Mobility projects for youth workers are Erasmus+ projects comprising of one or more learning activities for the professional development and capacity building of youth workers and their organisations, and organisations can receive support to carry them out. Mobility projects for youth workers support the professional development of youth workers and thereby the development of quality youth work at local, regional, national, European and international level, through non-formal and informal learning experiences in mobility activities. The Action contributes to the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027, particularly to the European Youth Work Agenda for quality, innovation and recognition of youth work. Mobility projects for youth workers aim to provide non-formal and informal learning opportunities for educational and professional development of youth workers, contributing to high quality individual practice as well as to the evolution of youth work organisations and systems. The Action also aims to build a community of youth workers that can support the quality of projects and activities for young people in EU programmes and beyond, and to develop local youth work practices and contribute to capacity building for quality youth work of the participants and their organisation, having a clear impact on the participating youth workers' regular work with young people. Our guide on what Erasmus+ is covers the programme as a whole, the role of youth workers explains who a youth worker is, and what non-formal education is explains the kind of learning these activities use.
Last updated: October 2026.
Who can take part in a mobility project for youth workers?
In the Professional Development Activities of Mobility projects for youth workers, eligible participants must be minimum 16 years old, and participants must be resident in the country of their sending or receiving organisation. Participants must have reached the minimum age at the start date of the activity. The number of participants is up to 50 participants in each activity planned by the project. Participants from the country of the receiving organisation must be involved in each activity. Trainers, accompanying persons and facilitators are not to be considered as participants of the activity and are not to be counted in the number of participants, but are eligible for support under certain budget categories. Our guide on who can apply to Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps covers eligibility beyond this youth worker action, the age limits by activity compares the 16 year minimum here with other Erasmus+ activities, and the list of eligible countries shows where a youth worker can be resident to take part.
What kinds of activities are supported?
Professional Development Activities (PDAs) are transnational or international learning mobility activities supporting the professional development of youth workers.
👀 Study visits and assignments: study visits and different types of assignments, such as job shadowing, youth worker exchanges and peer learning, in youth work organisations and organisations active in the youth field abroad. Our guide on what an Erasmus+ study visit is describes a visit day by day.
🤝 Networking: networking and community building among youth workers taking part in the action and supporting its objectives.
🎓 Training courses: training courses supporting the development of competences, such as competences based on relevant existing competence models, to implement quality youth work practices or address and test innovative methods, for instance related to digital and smart youth work. Our guide on what a training course is explains how a course is run.
🗣️ Seminars and workshops: seminars and workshops supporting in particular knowledge-building and best practices sharing linked to the objectives, values and priorities of the EU Youth Strategy and of the EU programmes contributing to its implementation. Our guide on what an Erasmus+ seminar is sets out the format.
⛔ Not eligible: the following activities are not eligible for grants under Mobility projects for Youth Workers: academic study trips, activities that aim to make financial profit, activities that can be considered as tourism, festivals, holiday travel, performance tours and statutory meetings. Our guide on what Erasmus+ covers sets out the cost categories behind these rules.
How long is a Professional Development Activity for youth workers and where can it take place?
In Mobility projects for youth workers, the duration of Professional Development Activities is from 2 to 60 days, excluding travel days, and the minimum 2 days must be consecutive. Professional Development Activities must take place in the country of one (or several, in case of itinerant activities) of the organisations participating in the activity. Exception: Professional Development Activities cannot take place in Belarus or Russia. Our guide on green travel in Erasmus+ and ESC explains the sustainable transport option, and how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects shows where open activities are published.
What does Erasmus+ pay for?
✈️ Travel: a contribution to the travel costs of participants, including trainers, accompanying persons and facilitators, from their place of origin to the venue of the activity and return. Below 500 km, participants will, as a general rule, travel with low-emissions means of transport, and over 500 KM, participants are strongly encouraged to use a combination of different modes of transport to make their travel more sustainable. Our guide on how travel distance bands work shows how the amount is calculated.
