Ability refers to capacities that someone can already demonstrate that s/he possesses, such as having the ability to speak a certain language.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

Defined in Article 9 of The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), accessibility is perceived through enabling persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life. For this purpose, authorities shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communication, including information and communication technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply, inter alia - both to the physical infrastructure but also to information, communication and other services - including electronic services and emergency services. 

Ref: UN, Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRDP), available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-9-accessibility.html, accessed December 16, 2019

Formally or socially recognised authorities or instances accredit courses, activities and their outcomes. This means they testify that organisations and individuals meet standards to which all have agreed to conform. They vouch for the credibility of the certificates and diplomas that are issued, and hence for the reliability and validity of the monitoring, evaluation and assessment of the individuals and the organisations whose judgements are given the stamp of approval.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Certificates; formal recognition

Acculturation explains the process of cultural change and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. Acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and social institutions, noticeable effects of acculturation also include changes in food, clothing, language. At the individual level, acculturation leads not only to changes in daily behaviour, but is associated with numerous measures of psychological and physical well-being. Acculturation can be thought of as second-culture learning while enculturation is used to describe the process of first-culture learning. Acculturation is a highly complex process of taking conscious decisions, both at individual and group levels, about accepting and/or rejecting material and non-material aspects of another culture. Acculturation may lead to assimilation and weakening or loss of own culture in a “melting pot” society or to keeping own cultural trait alive in a “salad bowl” society. Reluctance to acculturate may lead to segregation. Acculturation processes may involve violence and protest or be smooth and take place voluntarily. In European Union one finds many instances illustrating acculturation processes: Muslim population in France, the Turkish population in Germany, and Caribbean and Asian populations in England. These societies are religiously and ethnically different from the Muslim, Turkish, Caribbean, and Asian populations being introduced into those countries. 

REF: Dennis, K.N. (2007): Acculturation. In Ritzer, G. (ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

See also: Culture; Integration

The action plan is a way to make sure that an organisation’s/institution’s/group’s vision is made concrete. The action plan also describes the path that the group and the organisation will be following in order to reach the planned strategy and to reach the objectives. The action plan should include the actions that are to be taken, the person responsible for every action, clear deadlines for completing the specified actions, the resources that are to be used for the actions as well as the communication tools required for the coordination.

REF: Community Tool Box, Section 5. Developing an Action Plan.

Activism refers to taking action to impact social change. In terms of actions involved, it may include causes related to changes in the social, political, economic or environmental sectors. The process of change might be either conducted by an individual having the capacity to mobilize masses or collectively. When it comes to the forms of activism, it might vary from action undertaking civil disobedience, protests, occupations, campaigning, boycotts and demonstrations to more conventional forms such as lobby processes, writing letters, internet activism, petitions, and attending meeting of public bodies.

REF: Permanent Culture Now, Introduction to Activism. See also: Lobby

Adultism is the discrimination and disempowerment of children through policies, practices and actions which privilege adults and limit children’s agency, autonomy and subjectivity. The concept of adultism has its origins in psychology (Flascher, 1978). Adultism is based on ‘the assumption that adults know what is in the best interests of youth and are thus entitled to act upon them without their agreement’ (Ceasar: 2014: 169).  Adultism is often enacted through microaggressions, which may be understood as a statement, action, or incident which indirectly, subtly or unintentionally privileges adults and discriminates against youth, for example: “You’ll understand when you’re older”. Adultism limits children’s self-determination and transforms them from political subjects into objects of adult decisions and policies.

See also childist standpoint theory

Ceasar, D. (2014) ‘Unlearning adultism at Green Shoots: a reflexive ethnographic analysis of age inequality within an environmental education programme’ Ethnography and Education, 9:2, 167-181.

Flascher, J. (1978) ‘Adultism’, Adolescence, 13(51), 517-23.

Freechild Institute (2021) ‘Adultism’. Available online here: https://freechild.org/2015/12/22/adultism/ [11.04.21].

Advocacy is the process that aims at creating or reforming public policies. The term has a wide range of definitions determined mainly by the actors involved with the advocacy processes. Social justice advocacy refers to the processes initiated by groups affected by social injustice. Rights based advocacy consists of campaigns and projects run by the watchdog organisations. Public interest advocacy and people centred advocacy are instituted to ensure citizens’ participation in decision making processes or think tanks. Consequently, advocacy is a political process that involves the coordinated efforts of the civil society structures running the advocacy campaigns in order to change the existent policies and practices or the balance of power, the resources, the ideas and values that could affect the citizens in general or a particular group of citizens.

REF: VeneKlasen, Lisa and Miller, Valerie (2002): A new wave of Power, People and Politics: An Action guide for policy and citizens participation, Oklahoma City.

See also: Citizen; lobby; participation; political participation

APEL stands for Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning. This term is used in the UK, where APL (Accreditation of Prior Learning) and CCC (Crediting Current Competence) are also used for roughly the same purpose. In other countries similar activities are known under different names. In France it is known as ‘Bilan de competences’, ‘Bilan des competences approfondi’, or ‘Validation de Acquis des Experiences (VAE)’. Regardless of the title, all are the same and all are RPL – Recognition of Prior Learning.

RPL describes a process used by regulatory bodies, adult learning centres, career development practitioners, military organisations, human resource professionals, employers, training institutions, colleges and universities around the world to evaluate skills and knowledge (learning) acquired outside the classroom for the purpose of recognizing competence against a given set of standards, competencies, or learning outcomes.

Methods of assessing prior learning are varied and include: evaluation of prior experience gained through volunteer work, participation in a youth organisation, previous paid or unpaid employment, standardized exams or observation of actual workplace behaviour. The essential element of RPL is that it is an assessment of evidence provided by an individual to support their claim for competence against a given set of standards or learning outcomes. In European youth field, Youthpass (www.youthpass.eu) which contains a self-evaluation section using eight key competencies of the lifelong learning framework is an example of how RPL actually works.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Competences; knowledge; participation; skill; volunteering; Youthpass

Artificial Intelligence (AI) - AI is a young discipline of about sixty years, which brings together sciences, theories and techniques (including mathematical logic, statistics, probabilities, computational neurobiology and computer science) and whose goal is to achieve the imitation by a machine of the cognitive abilities of a human being. Although there is no standard definition of AI, the expert group set by the OECD (AIGO) defined an AI system as a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. It uses machine and/or human-based inputs to perceive real and/or virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models (in an automated manner e.g. with machine learning (ML) or manually); and use model inference to formulate options for information or action. AI systems are designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy. In the broadest sense, the term refers indistinctly to systems that are pure science fiction (so-called "strong" AIs with a self-aware form) and systems that are already operational and capable of performing very complex tasks (face or voice recognition, vehicle driving - these systems are described as "weak" or "moderate" AIs). In practice, Specialists generally prefer to use the exact names of the technologies actually used (which today are essentially machine learning) and are sometimes reluctant to use the term "intelligence" because the results, although extraordinary in some areas, are still modest compared to the stated ambitions.

Ref: OECD (2019), Artificial Intelligence in Society, OECD Publishing, Paris, Available at: https://doi.org/10.1787/eedfee77-en, accessed December 18, 2019; Council of Europe, Artificial Intelligence, available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/artificial-intelligence/what-is-ai,  accessed February 3, 2020. 

In sociology, assimilation refers to the blending or fusing of minority groups into the dominant society. A narrower notion of cultural assimilation refers to the process by which a person or a group's language and/or culture come to resemble those of another group. The term is used to refer to both individuals and groups. In the latter case it can refer to either immigrant diasporas or native residents that come to be culturally dominated by another society. Assimilation may involve either a quick or gradual change depending on the circumstances of the group. Full assimilation occurs when new members of a society become indistinguishable from members of the dominant group. It happens when they use their language, daily habits, when they accept their version of (official) history, when they have taken over their attitudes and values. It is often disputed by both members of the group, and those of the dominant society, whether it is desirable for an immigrant group to assimilate or not.

