This research study presented in this document is one of the outputs of the project “By Youth For Youth”, funded by the European Union (ERASMUS + Program). The primary aim of this project is to raise capacities and competencies of regional youth organizations working with youth who use drugs, at-risk youth and marginalized or vulnerable youth groups, for participating in youth policy and advocating for public policy reform.
The report was developed within the By Youth For Youth project funded by the European Union (ERASMUS+ program). This project is coordinated by NGO Re Generation from Serbia, and the partners are HOPS-Healthy Options Project Skopje from North Macedonia and Association Terra from Croatia.
The purpose of this research study was to assess existing capacities, competencies and practices of regional youth organizations which work with youth who participate in nightlife and/or use psychoactive substances in recreational settings, at-risk youth and marginalized or vulnerable youth groups when it comes to working with these communities, participating in youth policy and advocating for public policy reform, i.e. evidence based policy, as well as assessing the dominant needs and challenges at-risk youth – youth who participate in nightlife, youth who use psychoactive substances in recreational settings and marginalized youth groups – face, i.e. of their behavioral patterns, experiences and the risks they are exposed to. This research has helped us map out the relations between practice in youth work and the public policy framework in which organizations function and collect best practice examples of the optimization of these relations and youth policy participation.
This research study consisted of the following elements:
- Desk research, consisting of an overview of the relevant legal and strategic framework and available data relevant to the topic;
- Qualitative assessment of existing practices when it comes to working with at-risk youth, i.e. youth who participate in nightlife and/or use psychoactive substances in recreational settings, as well as the participation of these organizations in the creation and implementation of public policy, as well as their perceived efficacy;
- Quantitative assessment of experiences of at-risk youth, youth who participate in nightlife and/or use psychoactive substances in recreational settings, through an analysis of their behavioral patterns, knowledge and attitudes related to nightlife safety and public policy.