In this presentation we will discuss two international Erasmus+ projects: COSI -Co-created Education through Social Inclusion and CISI - Curriculum Innovation for Social Inclusion considering transformative research challenges and social justice. Core elements of the projects are research components implemented and conducted in collaborative international teams of researchers and practitioners. The project partnerships involved educational institutions and universities from a total of nine EU and non-EU countries: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain.

The similarities between the two projects relate to the assumptions: inclusion of young people from disadvantaged groups and methodology based on a participatory approach and co-creation process in humanizing research process.

As recognised, working in partnerships in so many cultural contexts and diverse institutions highlights the differences in approaches not only in the research context, but also in terms of purpose and methodology. This implies attempts to bring together communities of practitioners and researchers to set up an adequate research framework, worked out despite the differences in perception or goals, as a compromise.

Another aspect to address is the challenge of participatory research with and about young people in different contexts with its methodological assumptions and ethical dilemmas which is a key topic for any reflective researcher. Therefore, the presentation addresses selected problems, challenges and dilemmas that arise in research about and with young people at risk, insofar as it is conducted by adults (with different experiences) residing in diverse contexts of various European countries.

The authors identify some reasons for these problems and ask to what extent and in which way ethical principles, and research approaches can be of help in dealing with and overcoming these challenges. They also point to the variety of approaches to research with vulnerable groups, such as young people at risk.

We identify humanising methodology as a useful approach in this type of international research on such diverse contexts (Reyes et al. 2021). It is based on relationships and transformational approaches in and via education (Martens 2021). Transformation is possible when, through collaborative research, we reflect and, in relationships, take action for change (Freire, 1970). Our goal, therefore, is to provide theoretical input in the field of youth-directed education (CohenMiller, Boivin, 2022). The research will be conceptualised around three main research questions: 1. What are the key challenges and dilemmas, at a theoretical, methodological and ethical level, associated with the planning and implementation of educational research in international partnerships? 2. What are the key challenges and dilemmas with the planning and implementation of participatory educational research in international partnerships on and with young people? 3. What actions can be taken towards creating research methodology that fosters mutually beneficial researcher-participant relationships as well as adds humanising approach in the relationships within project partnerships? The methodology of the project includes two levels of analysis: the content level from the work of preparation, conduct and analysis of results and the level of partnership based on the diverse methodological and research experience of the national teams. In this line, we explore the views of 8 experts - key informants in the CISI and COSI projects through individual semi-structured interviews. We will also conduct a critical analysis of project documents (recordings, minutes of meetings, correspondence with partners and other and other types of evidence related to the discussions around the investigated issues within the projects partnerships), and participatory observation around the experience of the authors of being a coordinator and member of international project teams. In this view, the researcher's self-reflexivity becomes not only the way of an intersubjective validation of the data, but also gives an insight to areas that, in traditional research would not be accessible.

Results presented include reflections and guidance on the difficulties in designing and implementing international projects in the education field within Erasmus+ framework, as well as on the ways in which challenges deriving from diverse national contexts in partnerships and collaborative research might be overcome. The reflection will focus in particular on projects carried out in cooperation with partners without academic research background and with a different point of view from the academic one in multicultural contexts in the interdisciplinary field. Co-ordinators, researchers, managers, representatives of educational institutions or officials responsible for research-based education policy-making, as well as other stakeholders involved in international Erasmus+ projects can benefit from the research presented. Therefore, we will refer to first-hand experience of researchers who combine theory and research approaches with the practical realities of the research; who cross disciplinary boundaries and deal with power discourses, dilemmas of privilege, issues of trust, ethical issues and social justice, insider/outsider status and positions, transformative research challenges, participatory strategies, reproduction, co-production of knowledge and decolonization processes in qualitative research.

CohenMiller, A., Boivin, N. 2022. Questions in qualitative social justice research in multicultural contexts. London & New York: Routledge. Freire, P. 1970. Pedagogy of the oppressed (MB Ramos, Trans.). New York: Continuum. Mertens, D.M. 2021. Transformative Research Methods to Increase Social Impact for Vulnerable Groups and Cultural Minorities. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 16094069211051563. Reyes, C.C., Haines, S.J., Clark, K. 2021. Humanizing methodologies in educational research: Centering non-dominant communities. Teachers College Press. Gravesen, D. T., Stuart, K., Bunting, M., Mikkelsen, S., & Hornbæk Frostholm, P. (2021). Combating Marginalisation by Co-Creating Education. Emerald.