This presentation aims to investigate the influence of an afterschool program particularly targeted towards pupils in schools located in socioeconomically strained areas. Drawing upon the American feminist philosopher Nel Noddings’ care ethics (1999; 2002; 2005; 2013) as a theoretical framework I explore how caring encounters within the afterschool program contributes to young pupils’ motivation and aspiration for further studies.

The afterschool program under scrutiny involves students from a nearby university and teachers aid providing academic support during afternoons to pupils in middle-school pupils. Through micro-analysis of everyday practice and in-depth interviews the study reveals the role of caring encounters in enhancing pupils’ motivation and engagement in schooling. It emphasizes the importance of creating a supportive educational environment where pupils feel seen, heard, valued, and listened to, aligning with Noddings’ emphasis on an ethics of care and a relational pedagogy in general.

Furthermore, the study emphasizes broader benefits of working with relations in educational settings as well as the role of support programs for fostering agency. It highlights the transformative potential of caring encounters in nurturing young individuals dreams and aspirations, suggesting that afterschool programs can contribute to young individuals’ personal development and a more holistic educational attainment.

Additionally, the study addresses the impact of a homework support program as a tool in a broader widening participation initiative. Utilizing Nodding’s' framework, the analysis shows how the program fosters an environment conducive to recognition and acknowledgment among participating pupils, and that this recognition can make higher education seem more attainable. However, challenges related to insufficient academic support are identified, underscoring the importance of integrating both academic proficiency and compassionate engagement in educational interventions.

Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of educational interventions by advocating for a holistic approach that prioritizes care alongside academic support. It underscores the potential of afterschool programs not only to increase access to higher education but also to foster pupils' holistic development and aspirations for the future.

With the financial crisis of 2008, the school-to-work transitions of the least qualified fractions of youth have become more unstable than they had been since the 1990s (Wolbers 2014). Consequently, following the European Union's recommendations, the public authorities of the Brussels Capital Region (Belgium) developed policies to combat early school leaving and youth unemployment. This paper analyses the work of organisations that work with disadvantaged Brussels youths, in particular targeting young people aged between 18 and 30 labelled as “NEET” (neither in education, employment or training).

Drawing on cognitive approaches to public policy (Muller 2000) and on the street-level approaches to implementation (Lipsky 1980), we analyse how the perception of youth contributes in shaping the organisations interventions (choice of working methods) and how this affects the most disadvantaged youths.

Our findings suggest that the interventions of these organisations can be divided into two large categories according to the type of approach they adopt to work with these young people. On the one hand, organisations that adopt educative methods that emulate formal school culture, struggle to reach or maintain the most disadvantaged youths. However, they are better equipped to obtain funding from the authorities within the EU’s Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), based on quantitative indicators. On the other hand, organisations that adopt more informal methods aimed at (re)establishing contact and with “discarded” youth, manage better to work with them. However, they have much greater trouble obtaining funding for such informal work. In turn, this leads organisations to adopt coping strategies to combine financial survival with their primary social goal of reaching out to and helping the most disadvantaged youths in Brussels.

This fragmentation affects the effectiveness of the Region’s social policies, and consequently the opportunities of the most disadvantaged youth in their transition to adulthood. The analysis of the social relations between the various types of organisations, and their relations to funding mechanisms, suggests that to overcome this fragmentation funding mechanisms should include more qualitative indicators in their assessments of programmes eligible for funding, so as to recognise the value of non-formal approaches to youth. It also suggests that funding mechanisms should foster collaborations across organisations instead competition in order to provide more holistic approaches to the various situations in which youth are embedded. As such, this paper wishes to contribute to the relations between educational models and neoliberal social policies.

This contribution intends to shed light to some training and artistic paths aimed professionals involved in European projects. The purpose of these projects is to train professionals who support young people in their growth path, in order to generate social change through their agency. This paper is interested in analysing whether and how the investment in adult education can impact on the growth of soft skills and socio-educational inclusion of young people involved. We will focus on the analysis and evaluation of some European projects trying to answer to specific questions: What are the educational and training interventions that have most favoured the strengthening of the educational relationship and the empowerment of young people? Which paths have increased professionals’ soft skills, in order to stimulate the agency and protagonism of young people? The concept of empowerment is linked to changes for people, groups and communities and defines the transition from a situation of lack of power to a situation in which these actors gain control over their lives, as real agents of change (Martinez et al., 2017). In general, it is a process that aims at developing the ability to make decisions, also contributing to the improvement of the conditions of the social and political environment, in terms of social justice, equity, access to resources (Lodigiani & Vesan, 2017). The analysis we will describe are based on qualitative methodologies of data collection, and through our reflections we want to give particular emphasis to the participatory evaluation methods applied. These tools were in fact capable of grasping the perspective of the participants, involving them in the definition of meaning and understanding of social phenomena.

The contemporary museum, as outlined by the ICOM (International Council of Museums) last definition of 2022, assumes a crucial societal role in fostering shared spaces and dialogues, aiming to cultivate active citizenship through community involvement. At the heart of this mission lies the pivotal role of museum and heritage education, strategically deploying participatory and active methodologies (Hein, 1998) to establish nuanced relationships with, on, and for cultural heritage (Branchesi et al., 2020).

