Artificial intelligence competence needs for youth workers

This work addresses the increasing need for youth professionals to acquire competencies that enable the meaningful integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into non-formal and formal educational contexts. Against the backdrop of accelerated digital transformation, youth workers in Europe face challenges in understanding, adopting, and ethically applying AI technologies. This work, undertaken within the framework of the Erasmus+ co-funded initiative Artificial Intelligence for Youth Work (AI4YouthWork), seeks to define the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes for responsible AI use in youth work settings. The research followed a mixed-methods design, combining desk research, policy analysis, and empirical data collection through semi-structured interviews and focus groups involving youth workers from Italy, Romania, Greece, and Portugal. The findings informed the development of an AI Competence Framework and the validation of targeted educational resources. The analysis revealed significant variability in AI awareness among youth professionals, accompanied by uncertainty regarding ethical implications and practical implementation. The validated competence framework captures four critical dimensions: technical under- standing of AI, ethical reasoning, human-centred application, and the societal and environmental implications of AI. Complementary outputs include a multilingual eLearning catalogue (com- prising 48 open educational resources) and a practical training toolkit with curated AI tools and youth-focused workshop templates. This work contributes to the digital capacity-building of youth professionals by offering a structured, scalable model for the integration of AI in youth work. The findings underscore the necessity of embedding AI education within inclusive, ethically grounded, and context-sensitive training strategies. The proposed framework and supporting tools provide a foundation for long-term transformation in digital youth work across Europe.