Nowadays assimilation is associated also with two other forms describing the patterns of incorporating minorities in a “mainstream” culture and society: pluralist view whereby minorities keep their cultural specifics and features within a dominant society (the “salat bowl” model) and exclusion, which implies persistent and substantial disadvantages of minority group vis a vis the members of the mainstream society.

REF: Alba, R., Nee, V. (2007): Assimilation. In Ritzer, G. (ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

See also: Culture; diversity; ethnic minority; immigration

Assistive Technology – Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customised, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. 

Ref: The Technology Related Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 (Tech Act), link: https://ectacenter.org/topics/atech/definitions.asp, accessed December 18, 2019

The concept of attitudes emerged in the context of attempts to understand human action and behaviour. The theory of reasoned action posits that volitional behaviour is determined by intentions, which are influenced by attitudes and norms, being in turn influenced by beliefs. Thus within this framework, attitudes are understood as a certain “stage” in the formation of behaviour. However, since they are only one factor, not each attitude necessarily is followed by a behaviour. A different, constructivist approach to understanding (the link between) attitudes and behaviours sees people continually interpreting and reinterpreting the situations in which they find themselves, in order to create and coordinate their line of action with others. Within this framework, also attitudes are continually changed and do not appear as determinants of behaviour.

More concretely, attitudes can be seen as positive, negative, neutral or ambivalent views of persons, behaviours or social phenomena in general that shape a person's readiness to act or react in a certain way. Attitudes are composed of various forms of judgements – conscious and unconscious, rational and irrational, individual and social – and may not necessarily change as a result of evidence and experience. While there are numerous theories of attitude formation and attitude change, it remains poorly understood how exactly attitudes develop and evolve.

REF: Pestello, F. G. (2007): Attitudes and behavior. In Ritzer, G. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Social Theory, SAGE Publications, Inc.

See also: Socialisation

In Western ethics and political philosophy, the state or condition of self-governance, or leading one’s life according to reasons, values, or desires that are authentically one’s own. Although autonomy is an ancient notion (the term is derived from the ancient Greek words autos, meaning “self,” and nomos, meaning “rule”), the most-influential conceptions of autonomy are modern, having arisen in the 18th and 19th centuries in the philosophies of, respectively, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill.

REF: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Autonomy.

Benchmark - Standard, or a set of standards, used as a point of reference for evaluating performance or level of quality.

Bi-sexual is a term that is used to describe a person who has an emotional and sexual orientation towards both their own sex and the opposite sex.

When talking about bi-sexuality, it is sometimes useful to distinguish between behaviour and identity. Someone who has had sexual experience with or even just attractions to people of more than one sex can be described as bi-sexual, but may not identify that way. Likewise, one can identify as bi-sexual regardless of sexual experience. Furthermore, identities can change over time.

REF: Bi-Sexual Resource Centre

See also: Gay, Homosexual, Lesbian, Queer, Sexual Orientation

Bullying - Bullying has traditionally been defined as repeated inhumane actions directed at target individuals, who are disadvantaged or less powerful than those who repeatedly harass or attack them. Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm, having immediate, medium and long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders.It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening. Bullying can happen in person or online, via various digital platforms and devices and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert). Bullying behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time (for example, through sharing of digital records). Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying. 

Ref: Espelage, Dorothy L., and Rue, Lisa D. L. (2012) “School bullying: Its nature and ecology.” International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health 24.1 (2012): 3–10 &  Thornberg, R. (2015) “The social dynamics of school bullying: The necessary dialogue between the blind men around the elephant and the possible meeting point at the social ecological square”, Confero, Vol. 3, no. 2, pp.161-203.

Career guidance refers to services and activities intended to assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers. Such services may be found in schools, universities and colleges, in training institutions, in public employment services, in the workplace, in the voluntary or community sector and in the private sector. The activities may take place on an individual or group basis, and may be face-to-face or at a distance (including help lines and web-based services). 

REF: UNESCO-UNEVOC Resources and Services, TVETipedia Glossary.

See also: Training; voluntary sector

Certificates or diplomas are the ‘piece of paper' which record the outcome of the certification process. They most frequently have the status of an official document, but this is not an absolute prerequisite. In the context of youth work, certificates may also serve to certify one’s participation in a non-formal learning activity and/or to make learning achievements (competences gained) visible. A typical example of certificates of that kind is Youthpass certificate granted to participants in Erasmus+: Youth in Action projects.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain; Youthpass Guide

See also: Accreditation; certification; formal recognition, Youthpass

Certification refers to a standardised process of formally validating knowledge, know-how, skills and/or competencies acquired by an individual or represented through a learning/service provider.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Accreditation; certificate; formal recognition

The Charter on Local Youth Work (Europe goes local) - The aim of the charter is to contribute to the further development of local youth work. It does this by stating which principles should guide it and how different aspects of it should be designed in order to meet these principles. Hence, the Charter constitutes a common European platform for the necessary dialogue on youth work. It is a free-to-use methodological tool, functioning as a check-list around which stakeholders can gather and discuss what measures that might be needed for the further development of youth work, making sure that no aspect or perspective is left out and that youth work provision is carried out in the best and most efficient way.

The Charter formulates youth work’s value basis and its core principles. It also asks that youth work practice is guided by a youth work policy and furthermore states the needs of organisation and practice of local youth work. The Charter also describes on the one hand the role and tasks of youth workers and on the other hand the necessity of quality development of local youth work.

The Charter on Local Youth Work was developed in the Erasmus+ Youth in Action Project “Europe goes local” in a multi-step participatory approach with involvement of practitioners, youth policy makers, researchers and young people on the European level as well as in various consultation and adaptation rounds on the level of nation states.

For further information see: https://www.europegoeslocal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191002-egl-charter_ENG_online.pdf

Children are human beings, so they have exactly the same human rights as adults. However, children have been recognised as being in particular need of care and assistance, and for that reason they also have their “own” human rights treaty – the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) defines child as a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. The Convention is the most rapidly and widely ratified international human rights instrument in history, accepted by all the countries except United States and Somalia.

The Convention changed the way children are viewed and treated – i.e., as human beings with a distinct set of rights instead of as passive objects of care and charity. It promotes the idea of children as people, whose wishes do need to be taken into account. Children are entitled to be respected and treated with dignity simply because they are human, whatever their age.

The definitions of child could be various: biological (person between birth and puberty), legal (an individual who is not yet an adult or who has not reached the age of majority), social (regarding the relationship with the parent), etc.

REF: Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989, entry into force 2 September 1990, available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx;

Compass: A manual on human rights education with young people (2012), Council of Europe publishing, available at https://www.coe.int/en/web/compass

See also: Best interests of the child; Respect for the views of the child; Children’s rights; UNICEF

Childist standpoint theory is a critical lens which has emerged from the childhood studies tradition that emphasises young people’s subjective political agency and autonomy (Medina-Minton, N., 2019). It seeks to recognise, analyse and address the ways in which young people are disempowered by adultist policies and practices. Recent scholarship from this standpoint has explored the youth climate strikes from a childist perspective (Biswas and Mattheis, 2021) and is theorising global justice for children and youth (Josefsson and Wall, 2020)   Debates on childist standpoint theory increasingly situate the childist standpoint within a wider understanding of intersectionality for children and youth (Konstantoni and Emejulu, 2017).

See also adultism.

Biswas, T. and Mattheis, N. (2021) ‘Strikingly educational: a childist perspective on children’s civil disobedience for climate justice’ Educational Philosophy and Theory.

Josefsson, J. and Wall, J. (2020) ‘Empowered inclusion: theorizing global justice for children and youth’, Globalisations, 17:6, 1043-1060.

