Lilit AVDALYAN

Youth Studies Institute of Armenia

Lilit Avdalyan is a sociologist and senior analyst at Youth Studies Institute of Armenia where she has contributed through analysis, writing and coordination to the following projects: Youth Employment Potential and Development Perspectives in Creative Economy (2018); Monitoring and Evaluation on 2013-2017 Strategy of State Youth Policy of the Republic of Armenia” (2017); Research on Youth Work and Youth Worker (2016), Study on Labour Market demand: Institutionalization Perspectives of employer-youngster-education institution cooperation(2015), Mapping of Youth Organizations in Armenia and Effectiveness Evaluation on state-funded grant projects (2014) and The Issues of Youth Employment in the RA (2013).

Lilit holds an MA in Sociological Research Methodology from Yerevan State University. Her MA thesis focused on Students’ perceptions of the functional meaning of assessment systems. Previously Lilit was involved in Students’ Voice initiative by the National Center for Professional Education Quality Assurance Foundation (ANQA), and participated in Armenian Features of Higher Education. Survey among Students research project conducted among 17 Higher Education Institutions in Armenia. Lilit is also founder of social network IV Club (I am a volunteer) which aims to disseminate expert knowledge. She truly believes that digitalisation can facilitate knowledge access in the world and that research has a great role to play in shaping right policy responses.

  lilithavdalyan@gmail.com

Jehona ROKA

Mr Manfred ZENTNER

Donau-Universität Krems

I studied Mathematics and Philosophy but work as a youth researcher since 1997. My main fields of interest are youth cultures, political participation of young people as well as attitudes and values. Furthermore I am active in evaluation studies on youth policy and on the implementation of preventive concepts and health promotion in youth work.

From 1997 to 1999 I was researcher at the Austrian Institute for Youth Research where I became scientific director in 2000. From 2001 to 2013 I worked in the fields of research and knowledge transfer at the private research organisation jugendkultur.at in Vienna. Since 2013 I am engaged at the Danube-University Krems in the Department for Migration and Globalization as researcher and lecturer. Furthermore I am lecturer at various teacher training colleges in Austria.

Already in the late 1990s I was involved in the network of experts on youth research and one of the national correspondents for the EKCYP since its start.

In the year 2007 I was raporteur in the Council of Europe international review team for the national youth policy in Hungary and four years later for the international review of the youth policy in Belgium.

manfred.zentner@donau-uni.ac.at

Mr Farhad HAJIYEV

Youth Foundation under the Ministry of Youth and Sport

Mr Andrei SALIKAU

Youth Policy and Sociocultural Communication Department of the National Institute for Higher Education of the Republic of Belarus

I am an Associate Professor (PhD in Culturology) of the Youth Policy and Sociocultural Communication Department of the National Institute for Higher Education, Minsk, Belarus.

As an Associate Professor I carry out teaching, organizing and methodical activities; participate in scientific and scientifically popular researches in Youth field; took part in Workshops, Webinars and Trainings for Youth; manage some international Youth programs and projects, coordinate cooperation with local youth public organizations.

In cooperation with colleagues I worked-out the Training  Program  «Organization work with youth» and obtained a Diploma on  “Organization work with youth” with the conferred qualification of “Specialist in work with youth”  (2009) .

I worked-out and participated in many national and international program and projects such as National forum of specialists in the sphere of youth work (October 2015, Minsk, Belarus). The aim of the Forum – exposure and presentation the best practices and innovation technologies in Youth work.  EPYRU Country Workshop «Supporting Capacity Development in the Youth Sector» Minsk, October 2014. The main aims of the Seminar were: to examine the current status of youth workers’ training, as well as training and in-service training of public authorities’ staff dealing with youth policy in Eastern Partnership countries. 

My specific research interests include: state youth policy (development and implementation); international youth cooperation; youth healthy lifestyle; youth quality of life; youth wellbeing; financial literacy and economic culture for youth; social protection of youth in the Republic of Belarus.

Ms Lieve BRADT

Ghent University, Department of Social Welfare Studies

Dr. Lieve Bradt graduated in 2005 as master in Educational Sciences and obtained her PhD in Educational Sciences at Ghent University with a dissertation on ‘Victim-offender mediation as a social work practice. A comparison between mediation for young and adult offenders in Flanders’ (2009). Since 2010 she is a post-doctoral assistant at the Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy at Ghent University. In 2012 she became the project coordinator of the Youth Research Platform, a policy research centre subsidized by the Flemish Government. The Youth Research Platform is an interdisciplinary and interuniversity cooperation between Ghent University (social work and social pedagogy), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (sociology) and KU Leuven (youth criminology). The Youth Research Platform’s main tasks are (1) expanding our knowledge on youth by drawing up an inventory of existing youth research in both a national and international context, and (2) recurrently conducting large-scale survey research on the life-conditions, attitudes and activities of young people in Flanders. Her research interests focus on restorative justice, leisure participation, formal and informal support, youth care, school-work transitions and school wellbeing.

lieve.bradt@ugent.be

Marie Gilles

Ministère de la Communauté française - Observatoire de l'Enfance, de la Jeunesse et de l'Aide à la Jeunesse

Marie Gilles graduated with a MA in sociology. She has previously worked in a youth organization to promote sexual health for almost two years.

