Exploring national processes. Key insights from the first day of the 3rd Exchange Forum

A new beginning

The Exchange Forum was officially opened by the incoming Director of JINT, Kaat Torfs. Kaat shared about her passion for the transformative power of international cooperation in helping young people to develop for their future to thrive in a better future.

She explained that the European Youth Work Agenda provides us with a vital framework to ensure that youth work can flourish in every European country and beyond.

Boosting youth work – inspiration from the key note speech

Koen Lambert provided the historical background of the European Youth Work Agenda and described what it is that the Agenda brings to national youth work development. He emphasised that the Agenda does not stand alone. It is part of a rich history linked to important papers and recommendations dating back to the White Paper on youth of 2001 and the Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)4 on youth work. It is also part of the legacy of European Youth Work Conventions, both the first and second providing direction to the reaching of this point.

Koen pointed out that although we refer to the “implementation” of the Agenda, in actuality we are “developing” the Agenda. The Agenda calls upon the commitment of the community of practice and it calls on all the actors that are involved in youth work for greater coordination and cooperation at the European level. It pushes for all corners of Europe to be involved in the discussions in order to establish, encourage and support national processes – something that the Exchange Forum is doing.

The Agenda provides a framework for local youth work to flourish, linking developments on the local level with what is happening on the European level and using the European level to support the local level.

A boost from the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Jan Deduytsche from the Flemish Youth Department reminded the Exchange Forum that Belgium had held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2024.

In May the Council approved an important Resolution on youth work policy in an empowering Europe that came about through the work of many institutions and organisations. The resolution emphasises the role of youth work in strengthening Europe, and calls on all Member States, the Commission and all other stakeholders to support developments and the practice of youth work, including through strong youth work policies.

The resolution also highlights the importance of developing an inspiring framework for municipalities to support local youth work. Moreover, this framework should be shared together with local actors.

The work that the community of practice has done on the European Youth Work Agenda has also contributed to this resolution. The Exchange Forum is therefore also an important factor for sharing and developing insights to realise the ambitions in the resolution.

Local and national realities

The national realities from the point of view of the institutions are only half of the story. The other half is based on the realities of the local and national levels of each individual country. For the second time, the strategic cooperation project of National Agencies “Growing Youth Work” commissioned annual research on the national processes.

The research was conducted by Frederike Hoffman-van de Poll and it reveals the trends and patterns that are emerging regarding the implementation and development of the Agenda.

Frederike presented the 2024 survey report on national processes. The main insights of the report are summarised in this article.

Looking into the future of knowledge building about putting the European Youth Work Agenda into action, Frederike shared the interest in going deeper in the next survey on the relationship between the different levels, focusing more on the regional and local levels.

The report inspired the discussions at the Exchange Forum especially by raising five key questions:

• What do the geographical differences in the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda mean for the further development of youth work and the (European) process?
• Is there a correlation between the most active countries in the Agenda context and their development of youth work? 
• Which role does recognition of youth work play in relation to other priority areas? Does recognition function as a precondition, outcome or stand-alone priority area?
• How do the challenges of 2023 relate to the challenges of 2024 and what approaches can be helpful in tackling these challenges?
• Where is the balance between youth work policy flexibility and the wish for more tailored frameworks and solutions?

Responses to the three key questions

Three participants of the Exchange Forum had been asked in advance to respond to the results of the survey report based on one of the key questions.

What do the geographical differences in the implementation of the Agenda mean for the further development of youth work and the (European) process?

Olga Kyriakidou (Hellenic Youth Workers Association) reflected on the importance of being aware of how differently, socially, politically, and even economically, countries are working towards the implementation of the Agenda. She noted that although we have such different realities the research shows that we also have similarities into how we are working on the implementation. Many of the differences are based on the challenges each country faces with regards to the recognition of youth work.

How do the challenges of 2023 relate to the challenges of 2024 and what approaches can be helpful in tackling these challenges?

Carola Meier (Federal Chancellery, Austria) shared that in Austria the challenges have not changed much since 2023. There is still a need for more political recognition and more political awareness for the youth workers. However, a lot has been achieved in the last two years, they instituted a mapping of projects and initiatives from this period. The idea behind this was to have a report for politicians that shows the extent of what youth work is doing and how it is linked to the Agenda.

Which role (precondition, outcome or stand-alone priority area) does recognition play in relation to other priority areas?

Jelena Stojanović (NAPOR - National Association of Youth Workers, Serbia) expressed that for her recognition is both a precondition for and an outcome for other priorities of the Agenda. It interacts with and reflects the success of all the other priority areas, for example quality, innovation and policy support. However, it must also remain as a stand-alone priority area and very necessary.

Jelena concluded the question by introducing a metaphor: Is recognition the chicken that supports quality, innovation and policy support or is it the egg that only comes about once all the other elements are in place? Do we need formal acknowledgment for the chicken first in order to foster quality and growth in youth work or does building strong practices - the egg - lead to recognition?

After the opening session, participants had a lot of space for exchanging about their national processes. They shared about achievements, success factors and challenges in their processes. In several rounds, they could inspire each other by exploring good practices from different countries and start thinking about possible ways of cross-border cooperation.

The first day of the event provided a lot of food for thought and set the ground for the second and final day of Exchange Forum.