Your Space – Kunst und Kultur als Türöffner für mehr gesellschaftliche Teilhabe von benachteiligten Jugendlichen

The project “Your Space” was based on a well-founded needs analysis that particularly took into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people and the cultural sector. The restrictions caused by the pandemic led many young people to experience isolation, disorientation, and a decline in trust in society. At the same time, susceptibility to populism, disinformation, and anti-democratic tendencies increased—especially among young people living in disadvantaged circumstances. The project responded to these challenges by using cultural forms of expression as a means to promote resilience, social participation, and democratic education. In doing so, it addressed three central needs: *The need of young people for life-world-oriented activities that combine creative self-efficacy with social engagement. *The need for professional development in youth and cultural work: professionals require competencies for systematic collaboration as well as knowledge on inclusion, diversity, sustainability, and relevant political strategies in the post-COVID context. *The need for the structural development of political framework conditions for policy-makers.

Your Space pursued the goal of strengthening the personal, social, and action-oriented competences of (marginalised) young people in dealing with societal challenges. At the same time, it aimed to promote social cohesion and civic engagement in local neighbourhoods. At the actor level, the project sought to improve the professional skills, institutional capacities, and networking of stakeholders in youth, cultural, and arts work. This applied to both established and emerging actors. On a systemic level, the objective was to further develop enabling framework conditions for cultural youth education Art and creativity served as connecting elements to shape the social space as a place of participation. This activated young people to explore their own topics, engage with different perspectives, and develop a stronger sense of community. Special attention was given to the creation of low-threshold offerings in cooperation with relevant local actors. In this way, the project contributed to the realisation of the goals of the Erasmus+ programme (promotion of personal development, social inclusion, and active citizenship).

As part of the "Your Space" project, a wide range of coordinated activities were implemented to achieve the intended project goals. The focus was on the creation and support of creative partnerships between youth work organisations and actors from the fields of art and culture in Berlin, Valencia, and Warsaw. Key activities included: *Design, piloting, and implementation of artistic actions with marginalised youth in their respective local communities, accompanied by capacity-building measures for participating professionals. *Analysis of existing needs to develop targeted intervention strategies for youth education actors at local and regional levels. *Development of training modules and strategies to structurally embed cooperation between the youth and creative sectors. *International exchange among project partners, as well as the establishment of a systematic stakeholder dialogue at local, regional, national, and European levels to ensure quality and political relevance. *Documentation of insights gained in a White Paper. *Targeted dissemination measures to increase the visibility and usability of the project results.

The central result of the "Your Space" project was the development of a transferable model for community-based cultural youth education with marginalised young people. The model illustrated, across three selected local urban communities, how collaboration between youth education and the cultural sector can be implemented in practice, how access to marginalized youth can be improved, and how relevant topics such as sustainability, inclusion, and diversity can be integrated. Concrete outputs included: *A catalogue of community-based scenarios for the participation and empowerment of young people (as best practices for intervention models) *Support for practitioners in terms of capacity building and skills development (manual on creative partnerships and training modules) *Conclusions and recommendations for the system level (White Paper) Results included enhanced skills and motivation of young people, improved methodological and professional competencies of youth workers, strengthened institutional cooperation, and a contribution to the political recognition of cultural youth education. The overall contribution thus lay in strengthening social cohesion and the social participation of the cultural sector.