Kristina Konstantoni & Akwugo Emejulu (2017) When intersectionality metchildhood studies: the dilemmas of a travelling concept, Children's Geographies, 15:1, 6-22,

Medina-Minton, N. (2019) ‘Are Children an Oppressed Group? Positing a Child Standpoint Theory’ Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, vol. 36, pp. 439–447.

A citizen is a member of a political community who enjoys the rights and assumes the duties of membership.

There are three main elements of citizenship. The first is citizenship as legal status, defined by civil, political and social rights. Here, the citizen is the legal person free to act according to the law and having the right to claim the law's protection. The second considers citizens specifically as political agents, actively participating in a society's political institutions. The third refers to citizenship as membership in a political community that furnishes a distinct source of identity.

REF: Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy.

See also: Citizenship; identity; multi-dimensional citizenship; participation

(Active) citizenship stands for an active participation of citizens in the economic, social, cultural and political fields of life. In the youth field much emphasis is on learning the necessary competences through voluntary activities. The aim is not only to improve the knowledge, but also motivation, skills and practical experience to be an active citizen.

REF: Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy

See also: Multi-dimensional citizenship; voluntary activities; Youthpass

Civic engagement involves working to make a difference in the civic life of one’s community and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes. Civic engagement includes both paid and unpaid forms of political activism, environmentalism, and community and national service. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community. More and more young people are discovering that their voices matter to their communities and that they can make their communities better places to live if they become active citizens. Volunteering is one form of civic engagement.

REF: Thomas Erlich, Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, American Council on Education/Oryx Press, 2000;

Youth.gov http://youth.gov/youth-topics/civic-engagement-and-volunteering, Last retrieved 05.01.2017  

See also: civic participation

Civic Service is a voluntary service managed by the State- or on behalf of the State- e.g. in the social field or in civil protection.

REF: European Commission: Communication from the Commission to the Council, COM (2004) 337 - 30.4.2004: Proposed common objectives for voluntary activities among young people in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of European co-operation in the youth field.

See also: Civilian service; European Voluntary Service; voluntary activities; voluntary sector; voluntary service

Civilian service is an alternative to compulsory military service in some countries. Like military service, it is compulsory and not voluntary. In almost all countries that are members of the Council of Europe civilian service as alternative to military service because of conscientious objections exists (an exception to this is Turkey).

Not all religious faiths are granted the right of conscientious objection in all countries. Regarding the European Bureau for conscientious objection civilian service often has a punitive character due to longer obligation and/or worse financial remuneration/compensation.

The civilian service can usually be served in non-profit NGOs in various sectors like healthcare, education, geriatric care, environmental organisations etc.

REF: European Commission: Communication from the Commission to the Council, COM (2004) 337 - 30.4.2004: Proposed common objectives for voluntary activities among young people in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of European co-operation in the youth field.

See also: Council of Europe

Civil society refers to the arena of unforced collective action which centres on shared interests, purposes and values. In principle, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market. Often civil society is understood as a "third sector", while the state is "the second sector" and business "the first sector". In practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. This makes the exact definition of civil society difficult. Civil society actors include non-governmental organisations, citizen advocacy organisations, professional associations, faith-based organisations, and trade unions, which give voice to various sectors of society and enrich public participation in democracies. Sometimes less organised actions and activities like movements, community groups, protests and demonstrations may be seen as civil society actors. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power.

REF: M. Glasius, D. Lewis and H. Seckinelgin (eds.) (2004): Exploring Civil Society: Political and Cultural Contexts. Routledge and LSE Centre for Civil Society referenced in: Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy.

See also: Autonomy; participation; third sector

Co-management refers to a model of youth participation practiced for example in the Council of Europe youth sector. Representatives of both the governments and the young people decide together on the priorities, budgetary priorities, implementation of work priorities and on the allocation of the resources.

REF: Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy

See also: Council of Europe; participation; participation – ladders; participation – models; young people; youth participation

A community-based organisation (CBO) is an organisation that is driven by the community residents. The respective residents decide its vision, mission, strategy, objectives and actions. Specific to the CBO is the fact that the governing bodies are also mainly composed of the residents; the offices are in the community; and its work consists of participatory processes to identify the priority issues, as well as the solutions. The residents hold the key positions/leadership roles are lead in designing actions, planning the activities and evaluating the outcomes.

REF: National Community-Based Organisation Network.

Community cohesion refers to the desired shared sense of belonging and shared visions for living together in a community. Community cohesion is required in order for different groups of people to get on well together. A key contributor to community cohesion is integration, which is what must happen to enable new residents and existing residents to adjust to one another. The vision of an integrated and cohesive community is based on three foundations:

• People from different backgrounds having similar life opportunities
• People knowing their rights and responsibilities
• People trusting one another and trusting local institutions to act fairly

and three ways of living together:

• A shared future vision and sense of belonging
• A focus on what new and existing communities have in common, alongside a recognition of the value of diversity
• Strong and positive relationships between people from different backgrounds.

REF: Communities and Local Government (2008): The Government's Response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, London.

See also: Cultural diversity; diversity; integration

Competency is a cluster of knowledge, skills and attitudes. The concept of competency relates to those personal characteristics that influence performance. Competency also refers to performing the tasks at hand according to a certain criterion or standard. The term competency may be categorised into the conceptual, procedural and performance competencies; heuristic, epistemological and actualised competencies; or, for example, general problem-solving competencies, critical thinking skills and social competencies. Competencies can be learnt in formal, non-formal and informal settings. The development of competencies can be evaluated by the organisations or by the individuals themselves. Competencies are used in youth policy for example in the European Union’s ‘Youth Pass’ programme which analyses key competencies of lifelong learning.

Ref: Kiilakoski, Tomi (2015) Youth Work, Volunteering, Recognition and Employability. Defining and recognizing competencies. Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations. Available at: http://www.alliance-network.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IVE-Desk-Research-Report-Output-1.pdf

The competency framework defines the knowledge, skills, and attributes needed for people within an existent framework. Consequently, every individual have its own set of competencies that are to be developed or acquired. In developing a competency based framework, a pre-set list of common standards and competencies customized then to a specific target group or to the needs of the organization is to be defined. Creating a competency framework is considered to be an effective method to asses, to maintain and to monitor the skills, knowledge and attitudes of the individuals involved with an initiative or part of an organization. The development of the framework does also allow the measurement of the existent competencies in the starting point of the assessment as well as of the competencies developed through the development process. The competency development framework had also been described as a learning paradigm and, especially in education, focused on describing and measuring what learners need to know and be able to do (outcomes), given the goals and mission of a specific programme.

REF: Developing a Competency Based Framework, www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newISS_91.htm, Last retrieved: 05.01.2017;

Developing a Competency-Based Educational Structure within Clinical and Translational Science, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3633146/, Last retrieved 05.01.2017

See: Competencies, Skills, Education.

Co-production is a way of working where all involved parties come together to share ideas and work together towards a common aim. Each person involved is recognised for the unique knowledge, skills and expertise, which they have - either as a service provider or service user. In this process all participants, no matter what their experience or role, are seen as active citizens with an important contribution to make. Co-production is built on asset based principles which include:

• Recognising people as assets rather than as problems
• Building on people's existing skills and resources
• Promoting reciprocity, mutual respect and building trust
• Building strong and supportive social networks
• Valuing working differently, facilitating rather than delivering
• Breaking down the divisions between service providers and service users

Co-production consists of the following framework:

• Co-design, including planning of services
• Co-decision making in the allocation of resources
• Co-delivery of services, including the role of volunteers in providing the service
• Co-evaluation of the service

REF: Löffler, E. (2009): ‘A future research agenda for co-production: overview paper’, in: Local Authorities & Research Councils’ Initiative (2010): Co-production: A series of commissioned reports, Swindon: Research Councils UK and Stephens L., Ryan-Collins J., Boyle D. (2008): Co-production: A manifesto for growing the core economy. New Economics Foundation, London.

