Street Support Project. Erasmus+

As part of the Erasmus+ program, the Street Support Project (SSP) aims to provide adult education entities, organizations, and local governments with tools and models of best practices to foster effective and inclusive adult learning. At the same time, it seeks to promote employment opportunities for alcohol and drug users and reduce public space nuisances.

The Street Support project is based on the idea that every person has the potential to learn and do something meaningful. Training professionals, work, and other activities can play a vital role in this context, as long as they are tailored to the specific needs and living conditions of the target group.

Our main goal is to address the situation and problems of homeless people with an inclusive strategy. We approach the situation with a proactive, supportive, and comprehensive strategy that is more effective than a repressive approach.

“Homeless people are not the problem; it’s the situation.”

We develop best practices and tools to support the efforts of professionals to improve work with homeless people.

The nuisances related to the use of alcohol and other drugs are a significant political problem in almost all smaller, medium, and large cities. Experience and research have shown that this is a pan-European problem that many local and municipal authorities are struggling to resolve effectively.

A wide range of participatory interventions and prevention activities have been developed to prevent nuisances among young people. However, intervention aimed at adults is limited and primarily based on repressive and punitive acts, including arrests, restraining orders, and fines. Little is known about inclusive strategies and training opportunities for professionals who provide daily structure and support to this specific group. Experience shows that strategies and combating broader economic and social exclusion, such as education, training, and employment (ETE), can play a vital role in the (re)integration and recovery of homeless people and other marginalized groups [Homelessness and Homeless Policies in Europe: Lessons from Research, 2010].

The project has three general objectives:

Good Practices and Information Exchange:

1. Conduct a European-scale assessment in the field of homelessness and nuisances related to alcohol and drugs.
2. Compile reports from 6 European countries, describing the situation regarding homelessness and nuisances related to alcohol and drugs.
3. Design resources for service providers and local governments, including guidance and support for the development and application of adult learning and employment integration opportunities.
4. Gather models of best practices in Europe to show effective adult learning and employment integration possibilities.

Develop, Implement, and Validate Cost-Effective and Sustainable Practices:

1. Develop and implement local pilot interventions and validate them with the Self-Sufficiency Matrix (developed by the Municipal Health Service of Amsterdam and the City of Rotterdam) and present them as case studies.

Dissemination at European and National Levels:

1. Establish an online Resource Center and a dissemination platform.
2. Organize four national multiplier events to spread the project’s activities and results among relevant national bodies and entities involved in the field of intervention.
3. Organize a European multiplier event to disseminate the project’s results to a large number of interested European bodies and entities and promote opportunities for effective and inclusive employment and adult learning.

The project is carried out at a transnational level, as it allows the project partner entities to collect information from different European countries. The six partner entities of the project come from six European countries to ensure territorial coverage and create more impact. Local pilot interventions are carried out in four countries.

The target group for the project includes homeless people and other marginalized groups, who live on the streets causing nuisances related to alcohol or drugs.

This project has been funded with the support of the Erasmus+ Program of the European Commission and was selected as an outstanding example of good practices with excellent results and a source of inspiration for others.

Its results can be consulted at:

The project’s website: https://streetsupport.eu The European Commission portal: STREET SUPPORT – Erasmus+ project card | (europa.eu)