Youth-led ECO community projects for prevention of school drop-outs

Programme: Erasmus+
Key Action: Partnerships for cooperation and exchanges of practices
Action Type: Cooperation partnerships in youth
Project Identifier: 2023-1-PT02-KA220-YOU-000156550
Project Title: Youth-led ECO community projects for prevention of school drop-outs
Topics: Community development; Green skills; Preventing early school leaving and failure in education
Results Platform Project Card:
https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2023-1-PT02-KA220-YOU-000156550
Funded by: the Portuguese National Agency for the management of the Erasmus+ Youth in Action programme (Agência Nacional para a gestão do programa Juventude em Acção)

Project partners

  • DOTS – Cooperativa de Inovação Social para a Transformação Social, CRL (Portugal)
  • LINK DMT s.r.l. (Italy)
  • Centre for Non-formal education and Lifelong learning (Serbia)
  • Learning Wizard d.o.o. (Croatia)

Project duration: 19 months – from 01/12/2023 to 30/06/2025

Summary of the project

School drop-out is a serious problem in Europe, caused by poverty, emigration, and various social factors that deprive young people of experiential learning and a positive school environment. Despite system updates and legal efforts to reduce drop-out rates, the phenomenon remains prevalent, particularly in some regions and rural areas. Schools are often not attractive or inclusive environments, and may even be spaces of bullying and peer violence.

The idea of involving youth in social and environmental community projects, supported by their schools—especially in regions with high drop-out rates—is the key motivation for this project. Despite efforts from governments and educators, drop-out rates remain high due to multiple factors: poverty, emigration, bullying, lack of social inclusion, weak development of critical thinking, and lack of intercultural tolerance.

To address this, there is an urgent need for long-term solutions that create inclusive, interactive, and motivational school environments. This project supports the EU’s 2030 target of reducing drop-out rates to below 9%.

Non-formal education (NFE) has been widely embraced for its practical and inclusive methods. Yet, formal schools often lack such interactive approaches. By bridging youth work and school systems, combining NFE and formal education, this project aims to inspire active citizenship and prevent school drop-out through cooperation and innovative practices.

The project introduces an innovative model involving diverse stakeholders—particularly schools—to respond to youth needs with community-based environmental activities, while promoting inclusion and diversity in education, youth work, and local communities.

Specific objectives

  • Empower young people to organise (eco) community projects and build life competencies through an innovative toolkit and online course focused on green service learning.
  • Strengthen youth workers’ capacities to collaborate with schools to reduce drop-out rates by developing community service-learning programmes through a new curriculum.
  • Exchange good practices across four European countries and expand cooperation to multiply project results across Europe.

Project activities

  • A1 – Project Management
  • Kick-off meeting (online)
  • O1 Toolkit of youth work for organising (eco) community projects
  • O2 Online course for youngsters: step-by-step guide for organising (eco) community projects
  • Mid-term meeting (online)
  • O3 Curriculum for educating youth workers in collaboration with schools to reduce school drop-outs
  • Local/national training courses
  • National conferences in Portugal, Croatia, and Italy
  • International conference in Serbia
  • Evaluation meeting

Project results

Annexes

 

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). The EU and EACEA cannot be held responsible.

*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 the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.