An innovative Guide entitled “HEY! What is Happening?”, has been developed and published by the HEY consortium of partner organizations from Cyprus, Italy, France, Ireland, Spain and Portugal. The Guide represents the 1st Project Results (PR1) of the project “HEY! Heightening the Engagement of Youth”, which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU. The project is coordinated by the Social Policy & Action Organisation, Cyprus, in partnership with Promimpresa, Italy, REDIAL Partnership, Ireland, Association des agences de La Démocratie locAle, France, Agis Note et Innove International, France, Grigri Proyectos Socioculturales, Spain and Rota Jovem, Portugal.

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The project aims at contributing towards the empowerment of young people, mainly those with fewer opportunities, NEETs and those returning to their country of origin from abroad, and regionally attached youth by supporting their positive engagement in building more equal and inclusive communities through innovative and transnational youth initiatives; improve the existing local youth work practice of the youth leaders and operators, through quality and sustainability of digital youth work and online and blended training and the recognition of the vital role the youth sector plays in helping young people recover from detrimental effects, overcoming poverty of hope, and to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and; improving successful school-to-work transitions, as a potentially powerful way of weakening the intergenerational transmission of poverty and reducing inequality.

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The Guide, presents the data, information and results collected, as well as conclusions reached by 6 nation-wide research surveys, conducted in all partner countries, to understand the context of young people with fewer opportunities, specifically NEETs and Returnees, on the current situation of (the features and scale of their problems and needs, potential solutions, experiences, the transition from school to the labour market, and the characteristics of young people combining study and work, etc.). The analysis collected information about socio-economic inclusion opportunities for youth, best practices in community engagement, and success stories at the national level.

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The research survey, conducted simultaneously in all partner countries, was composed by secondary research to extract information published by the different stakeholders, and primary research performed with Focus Group with 10 Returnees, NEETs and other young people with fewer opportunities, c) Focus Group with 10 youth workers, youth leaders, social welfare officers, educators and others, d) Focus Group with 5 public/private institutions involved in youth policies as well as e) 10 personal interviews with Returnees and NEETs.

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The Guide has been digitally published and available in English, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese languages.