During the implementation of the Project, as well as its evaluation, the YOUTHShare project has implemented some best practices in order to achieve its goals, as effectively as possible. However one thing is for sure: the experience and knowledge gained through this constantly developing and changing process, had become one of the greatest lessons learned and a motive for a further development of pertaining best practices. The importance of versatility, collaboration, human-centered approaches, and continuous learning had become clearer than ever.
Here is a brief description of the best practices:
- Continuous Learning and Adaptation. Acknowledging that the process of program management is a learning process, emphasizing the importance of adapting strategies and being proactive to deal with unexpected impacts (such as the pandemic).
- Partnership and Collaboration.Highlighting the significance of developing partnerships between heterogeneous partners and multi-scale networks, allowing for wider tracking and data exchange methods. Also, emphasizing the importance of trust-building mechanisms within partnerships.
- Customized Support Plans. Recognizing the need to develop customized support plans to surpass the various obstacles of the labor market entrance, faced by difficult-to-reach young people.
- Integrated Approach. Advocating for an integrated and long-term approach for mapping the field of intervention, which is essential for addressing the needs of diverse subgroups effectively.
- Empowerment and Autonomy. Promoting autonomy between partners by delegating responsibilities, while simultaneously bridging them. Additionally, adopting a motivational management approach, in order to inspire both the partners, and the wider network.
- Developmental Evaluation Perspective. Encouraging a developmental evaluation perspective, focusing on continuous learning and improvement throughout the implementation process.
- Feedback and Iteration. Gathering feedback from key actors (such as local managers, researchers, and NEETs), and using it to iterate and improve project design and implementation.
- Human-Centered Approach. Considering the feedback and satisfaction of NEETs – the project’s protagonists-, ensuring that their needs and preferences are addressed (such as extending the duration of internships by their requests).
- Visibility of Results. Recognizing the importance of demonstrating practical results to stakeholders, such as local managers and key actors, to showcase the project’s impact and effectiveness.
- Selective Partnership. Considering feedback from researchers regarding the number of partners involved and aiming for a more exhaustive selection of partners to ensure a more evenly distributed workload.
