North Star: A learning design framework for youth work in a changing world!

From June 6th to 12th, 2025, Călărași, Romania, hosted the Erasmus+ training course “North Star: A learning design framework for youth work in a changing world.” The course brought together youth workers from across Europe to explore how structured learning design can support meaningful, engaging, and inclusive educational experiences. The aim of the week was simple: to give participants practical tools and approaches to improve the quality of their activities and programs for young people.

The training combined a variety of methodologies to look at learning design from multiple angles. Participants explored creative ways to communicate and collaborate, including exercises using Lego to convey ideas, as well as empathy mapping, divergence and convergence techniques, and different approaches to brainstorming. A visit to the Museum of Learning offered further inspiration, highlighting the diversity of learning and encouraging participants to reflect on how they approach educational processes in their own work.

Early sessions focused on team building and developing a shared understanding of learning design principles. From there, the course moved into more hands-on practice, allowing participants to experiment with creating and refining their own learning activities. Working in small groups, they applied the concepts they had learned to design programs that are learner-centered, interactive, and adaptable to different contexts. This process emphasized collaboration, reflection, and practical problem-solving.

By the end of the week, participants had not only gained new theoretical insights but also produced tangible outputs they can use in their own work. The final sessions included presentations and discussions on how to apply the North Star framework in youth work, with a focus on long-term impact and follow-up activities. Many participants noted that the experience had broadened their perspective on learning design and strengthened their confidence in applying new methods with young people.

Organized by Dear Future Self NGO and supported by Erasmus+, the North Star training course provided a structured yet flexible space for learning, experimentation, and growth. It demonstrated that by combining creative approaches, reflection, and collaboration, youth workers can design educational experiences that are more inclusive, engaging, and effective... and that learning, indeed, never stops.

Project funded by the Erasmus+ Programme and approved by the Romanian National Agency