2001, this first year of the new millennium and the International Year of Volunteering sees important developments in the youth and training fields of the European institutions which will certainly bring a new dimension to the European youth work scene.

Alongside the now fully functioning new YOUTH programme, the European Commission is placing a stronger focus on a co-ordinated, result-oriented and well-documented development of European youth training within the network of the YOUTH National Agencies and, in particular, the newly established SALTO-YOUTH training and support centres. Inclusion, capacity-building, implementing the YOUTH programme in the pre-accession countries and promoting co-operation with pre-accession countries and those in the South of the Mediterranean (EuroMed) have been defined as priorities for the work of these centres. Priorities have also been determined for training and youth projects that can be supported by the Council of Europe, including human rights education, South-East Europe, non-formal education, and (new forms of) youth participation. In this issue, Coyote informs in particular about the current developments regarding the European Commission and its YOUTH programme. In its next issue, we will complement these articles with an up-date about the Council of Europe’s youth training sector.

With the article about Euro-Mediterranean co-operation in its last issue, Coyote gained a more global perspective. The imperative for peaceful co-existence and co-operation, trying to understand and live with our different values, attitudes and behaviours, and our different yet interconnected histories, is more than ever also valid in a global frame. It is also an issue for youth work and training, as we see in the two articles about North-South co-operation in this issue by Ndung’u Kahihu and Davide Tonon and Michelangelo Belletti.

Training for social inclusion, participation and equality remains a focus for Coyote. In this issue several contributors take it up from different angles and look at different target groups. Mohamed Haji- Kella raises awareness of what to consider in European level empowerment training with minority youth leaders. Sylviane Jeanty explains how to make sure training events are accessible for all participants, including those with physical disabilities. Hayo de Vries looks into the existing and potential opportunities for participation for young people in youth care institutions, as a means to increase their personal and social responsibility.

A variety of other topics of relevance for European youth work are also addressed by the different authors. Coyote also gives one answer to the question of what training, architecture and being a clown have in common.

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