Research that sets the groundwork: we’re starting to listen, systematically

     We are launching the project’s field-listening phase: two online focus groups (one with refugees, one with professionals who work with refugees) plus two short surveys and a literature scan. The goal is to collect solid, comparable evidence that will feed a five-point guideline for safer, more inclusive youth policies.

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What this phase includes

Two online focus groups — one with refugees, one with frontline professionals (youth workers, social workers, NGO staff, lawyers, educators, healthcare). Each session runs 60–90 minutes, moderated, with structured questions on barriers, service access, and workable solutions.

Two short surveys — 15–20 questions each, one for professionals (≥50 responses target) and one for refugees (≥40 responses target).

Desk research — a quick review of current reports and studies to frame the questions and benchmark findings.

This mixed-methods package was planned from the start to ensure that practice, research and policy stay connected.

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Why we’re doing it now

The application set an online research window in September–November 2024. With management and coordination running across the full project period, we are using this spring window to complete listening activities ahead of the Spain seminar and the drafting milestones of the guideline.

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Who we will talk to

Refugees (10–12 people in one online group): diverse in age, gender and country of origin; focus on lived experience with language, paperwork, education, healthcare, employment and daily life.

Professionals (10–12 people in one online group): those assisting refugee youth directly; focus on what blocks access, what already works, and where coordination fails.

The broader survey targets ensure we pass the ≥90 responses in three months threshold set for the project’s evidence base.

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How the conversations will run

Each focus group follows the same structure:

Introduction & ground rules (confidentiality, respectful turn-taking)

Core questions on challenges, access to services, discrimination, coping strategies, effective practices, and policy fixes

Wrap-up with key takeaways and last inputs
Sessions take place on Zoom/Teams/Meet, are facilitated by a moderator, and last 1–1.5 hours.

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Ethical safeguards

Informed consent collected digitally before participation.

Anonymisation of all contributions in notes and reports; screenshots or recordings are only taken/used with explicit consent and stored securely; when published, findings are aggregated.

Participants may keep cameras off and can withdraw at any time without explanation.

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How we will use the data

Findings from surveys and focus groups will feed the five-point guideline (~40 pages) and the practical mini-kit for organisations. The Spain seminar will then present, test and refine these outputs with practitioners from all three countries.

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Quality assurance and evaluation

We will collect short feedback at the end of each survey and each focus group, run daily evaluations during the Spain seminar, and close with a final learning survey. A stakeholder group of ~50 people (policy actors, NGOs, refugee representatives) will review the draft guideline for clarity and feasibility before publication.

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Roles and coordination

CIFIR (France): leads management, monitoring and the data-collection work package; develops evaluation and visibility tools.

Backslash (Spain): leads the guideline drafting and hosts the Spain seminar that validates the outputs.

Old School Green (Antalya, Turkey): partner for practical transfer and implementation activities. (Note: in this articles we refer to the Turkish partner under this name and location, articles have been edited after the partner change.

 

What participants to

ld us: key findings from the field

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Publication Date: 2024/12/12

Summary: We report the main insights gathered in the refugee focus group held online, complemented by the project’s planned research framework. The evidence will feed into the five-point guideline and the practical mini-kit for organisations.

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Who took part and how we listened

Format: moderated online discussion, 60–90 minutes, with ground rules on confidentiality and respectful turn-taking.

Participants: 11 refugees currently living in Turkey, with varied language proficiency and a wide mix of origins (Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, Russia, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan). Some chose cameras off; all contributions were anonymised.

Purpose: document barriers, service access, working solutions, and policy ideas; complement the project’s surveys and literature scan under Work Package 2.

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What came up most often

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1) Language as a systemic barrier

Language was the most cited obstacle. It affects healthcare interactions, public services, and job access. Administrative language in forms and appointments remains difficult even for those with everyday Turkish.

 “I am thankful for the opportunity to express our concerns. I hope more people can hear us.” — participant, Iraq.

Implication for the guideline: embed a minimum standard for language access (interpreting/translation at key service points; fast-track signposting to courses).

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2) Mental health support is scarce

Participants described limited access to culturally aware counselling, with women and young people most affected. Safe, language-appropriate services are uneven and hard to find.