See also: Council of Europe; citizen; skill; participation; participation – ladders; participation – models; youth participation

The Council of Europe is the continent's leading human rights organisation. It was founded in 1949. It includes 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union. All Council of Europe member states have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. The Council of Europe promotes human rights through international conventions and it monitors member states' progress in these areas, making recommendations through independent expert monitoring bodies. The Council of Europe advocates freedom of expression and of the media, freedom of assembly, equality, and the protection of minorities, among other key human rights.

REF: Council of Europe, Values and The Council of Europe in Brief

See also: Advisory Council on Youth; equality; European Convention on Human Rights; human rights

The Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio is an online tool to help those doing youth work, primarily youth workers and youth leaders, but also managers and administrators, to assess and further develop their youth work competence and that of the people under their supervision. The Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio has been developed at the European level, but it is not primarily for people and organisations working at the European level or internationally. The Portfolio is addressed to youth workers and leaders working at any level from local to international. The Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio is an initiative of the Council of Europe in co-operation with partners such as the European Commission and the European Youth Forum.

REF: Council of Europe, Portfolio for Youth Leaders and Youth Workers.

See also: Council of Europe; European Commission; European Youth Forum; non-formal education; youth leaders; youth workers

Critical thinking is the ability to form our own opinion from a variety of sources, to think though complex issues in a complex way. Critical thinking opens our minds in the face of stereotypes and any attempts of manipulation. It is a tool through which we can develop a more in-depth understanding of social, political and economic realities and power relations.

See also: multiperspectivity

Cross-sectoral co-operation in the field of youth implies that, at EU, national and local level, an effective coordination exists between the youth sectors and other sectors. This concerns, for example, family policy, education, gender equality, employment, housing and healthcare.

REF: European Commission: Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, COM(2009) 200 (2009): An EU Strategy for Youth – Investing and Empowering. A renewed open method of coordination to address youth challenges and opportunities.

See also: Equality; gender

Cross-Sectoral Youth Policy - Youth policy should be broad, holistic, integrated and cross-sectorial. Cross-sectoral co-operation in youth policy may refer to vertical communication between young people and youth organisations with relevant ministries. It may also refer to horizontal co-operations between different ministries dealing with youth issues. The principle of cross-sectoral youth policy states that policies concerning young people need to take into account not only youth affairs, but all the connected policy sectors such as education, social policy, employment, family policy and child welfare, health, housing and environment. 

Ref: Nico Magda (2017) A primary look at secondary data - CSYP in official documents. In Nico M., Taru M., Potocnik D. & Salikau A. (eds.) Needles in Haystacks. Council of Europe and European Commission, 2017, pp. 13-32.

Cultural capital - A term introduced by Pierre Bourdieu to refer to the symbols, ideas, tastes, and preferences that can be strategically used as resources in social action. He sees this cultural capital as a ‘habitus’, an embodied socialised tendency or disposition to act, think, or feel in a particular way. By analogy with economic capital, such resources can be invested and accumulated and can be converted into other forms. Thus, middle-class parents are able to endow their children with the linguistic and cultural competences that will give them a greater likelihood of success at school and at university. Working-class children, without access to such cultural resources, are less likely to be successful in the educational system. Thus, education reproduces class inequalities. Bourdieu sees the distribution of economic and cultural capital as reinforcing each other. Educational success—reflecting initial cultural capital—is the means through which superior, higher-paying occupations can be attained, and the income earned through these jobs may allow the successful to purchase a private education for their children and so enhance their chances of educational success. This ‘conversion’ of one form of capital into another is central to the intragenerational or intergenerational reproduction of class differences. Bourdieu recognises a number of other forms of capital, most notably the social capital of contacts and connections. Cultural and social capital are to be gained also in youth work as it is part of education on the one hand and are enabling social contacts on the other hand.

Ref: Scott, John, Marshall, Gordon, A dictionary of Sociology, Oxford, available online: https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095652799  

See also: culture, subculture, youth culture, social capital

Cultural differences emerge from differences in nationality, ethnicity, religion, as well as family background. These differences affect beliefs, practices, and behaviour and impact on expectations people might have of one another.

REF.: Titley, G. (2004): Resituating culture: an introduction, in: Titley, G. (ed.) (2004): Resituating culture, Strasbourg and Karsten, A. and Küntzel, B. (2007): Forum on Intercultural Dialogue: Discussion paper based on the Forum.

See also: Culture; cultural diversity

Cultural participation refers to different forms of art and expression (visual arts, music, film, dance, etc.). The right of everyone to take part in cultural life is at the core of Recommendation 1990 (2012) of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly. Participation can be more or less active, depending on whether one is a member of an audience, is an amateur or engages in artistic or creative activities on a professional basis. Cultural participation is also closely linked with cultural inclusion.

REF: Laaksonen, A. (2010): Making culture accessible. Access, participation and cultural provision in the context of cultural rights in Europe, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1990 (2012) Final Version: The right of everyone to take part in cultural life.

See also: Culture; inclusion; intercultural dialogue; participation

An often cited definition of culture within the Council of Europe publications dates back to the consultation procedure for the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue. In this framework, the Council of Europe has defined culture “to include everything relating to ways of life, customs, beliefs and other things that have been passed on to us for generations, as well as the various forms of artistic creations”.

The above attempt depicts a widespread approach to naturalise the operative concept of culture as a descriptive one. In other words, culture is used to describe ‘ways of life' and life practices, collectivities based on location, nation, history, lifestyle and ethnicity, systems and webs of representation and meaning, and realms of artistic value and heritage.

What this prevalent understanding fails to capture, however, is culture as a space of contestation that involves the tendency to prefer and embed some meanings over others. Culture is not only a symbol of distinction or an expression of difference – it also serves, at the same time, as the foundation for making assumptions and judgements about our differences and the backdrop against which we develop preferences for and against particular differences in constant interaction of power and meaning.

A common criticism to the prevalent definitions of culture is that they run the risk of describing culture as monolithic and static, overlooking differences ‘within culture’, such as gender, age and other differences.

REF: Council of Europe (2008): White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue “Living Together As Equals in Dignity”, Strasbourg,

Bergan, S. and Restoueix, J. (eds.) (2009): Intercultural Dialogue on Campus, Council of Europe higher education series No.11, Strasbourg,

Titley, G. (2004): Resituating culture: an introduction, in: Titley, G. (ed.) (2004): Resituating culture, Strasbourg and

Karsten, A. and Küntzel, B. (2007): Forum on Intercultural Dialogue: Discussion paper based on the Forum.

See also: Council of Europe; citizenship; cultural differences; cultural diversity; cultural participation; intercultural dialogue; subculture; White paper

Curriculum. The term is used widely for different programmes of teaching and education. It can describe the aims, content, methods of teaching and education and means of evaluation. It can refer narrowly to the content of a particular subject or area of study and more widely to the total programme of an educational institution, which includes emotions, values, communal relations and peer activities. A curriculum can be divided into explicit and hidden curriculum; to received and planned curriculum, and to formal and informal curriculum.

Ref: A. V. Kelly (2004) The Curriculum. Theory and Practice. 5th edition. London: Sage.

See also: Educational methods; non-formal learning; learning objectives

Decision making refers to the process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several alternative possibilities. Every decision making process produces a final choice that may or may not prompt action. The EU’s standard decision making procedure is known as Ordinary Legislative Procedure (codecision). This means that the directly elected European Parliament has to approve EU legislation together with the Council of Europe(the governments of the 28 EU countries). The Commission drafts and implements EU legislation.

REF: European Union, How EU decisions are made.

