The Youth Partnership fosters synergies between the priorities and programmes pursued by the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the youth field.

 

It provides an added value to their work and contributes to implementing:

 

How ?

  • By offering a plaform for co-operation between the partner institutions and supporting their initiatives
  • By gathering and producing knowledge on their areas of common interest, translating it for an effective use in youth policy and practice, developing and testing new approaches, considering traditional themes and innovative trends.

 

Geographical coverage

The work of the Youth Partnership encompasses all Council of Europe member states, Kazakhstan and the Holy See. Some of the activities may have an explicit focus on specific regions, in Eastern Europe and Caucasus, and Southeast Europe (Western Balkans).

 

The Youth Partnership team

The Youth Partnership activities are carried out by a team of nine staff members, who are responsible for the coordination, quality and visibility of activities.
 

Intervention logic

Our interventions are shaped by the triangle of governance of the youth field, namely:

1. Youth policy: informing youth policy by offering relevant evidence, knowledge, and building capacity of the youth policy actors with a focus on youth mainstreaming in line with the legacy of the European Year of Youth and on introducing a youth perspective following the Reykjavik Declaration and Principles of Democracy.

2. Youth work: promoting and strengthening youth work and recognition of its contribution to, inter alia, youth participation and social inclusion of young people, building on the European Youth Work Agenda.

3. Youth research: developing knowledge on youth to better understand current and upcoming challenges and trends in the lives of young people, and their implications for youth policy and youth work.

These three angles are interconnected, and the role of the Youth Partnership is to strengthen the dialogue between them, involving young people and youth organisations. Wherever relevant, stakeholders from other sectors are invited to engage in a cross-sectoral exchange.

 

Governance

The Youth Partnership is a long-term co-operation programme between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth.

Several entities are also involved, such as the European Youth Forum, National Agencies of the European Commission's Erasmus+ programme, the SALTO Resource Centres, ERYICA, Eurodesk, the Council of Europe's governmental (CDEJ) and non-governmental (Advisory Council) partners, ministries responsible for youth issues in the members states, and research bodies.

Our activities also benefit from the accumulated experience of the European Youth Centres in Strasbourg and Budapest.

All decisions are taken jointly by the two partner institutions in the Partnership Management Board, bringing together European Commission and Council of Europe representatives and observers.

History