Moving LGBTQI+ Youth Work Towards Promising Practices - Ireland
2023
Moving LGBTQI+ Youth Work Towards Promising Practices - Ireland
Youth Work Ireland recently published a new resource as part of the Proud Spaces project. This project, funded by Erasmus+ and supported by national agency Léargas, seeks to evidence youth work practices, activities and processes that achieve better outcomes for young LGBTQI+ people in youth work settings.
The resource ‘Moving LGBTQI+ Youth Work Towards Promising Practices’ resource was developed based on findings that result from the expertise, input and guidance of youth workers, young LGBTQI+ people and field experts. It is informed by their practice and personal experiences and allows us to understand the unique challenges faced by young LGBTQI+ people and the role youth work practices can and do play in supporting them. The resource will build the knowledge, skills, capacity and practices of those who work with young LGBTQI+ people in formal and non-formal youth work settings. It will also identify the behaviours, processes and methodologies that can be applied easily and effectively to achieve better outcomes for young LGBTQI+ people.
The launch event took place on 28 September in Dublin and featured inputs from Dr Niall Muldoon Ombudsman for Children (Ireland), Bella Fitzpatrick (IGLYO), Dominik Kuc (Growspace), Lisa Cannon (Youth Work Ireland Galway), Olive Moore (Front Lind Defenders) and Alison Rooney (shatterbox.ie)
This tool establishes a vision of youth work with young LGBTQI+ people grounded in practice, supported by research and embedded in a clear set of values, competencies and principles essential to achieving better outcomes. The development of this tool marks the completion of the second project result. It seeks to encourage youth workers to share the practices that have the potential to positively impact the lives of young LGBTQI+ people, to share their experiences and ideas about measuring impact and move towards the creation of a body of evidence that will allow for a stronger claim that LGBTQI+ youth work has impact on the lives of young people we work with.
The resource can be downloaded here.
More information on Proud Spaces can be found here.
