Facilitation Compass Methods Lab: manual with educational tools for youth work

Aims of the tool

This manual was developed as part of Facilitation Compass: Methods Lab, an Erasmus+ KA153 training course that supports youth workers, trainers, educators, and facilitators in strengthening the quality of their practice through innovative, experiential methods. The publication is a tangible outcome of the training: it gathers the activities designed and tested by participants, along with step-by-step facilitation guidance and practical tips for implementation.

Its purpose is twofold. First, it serves as a ready-to-use resource for participants and partner organisations when delivering local follow-up workshops after the mobility.
Second, it supports the dissemination and sustainability of the project’s results by making the methods accessible to a wider community of youth professionals beyond the training group. The need for this project is rooted in a shared challenge across youth work contexts: facilitators are increasingly expected to create learning spaces that are engaging, inclusive, and meaningful— while working with limited time, diverse groups, and rapidly changing realities. Strengthening facilitation competence is therefore not an “extra skill”, but a core condition for quality youth work and non-formal education.

Facilitation Compass: Methods Lab responds to this need by combining three complementary approaches that help facilitators work more effectively with groups and make learning visible:
-LEGO® Serious Play, supporting reflection and dialogue through building and storytelling;
-Outdoor education, using experience and environment to support personal development and group processes;
-Graphic facilitation helping groups to structure ideas, support participation, and capture learning outcomes.
During the training, participants explored these approaches, practiced facilitation techniques, and worked collaboratively to create methods that can be adapted to different target groups and settings. The training also emphasised turning learning into practice through follow-up actions— ensuring that what was developed during the mobility continues to live in local youth work environments.

Description of the tool

This publication is the result of the project "Facilitation Compass:Methods Lab” (Pr. Nr.: 2024-3-AT01-KA153-YOU-000266662 ), co-funded by the European Union.
How to use this publication:

You can use the content in three simple ways:
1.Choose one method as a stand-alone session for your local group.
2.Combine methods into a workshop flow (e.g., warm-up → core activity → reflection → next step).
3.Use the structure as inspiration to design your own activities tailored to your target group and context.
We hope this collection supports you in creating learning spaces that are engaging, meaningful, and easy to transfer into practice long after the training ends.