Illustration by Coline Robin

From Valletta with Purpose

 by Lorena Baric 

I took the ferry from Sliema to Valletta to get to the Convention venue. Taking a ferry isn’t how I normally travel to work, so that morning already felt a little special. The sea air was warm and carried that faint salt smell, the water below sparkled in the morning light, and the steady hum of the ferry’s engine seemed to echo the excitement I felt inside. As we got closer to the harbour, I noticed the anticipation of reunion: bursts of laughter, tight hugs swapped with colleagues and old friends, coffee cups left half-full as people rushed between conversations. It’s a feeling you only get at these European youth work gatherings: friendly faces from all over coming together to build a community grounded in care for young people.

The 4th European Youth Work Convention in Malta was special for a few reasons. Maybe it was the place - an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, cradled by history and open to the sea, kind of like Europe itself: layered and complex. Or maybe it was the people, open and curious, their energy filling the room with a shared purpose. And it came at an interesting moment in time, post-COVID shifts that permanently changed how we work, meeting the new reality of AI reshaping everyday life as we speak.

Across the days I spent there, meeting over 500 people from all over Europe from youth workers from small towns, policy officers from Brussels to researchers chasing new trends, I thought of them as pieces of a big mosaic. Some focused on securing reliable funding, others on grassroots participation, digital transformation, inclusion, recognition, civic spaces, or ethical frameworks. Conversations drifted through all kinds of topics: artificial intelligence, mental health, sustainability, democracy, responsibility. All different threads but part of the same shared story.

Noise, silence, and what we don’t say

One of the plenary discussions explored the idea of Noise versus Silence, which felt layered and meaningful. But I also felt it missed something. It missed the real noise happening in Europe right now. I was glad a fellow participant reminded us of youth-led protests happening across Europe. This is a sharp reminder that young people are out on the streets demanding change, while we professionals sometimes only talk about participation in intellectual or theoretical ways. That stuck with me. Noise and silence are not just ways of communicating, they come with responsibility. As youth work professionals, it’s on us to make sure our noise amplifies young people’s real voices, not just our own.

When Jim O’Donovan shared the convention’s final ideas - Actions, Processes, and Concepts - I kept circling back to the first two. The urgent call for stronger, sustainable funding stands out, of course. But what stayed with me even longer was the recognition that youth work isn’t just a calling: it’s a profession that deserves respect, training, and structure alongside similar professions such as education, health, and social care. We talk about this a lot, but now is the time to turn it into a strong, evidence-based case and push it forward.

Now, when I think back, it’s not one speech or paper that lingers. It’s the heartbeat of the whole gathering - the energy of a community that still believes fiercely in young people. After spending years in this field, it’s easy to grow tired of the same old debates. But moments like Malta cut through that weariness and remind me why we all do what we do.

Malta shouldn’t just stay as a pleasant memory of good talks, friendships, handshakes and sunshine. It was a moment when you could feel the power of community and the ecosystem that supports it, with all its different challenges. 

The real task now is to carry that energy home. To take what we heard in those rooms, strip it back to what matters and start doing the work. That’s how we’ll make sure Malta doesn’t fade into memory and a vague commitment, but becomes another steady step in the story of building youth work in Europe.