, how can you organize activities that are both fun and engaging for everyone?
Through hands-on workshops, the youth leaders experimented with a variety of activities designed to stimulate the senses and challenge motor skills. They learned how a different approach to warm-ups can be both enjoyable and developmentally beneficial.
A key aspect of the training was that youth workers were encouraged to create their own activities, which they then tested at their youth clubs before reconvening at a second seminar to reflect, review, and draw conclusions from their experiences.
The training took place over eight days, spread across two seminars in Denmark and Italy, offering participants valuable experience in cross-cultural collaboration—an aspect that participants found particularly enriching.
“Joining young people from different European countries was an amazing experience! I was truly fascinated by how the program brought together physical literacy, mental health, and fun activities. Sharing stories and enjoying these moments together made it all the more special,” said Edona Sadriu, 28.
“Every project gives the opportunity, to young people, to broaden their perspective and learn how their skills can be widened and valued in a multicultural group. Versatility and physical literacy combined created impacting activities, and empowered each one of the volunteers who took part in this project. – Francesca Natalone, 31yo”
The project, a collaboration between KFUM Idrætsforbund and YMCA Siderno, was organized with the support of the EU’s ERASMUS+ youth mobility program.
The initiative included two parts: the first held in Denmark from July 2nd to July 8th, 2023, and the second one in April 2024 in Siderno, Italy. Each session involved 25 participants from six European YMCA sports organizations.
