This study is conducted by Proba research (Proba samfunnsanalyse), with funding from The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir). Transnational strategic partnerships for innovation in the youth field can receive funding from the EU programme Erasmus+: Youth in Action. All funded partnerships consist of several organisations within the youth field, which together aim to develop and share innovative practices across organisations and borders. This report contains a case study of three strategic partnerships for innovation in the youth field coordinated by Norwegian organisations. Specifically, this study explores how the partnerships understand the concept of innovation, how they seek to foster innovation, how results are shared, in what ways different organisations and networks benefit, and how the projects impact youth work and the youth sector.

All the three partnerships have understood the innovation of their projects to be the novel intellectual outputs they have created through applying existing knowledge in new ways or realms. However, they have also approached innovation as cooperative working processes, and as enhancing methods for fostering innovation among beneficiaries. Furthermore, common to all the three partnerships is a process-oriented understanding of how to foster innovation, which entails fostering cooperation. Hence, all three partnerships have approached innovation as creating something new from something existing.