The project aims at strengthening the capacities of facilitators in youth education in Europe with sharing tools, methods and best practice, how to empower youth by addressing transversal, key competencies in youth empowerment. With our activities we support the dissemination and promotion of approaches that address key competencies in learner-centered, holistic EMPOWERMENT concepts. We build bridges between - theoretical dimension, - societal impact (socio-political dimension) - and the concrete working fields of actors in formal and non-formal education (field dimension). Under competencies we understand in a broad sense a "combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context". Our project offers practice, methodology and advice, how to implement "transversal competencies" (UNESCO) or "key competencies" like EU in 2006 defined for lifelong learning [Recomm. of the EP and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competencies for lifelong learning] in concrete youth education and empowerment activities. MAIN TOPIC AND ITS ASPECTS With our activities we offer in form of outputs, dissemination activities and advocacy measures answers on the challenges: How experts and education concepts need to cross sectoral barriers for empowering individuals better? What experience with key competencies needs to be transferred more precise to facilitators? What innovative materials and outputs need to be developed to promote competency orientation? How facilitators could empower their target groups for facing the challenges of the knowledge society, the social conditions for European youth, and for becoming active democratic European citizens? TARGET GROUPS With the activities we reach 30.000 European facilitators and experts in the field of youth education from different regions and with diverse backgrounds and working with different educational approaches. Grounding on our expertise we identify these topical fields as focus of our partnership: - General aspects of key competencies and their validation/recognition - Basic assumptions and approach of empowering learning/group processes - Facilitating development of self-responsible initiative: From idea development to the implementation of independent projects other forms of social innovation or participation. - Facilitating and planning qualitative experiential and holistic learning - Art, culture & non-formal learning: fostering creativity, holistic expression, socio-cultural impact - European, global, and international dimension of learning Key competencies cover a broad range of skills, knowledge and attitudes-EU describes 8 fields. Therefore, the involved partners cover a corresponding broad experience between democratic citizenship education, facilitating social innovation and social entrepreneurship, global learning, community mobilization, facilitating cultural expression, digital competencies and cross-sectoral societal dialogue. OUTPUT & IMPACT A central activity of this partnership is the virtual toolbox: (EM)POWER. UNLEASH INITIATIVE WITH COMPETENCY BASED FACILITATION. It offers facilitators as experts for civic education and youth empowerment easy to access, free to use content and experience of our organizations and the community. We ground on existing experience with virtual tools such as http://getting-involved.net (for thetarget group "young changemakers in civil society). A "facilitator Tool Series" completes this online toolbox. We publish high quality handbooks in different formats - print and PDF, .ebook or Flipbooks. This attunement between print product and online source allows to use the strengths of each media best. - "Facilitating the development of self-responsible initiative: From motivation to initiative" - "Facilitating and planning experiential and holistic learning" - "European, International and Global dimension of learning" - "Stimulating creativity, using art, culture and holistic expression in empowerment Additionally at the end of the partnership stands a conference "Competency Orientation in Youth Education: Building Bridges between Practice, Policy and Science" In the follow up of this conference we produce: - Recommendations - Unleashing Youth Initiative and Involvement Through Empowerment with Key Competencies - Developing Tools and Disseminating Best Practice Outputs and networking complement in our partnership. With events, the virtual toolbox and our international networks we connect those that like to share enthusiasm and practice with other facilitators and multipliers. In multiplier events and our network activities, also in activities beyond this partnership, our staff, members and partners share the findings and products, that we collaboratively produced and developed. The concept of key competencies will be popularized among educational experts and practicioners.The dialogue with the policy level will contribute to the further European development of youth empowerment policy.