🏠 Individual Support: costs linked to subsistence. The Individual Support is maximum 1 100 EUR per participant, trainers, facilitators and accompanying persons.
♿ Inclusion support for participants: additional costs directly linked to participants with fewer opportunities and their accompanying persons, trainers and facilitators, including justified costs related to travel and subsistence if a grant for these participants is not requested through budget categories Travel and Individual support. Our guide on inclusion support explains which extra costs a youth worker with fewer opportunities can have covered.
Our guide on what Erasmus+ covers sets out every cost category of the grant in one place.
Do you have to pay anything yourself?
If deemed necessary, the beneficiary organisation may ask participants in a mobility project for youth workers for a contribution paid by the participants prior to the activity. The amount of the participants' contribution must be very low, remain proportional to the grant awarded for the implementation of the project, must be clearly justified by a direct benefit to the participant, its purpose well explained and justified to the participants, collected on a non-profit basis, and may not create unfair barriers to participation. Contributions cannot be collected from participants with fewer opportunities. The beneficiary can use the cost category inclusion support to cover any specific needs derived from the barriers faced by these participants. Additional fees or other participant contributions cannot be collected by other service providers chosen by the beneficiary organisation. Our guide on inclusion support explains the cost category behind that rule, and what Erasmus+ covers lists what the grant pays for.
How is your learning recognised?
A Mobility project for Youth Workers needs to envisage support for the reflection process, identification and documentation of learning outcomes, in particular through Youthpass, to support the recognition and impact of the project outcomes, the resulting youth work practices, methodologies and materials in the youth field. A quality mobility project for youth workers has a clear impact on the participating youth workers' regular work with young people and on their organisation. A quality mobility project for youth workers ensures that the non-formal and informal learning outcomes of the participants are properly recognised and that the project outcomes, including any methods, materials and tools, are transferable and used within the participating organisations, contributing to the evolution of youth work organisations, and further widely disseminated in the youth field. Our guide on what Youthpass is explains the certificate, getting your learning recognised compares the recognition routes, and how to put Youthpass on your CV shows what to write.
Frequently asked questions
How many participants are there in each Professional Development Activity for youth workers?
In Mobility projects for youth workers, the number of participants is up to 50 participants in each Professional Development Activity planned by the project. Trainers, accompanying persons and facilitators are not to be counted in the number of participants.
Can trainers and facilitators get funding?
Trainers, accompanying persons and facilitators are not to be considered as participants of the activity, but are eligible for support under certain budget categories. The Individual Support is maximum 1 100 EUR per participant, trainers, facilitators and accompanying persons.
Can a Professional Development Activity for youth workers happen in any country?
In Mobility projects for youth workers, Professional Development Activities must take place in the country of one (or several, in case of itinerant activities) of the organisations participating in the activity. Exception: Professional Development Activities cannot take place in Belarus or Russia.
Are participants with fewer opportunities supported?
Inclusion support for participants covers additional costs directly linked to participants with fewer opportunities and their accompanying persons, trainers and facilitators. Our guide on inclusion support explains how the extra costs are claimed.
What activities are not funded?
The following activities are not eligible for grants under Mobility projects for Youth Workers: academic study trips, activities that aim to make financial profit, activities that can be considered as tourism, festivals, holiday travel, performance tours and statutory meetings.
Where to go next
In a mobility project for youth workers, one of the organisations takes also the role of coordinator and applies for the whole project on behalf of the partnership. Our guide on how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects shows where training courses and seminars are advertised, and how much money you actually need sets out what a participant spends. The related pages below from Youth Works Hub cover each part of this guide in more detail.
Related pages: what an Erasmus+ seminar is · what a training course is · what an Erasmus+ study visit is· how travel distance bands work · how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects
👉 Erasmus+ projects: youthworkshub.org/category/erasmus-projects
