Digital Inclusion
for Young Migrants
YouthConnect is an Erasmus+ small-scale partnership equipping youth workers with digital non-formal education tools to support young migrants' social and economic inclusion across Europe.
What is YouthConnect?
YouthConnect strengthens digital inclusion, employability pathways, and community participation for young migrants and refugees — by training the youth workers who support them every day.
Across Fundão (Portugal), Córdoba (Spain) and Riga (Latvia), digital tools have become indispensable in learning, work, housing, health, and public services. Yet uneven digital access creates real barriers — particularly for young people navigating life in a new host country.
YouthConnect addresses this through a structured, evidence-based approach: first understanding the real needs of young migrants and youth workers through a large-scale inquiry, then building and testing practical digital non-formal education (NFE) tools, and finally training youth workers to deliver them effectively and sustainably.
All project results are published as Open Educational Resources (OER) under a Creative Commons licence, freely available to any youth organisation, municipality, or education provider across Europe.
Our Mission
Bridge the digital divide for young migrants through practical, inclusive non-formal education.
Evidence-Based
Every resource is grounded in real data from 223 respondents across three countries.
Open Access
All outputs are freely available under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA) for lasting impact.
Who We Work With
Young Migrants & Refugees
Primarily aged 16–25
Young people navigating daily life, learning, services and opportunities in a new host country — facing barriers to digital participation and social inclusion.
Youth Workers & IWMR Professionals
Primarily aged 18–35
Practitioners working on the frontline of youth inclusion — supporting young migrants through digital methods and non-formal education in municipalities, NGOs, and integration services.
Three Phases of Impact
YouthConnect follows a sequential logic — each phase providing the foundation for the next, building from research to real-world practice.
Needs Inquiry
A large-scale structured survey of 223 respondents — 153 young migrants and 70 youth workers — across Portugal, Spain, and Latvia. The inquiry mapped digital access, skills gaps, learning preferences, and barriers.
- Digital access & connectivity mapping
- Skills confidence assessment
- Learning format preferences
- Trainer capacity & tool needs
Training Course
A 5-day residential training in Córdoba, Spain equipped 15 youth workers — five per partner country — with digital competences and non-formal education methods for their daily work with young migrants.
- Digital tools for youth work (Canva, Trello, Genially)
- AI tools & ethical use
- Google Workspace & Microsoft 365
- EU opportunities & Youth Pass
Digital Workshops
Trained youth workers delivered 15 Digital Workshops and 9 Digital Art Storytelling sessions to approximately 80 young migrants across the three partner countries.
- Email, office tools & online services
- CV building & Europass
- Online safety & privacy habits
- Digital Art Storytelling & intercultural dialogue
Training Course Programme · Córdoba, Spain · January 2025
- Welcome & Icebreakers
- Map of Expectations (Padlet)
- EU Opportunities (Lovable)
- Good Practices Exchange
- Reflection & Feedback
- Digital Needs of Young Migrants
- Microsoft Programs (Excel & Word)
- AI Tools & Ethical Use
- Cultural Visit (Action Bound)
- Reflection & Feedback
- Canva & Genially
- Digital Workshop Planning (Trello)
- Digital Scape Room
- Co-creation of Workshops
- Visit API Córdoba
- Google Workspace
- Try-out: Mentimeter+
- Digital Tools for Employment
- LinkedIn & Job Platforms
- Co-creation of NFE Resources
- Co-creation of Digital NFE Resources
- Final Evaluation (Padlet II)
- Recap & Reflections
- Youth Pass
What the Data Tells Us
The YouthConnect inquiry gathered structured evidence from 223 people across three countries, revealing the real landscape of digital inclusion for young migrants in Europe.
Young Migrants Say…
"No tengo Internet en casa, por lo tanto no puedo hacer muchas cosas en casa."— Survey respondent, Córdoba
Youth Workers Say…
Where both groups agreed on priorities, the inquiry confirms these choices are evidence-based and reflect real needs from both sides of the learning relationship.
Who We Are
Three organisations from Portugal, Spain, and Latvia — each bringing distinct expertise in youth work, municipal services, and education research.
Municipality of Fundão
Fundão, Portugal
A forward-looking Portuguese municipality with extensive experience in municipal youth work and local integration services. As coordinating partner, Fundão leads project management, quality assurance, and overall coordination across the partnership.
Cultural Estrellas del Sur
Córdoba, Spain
A youth organisation contributing hands-on expertise in youth work practice, training, and community engagement. Cultural Estrellas del Sur hosted the Training Course in January 2025 and leads local implementation in Spain.
Centre for Education and Innovation Research (CEIR)
Riga, Latvia
A research centre providing competent support in research design, data analysis, evaluation, and evidence-based practice. CEIR led the inquiry methodology and contributes expertise in educational research and project evaluation.
Each partner cooperates with institutions working with migrants and refugees (IWMRs) and local stakeholders to ensure the project is grounded in the daily reality of migration, integration services, and youth-support organisations in their country.
Resources & Results
All YouthConnect outputs are published as Open Educational Resources — free, reusable, and available in multiple languages for youth organisations across Europe.
Inquiry Report
A comprehensive analysis of needs and insights from 223 respondents — young migrants and youth workers — across Portugal, Spain, and Latvia.
Digital NFE Tools & Manual
A complete Non-Formal Education manual with reusable session activities, facilitator guides, and digital tools for youth workers supporting young migrants' digital and social inclusion.
YouthConnect Platform
An open-access digital platform hosting all project outputs, educational resources, and workshop materials — maintained for a minimum of 3 years after the project ends.
Visit PlatformOpen Licence: All YouthConnect outputs are published under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA). You are free to share and adapt them for any purpose — including commercial — as long as you credit the source and share under the same licence.
YouthConnect Day
Local community events bringing together young migrants, youth workers, local decision-makers, and stakeholders — in all three partner countries.
Fundão, Portugal
Hosted by the Municipality of Fundão, bringing together local youth organisations, municipal services, and the community to showcase project results and open educational resources.
What Happens at a YouthConnect Day?
- Dissemination of project results and findings
- Live demonstration of workshop activities
- Showcase of project outputs & platform
- Networking across sectors and generations
- Open discussion on digital inclusion priorities
Córdoba, Spain
Hosted by Cultural Estrellas del Sur, engaging the local youth community, NGOs, public institutions, and stakeholders working in migration and integration in Córdoba.
Riga, Latvia
Hosted by CEIR, connecting researchers, practitioners, and local stakeholders interested in digital inclusion and non-formal education for young migrants in the Latvian context.
Connect With Us
Whether you are a youth worker, researcher, municipality, or interested organisation — we would love to hear from you.
Contact the Partnership
Reach out to the coordinating organisation for questions about the project, outputs, or collaboration opportunities.
Municipality of Fundão
Fundão, Portugal
Access Our Resources
All project outputs — the NFE Manual, Inquiry Report, and workshop materials — are freely available under an open licence.
Available in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Latvian.
Browse all resources →Partner With Us
Are you a youth organisation, municipality, or IWMR interested in using or building upon YouthConnect resources? We welcome collaborators.
The platform is maintained for 3+ years post-project.
Start a conversation →