How can educational walking tours support youth development, social inclusion and active citizenship? And what conditions are needed to make this methodology sustainable beyond individual projects?
The STAR – Story Tours Alternative Routes project has explored these questions through the development and testing of the Educational Walking Tour (EWT) methodology, a non-formal and place-based approach that combines experiential learning, youth participation, storytelling and community engagement.
The STAR Research Report (Deliverable D4.2) presents the findings of the research carried out throughout the project. The study examines the effectiveness and impact of Educational Walking Tours as a tool for youth development, looking not only at the skills acquired by young people, but also at the effects on organisations, local communities and civic participation.
The research adopted a mixed-methods participatory approach, combining an online survey involving young people from Albania, Italy, Spain, North Macedonia, Serbia and Jordan, interviews with youth organisations and youth workers, focus groups with participants, and desk research. This allowed the project to combine quantitative data with qualitative experiences from the different contexts in which the methodology was tested.
What did the research find?
The results show a strong positive impact of the Educational Walking Tour methodology. 93.9% of participants reported being satisfied with their experience, while 87.5% reported an improvement in digital storytelling skills and 75% increased confidence in leadership and teamwork. The research also highlights the methodology’s contribution to social inclusion and civic engagement: 81.8% of participants reported a deeper understanding of social inclusion and diversity, while 62.5% said that their motivation to engage with local issues had increased.
Beyond individual learning outcomes, the research shows how Educational Walking Tours can create spaces for dialogue, community participation and the preservation of local stories and memories. Young people and community members become active contributors rather than simply audiences, while local spaces can be reinterpreted through different perspectives and previously underrepresented narratives.
At the same time, the report identifies an important challenge: although the methodology has demonstrated its value, Educational Walking Tours remain largely outside formal youth, education and cultural policy frameworks. The lack of formal recognition, professional standards and stable funding can limit their long-term sustainability and wider implementation.
For this reason, the final part of the report develops a series of policy recommendations aimed at supporting the recognition and sustainability of Educational Walking Tours. These include integrating the methodology into youth, education and cultural policies, developing professional and ethical standards, creating sustainable funding mechanisms, strengthening cooperation between different policy sectors and supporting local partnerships and youth-led initiatives.
The report concludes that Educational Walking Tours are not simply an experimental approach, but an already functioning youth work methodology with the potential to contribute to youth empowerment, active citizenship, social inclusion and community development. The next step is therefore to create the conditions for its recognition, sustainability and adaptation in different local contexts.
The full STAR Research Report – Deliverable D4.2 is available below.
The research report was produced as part of the STAR – Story Tours Alternative Routes project (Grant Agreement No. 2023-1-IT03-KA220-YOU-000161553), under the Erasmus+ KA220-YOU Cooperation Partnerships in Youth. The report was published on 31 January 2026.