See also: Council of Europe; European Commission

Considered a global issue and extremely challenging for the European Union, the demographic changes refers to ageing population, low birth rates, redefining the family structures and to the challenges generated by the migration phenomenon. To respond to the stated challenges, the European Commission came up with in 2006 with a communication on the demographic future of Europe – from challenge to opportunity, identifying five key policy responses: supporting demographic renewal through better conditions for families and improved reconciliation of working and family life, boosting employment – more jobs and longer working lives of better quality, raising productivity and economic performance through investing in education and research, receiving and integrating migrants into Europe, ensuring sustainable public finances to guarantee adequate pensions, health care and long-term care.

REF: European Commission: Commission Communication COM (2006) 571 final - 12.10.2006: The demographic future of Europe – from challenge to opportunity.

See also: European Commission; migrant

Deradicalisation – This very contested term is often used referring to the process of abandoning an extremist worldview and therefore disengaging with an attitude that is accepting violence as means to social change. On the other hand, radicalism and radicalisation per se do not lead to violence or acceptance of violence. Therefore, the use of de-radicalisation is normally limited to the work of practitioners in the field of EXIT programmes, supporting violent offenders, terrorists or supporters of terrorist ideologies to find alternatives.

Ref: Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/radicalisation_awareness_network/about-ran/ran-exit_en ; The Contribution of Youth Work to preventing marginalisation and radicalisation to violent extremism, available at: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/0ad09926-a8b1-11e7-837e-01aa75ed71a1 (access October 12, 2019)

Detached youth work - Is a model of youth work practice, targeted at vulnerable young people, which takes place where young people are, such as streets, cafes, parks and pubs at times that are appropriate to them and on their terms. It begins from where young people are in terms of their values, attitudes, issues and ambitions and is concerned with their personal and social development. It is characterised by purposeful interaction between youth workers and young people and utilises a range of youth and community work methods. In addition to building bridges to other services and support systems, detached youth work includes the organisation of the follow-up work. 

Ref: The Prince’s Trust 1998 & European Commission (2014) Working with young people: the value of youth work in the European Union, Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/assets/eac/youth/library/study/youth-work-report_en.pdf, accessed December 16, 2019; Björn Anderson (2019) Fringe Work - Street-Level Divergence in Swedish Youth Work 

See also: outreach youth work.

Digital Agenda for Europe - (DAE) was conceived as one of the seven flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy adopted by the European Commission. Published in May 2010, it set out to define the key enabling role that the use of ICTs would have in Europe’s ambitious 2020 goals. 

Ref: European Union, Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52010DC0245&from=en, accessed December 18, 2019

Digital Divide - or the digital split, is a social issue referring to the difference in the amount of information possessed between those who have access to the Internet (especially broadband access) and those who do not have such access. The term became popular among concerned parties, such as scholars, policy makers, and advocacy groups, in the late 1990s. Broadly speaking, the difference is not necessarily determined by the access to the Internet, but by access to ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) and to Media that the different segments of society can use. With regards to the Internet, the access is only one aspect, other factors such as the quality of connection and related services should be considered. Today the most discussed issue is the availability of the access at an affordable cost and quality. 

Ref: Available at: https://www.internetworldstats.com/links10.htm, accessed December 18, 2019

A digital immigrant is a person born before the widespread adoption of computers and has had to adopt digital technology later in life. Digital immigrants are considered to be less technically able than digital natives and it is argued that they can never develop the same level of technology skills and knowledge as digital native. Digital immigrants are not naturally familiar or instinctively comfortable and therefore must adapt to using digital technology, interfaces, and software and became familiar with computers as a young adult or later in life.

Ref: Prensky M. (2001), Digital natives, digital immigrants, On the Horizon Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 1-5. &  IGI Global – Dissemination of Knowledge, available at: https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/digital-natives/7645,  accessed December 15 2019.

Digitalisation - A transformative process accelerated by new technologies, with a high social and economic impact. Digitalisation is enabled by the appearance of the World Wide Web, investments in infrastructure of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and the widespread use of technology. Current definitions include a rethinking of how individuals, governments, organisations and businesses use technology to change traditional social & economic models. Debates on digitalisation include its potential to generate economic growth while causing disruptions on the labour market, communication, privacy, security and human development. Complementarily, it also refers to the technical process of converting analogic information and physical documents or services into digital form.

Digital literacy - Is a broad term used to describe three interrelated dimensions of literate practice in the contemporary age: 1. the operational dimension, which includes the skills and competences that enable individuals to read and write in diverse digital media (including making meaning with and from diverse modes such as spoken and written language, static and moving images, sounds, screen design etc.); 2. the cultural dimension refers to developing a repertoire of digital literacy practices in specific social and cultural contexts (such as constructing and/or maintaining effective social, educational and/or professional relationships online); 3. the critical dimension recognises that meaning-making resources are selective and operate as a means of social control (e.g. knowing what Facebook is up to when it reminds you that your profile is not complete). Becoming critically literate with digital media therefore includes not simply participating competently in digital literacy practices but also developing the ability to transform them actively and creatively. 

Ref: Green, B. (1988) Subject literacy and school learning: a focus on writing – Australian Journal of Education 32(2), 156-179 and Green, B. and Beavis (2012) Literacy in 3 D: An integrated perspective in Theory and Practice – Australian Council Educational Research (ACER); Flewitt, R. (2016) Establishing a research agenda for Digital Literacy – Practices of Young Children – A White Paper for Cost Action and ELINET – Position Paper on Digital Literacy, available at: http://www.eli-net.eu/fileadmin/ELINET/Redaktion/Amsterdam_conference/ELINET_Position_Paper_on_Digital_Literacy.pdf, accessed December 18, 2019.

The term ‘digital native’ was coined by Marc Prensky (2001) and included for the first time in the article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” as an attempt to explain why teachers face constant troubles in teaching students. The articles define ‘digital natives’ as: “the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video-games, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age.”  Ever since, the idea of ‘digital natives’ has been challenged and various studies have appeared in order to better clarify what a digital native is and what it is not. The term is contested for its very general approach considering that all young people are ‘digital natives’ and not taking into account some young people are facing different barriers into developing their skills and competencies required to use the online tools.

Ref:  Prensky M. (2001), Digital natives, digital immigrants, On the Horizon Vol. 9, No. 5, 1-5.; Prensky M. (2004), The emerging online life of the digital native. What they do differently because of technology, and how they do it, available at: www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-The_Emerging_Online_Life_of_the_Digital_Native-03.pdf, accessed 23 September 2019

Digital Participation - The term digital participation refers to the active involvement in the digital community society through the use of modern information and communication technology (ICT) such as the Internet. This participation includes access to not only the Internet but to also various online services and content. Non-participation in the digital world could lead to a feeling of social exclusion whereas a feeling of social inclusion may be induced by having access to the Internet as well as the willingness and skills to use it. 

Ref: Seifert A., Rössel K. (2019) Digital Participation. In Gu D., Dupre M. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging, Springer, Cham 

Digital Tools - Digital tools, as opposed to analogic tools, are those tools of an electronic nature and especially

• Computerised technologies
• Electronic devices, that may or may not be portable or not portable including computers, smartboards, laptops, tablets, smartphones, projectors, etc.
• Programmes, applications or other software available on digital device (e.g., iPad, laptop, smart phone, etc.), including those that are language, audio, and visually based
• Instruments that use internet and other new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
• Educational programs, websites or online resources, and digital processing systems that encourage active learning, knowledge construction, and exploration in the teaching and learning process
• Digital or computerised tools that allow for meaning-making with digital literacies such as cell phones, tablets, laptop computers, e-readers, etc.

Ref: IGI Global – Disseminator of Global Knowledge, available at: https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/value-added-crowdsourcing/66587, accessed December 19, 2019.

