Recap: Bildung in Portugal 🇵🇹 Erasmus+ Exploring digital transformation in youth work

From July 27 to August 2, Joshua represented Bildung Nijmegen in Fundão, Portugal during a European training course on digital transformation in youth work. Together with 24 other youth workers from across Europe, we spent five full days exploring how technology can be used in smart, creative, and inclusive ways to engage young people.

The training was hands-on, inspiring, and at times a little challenging in the best way. We worked with tools like Notion, Canva, Miro, Discord, and even AI. Not just to learn how they function, but to explore how they can support young people in expressing themselves, participating actively, and building communities that feel safe and welcoming.

One of the big takeaways? It doesn’t have to be perfect. Most of us weren’t tech experts, and that actually helped. It created space to experiment, make mistakes, and learn by doing together. A definite highlight was designing and building our own AI-powered mini-games as a creative form of youth participation. (Yes, really!)

Beyond all the learning, it was simply a meaningful and energising week. We had great conversations, exchanged practices, and were reminded that while youth work looks different in every country, we share a lot of the same challenges and hopes.

Huge thanks to the Portuguese hosts and trainers, André, Pedro, and Rodrigo, for their care, creativity, and guidance. We’re bringing all the insights and inspiration back to Nijmegen, ready to put them into practice in our own projects and community.

CTRL+Y Transforming Digital Space in Youth Work - 2025-1-PT02-KA151-YOU-000304922