It takes a village: transforming youth work through community involvement

Over recent decades, youth work has been influenced by the neoliberal model and the associated emphasis on individualism. Specifically focused on the context of youth work, families started increasingly relying on youth care experts rather than their own social network. Contrarily, the Pedagogical Community Project, as a social pedagogical approach to youth work, contributes to strengthening social networks by encouraging collective responsibility and activating community members to organise activities for and with their community. This participatory action research explores the implementation of the Pedagogical Community Project, focusing on the dynamics, perceived value and contextual factors that influence such community-based initiatives. Using semi-structured interviews with 70 different stakeholders, as well as a five-person focus group with community members, the research examines how social pedagogical principles are translated into practice. Special attention goes to the success factors and tensions that emerge in this process. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how a social pedagogical approach to youth work can foster community participation, agency, social cohesion and shared responsibility for the upbringing of youth within the international context of contemporary social policy.