 “This was the first time I felt listened to since arriving.” — participant, Egypt.

Implication: promote low-threshold psychosocial options in community settings; add referral checklists to help youth workers move beyond ad-hoc signposting.

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3) Administration and legal procedures are complex

Refugees reported inconsistent practices and bureaucratic obstacles when seeking documents, permits or services. Experiences vary significantly by locality.

Implication: call for simplified, predictable procedures and standardised information packs in multiple languages; add a “what to expect” step-by-step for first contact with institutions.

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4) Schools, training and recognition

Beyond access to education, participants highlighted recognition of prior learning and qualifications as a key bottleneck to jobs and stability. Certified vocational training was seen as a realistic bridge to employment.

Implication: propose local protocols for fast-track recognition and links between language courses and vocational pathways.

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5) The role of NGOs and municipalities

NGOs were valued for accessibility and a less bureaucratic approach. Municipal centres that offer courses and safe spaces were cited as helpful. Participants asked for stronger, regular cooperation between grassroots NGOs and local authorities.

Implication: recommend formal NGO–municipality coordination (shared calendars, referral forms, contact points) so support does not depend on personal networks.

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6) Discrimination and social exclusion

Several participants reported subtle discrimination in public offices and exclusion in education. Young people described isolation and reliance on online communities for support.

Implication: include anti-discrimination protocols for front-line services and peer-support models for refugee youth.

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What participants said would help

Interpreter support at public offices and in frontline services, as an institutionalised provision, not a case-by-case favour.

Simpler procedures for residence and work permits, with transparent steps and timelines.

Recognition of qualifications earned before displacement; more certified vocational training options linked to local labour needs.

Targeted programmes for women and youth-friendly spaces that mix language learning, psychosocial support and mentoring.

Refugee representation in local advisory councils and consultation bodies.

Short testimonials underline the tone of the discussion: “Sharing helps,” “I feel stronger now,” “Thank you for making a space where we are respected.”

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How these inputs feed the project outputs

The findings become requirements in the five-point guideline (language access, mental-health pathways, recognition/skills, local coordination, anti-discrimination).

They inform a practical mini-kit with checklists, templates (e.g., referral form, first-appointment script), and basic indicators for monitoring.

They shape the agenda and case work used to test and refine the guideline with practitioners from the partner countries.

Next steps

A complementary focus group with professionals who work with refugees is being consolidated to document access barriers from the service side, working practices that scale, and coordination gaps. Results from both groups will be merged into the public guideline (~40 pages) for youth organisations and policy makers.

Method note (for transparency)

The approach follows the project’s research plan: two short surveys, two focus groups (refugees; professionals), and a desk scan. Sessions are moderated, last 60–90 minutes, and follow a standard guide covering challenges, service access, effective practices and policy fixes. Participation is voluntary; consent and anonymisation are ensured.

Methodology focus groups

Editorial note: To protect participant privacy and ensure comparability across countries, this article reports themes and anonymised quotes.

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From research to action: drafting of the guideline begins

Publicaiton Date: 2024/12/12

Summary: We’re starting the co-creation of the project’s practical guideline  a concise, five-point tool for organisations and decision-makers working with refugee youth.

What we’re doing now

The partners  CIFIR (coordination), Backslash (drafting lead) and Old School Green, Antalya (practice transfer)  are moving from evidence to structure. Using the inputs gathered so far, we’re outlining the five pillars, drafting checklists and templates, and setting up a simple monitoring frame so the measures can be used in real programmes.

How we’ll build it

Co-creation: short, iterative drafting cycles with expert feedback from France, Spain and Turkey.

Practical focus: plain language, ready-to-use tools (referral form, first-contact script, minimum standards for access and inclusion).

Validation path: the draft will be tested with practitioners before we sign off the final version.

How you can help

If your organisation works with refugee youth and you’d like to review early sections or share tools that already work for you, get in touch. Short, concrete examples are especially useful.

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The guideline is out: a five-point tool built from what people told us

Publication Date: 2024/12/13

From language access to local coordination, the new guideline turns field evidence into practical measures for organisations and decision-makers working with refugee youth.