Digital Youth Work - Digital youth work means proactively using or addressing digital media and technology in youth work. Digital youth work is not a youth work method – digital youth work can be included in any youth work setting (open youth work, youth information and counselling, youth clubs, detached youth work, etc.). Digital youth work has the same goals as youth work in general and using digital media and technology in youth work should always support these goals. Digital youth work can happen in face-to-face situations as well as in online environments – or in a mixture of these two. Digital media and technology can be either a tool, an activity or a content in youth work. Digital youth work is underpinned by the same ethics, values and principles as youth work. Youth workers in this context refer to both paid and volunteer youth workers. 

Ref: Developing digital youth work, policy recommendations, training needs and good practice examples for youth workers and decision-makers: expert group set up under the European Union Work Plan for Youth – 2016-2018, available at: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/fbc18822-07cb-11e8-b8f5-01aa75ed71a1, accessed December 18, 2019 

See also: smart youth work

Disability is the consequence of impairment and might be physical, mental, sensory, developmental, and cognitive. It might also be a combination of these forms of impairment, affecting the functional performance and activity by the individual. The presence of disability (either from birth or occurring later on in one’s development stages) might lead to the reduced participation of the individuals the social, cultural or economic life.

REF: Salto Youth Inclusion Resource Centre (n.d.): No barriers, No borders, A practical booklet for setting up international mixed-ability youth projects (including persons with and without a disability)

See also: Educational difficulties; discrimination; participation; prejudice; vulnerable young people

Disadvantage - A lack of access to the instruments required by every person for self-sufficiency and sustainable autonomy. […] Disadvantage is viewed as the process through which some groups of young people or other individuals are systematically denied (whether by design or neglect) the opportunity or means to fully enjoy social rights (as defined by the European Social Charter), which in effect represents a violation of their human rights. The experience of disadvantage may include a lack of independence; incentive; responsibility; self-respect and respect from others; health; education; information; employment; adequate financial support; social, cultural and financial capital; responsive support systems and participation.

Ref:  Council of Europe 2015, Access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights, Recommendation CM/Rec (2015)3, Strasbourg, 24

Disadvantaged groups - Groups of persons that experience a higher risk of poverty, social exclusion, discrimination and violence than the general population, including, but not limited to, ethnic minorities, migrants, women, transgender persons, people with disabilities, isolated elderly people and children. 

Ref: European Institute for Gender Equality, Glossary, available at: https://eige.europa.eu/thesaurus, accessed December 26, 2019

Discrimination means treating a person or particular group of people differently. In a negative sense, discrimination is an action, expression or behaviour that denies social participation or human rights to categories of people based on prejudice or on a certain characteristic. This includes treatment of an individual or group in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated, based on their actual or perceived membership of a certain group or social category. Discrimination may take place on various grounds: age, disability, employment, language, nationality, racial or ethnic, regional or religious background, sex, gender, and gender-identity, sexual orientation.

Reverse or positive discrimination is the policy of favouring members of a disadvantaged group. Examples of positive discrimination include quotas and giving certain groups preference in (job) selection processes. The nature of positive discrimination policies varies across countries.

REF: Law, I. (2007): Discrimination, in Ritzer, G. (ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

See also: Disability; ethnic minorities; gay; gender; gender identity; homophobia; homosexual; identity; LGBTQI; lesbian; prejudice; sexual orientation; transgender; trans man/ woman

Discursive participation refers to the diverse ways in which individuals discuss policy issues affecting the local, national, and international communities in which they live. Discursive participation features deliberative communication behaviours that allow citizens to formulate and revise their preferences, i.e. learn what they should want from policymakers. Discursive participation can include but is not limited to the formal institutions and processes of civic and political life. It can involve private individuals in informal, unplanned exchanges; those who convene for public purposes but do so outside the normal processes of government operations (e.g. in libraries, schools, homes, churches, and community centres); and those who are brought together in settings such as town hall meetings of political representatives and their constituents. Discursive participation can occur through a variety of media, including face-to-face exchanges, phone conversations, email exchanges, and internet forums.

REF: Sharp, E.B. (2012): Citizen participation at the local level, in H.L.Schachter (ed.): The state of citizen participation in America, Information Age Publishing, Inc.,

Charlotte and Delli Carpini, M. X., Cook, F. L., & Jacobs, L. R. (2004): Public Deliberations, Discursive Participation and Citizen Engagement: A Review of the Empirical Literature, in: Annual Review of Political Science, 7 (1), 315-344.

See also: e-participation; participation; political participation; youth participation; co-production

In general, the term ‘diversity’ is simply another way of denoting ‘multiple difference' or ‘variety'. However, it has come to acquire a socio-political connotation that specifies positive acceptance of heterogeneity, and in particular, of cultural heterogeneity. Most commonly, diversity implicates that such differences are to be accepted and respected equally, since no culture is intrinsically superior or inferior to another.

Within this framework, noticeable and identifiable differences between people, such as race, ethnicity, language, culture, religion, age, gender, socioeconomic status, family status, sexual orientation, political views, disability status, etc. are considered to offer positive potential – diversity connotes the power of variety, which both exists and is to be valued and cultivated.

At the European level, the notion of diversity is, on the one hand, one of the pillars of the EU for achieving the Union's strategic goals and for building a more inclusive community, and, on the other hand, central to the ideas of pluralism and multiculturalism underpinning the Council of Europe's strategy on education for democratic citizenship.

REF: Stevens, G., Downs, H. (2007): Diversity. In Ritzer, G. (ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

See also: Citizenship; community cohesion; Council of Europe; culture; cultural diversity; disability; ethnic minority; gender; integration; multi-cultural; sexual orientation

Early School Leaving (ESL) is a multi-faceted and complex problem caused by a cumulative process of disengagement, being the result of personal, social, economic, education or family-related reasons. The European Union defines early school leavers as people aged 18-24 who have only lower secondary education or less and are no longer in education or training. Early School Leaving takes several forms: young people who have dropped out of school before the end of compulsory education, those who have completed compulsory schooling, but have not gained an upper secondary qualification, and those who have followed pre-vocational or vocational courses which did not lead to a qualification equivalent to upper secondary level. Reducing ESL is essential for the integration of young people into the labour market and to contribute to breaking the cycle of deprivation that leads to the social exclusion of too many young people. Reducing the average European rate of early school leavers to less than 10% by 2020 is one of the education headline targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

REF:

Early School Leaving (ESL) is a multi-faceted and complex problem caused by a cumulative process of disengagement, being the result of personal, social, economic, education or family-related reasons. The European Union defines early school leavers as people aged 18-24 who have only lower secondary education or less and are no longer in education or training. Early School Leaving takes several forms: young people who have dropped out of school before the end of compulsory education, those who have completed compulsory schooling, but have not gained an upper secondary qualification, and those who have followed pre-vocational or vocational courses which did not lead to a qualification equivalent to upper secondary level. Reducing ESL is essential for the integration of young people into the labour market and to contribute to breaking the cycle of deprivation that leads to the social exclusion of too many young people. Reducing the average European rate of early school leavers to less than 10% by 2020 is one of the education headline targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

REF: European Commission (2013): Reducing early school leaving: Key messages and policy support Final Report of the Thematic Working Group on Early School Leaving, available at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/repository/education/policy/strategic-framework/doc/esl-group-report_en.pdf   

Council conclusions on "Reference levels of European Average Performance in Education and Training (Benchmarks)", May 2003.

See also: Educational difficulties; Europe 2020 Strategy; social exclusion; young people

Economic obstacles refer to the obstacles that young people with a low standard of living are facing. This includes for example, low income, dependence on social welfare system, long-term unemployment, homelessness, debt or financial problems.

REF: Salto Youth, Young People with Fewer Opportunities

See also: Long term unemployment; young people

Economic participation refers to employment and work which leads to economic development, eliminating poverty and building a stable economic situation in a society.

