We decided to dedicate this first Coyote Theme to the European Commission’s White Paper on Youth. The White Paper is a major document to influence youth policy for the coming years. It puts emphasis on the role of non-formal education for young people and should therefore also have an impact on training in youth work. After all, actors in the youth field should focus on the political priorities and methods indicated in the White Paper. European youth training should prepare participants for such action, and it will be evaluated accordingly.

Several authors have analysed for Coyote the potential of the White Paper to create change. They come from different organisations, professions and countries and place emphasis on particular aspects of the document. We hope that their opinions and perspectives will give you food for thought and help you define your own opinion about the White Paper and its impact on non-formal education. Training is never neutral. It is always influenced by the values and attitudes it promotes. What we do, and how we debrief or discuss a training activity or session depends on the objectives, values and policy of the organisation and those of the trainer giving the training. This is a major thought running through most articles in this Coyote issue.

Social integration and employment, also two of the White Paper’s priorities, are the focus of the training described in Angela Vettraino’s article about a training course of the UK employment programme New Deal. It is interesting to compare this training to those run under the European youth programmes. The title of Tim Merry’s article, “Celebrating Diversity”, speaks for itself, while Stanislava Vuckovic tells us about the Alphabet of Feelings, a training programme for peace that her organisation is running in Serbia.

But are we always conscious and clear about the values and concepts we are promoting as trainers? And what if our own values collide with those of the organisation we are representing? Jonathan Boywer takes a closer look at these questions in his article “Trainers – who do we represent?” A training method, described by Bryony Hoskins for Coyote, that can help trainees become more conscious about their.

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