What’s inside

The guideline condenses the project’s research into five pillars that organisations can apply immediately: language access, mental-health support, legal and administrative pathways, fair access to learning and work, and local coordination to reduce duplication and gaps. These pillars mirror the literature scan and the mixed-methods evidence base focused on integration, mental health, legal status and employment, with particular attention to the Syrian (2015) and Ukrainian (2022) displacement contexts.

How the research shaped it

Language & information barriers were the most cited obstacles in healthcare, public services and job access. The guideline sets a minimum standard for language support at first-contact points and includes a simple script for frontline staff.

Psychosocial support is uneven and hard to reach. We included low-threshold options in community settings and clear referral steps youth workers can use without clinical training.

Administrative complexity slows access to rights. The guide provides step-by-step “what to expect” for common procedures and recommends standardised information packs in multiple languages.

Learning, skills and jobs: the research highlights credential recognition and vocational pathways as realistic bridges to employment. The guide links language learning to vocational routes and suggests quick checks for prior learning.

Who needs to work together: participants valued NGOs for accessibility and asked for regular NGO municipality cooperation. We propose shared contact points, a basic referral form, and a monthly coordination rhythm.

What the numbers told us

Across the surveys, both professionals and refugees converged on the same pressure points: employment and legal status on one side, language and discrimination on the other. Professionals most often identified employment (66%) and legal status (53%) as top challenges; refugees pointed to employment (79%) and language barriers (66%), with discrimination reported by 65%, especially in work and housing. These data informed the indicator set and the order of measures in the guide.

What you can use today

Checklists for first contact, language support, and psychosocial signposting.

Templates: a one-page referral form; a short “rights & services” handout adaptable locally.

 Light indicators to track whether access is improving (e.g., time to first appointment, interpreter availability at key points).
All tools are designed for youth organisations, municipalities and NGOs and can be adapted without new software or extra staffing.

Who built it

The partners  CIFIR (coordination), Backslash (drafting lead) and Old School Green, Antalya (practice transfer)  translated findings into concrete actions and validation steps with practitioners.

What’s next

We’ll publish a short how-to on applying the five pillars in local programmes, with examples from partners and contributors. If your team already runs tools that solve any of these pain points, share them  we’ll add field-tested practices to the next release.

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Stepping Beyond Tents: what we delivered and what changes next

 Publication Date: 2025/08/18

Over sixteen months, Stepping Beyond Tents set out a simple promise: listen carefully to refugee youth and to the professionals who stand beside them, turn what we hear into a clear, usable guideline, and test it in real settings. Led by CIFIR (France) with Backslash (Spain) and Old School Green (Antalya, Turkey), the partnership kept the focus on what frontline teams can start doing on Monday morning not on long reports that sit on a shelf.

What we did

We combined a short literature scan with two targeted surveys and two online focus groups one with refugee youth, one with professionals. The questions stayed close to daily life: language and information barriers, access to healthcare and mental health, legal and administrative hurdles, learning and jobs, and how local services work together.

In Valencia (14–19 June), Backslash hosted a five-day seminar “A World Without Borders” to present and pressure-test the draft guideline. Teams from France, Spain and Turkey worked through role-plays and design drills, then re-wrote tools on the spot based on feedback. Each country left with a 90-day plan to pilot the materials at home.

What we produced

A five-point guideline for organisations and decision-makers working with refugee youth. The pillars are:
(1) Language access at first contact; (2) Low-threshold psychosocial support and clear referral routes; (3) Legal and administrative navigation that sets expectations and cuts red tape; (4) Learning and employment pathways that link language to skills and work; (5) Local coordination so services don’t duplicate or leave gaps.

A practical mini-kit that turns those pillars into everyday tools, including:
a first-contact script and a micro-signposting card (when and how to bring in an interpreter);
a referral flow for wellbeing support, with plain-language thresholds;
a “what to expect” info pack and an accompaniment protocol for common procedures;
a skills & goals map that ties language levels to concrete next steps (conversation club → short course → internship);
a light employer-outreach sequence for shadow days and mentoring;
and a monthly coordination routine (fixed meeting, shared calendar, one referral form accepted by all).

Translations in EN/FR/ES/TR to support reuse across contexts.

