OpenEurope, during the research phase, organised several focus groups with both unaccompanied minors and professionals working with them. These groups were informally organised but followed a detailed structure in terms of topics and issues to cover and be discussed. Professionals (youth workers, educators, physcologists…) working with unaccompanied minors explored the primary concerns and effective strategies related to the integration process of minors in Spain, and especifically in the Province of Tarragona. Other focus groups included unaccompanied minors from diverse backgrounds and mentors experienced in social work, education, and community engagement. Some of the key topics discussed included Education and Language Learning, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Legal and Administrative Support, Social Integration and Community Engagement, and Employment and Vocational Training. Participants highlighted the many challenges faced by these groups and by their mentors as well in the process of integrating into European societies. The discussions underscored the importance of comprehensive support systems that address educational needs, mental health, legal assistance, social integration, and employment opportunities.

After the kick off meeting in Brusselss, partners started working on the methodology they would follow for their national research. This document will guide research activities of the Safe Spaces project and is being developed by the BK CON with the contribution of all partners. It considers the main assumptions underlying proposal development, Consortium capacities and envisaged impact. The presented document provides insights into selected approach, techniques, and procedures to be used by Partners during first project phase. Though, the mixed methods research approach (analysis of primary and secondary data) combining qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to allow for identification of synergies and overlapping aspects of youth centers operations. At national level, primary data will be collected directly from the two main target groups for profiling purposes. Different approaches will be adopted given target group characteristics: Questionnaires distributed among youth center professional staff to acquire relevant information on the level of education and training, skills and competences, work environment, licensing and certification and personal characteristics and challenges faced in daily professional practice. Focus groups will be organised in each implementation country always considering different educational level, language barriers and unique needs, circumstances, and vulnerabilities of unaccompanied minors of each community. Professionals in charge of these groups will follow the recommendations stated in the Research Methodologyin terms of the depth of issues to be covered and will focus on main difficulties, fears, challenges as well as unique competencies, future aspirations, and goals of minors.   A second level of data collection will be through Desk research (mainly conducted by BK Con and supported by information by each partner organisation), gathering basic data on youth centers activity, legal framework within which they operate, inner capacities (number and type of staff employed, type of contract applied), target groups, and relevant stakeholders (local authorities supporting youth centers, donors, collaborating ONGs inter alia), among others. The final result will be soon published in the project website!

#SafeSpaces #EUproject #EUYouthStrategy #RefugeeRights #RefugeeVoices #InclusiveCommunity The partners of the Safe Spaces project met last March. The Safe Spaces project was attended at the Kick off meeting by the coordinators of EVBB and the organisations BK CON, Yyouth, Velos Youth, Fundación Scalabrini de México AC, Open Europe, and the NGO Follow me from around the globe. As a reminder, this project aims to assist unaccompanied refugees, combating the 37 million displaced youth worldwide. Partners are committed to providing equal support for all young people, recognizing refugees, migrants, and displaced them simply as youngsters. The aim is to overcome the lack of access to fundamental needs and combat discrimination. The consortium had the opportunity to discuss the working packages, develop research methods, dissemination, and exploitation strategies, as well as management approaches, to ensure our project comes to fruition and performs optimally.