The BooStress proposes an evidence based for all planned development work and a bottom-up approach to policy, practice and approach change which existing research indicates is essential for eventual up-take and up-scaling.

The methodology will focus on target group engagement through all development phases. All partners will attract the engagement of the target groups from the beginning of the project. To inform the development process and validate the outputs developed, key local stakeholders will be integrated into the development process and throughout the project life-cycle partners will return to their local stakeholder forums on a regular basis for peer reviews and feedback. This process will help ensure that key local stakeholders feel a sense of ownership of the outputs developed and they will be primed to act as local champions promoting the project and the outputs achieved within their peer groups.

Specifically, the project will use an educational design research approach that aims “to increase the relevance of educational research for educational policy and practice” (van den Akker, Gravemeijer, McKenney & Nieveen 2006: p3).

• It is interventionist, aiming to design an intervention in a real youth and VET setting.
• It is practice oriented, as it is assessed by its practicality for users in real contexts.
• It is interactive, based on a cyclical approach to design, evaluation and revision thereby maximising practical relevance.
• It is theory oriented as the design is based upon theory and the theory is modified by the experience of putting it into practice.

The overall aim is to produce new theory, artefacts and practices that impact on youth and VET practice. Pedagogical materials and open educational resources will be packaged for sharing with documentation to assist re-use.