What happens when youth work leaves the walls of a centre and reaches young people directly in the places where they live, meet and spend their time? This question guided the Erasmus+ Job Shadowing Mobile Youth Work, carried out in Berlin from 27 August to 10 September 2025.
The project was realised by ARCI Circolo Territoriale Chieti APS in partnership with Roter Baum Berlin, and was granted and supported by the Erasmus+ Programme and the Agenzia Italiana per la Gioventù. The experience was born from the need to rethink youth work in a changing social context, where many young people, especially after the pandemic, have faced a loss of socialisation, community engagement and sense of belonging.
During the job shadowing, one member of ARCI Chieti followed the work of Roter Baum in Berlin, with a specific focus on mobile youth centres and innovative approaches to inclusion through art, creativity and non-formal education. The programme combined observation, active participation and guided reflection, allowing the participant to discover different structures and teams, including the Buntes Haus, the Anna Landsberger Youth Centre and the mobile youth centre MoRe-NORD.
A central part of the experience was the direct participation in the activities of mobile youth centres, which bring games, sports, workshops, music and creative tools into public spaces. These centres create accessible and welcoming environments for children and teenagers from different backgrounds, helping them build trust, express themselves and connect with local opportunities. Activities ranged from football, basketball, skateboarding and board games to graffiti, linocut printing, face painting, photography and other artistic workshops.
The job shadowing also took place during an international exchange dedicated to Mobile Youth Work, which brought together mobile youth centres from Belgium, Romania, Italy and Germany. This offered the chance to compare different approaches and understand how mobile youth work changes according to each neighbourhood, city or rural context. Participants also worked on the idea of a “dream mobile youth centre”, reflecting on how mobility, creativity and inclusion can be combined to reach young people more effectively.
Several public events enriched the experience, including the SLON Festival, a democratic event in Marzahn-Hellersdorf against discrimination, racism and right-wing extremism, and the inauguration of Käthe, Roter Baum’s new floating youth centre moving along the canals of Berlin.
The outcome of the project is the zine “Mobile Youth Work: A Journey with Roter Baum from Another Perspective”, which collects reflections, observations and visual impressions from the experience. A photography workshop titled Mobile Youth Work in Berlin: A Journey Within Different Perspectives was also developed during the mobility, with results later presented in Chieti in a dedicated exhibition.
This publication invites readers to discover how mobile youth work can become a flexible, creative and community-rooted approach. It also opens new perspectives for ARCI Chieti, suggesting how some of the methods observed in Berlin could inspire future activities in Abruzzo, especially in rural, mountain or peripheral areas where young people need more accessible spaces for participation, expression and connection.