An evaluation brief with simple indicators any NGO can track: time to first appointment, interpreter availability at first contact, number of warm referrals, and follow-up completion.

A dissemination package for partners, SALTO networks and municipal channels to help other teams adopt one pillar at a time.

What changed on the ground

Across pilots, partners report fewer missed steps at first contact, clearer hand-offs between NGOs and municipal services, and faster routing to the right place especially where the interpreter rota and the shared referral form were adopted together. Youth workers described feeling more confident about when to hold a situation and when to refer, and employers responded positively to short, structured asks for shadow days instead of open-ended commitments. Above all, the work shifted from ad-hoc fixes to repeatable routines.

What remains to do

Integration is a long road. The guideline is designed to evolve: as more organisations use the tools, we will collect short usage notes and update the mini-kit accordingly. The immediate next steps are to widen adoption through peer sessions, encourage cities to trial the monthly coordination rhythm, and keep the indicator set light so even the smallest grassroots groups can show progress without new software or staff.

Thanks and credits

This project was delivered by CIFIR (coordination and research), Backslash (guideline drafting and seminar host) and Old School Green (practice transfer), with input from refugee youth, frontline professionals and local stakeholders. To everyone who shared time, stories and feedback: thank you. The five pillars are stronger because they are yours 

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The final brochure is out: All united for refugees
A Guideline for Inclusive Refugee Support in Europe

Publication Date: 2025/07/21

Subheadline: A practitioner-ready playbook built from listening, testing and co-creation — now available in English, Turkish, French and Spanish.

What it is

This brochure is the main output of Stepping Beyond Tents, a 16-month Erasmus+ partnership led by CIFIR with partners in Spain and Turkey. It distils research, field experience and expert dialogue into a flexible tool for municipalities, schools, NGOs and youth workers. The guide brings together key challenges and solutions, best practices, concrete tools for inclusive youth work, and policy recommendations.

How it’s organised

The publication is structured as a clear, navigable playbook. Core sections include: an Introduction, A landscape shaped by Syria and Ukraine, EU frameworks, Obstacles to integration, Effective integration models, Methods & tools for inclusion, Best practices and principles, Examples of successful initiatives, Tools and methodologies for evaluating programmes, Integrating young refugees: Inclusive & Safe Policy Guide, and Policy proposals – Action plan created during the seminar A World Without Borders, followed by the Conclusion.

What practitioners will find inside

Ready-to-use approaches: practical methods to include refugee youth (toolkits, language support ideas, non-formal learning formats, anti-discrimination routines, and how to recognise learning through Youthpass/EPALE).

Evaluation made simple: a mixed-methods template (light indicators + participatory feedback) and a “theory of change” spine you can copy into any project.

Sector guidance and safeguards: a concise Inclusive & Safe Policy Guide with sectoral recommendations on legal protection (e.g., guardianship for unaccompanied minors, family reunification, fair procedures).

Policy ideas you can localise: an action plan co-created during the Valencia seminar covering housing & employment supports, civic participation, legal aid, healthcare and education (e.g., legal clinics at entry points; cultural mediators in health; diploma recognition; bridging courses).

How we built it

The brochure sits on a documented method: online surveys and focus groups with refugee youth and frontline professionals in France, Spain and Turkey; desk research of laws and initiatives; transnational peer review; and guideline drafting validated in a multi-day seminar with practitioners.

Why it matters now

The guide frames today’s context  from the Syrian and Ukrainian displacement waves to the EU’s 2021–2027 Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion and youth-field priorities  and turns big frameworks into do-able steps for local teams.

Where to start

Use the evaluation chapter to set two or three light indicators (e.g., time to first appointment; interpreter availability; warm referrals) before you launch activities.

Lift a policy or practice from the action plan and pilot it with your municipality (for instance, a monthly civic participation forum or a legal-aid drop-in in partnership with a law faculty).

 Availability: The final brochure, All united for refugees  A Guideline for Inclusive Refugee Support in Europe, is published in EN, TR, FR and ES.
Credits: Produced under Work Package 3 – Guideline creation (SBT / KA210 Small-scale partnerships).

Closing note: The conclusion is explicit: this is a working tool and an invitation to keep adapting, testing and