She works now at the Observatoire de l’enfance, de la jeunesse et de l’Aide à la Jeunesse (Observatory of childhood, youth and youth care) as a junior researcher since october 2018. The Observatory is part of the Ministry of the french-speaking Community Governement. Its works consists on generating studies and datas in this specific field. It’s also in charge of the evaluation of different decrees concerning public policies on childhood and youth.

Her domains of interest are social rights, youth care and gender equality.

Julie De Wilde

Ministère de la Communauté française - Observatoire de l'Enfance, de la Jeunesse et de l'Aide à la Jeunesse

Julie De Wilde is a sociologist who has worked as an academic researcher in UCL (Université catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve) for almost six years. She works now at the Observatoire de l’enfance, de la jeunesse et de l’Aide à la Jeunesse (Observatory of childhood, youth and youth care) since 2014. The Observatory is part of the Ministry of the french-speaking Community Governement. Its works consists on generating studies and datas in this specific field. It’s also in charge of the evaluation of different decrees concerning public policies on childhood and youth.

Mr Jasmin JASAREVIC

PRONI Centre for youth development

Child Protection officer in PRONI Brcko, an “A”, “B” and “B+” level certified educator and General Manager of the PRONI Center for Youth Development. He has served on the national BH Commission for youth since 2006. He holds several Training of Trainers certificates focused on youth worker trainings, with a focus on engaging youth in conflict mitigation activities. Jasmin was involved in youth policy and youth work development since 1998. Jasmin is currently engage as a Correspondent for Youth Policy Development from BiH within a program of the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP). He was the first trainer from BiH to be included in the online list of trainers of the SALTO-YOUTH Resource youth center, and is also a President of the Management Board of Anna Lindh foundation - BiH Network and a previous member of the Executive Board of the US Alumni Association Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2012, Jasmin is BIH Country Director for YouthBuild International. 

Ms Veselina GEORGIEVA

Chief Expert in Youth Policies Directorate, Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria

Since the beginning of my career in 2017 in the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria my responsibilities are linked with the National and European Youth policies, more specifically as a CDEJ member, a national delegate within the Youth Working Party of the Council of the European Union and the European Steering Committee within the 6th cycle of the Structured Dialogue.

I had the opportunity to be part of the preparation and implementation process for the first Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of EU. Working with young people and for young people is a process that requires continuous reflection and evaluation of the methods used in order to achieve the set aims and improve the process. The specifics in the youth policies, regarding youth work, youth volunteering and non-formal education illustrate the various approaches towards building a society in which the potential of all young people needs continuously development and where they are given the opportunity to gain the skills needed to succeed both as citizens in a democratic society and in their working and private lives, regardless of their background.

Nevertheless, for the first time in nearly 70 years, there is a real risk that the generation of today’s young adults ends up less well-off than their parents. Europe cannot afford to lose the most educated age group it has ever had and let generational inequality condemn its future. That is why the close cooperation between all institutions at national and European level, various researches towards the future challenges and the role of the young people and all relevant stakeholders in the decision making process is in great importance for the better future in Europe.

Mr Marko KOVACIC

Institute for Social Research

Marko Kovacic is a youth researcher seated at the Institute for Social Research where he is affiliated to the Center for Youth and Gender Studies. Currently, he is a visiting fresearch ellow at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona where he studies youth political participation.

Marko’s education include PhD in (youth) public policy at the University of Ljubljana (ongoing), an MA in public policy at the University of Zagreb and an MA program in political science at Central European University, Budapest. Marko’s research focus is on youth policy, particularly non-formal political participation of young people in the post-socialist context, youth political competency and youth work. He has been publishing papers on those and similar issues in domestic and international journals and presented his findings in more than 20 international conferences.

Apart from the academic career, for more than 10 years Marko has been an active member and a trainer in various civil society organizations and initiatives, focusing on youth and educational issues. Hence, he is a national correspondent on youth policy for the European Knowledge Center for Youth Policy, administrated by the Youth Partnership between the Council of Europe and the European Commission. Marko has worked as a consultant and evaluator for numerous international organizations on topic of youth and education. In addition, he is a youth research methodology lecturer at the Youth Studies programme in Croatia.

