Youthpass Impact Study

For many people, Erasmus means spending a semester abroad, gaining new experiences and meeting people from different countries.

But the European Erasmus+ programme offers much more: it also supports numerous international youth work projects in which young people develop valuable skills and gain important experiences outside formal education settings.

But how can these learning experiences be made visible and recognised beyond schools and universities? And what value do they have beyond the projects in which they take place?

The Youthpass Impact Study explores Youthpass from different perspectives as the first European tool for documenting and recognising non-formal and informal learning. It examines how Youthpass contributes to young people's competence development, how the reflection process strengthens the quality of youth work across Europe, and to what extent learning outcomes from the European Youth Programmes gain wider social and institutional recognition beyond the youth sector.

The study was commissioned by the SALTO Training and Cooperation Resource Centre and is being conducted by the Centre for Applied Policy Research (C·A·P) at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). Drawing on desk research, quantitative data and qualitative interviews with experts from across Europe, CAP examines the impact of Youthpass at individual, project and organisational levels.

As Youthpass approaches its 20th anniversary in 2027, the study takes stock of what the tool has achieved so far while exploring its future potential. It identifies concrete ways to make Youthpass more visible, accessible and inclusive, and to strengthen the recognition of learning gained through youth work beyond the youth sector.

The full-length study will be published shortly on the SALTO T&C website.

Author: Eva Feldmann-Wojtachnia (C·A·P) in collaboration with Louisa Nicklas and Ilaria Kreher