≈ Another way of taking a wider look (and removing your blinkers) is to contribute to existing youth work tools, rather than creating your own. For example there are many different toolboxes and publications with methodologies in existence, and each time a youth organisation produces its own, duplication happens. You could make a decision in your organisation to work together with one or other of the Toolbox database or publication, and contribute to that, instead of producing another one. e.g. the SALTO Toolbox for Training and Youthwork at www.SALTO-YOUTH.net/Toolbox/ ≈ From your project with its specific target groups which dealt with certain topics, you might draw some conclusions about, for example, reasons for youth violence, ways to motivate young people, etc. If you think these ideas are relatively new, they could be a good subject for some youth research. It is one thing is to arbitrarily arrive at your conclusions, it is another to have some systematic research leading to these conclusions (hopefully they will be the same). You could pass on your research ideas to youth researchers, to social work or social psychology students doing their theses etc. Send your ideas to universities (possibly some of your youth workers studied youth or social work and have contacts) – or to your Youth in Action National Agency or to the Knowledge Centre about European Youth Policy (www.youth-knowledge.net). This way the information available on youth issues will be further researched … ≈ You could also think of getting the backing of important players in the field (e.g. youth work, the topic of your project, etc). This way your results, ‘approved’ by these key players, will gain more (political) weight and will be more likely to be listened to or be taken into account. ≈… As mentioned on page 26, your project can have an impact at different levels, ranging from micro to macro. However, outsiders are not the only people who could be potentially affected by your project. Projects could also be an ideal basis for you board to draw conclusions and develop policies within your organisation. Don’t forget to target the board of your organisation with your project results, to enable them to develop a better understanding of international projects and European cooperation. Making Waves˜WWW.SALTO-YOUTH.NET
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