Ms Eleftheria CHRISTOFOROU

Youth Board of Cyprus

echristoforou@onek.org.cy

Ms Zdeňka Mašková

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports

Zdenka Maskova is the head of Youth Policy Unit of Youth Department, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. In her academic career she moved from secondary education to in-service teacher training education and to youth work, while the focus of her interest remains youth policy. She participated in writing of several youth policy papers in the Czech Republic, is a co-author of the National Youth Policy for the period 2007 – 2013 and the main author of the National Youth Policy for the period 2014 – 2020.   Her main youth policy development areas are: non-formal education, social inclusion, participation and learning mobility. She has an extensive experience in cross-sectorial youth policy development. She took part in a couple of European peer-learning activities on youth policy and was member of  numerous expert groups of European Commission as well as advisory groups of the Council of Europe. 

zdenka.maskova@msmt.cz

Ms Mai BEILMANN

University of Tartu

Mai Beilmann holds PhD in sociology and she is currently a research fellow in Social Policy at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia. Her research interests include youth studies, civic participation, social capital, (social) trust, and cultural values. Her interest in youth field dates back to 2003, when Mai became voluntary youth worker in one small open youth centre in Tartu. She became actively involved in youth research already during her master studies in 2006 when she was doing fieldwork for the project “The Socio-economic Scope of Youth Work in Europe”. Since then Mai has contributed to the youth research through various (applied) research projects focusing mainly on youth work and youth workers, assessment of different youth programmes, and educational inequalities. Her latest research is related to her participation in Horizon 2020 project CATCH-EyoU and focuses on youth civic participation, youth organisations, and interpretations of youth civic engagement and youth policies. Mai has published on youth related topics in scholarly journals as well as in youth work related publications and in Estonian public media.

mai.beilmann@ut.ee

Mr Tomi Kiilakoski

Finnish Youth Research Society

Tomi Kiilakoski, PhD, is a senior researcher in the Finnish Youth Research Network and an adjunct professor in the University of Tampere.  His areas of expertise include youth work, youth participation, educational policy, school violence and its prevention, cultural philosophy and critical pedagogy.  He has worked in the university of Tampere and Humak University of Applied Sciences. He has authored eight books on youth work, youth participation and critical pedagogy in his native language, Finnish. He engages actively in promoting participation and developing youth work on the local and state level in Finland.

 tomi.kiilakoski@nuorisotutkimus.fi

tomi.kiilakoski@nuorisotutkimus.fi  

Virginia Mangematin

Ministère de la ville, de la jeunesse et des sports - adjointe du bureau des relations internationales et en charge du suivi du Conseil de l'Europe

virginia.mangematin@jeunesse-sports.gouv.fr

Janaina Paisley

Ministry of National Education, Department of youth, non-formal education and voluntary organisations.

Janaïna Paisley is policy officer in the field of public policies especially social and youth policies. Her background is in sociology (Sociology of the State), history and political sciences. She is also the national correspondent for the European data base Youth Wiki.

 Janaina.PAISLEY@jeunesse-sports.gouv.fr

Kartlos Karumidze

Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport

 kkarumidze@mes.gov.ge

Ms Susanne KLINZING

IJAB - Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V

I hold a master's degree in Slavonic and British / American Studies obtained at the University of Potsdam including a one-year-stay at the Russian University of Rostov/Don. I have worked as a freelancer for Eurodesk and later on continued my professional career at IJAB – International Youth Service of the Federal Republic of Germany. I call myself an information and content manager. I am in charge of gathering information on youth policy and youth work in different countries providing it at different websites run by IJAB.

I have been part of the network of national correspondents for the EKCYP since its beginning in 2005. In 2015 I joined the network of national Youth Wiki correspondents. My working languages are German, English and Spanish.

My leisure time is divided between a Cuban salsa rueda group and salsa classes, voluntary work, being a baseball mom, travelling and reading.

 klinzing@ijab.de

Ms Briseida DOKOU 

Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, General Secretariat for Youth

Correspondent to be confirmed

Mr Maurice DEVLIN

Maurice.Devlin@nuim.ie

Lucio d'Amore

Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Dipartimento della Gioventù e del Servizio Civile Nazionale

Lucio d’Amore works at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department of Youth and National Civic Service. He holds degrees in Political Sciences, Italian Literature and Foreign Languages and Literature at the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples. He has been Professor in High School and has completed various specializations in international relations in Rome. As ministerial official he has worked for the Ministry of Culture, the Department of Performing Arts and the Department of Tourism. He was seconded twice as National Expert to the European Commission, from 1991 to 1994 (Environment Directorate-General) and from 2000 to 2004 (Enterprise Directorate-General), where he dealt with issues related to the promotion of sustainable development, the enhancement of natural and cultural heritage, the quality management, the social and cultural tourism, the international cooperation.

Maria Luisa Silvestrini

Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department of Youth and National Civil Service