Museums, evolving into educational hubs within the tripartite framework of formal, non-formal, and informal learning, engage with diverse publics. This perspective aligns with the overarching concept of LifeLong Learning (Gibbs et al., 2007), fostering the emergence of "new" professional roles and innovative projects in education. Within this dynamic context, museum educators and heritage professionals assume a central role, currently under scrutiny for recognition by the first Italian professional association (AIEM, 2022).

Functioning as conduits between cultural heritage and audiences, these professionals orchestrate transformative dialogues, facilitating active audience participation with the intrinsic narratives of heritage objects. Their mandate extends beyond knowledge dissemination, encompassing the augmentation of motivation, nurturing of interest, and encouragement of personal expression, stemming from individualized encounters with cultural artifacts (Tamanini, 2015).

Heritage education professionals significantly contribute to interpreting reality by forging connections between diverse knowledge sources and the cultural context enveloping all citizens. This intricate dialogue necessitates a grasp of research tools, allowing for continual reassessment and redefinition of professional skills and competences, particularly concerning younger visitors (Panciroli, 2016).

As part of the European project Erasmus+ Move your mind, representatives of the Italian Association of Museum Educators (AIEM) have designed and executed a series of workshops aimed at honing fundamental skills requisite for museum educators, addressing the multifaceted demands of this evolving educational landscape, designed through the lent of Ludodidactics approach (Renger and Hoogendoorn, 2019). The ongoing project aims to apply this specific approach to assess its effectiveness in the educational and training contexts of the various partners, with a direct and/or indirect impact on young adults. The Ludodidactics approach, proposed by HKU University of Art in Utrecht, focuses on the development of educational pathways that operate across formal, non-formal, and informal educational settings and it stimulates the validation of educational practices through continuous feedback.

The training program, crafted by AIEM and implemented through the Ludodidactics approach, concentrated on pivotal subjects essential for museum and heritage educators. These topics encompassed skills like active listening, formulating open-ended questions, and educational design. The training culminated in a reflective examination of the competency profile inherent to the heritage educator profession, aligning with the broader European discourse (Corr et al., 2022). The workshops served as catalysts, prompting metacognitive reflections among both participants and facilitators, fostering a heightened awareness of their professional roles. Consequently, this introspective process facilitated the development and acquisition of indispensable competencies vital for the effective execution of the museum educator profession.

Childhood and youth have historically been characterised as 'becoming', as stages without their own ontology, whose value lies in what they will become. This has meant that in terms of citizenship and agency, children and adolescents have been conceptualised as 'semi-citizens' or 'citizens-in-waiting' (Elsey, 2011; Jones & Wallace, 1992; Lister, 2007; Moosa-Mitha, 2005) and as people with 'potential agency' (Bratman, 2017; Griffin, 2002). In Mayall's (2006) words, this leads to a situation of social exclusion as they are not seen as full and valid members of society. This paradigm of childhood and youth as 'becoming' is opposed by the paradigm of 'being', from which voices are raised (Liebel, 2021; Pavez Soto and Sepúlveda Kattan, 2019) claiming that children and youth are socially competent agents with their own ontology, in no way inferior to that of adults. Thus, in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted, which recognises the right to civic and social (but not political) participation, and thus citizenship, for those who have not yet reached the age of majority. Furthermore, General Comment No. 20 on the implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2016) urges States to adopt policies to increase opportunities for youth participation, as the exercise of participation fosters a greater sense of agency.

The research we have carried out is a qualitative meta-synthesis analysis that integrates the results of three studies on the perceptions of children and adolescents aged between 8 and 17 about the opportunities and forms of participation and the participatory experiences of children and adolescents in environments that include formal education (schools and institutes), non-formal education (leisure centres and children's and adolescents' councils) and informal education (family, digital and local environments). The results obtained allow us, firstly, to delimit the environments in which participation leads to the development of a sense of agency and citizenship, which are mainly found in the non-formal and informal spheres, and secondly, to provide some keys for all those who accompany educational processes with children and young people to lay the foundations for the development of their sense of agency, organised in two dimensions: on the one hand, the creation of enabling contexts and, on the other, the promotion of the development of what we have called agentic qualities.

As present and future lines of action, we are immersed in a European project (IMCITIZEN, CERV-2022-CHILD) whose aim is to create Child Participation Platforms in schools, conceptualised as 'a form of citizen association that enable children and adolescents to get involved and take a stance on issues of their concern and motivation' (Novella, 2024, p. 1). The Platforms are also promoters of the development of a sense of agency through the exercise of genuine democratic participation based on the consideration that this is the prelude to the development of a civic identity.

Cyberbullying is a complex phenomenon that requires reflections and analysis as it involves social dynamics and online interactions in continuous evolution, due to fast digital transformation. This aggressive behaviour reflects power dynamics, in which bullies seek to subdue and control victims through the use of digital means.

The Erasmus+ project Guard 2 we present aimed to investigate how these dynamics develop and how they are rooted in social relationships and informal educational contexts.

In this analysis, we will reflect on how different educative figures perceive and represent the phenomenon of cyberbullying.

Furthermore, the Guard 2 project developed a training addressed to educators in informal contexts. This work reflects also on how the training supported educators in identifying methodologies and educational strategies to recognise and deal with the phenomenon of cyberbullying.