Porto Workshop: Refining Tools and Launching Fieldwork

Refining Tools for Case Studies and Surveys

With the transition from the design to the implementation phase, the focus was on refining the research tools and fieldwork processes. An important milestone was the workshop held on 8–9 May 2025 at Universidade Lusófona – Centro Universitário do Porto. There, the partners finalised the methodological tools and guidelines for the upcoming 12 qualitative case studies in 7 countries as well as for the cross-national online survey of experts and stakeholders (OSES-Delphi). The sessions covered interview guidelines, the implementation of participatory workshops, onboarding processes and technical preparations for large-scale expert surveys. At the same time, a central focus was on the integration and analysis of data that will form the basis of a significant part of EDU-LAB's research. The WP3 partners presented progress in identifying relevant data sets that help to map the diverse educational and labour market experiences of young people across Europe. Many of these datasets have already been characterised in detail with the remaining analyses are expected to be completed in the coming months.

Strengthening Collaboration Across Work Packages

In addition to refining the tools, the Porto workshop provided an opportunity for close coordination between the work packages. The teams from WP1, WP2 and WP3 reviewed drafts and tools, including the characterisation of datasets by WP3A, and the updated guidelines for systematic literature review, which were developed by WP1 and piloted by AlmaLaurea. These coordination meetings ensured that the various strands of research within the project – literature review, policy mapping and dataset analysis – remain closely aligned at the start of the fieldwork phase.

From Planning to Fieldwork

At the same time, the workshop marked the start of the qualitative research phase with several teams having already begun onboarding and data collection, while others used the meeting to finalise recruitment strategies and timelines. The instruments used to capture young people's experiences, consisting of structured diaries, focus groups and participatory workshops, are now in advanced preparation, with the ethical protocols that will guide this work completed.

Looking Ahead

As EDU-LAB now enters the large-scale fieldwork and the first rounds of the Online Stakeholder Expert Survey (OSES-Delphi), the coming months will be crucial in establishing the evidence base that the project needs.

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