NeedsThe internationalization of socioeconomic challenges (poverty, climate change, migration) and the aggravation of European challenges (recession, unemployment, demographic deficit) require an enhanced role for youth workers in both Europe and third countries. However,-Actions that constitute youth work, volunteerism, or even civil society altogether, in more “traditional” societies are often not effectively measured or systematized and therefore not effectively communicated or utilized. -Youth work development in Europe, while relatively advanced, is often inward looking–donor driven and over reliant on community funding.Aims-Systematize approaches to the process of youth work professionalization by combining insights of youth professionals from different sociocultural backgrounds and researchers and academics from different disciplines;- Systematize youth work in different environments and improving the analytical tools of youth workers as regards needs and opportunities of their communities;- Broaden and deepen the functions of youth work in Europe by integrating academic knowledge, on-the-ground experience and technical knowhow; - Deepen the channels of cooperation between EU and third countries and create networks for enabling the exchange of approaches, working methods, organizational structures, funding etc.;- Diversify youth work outlets in society (including outreach functions of youth work, connection to formal education, community building, club-based) Basic Contents-Practices and approaches to youth work by professionals and organizations from different world contexts will be recorded based on common standards and methods and, thereafter, systematized and utilized for creating a shared conceptual framework, diversifying approaches to youth work in Europe and constructing common quality standards for youth work around the world. -Policy making on youth work in various countries of the world will be deconstructed and analyzed in five stages: conceptualization, formulation, implementation, assessment and duplication/continuation. The concept of the 5 stages of policy making will be introduced during the initial TC and will be enriched and contextualized in the course of the project; Both these underlying contents and the resulting intellectual outputs will be complemented by the inputs of researchers/academics and policy makers who will be participate in the international conference.Working Methods-Learning by doing;-Task-based learning;-Peer learning;-Cross-cultural learning.Foreseen Activities: -Kick-off meeting & Project-launching event;-Training Course; -Field Research;-Study Visits;- International Conference & final evaluation event. Partner countries: Greece, Italy, Togo, Senegal, India, Vietnam, NepalDeliverables: Project's website; Field research data; Conference minutes; Comparative research paper; Collective volume with selected academic and policy papers.