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FutureMe Handbook is here: because the future starts with you
Young people are growing up in a world that changes faster than many of us can explain it: new technologies, climate anxiety, misinformation, unclear career paths, social pressure, global crises and questions that often sound like: What comes next? Where do I fit in? How do I prepare?
The FutureMe: Skills for the Future Handbook was created for this moment.
FutureMe emerged from an Erasmus+ cooperation partnership between four European organisations, with Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. (Germany) as coordinating organisation, together with Centrul de Voluntariat Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Associazione di Promozione Sociale JOINT (Italy) and BACKSLASH (Spain). Together, we designed a practical methodology to help youth workers support young people not only to cope with uncertainty, but to imagine, choose and build their own futures.
The handbook turns future-readiness into something concrete. Across 13 sets of skills, grouped around self-management, problem solving, teamwork and technology use, it offers activities that anyone working with young people can use directly: quests, reflection tools, creative challenges, outdoor activities, digital exercises, emotional check-ins and real-life scenarios. No passive learning. No heavy theory. Just practical, inclusive, non-formal education methods that help young people learn by doing, reflecting and applying.
Why does this matter?
Future-ready young people are not those who have all the answers. They are young people who can stay curious, adapt, think critically, manage their emotions, collaborate, use technology responsibly, make decisions and keep hope alive when life gets hard. And those of us who work with young people need these skills too, because we are their reference points, including when it comes to facing uncertainty.
This methodology has already started to be used beyond the FutureMe project. Youth workers from different parts of Europe have used its tools in schools, universities, volunteer teams, community centres and libraries. An urban quest helped participants in Italy explore how to navigate without internet. A session on reliability led a volunteer team to reflect deeply on what one “simple” word can mean in everyday life. An educational escape room transformed a rural library into an active learning space and received recognition for its innovative approach.
FutureMe does not promise a perfect map of tomorrow. But it offers something better: tools, confidence and inspiration to keep learning alongside young people, step by step. Because the future is not something that simply happens to us. It is something we build together.
The FutureMe: Skills for the Future Handbook is now available in English and Spanish. German, Italian and Romanian versions are coming soon.
Download here:
Future Me (project number 2024-2-DE04-KA220-YOU-000287434) is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, under Key Action 2 – Cooperation Partnerships in Youth.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of its contents, which reflect the views of the authors only. Neither the National Agency nor the Commission can be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