REF: The United Nations Youth Agenda (n.d.): Empowering youth for development and peace at: www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/agenda.htm

See also: Participation; poverty

When defining young people with fewer opportunities, a wide range of obstacles and contexts can be identified. Educational difficulties refer to the obstacles, difficulties and contexts that young people are facing. This is used with particular reference for people with learning difficulties, early school-leavers, lowly or non-qualified persons, young people that did not find their way in the school system, and young people with poor school performance because of a different cultural/linguistic background.

REF: Salto Youth, Young People with Fewer Opportunities.

See also: Early school leaving; NEET; social obstacles; vulnerable young people; young people

Educational evaluation is a systematic and on-going process which includes:

• Researching and collecting information from different sources about the learning process, the content, the methods, the context, and the outcomes of an educational activity
• The organisation and analysis of that information
• The establishment of certain criteria (evaluation criteria)
• The discernment and judgement of the analysed information (according to the set evaluation criteria and in the light of the educational objectives).
• Drawing conclusions and recommendations, which allow the re-orientation and eventual improvement of the educational activity.

REF: Iafrancesco, Giovanni (2001): Hacia el mejoramiento de los procesos evaluativos en relación con el aprendizaje, Bogotá, referenced in: Council of Europe and European Commission (2007): T-kit 10: Educational Evaluation in Youth Work: “Tasting the soup”, Strasbourg.

See also: Evaluation; formal evaluation; summative evaluation; research methods 

Education for democratic citizenship means education, training, awareness-raising, information, practices and activities which aim, by equipping learners with knowledge, skills and understanding and developing their attitudes and behavior, to empower them to exercise and defend their democratic rights and responsibilities in society, to value diversity and to play an active part in democratic life, with a view to the promotion and protection of democracy and the rule of law. It shows people how to become informed about their rights, responsibilities and duties and it helps them to realise that they can have influence and make a difference.

Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education plays an essential role in the promotion of the core values of the Council of Europe: democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as well as in the prevention of human rights violations. 

REF: Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education

See also: human rights education 

This term refers to the general principles, pedagogy and management strategies used for classroom instruction. Your choice of teaching method depends on what fits you — your educational philosophy, classroom demographic, subject area(s) and school mission statement. Teaching theories primarily fall into two categories or “approaches” — teacher-centred and student-centred.

Teacher-Centred Approach to Learning:

Teachers are the main authority figure in this model. Students are viewed as “empty vessels” whose primary role is to passively receive information (via lectures and direct instruction) with an end goal of testing and assessment. It is the primary role of teachers to pass knowledge and information onto their students. In this model, teaching and assessment are viewed as two separate entities. Student learning is measured through objectively scored tests and assessments.

Student-Centred Approach to Learning:

While teachers are an authority figure in this model, teachers and students play an equally active role in the learning process. The teacher’s primary role is to coach and facilitate student learning and overall comprehension of material. Student learning is measured through both formal and informal forms of assessment, including group projects, student portfolios, and class participation. Teaching and assessment are connected; student learning is continuously measured during teacher instruction.

REF: Teach. Make a difference, Teaching Methods. 

See also: Assessment; informal learning; knowledge; teacher; non-formal learning

Effectiveness - the extent to which policies are achieving the benefits they are supposed to achieve, plus any unanticipated side benefits.

Ref: Nagel, S. S. (1986). Efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in public policy evaluation. Review of Policy Research, 6(1), 99-120.

Efficacy - the extent to which an intervention produces the expected results under ideal conditions in a controlled environment.

Ref: UNAid, Glossary Monitoring and Evaluation Terms, available at: https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/sub_landing/files/11_ME_Glossary_FinalWorkingDraft.pdf accessed December 22, 2019

Efficiency - Efficiency refers to the relationship between costs and benefits, or how much and what kind of resources have been spent on implementing an intervention that was planned to bring about certain changes in society.

Ref: Lonean, Braziene and Taru (2020) Youth Policy Evaluation Review. EU-CoE youth partnership

Emigrants are people leaving the country where they usually reside and effectively taking up residence in another country. According to the 1998 UN recommendations on the statistics of international migration (Revision 1), an individual is a long-term emigrant if he/she leaves his/her country of previous usual residence for a period of 12 months or more. Emigration is the number of emigrants for a given area during the year.

REF: European Commission Eurostat, Glossary.

See also: Immigration; migration

Empathy is the capacity of a person to recognise or understand another person's state of mind or emotion, often captured by the phrase "to put oneself into another's shoes". Empathy could also be described as the anticipation of mutual (presumed) interests within a communication process, related to a common goal or task that the partners in such a process want to realise.

In educational contexts and, more specifically, in intercultural learning, the concept means the capacity to develop an idea of given partners – to see things from the point of view of the others – in a communication process, to comprehend their aims and possibilities to act, and to establish common ground by achieving a balance between the different intentions and interests involved, including but without giving preference to one's own.

REF: Adapted from: Lauritzen, Peter (1980s): Selected Remarks on 'Role' in Simulation Games and Training Situations Hungary, Otten, Hendrik (1997): Ten theses on the correlation between European youth encounters, intercultural learning and demands on full and part-time staff in these encounters, and Fennes, Helmut and Otten, Hendrik (2008): Quality in non-formal education and training in the field of European youth work.

Employability refers to the set of achievements, skills, understandings and personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment, stay in employment and to be successful in their chosen occupations. Employability of individuals depends on: (a) personal attributes (including adequacy of knowledge and skills); (b) how these personal attributes are presented on the labour market; (c) the environmental and social contexts (incentives and opportunities offered to update and validate their knowledge and skills); and (d) the economic context.

Young people represent a quarter of the world’s workforce but they are almost three times more likely to be unemployed comparing to adults. One of the main reasons is low employability of youth since they usually face with underdeveloped skills, early school leaving, lack of formal contacts with employers and formal education unmatched with market needs. Therefore, a special focus should be placed on overcoming the difficulties youth face when entering the labour market and the issues they encounter when trying to remain there. Enhancing youth employability skills is certainly the essential mechanism for better youth employment promotion and their active inclusion as well.

REF:

Brewer L., Enhancing youth employability (2013), International Labour Organisation, available at www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/publication/wcms_213452.pdf ;

International Labour Organisation Resolution concerning human resources training and development (2000), available at www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc88/resolutions.htm ;

Glossary: Quality of education and training (2011), CEDEFOP, available at www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/publications/4106

See also: Employability skills; transferable skills; career management skills; lifelong learning; transition from education to the labour market

Empowerment is helping people to help themselves. This concept is used in many contexts: management ("the process of sharing information, training and allowing employees to manage their jobs in order to obtain optimum results"), community development ("action-oriented management training aimed at community members and their leaders, poverty reduction, gender strategy, facilitation, income generation, capacity development, community participation, social animation") and mobilisation ("Leading people to learn to lead themselves").

Empowerment involves a process to change power relations. “On the one hand it aims to enable excluded people to take initiatives, make decisions and acquire more power over their lives. At the same time it forces social, economic and political systems to relinquish some of that power and to enable excluded people and groups to enter into negotiation over decision-making processes, thereby playing a full role in society”.

REF: Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy, Soto Hardiman, Paul et al. (2004): Youth and exclusion in disadvantaged urban areas, Council of Europe, Strasbourg.

See also: Gender; participation; poverty; training

Environmental activism is organised participation in environmental issues, comprising an example of environmentally friendly behavior rooted in the political realm. Environmental activism is expressed in specific activities reflecting a commitment to the environment and realized through institutional structures. Examples include having environmental group membership; engaging in political action; being actively involved in environmental organisations; having the potential to influence policy or management decisions  or to engage in environmental protection behaviours. Sociologically inclined scholars have conceptualised environmental activism as a collective process. Environmental activism takes place in the public sphere, in contrast to making environment-friendly decision in the private sphere which has significant environmental impact only when many people independently do the same things.

