Negative lessons learned

1. Be mindful of warning signs from unengaged partners: keep an eye out for signs that partners may not be fully committed to collaboration. If some partners seem disinterested from the project's very beginning, it is likely they will remain disengaged. Clear internal communication and adherence to deadlines are crucial for successfully completing the project on time and in accordance with the funder’s requirements. Remember that this responsibility does not fall solely on the lead partner, it is a shared effort across the entire consortium.

2. Be ready for rising travel and accommodation costs: travel expenses (trains, flights) and accommodation costs (hotels, hostels) are increasing rapidly worldwide. The budget you prepared some months or even years ago when you submitted the project proposal will likely be insufficient to cover today’s travel costs. While you will probably exceed your budget, try to minimise the impact by making reservations well in advance.

3. Expect youth participation levels to fluctuate: not all participants who respond to the initial call to action will attend the final event. Maintaining the consistent engagement of large groups of young people over a two-year project can be challenging, if not impossible. Do your best to keep interest high, but also be ready for a continual call to action. This approach often results in a larger final turnout and enhances the overall impact of the project.

4. All project partners have to be equally interested and involved in the project collaboration. If there is a partner that works less, employs non-transparent strategies, and does not keep the other partners up to date about their issues or activities, this can cause very negative effects for the whole partnership. A lot of time will be spent on resolving unnecessary issues.

5. Event/training/activity participants should be chosen carefully in order to ensure that they are all happy and willing to participate. If some participants do not show interest, the group dynamics can easily turn negative.

6. Time-keeping and sticking to schedules is very important – in “background” project work as well as during activities that are implemented face-to-face. This will allow you to get everything done and to complete all parts of a specific task or visit etc. If schedules are not followed, plans have to change and elements of a day will have to be cancelled, which leads to mutual disappointment.

7. Ignoring the school schedule: planning events without taking the school calendar into account led to frustrations and limited participation. Overlooking important academic events like exams, holidays, and other commitments could result in missed deadlines or low engagement. It is crucial to work in harmony with the school’s timetable to ensure that students can fully participate without compromising their academic responsibilities.

8. Overestimating youth availability between meetings: expecting students to complete tasks or assignments between sessions proved unrealistic. Youth often have competing academic, social, and personal obligations, making it difficult for them to focus on additional responsibilities outside of scheduled project time. To avoid disappointment and overburdening them, it is more effective to focus on activities that can be completed during regular sessions, ensuring full participation without unnecessary pressure.

9. Under-communication: insufficient communication at various stages of the project could negatively impact participant engagement and satisfaction. For example, there were instances when we assumed that documents sent to teachers had reached all the students, only to later discover that they had not. Establishing direct communication channels with the youth became essential in these cases. Furthermore, relying on a single presentation at the outset of the project is inadequate. It is important to regularly revisit and discuss the project plan, activities, and expectations to ensure that all participants remain aligned, especially as the group grows and new members join. Clear communication about roles, responsibilities, and opportunities is key to maintaining high levels of engagement and fostering a positive experience for everyone involved.

10. Teenagers and young adults (as well as adults as well) can have difficulties with concentration. As far as the activities are concerned, even if the theme could generate a deep interest in the majority of the participants, it seems important to involve the whole body. Remaining seated on a chair for one hour listening to someone speaking demands is an effort not everybody is willing to make. To make the activity attractive, it has to have a playful side. It is not about winning or losing (even though we all have a certain sense of competition), but about creating energy by involving the body: for example, writing, drawing things that will be presented to the others. There are many ways to create dialog – being seated on a chair listening to someone speaking is not one.

11. Shyness could be the result of not mastering a foreign language. Even if it remains fundamental for the activities to mix groups and make them international, it also appears important to make sure that a person who feels less confident with a foreign language can be with someone who speaks both the same and the foreign language. Each participant should feel empowered by the experience of meeting other young adults from other countries, which means youth workers should take special care when time comes to create small groups for activities. This might seem like it can be improvised at the last minute, but it is not. “Losing” one young participant during an activity because of that issue is basically losing the whole group before the activity even ends.

12. It is obvious that not every city experiences the same amount of tourism during certain times of the year. Some locations see their prices jump to a point where it is difficult to find cheap accommodation. It seems then very important to check in advance the ideal time of the year to visit one place – not only according to the weather (with climate change, no one can no longer predict), but also to the cost of life and accommodations.

13. It is important to note that potential negative sides of youth mobilities can be mitigated through careful planning, preparation, and support. Factors such as an individual's personality, cultural adaptability, and the quality of the program can significantly influence the overall experience. Throughout the SPGs project activities, the tensions between staying and going – participating in mobilities or remaining in the neighbourhood – between speaking in broken language or staying silent, and between experiencing local food choices or opting for familiar fast food, became significant challenges. These issues highlighted the importance of planning, preparation, and support – not only among the project partner organisations, but also among educators and youth participants.

14. Even when we are prepared, cultural shocks can occur and can be unexpected. Adapting to a new culture can be challenging, often leading to feelings of homesickness or isolation. If we do not carefully prepare a set of immersive soft activities, and, above all, remain attentive to the initial signals from the youth, we may encounter issues that could interfere with and negatively impact the mobility programme.

15. Dealing with language barriers is another aspect that can negatively influence youth mobilities. Limited language proficiency can hinder communication and integration into the host community. It is important to be tolerant and incorporate other forms of communication, such as non-verbal cues and body language, even if we strive to communicate in a common language like English. In SPGs, whenever we tried to speak only in the host language, other groups often disconnected and raised questions about this behaviour. Ultimately, having good skills in one language is less important than having strong overall communication skills.