Yes_Sure

Mobile youth work organisations are currently under great pressure to prove the impact of their work on a scientifically sound basis: Funding bodies demand proof of impact. Impact research is generally a major challenge for such complex, highly contextualised forms of social intervention. There is currently a lack of both social science studies on mobile youth work and its potential impact as well as sufficiently complex research designs.

The research project pursues the objectives of identifying and operationalising key impact indicators and developing appropriate methodological tools for impact evaluation, as well as generating scientifically sound findings on the impact of mobile youth work and identifying good practice models.

Duration: January 2014 to December 2015

Mobile youth work is an outreach, lifeworld-oriented social support, counselling and assistance service that involves the municipal level. It is primarily aimed at a particularly vulnerable target group, namely young people with precarious chances of social inclusion and in safety-risk situations who spend the majority of their free time in public spaces. In this highly volatile social field, the measure pursues an intervention approach in which security work is essentially realised as increasing opportunities for social participation, promoting democratic political awareness and teaching peaceful conflict resolution skills.

Mobile youth work organisations are currently under great pressure to prove the effects of their work on a scientifically sound basis: Firstly, they must fulfil the professional demand for evidence-based, impact-oriented professionalism. Secondly, funding bodies demand proof of impact. The organisations themselves lack the expertise and resources to do this. Furthermore, impact research is generally a major challenge with such complex, highly contextualised forms of social intervention. There is currently a lack of both social science studies on mobile youth work and its possible modes of action as well as sufficiently complex research designs.

The research project pursues the following objectives

• to identify and operationalise key impact indicators and to develop object-adaptedäto develop appropriate methodological tools for impact evaluation
• scientifically sound findings üon the impact of mobile youth work and to develop good practice models for the evaluation of impact.üfor peaceful conflict resolutionöconflict resolution between young people and other actors in the öin public spaces,
• optimisation recommendations forüThe aim is to develop optimisation recommendations for mobile youth work and the cooperation of the various actors at municipal level together with representatives of mobile youth work, various social space institutions and the executive.

Using empirical social research methods, selected Mobile Youth Work centres in urban (Vienna) and rural areas (Lower Austria) will be evaluated. In the realisation of the project, target group- and topic-appropriate survey methods will be used.

Intended results and findings:

• Handbook with research instruments and methodological tools for impact research,
• intersubjectively validated findings üon crime preventionäprevention and resilienceäThe effects of mobile youth work and good practice models forüfor inclusionösocial interventions and interculturally sensitive conflict solutionsösolutions in the community,
• Catalogue of recommendations for optimising the networking and mediation activities of mobile youth work at municipal level and cooperation with the executive, implementation of the findings in the training and further education of youth workers and the executive as an important cooperation interface in practice.