Empowerment and its implementation in the process of counteracting the phenomenon of youth and adult social exclusion – report on participation in an international project under the 2014-2016 Erasmus + Strategic Partnership project

Abstract

The aim of the article is to describe the empowerment process and its implementation in social work in the context of counteracting social exclusion in youth and adults based on the example of the project carried out in the years 2014-2016, titled: “Development of the empowerment of educators and beneficiaries in the field of youth at risk and social exclusion”, co-financed from European Union funds within the Erasmus + programme, Action 2: Strategic partnership of professional teaching and training, Grant No. 2014-1-FR01-KA2026-008728. The English language concept category of empowerment, which does not have a satisfactory equivalent term in the Polish language, was operationalised in this article. The essence of empowerment in the context of social work was described in the article, pointing to its significance mainly in the scope of counteracting the process of youth and adult social exclusion. Furthermore, the main assumptions of the implemented international project were set out in the ambit of the development of the empowerment of educators as well as of beneficiaries working with persons at risk of social exclusion, and the relationship and reflections of one of the project participants were also shown. An attempt was made in the article on the basis of the experiences gathered within the performance of the international research project to assess the course of the empowerment process and its usefulness in searching for solutions for educational practices in the domain of the social exclusion phenomenon.