Many young people find themselves outside education, work or other activity over an extended period. For some, this is about a lack of mastery. For others, it is about mental health, weak support networks or repeated experiences of not succeeding.
At the same time, many forms of support exist, but not all of them feel relevant or accessible. Some are too theoretical, others too difficult to navigate, or they set requirements that make it hard to get started at all.
STEP was developed to meet precisely this need. The aim was to create a model that is easy to take part in, clear to understand and possible to carry out in practice without high barriers to entry.
In STEP, working on an idea is used as a concrete framework for learning. Through small steps, collaboration and practical tasks, participants experience that they are capable of achieving something, and that development happens through real action.
Giving young people a structured and concrete path from idea to action. In STEP, entrepreneurial methodology is used as a learning tool to explore opportunities, make choices, develop ideas and test solutions in small, manageable steps.
Building safety, trust and a sense of belonging, while also actively using creative expression and making activities as part of the learning process. In STEP, this helps make participation more accessible, motivating and relevant for young people with different experiences and needs.
Connecting content to concrete activities, visual tools and collaborative exercises that make learning easier to understand and more accessible. In STEP, theory should be brief, clear and closely linked to something participants can actually do together.
Many young people struggle to find their place within traditional education pathways or working environments that require stability, trust, confidence with language and the ability to navigate within fixed structures. For young people who have experienced repeated setbacks, instability or weak social networks, there is often a need for a different point of entry and a more relationship-based approach.
For some, this is about leaving school early, mental health challenges or insecure upbringing conditions. For others, it is about language, belonging, low self-confidence or experiences that raise the threshold for entering education, work and new communities.
When these experiences build up over time, the path ahead can feel unclear and demanding, and belief in participation as something genuinely possible may grow weaker. Through the development of the STEP model, we wanted to create a learning environment with greater flexibility, stronger relational support and a more practical entry point to development.
STEP is designed for young people who are outside, or at risk of falling out of, education, work or other stable activity. The target group is diverse. Some have experience of leaving school early, mental health challenges or insecure transitions. Others struggle with language, belonging, low self-belief or weak support networks. What many of them share is the need for a learning environment that feels safe, relevant and possible to take part in.
Many need short, clear explanations, visible working tools and a way of working that makes it easier to get started and keep an overview along the way.
In STEP, safe adults, predictable structures and room for participation are part of the method itself. That makes it easier for young people to take part, try things out and learn without uncertainty becoming a barrier.
Through practical work on their own ideas, projects and initiatives, participants experience that development can happen in small, manageable steps. This can strengthen agency, motivation and belief in their own potential going forward.
STEP was developed through an Erasmus+ collaboration between MIKS Ressurssenter and AE2O. The development process brought together experience from two fields of practice that both work with young people in vulnerable transitions, but from different starting points. MIKS contributed especially with experience in inclusion, migration, entrepreneurial learning, capacity building and systems understanding. This strengthened the model's work on structure, agency and the connection to further participation in society and working life.
AE2O contributed especially with experience from second chance education and relationship-based work with young people who have fallen out of school and formal pathways. Their emphasis on flexibility, creativity, safety and close follow-up had a major impact on how STEP was shaped. Together, this produced a model that combines mastery and relationships with clear structure, direction and practical development work. The partnership also provided a concrete framework for testing, refining and anchoring the model in different contexts.
