"Few words and a Lot of Action" is a cornerstone of our network, as this document defines the work we do, and how we do it. This is a challenging job for several reasons. On the one hand people involved in the Don Bosco Movement are more used to working through the system rather than defining it - Don Bosco’s statement that in assisting, educators should use “few words and a lot of action ...” only strengthens this tradition. On the other hand people from outside the Don Bosco Movement are asking what we are doing and in which manner it is different than that of others. Therefore we wrote this document in a style which we hope will be understandable for both.
Don Bosco Youth-Net ivzw brings together member organisations active in 20+ Salesian provinces and 2 Salesian regions. In between our member organisations there is diversity in how they apply the educational methodology of Don Bosco (“Salesian Educative and Pastoral Project”) within their local cultural context. In the past this diversity has lead to confusion. Therefore DBYN decided to develop “Few words and a lot of action”, which is our “Salesian Educative and Pastoral Project”.
 
Developing such a “Salesian Educative and Pastoral Project” on international level is fundamentally different than developing one on provincial or local level. We need to create a common language which brings together this diversity in cultural interpretations, caters for diversity of Salesian spirituality and welcomes different denominations and non-faith-based worldviews. Therefore our “Salesian Educative and Pastoral Project” is complementary offering our member organisations, volunteers and young people a reference framework for cooperation.

​DBYN works together with international non-governmental youth organisations, other civil society organisations and international institutions. The language used within the Don Bosco Movement is often jargon-based, making it difficult for external partners to understand our working style. Inspired by Don Bosco’s letter from the 21st of February 1878 to the Italian minister for internal affairs, Francesco Crispi, in which he uses a secularised language to present the preventive system, we choose for this document a similar approach. We avoid jargon and use standard educational concepts current in the European field of youth work and education. For example, we opt to speak about DBYN’s educational methodology instead of the Salesian Educative and Pastoral Project of Don Bosco Youth-Net.