EDUCATORS LAB

What we set out to do

EducatorsLab was an Erasmus+ KA210 Small-Scale Cooperation Partnership between Stichting Breekjaar (Netherlands, lead), Synchro Foundation (Netherlands), and Innovation Education Lab (Romania). The project addressed a concrete gap: youth workers across Europe lack a clear, structured methodology for combining the three roles they regularly occupy – facilitator, coach, and mentor – and struggle to identify which resources are genuinely useful for the young people they work with.

The project set out to solve this through two interconnected outputs: a needs-based resource-filtering system with 10 clear criteria for selecting high-quality materials, and a comprehensive Methodology Guideline that shows youth workers how to integrate facilitation, coaching and mentoring in a structured, adaptable way. These were then tested in a 3-day pilot training in Amsterdam with 12 youth workers, who applied the methodology in their organisations for one month before providing feedback that shaped the final version.

Axolotl’s founder Toni Lyubenova served as methodology designer, training designer, and co-facilitator – creating the core methodology, designing the written concept of it, producing the video series explaining both, and designing and delivering the pilot training including dedicated sessions for facilitators.

What Axolotl delivered

• Designed the intermodal methodology combining facilitation, coaching and mentoring for youth work – the core intellectual output of the project
• Designed the practical logic for youth workers to evaluate and select educational materials based on the 3 axis model
• Created a video series explaining the methodology and resource-filtering system, produced for use by youth workers and partner organisations across Europe
• Designed the 3-day pilot training for 12 youth workers in Amsterdam, including session structure, learning outcomes, and facilitation methodology
• Co-facilitated the pilot training, including dedicated sessions on how participants can facilitate the methodology with their own youth groups
• Participated in project management meetings throughout the partnership, contributing to quality assurance and peer review processes
• Supported the one-month implementation phase, where youth workers applied the methodology in real youth work contexts before the final guideline was completed

Approach and methodology

The EducatorsLab methodology is built on the insight that youth workers occupy three distinct but overlapping roles – facilitator, coach, and mentor – and that the quality of their work depends on knowing when and how to move between them. The methodology provides a step-by-step framework grounded in needs analysis: starting from the specific context and target group, it guides youth workers through selecting appropriate resources, designing tailored activities, and adapting their approach to different backgrounds and challenges.

The pilot training used experiential learning as its backbone: participants engaged with the methodology in practice before reflecting on how to transfer it to their own work. A three-layer feedback cycle – during training, after one month of implementation, and through final partner evaluation – ensured the methodology was continuously refined against real-world practice.

What the 3-day training covered

• Needs analysis and target group mapping – understanding the specific youth group before choosing tools or approaches
• The facilitation–coaching–mentoring framework – distinguishing the three roles and knowing how to combine them
• The resource-filtering system – using the 10-criteria approach to evaluate and select educational materials
• Tailoring activities to diverse groups – adapting the methodology for young people with fewer opportunities, different backgrounds, and varied learning styles
• Practising the methodology – experiential exercises, simulations, and real-case scenario work
• Facilitator sessions – dedicated training on how to lead the methodology with youth groups back home
• Reflection and feedback cycles – individual, pair and group reflection embedded throughout
• One-month implementation phase – each youth worker applied the methodology in their organisation and fed findings back into the final guideline

• A complete resource-filtering system with 10 criteria and structured categories – used by all partner organisations
• A comprehensive Methodology Guideline integrating facilitation, coaching and mentoring – open-access and freely reusable
• A video series explaining the methodology and resource-filtering system – published and shared across partner networks
• Visual infographics summarising the needs analysis – making research accessible to non-specialist youth workers
• 12 youth workers trained across a 3-day pilot training, followed by one month of real-world implementation
• 8 local dissemination events organised by partner organisations across their home communities
• All outputs published under open licence and shared on partner platforms, Erasmus+ PRP, and EPALE
• Several organisations outside the consortium expressed interest in adopting the system and methodology

© 2026 Axolotl  ·  Sofia, Bulgaria  ·  Working across Europe