Ref: Stern. Paul C. (2000) Toward a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behaviour. Journal of Social Issues 56(3), 407–424.

Dono, Joanne, Webb, Janine & Richardson, Ben (2010) The relationship between environmental activism, pro-environmental behaviour and social identity. Journal of Environmental Psychology 30 (2010) 178–186

Sandra T. Marquart-Pyatt (2012) Explaining Environmental Activism Across Countries, Society & Natural Resources, 25:7, 683-699

O'Brien, K., E. Selboe, and Hayward B. M. (2018), Exploring youth activism on climate change: dutiful, disruptive, and dangerous dissent. Ecology and Society 23(3):42

E-participation is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to supported participation and involvement in government and governance processes. It may concern administration, service delivery, decision making or policy making. e-Participation refers to all ICT-supported democratic processes except e-voting. Traditionally most of the forms of participation were linked to direct face to face interactions with public authorities, however nowadays technology often facilitates the process. Citizens and civil society organisations are now able to participate using online tools thus e-participation is a popular means of participation. This mode of participation also provides an incentive for governments and authorities to improve transparency due to the ability of civil society and activist groups to mobilize support. Using social media tools, citizens can participate in the decision making processes and are able to lobby, and advocate, for different causes.

REF: E-participation – Best Practice Manual. European Commission, Digital Agenda for Europe, Glossary.

See also: Activism; citizen; citizenship; civil society; decision making processes; lobby; participation; policy

Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents, and believing that no one should have poorer life chances because of where, what or whom they were born, what they believe, or whether they have a disability. Equality recognises that historically, certain groups of people with particular characteristics (e.g. race, disability, sex and sexuality), have experienced discrimination.

According to Aristotle, equality means that “things that are alike should be treated alike”. From this perspective, a person should not be discriminated against on grounds such as physical or personal characteristics. Furthermore, differences among people should be considered irrelevant for the access to (and exercise of) basic rights. However, a principle of equality constructed in this way has two main limitations: first of all, it may reinforce inequalities because it does not take into account concrete obstacles which can lead to emerging forms of discrimination and disadvantage; secondly, it is inadequate to tackle subtle forms of discrimination, generated by laws and practices based on apparently neutral criteria, which subsequently create a disparate impact for certain people.

Equality of opportunity systems have been designed to help promote equality. The redistributive justice system tries to cope with inequalities due to individuals’ different starting points. In this theorisation of equality, equal opportunities are implemented through the use of positive action plans to ensure that individuals from traditionally disadvantaged groups receive proper support to compensate for their exclusion, as well as to prevent further discrimination.

Equality of outcomes systems focus on bringing about substantive equality. This goes much further than equality of opportunity by explicitly treating people more favourably on the grounds of race, sex, religion, belief and so on.

REF: Değirmencioğlu, S (2011): Still some more equal than others? Or opportunities for all?, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg.

See also: Disability; discrimination; equity; exclusion; prejudice; sexual orientation

Equity is the act of being fair and impartial to everyone regardless of their ethnicity, gender, race, religious identity, sexuality or socio-economic background. In its broadest sense, equity could be also defined as fairness.

REF: Değirmencioğlu, S (2011): Still some more equal than others? Or opportunities for all?, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg.

Equity - the extent to which benefits and costs of policies are spread among those affected in such a way that no group or individual receives less than a minimum benefit level or a maximum cost level, unlike “diversity,” which is a numerical representation of different types of people. Distinction of equity from “inclusion,” lies in the idea that inclusion is “the action or state of including or being included within a group or structure … [Unlike diversity,] inclusion involves an authentic and empowered participation and a true sense of belonging.” Under this thinking, inclusion may be a definite step toward equity. Equity is also different from “equality,” in which everyone has the same amount of something (food, medicine, opportunity) despite their existing needs or assets.

Ref: Nagel, S. S. (1986). Efficiency, effectiveness, and equity in public policy evaluation. Review of Policy Research, 6(1), 99-120.

Annie E. Casey Foundation: Race Equity and Inclusion Action Guide Embracing Equity: 7 Steps to Advance and Embed Race Equity and Inclusion Within Your Organization https://www.aecf.org/resources/race-equity-and-inclusion-action-guide/

The Erasmus + program merges seven EU programs in the fields of Education, Training, and Youth. It is expected that the Erasmus + will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, acquire work experience and volunteer abroad. From 2014, for the first time, Sport will also be supported. As an integrated program, Erasmus + is easier to access than its predecessors because it has simplified funding rules. The seven year programme will have a budget of €14.7 billion.

REF: European Commission, Erasmus +.

See also: Training; volunteer; Youthpass; Youth in Action

Ethnic distinctiveness can be either claimed by a group or imposed by a majority group. Members of an ethnic minority share a sense of group solidarity and kinship and might be more disadvantaged than those belonging to a majority group, in terms of power, ‘status’ and wealth. Capotorti defines a "minority" as: ‘A group numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a State, in a non-dominant position, whose members - being nationals of the State - possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics differing from those of the rest of the population and show, if only implicitly, a sense of solidarity, directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language’.

REF: Capotorti, F. (1977): E/CN.4/Sub.2/384/Rev.1, para. 568, referenced in: UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (2010): Minority Rights: International Standards and Guidance for Implementation, New York and Giddens, A. (2013): Sociology, Cambridge: Polity Press.

See also: Culture

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s cultural group is superior to the other. Ethnocentric persons experience their culture as central to reality and all others are scaled and related with reference to it; they see their own standards and values as universals and have the tendency to judge other groups in relation to their own.

See also: racism, discrimination, stereotypes, prejudices

Europe 2020 is the European Union’s ten-year growth and jobs strategy that was launched in 2010. It is about more than just overcoming the crisis from which our economies are now gradually recovering. It is also about addressing the shortcomings of the growth model and creating the conditions for a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Five headline targets have been set for the EU to be achieved by the end of 2020. These cover employment; research and development; climate/energy; education; social inclusion and poverty reduction. The objectives of the strategy are also supported by seven ‘flagship initiatives’ providing a framework through which the EU and national authorities mutually reinforce their efforts in areas supporting the Europe 2020 priorities such as innovation, the digital economy, employment, youth, industrial policy, poverty, and resource efficiency. The Europe 2020 strategy is implemented and monitored in the context of the European Semester, the yearly cycle of coordination of economic and budgetary policies.

REF: European Commission, Europe 2020 in a nutshell. 

See also: Poverty; young people

At the end of the 2^nd European Convention on Youth Work that was held in Brussels in April 2015, the 500 participants came up with the Declaration of the 2^nd European Youth Work Convention – Making a world of difference. The Declaration came up with a set of Recommendations and Action Points under a common name – A European Agenda for Youth Work stating the need for investment in youth work as a necessary contribution to the development of a social Europe. The aim of the “European Agenda for Youth Work’ is to strengthen youth work in Europe. The text is available here:  http://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/eywc-website-declaration

Citizenship is traditionally perceived as a legal status, which involves rights and duties. Usually, the status of citizen was solely granted in relation to a Nation-state. However, other forms of citizenship have recently emerged, notably the European citizenship.

Within the European Union, the Treaty of Maastricht established the Citizenship of the Union (1993). The purpose of this new legal status was, among others, to strengthen and enhance the European identity.

According to the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), "every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall complement and not replace national citizenship”. This is also confirmed by the Lisbon Treaty (2007).

The Citizenship of the Union establishes the following rights:

• Right to free movement of persons in the member States territory
• Right to vote and stand in local government and European Parliament elections in the country of residence
• Right to have diplomatic and consular protection from the authorities of any Member State.

European Citizenship can be considered as a more comprehensive concept and practice of citizenship, with many cultural, social, political and economic dimensions.

Third country nationals living in the European Union do not enjoy the same rights as European nationals, even though recent legislation has broadened the access to social rights for non-EU nationals who are legal residents.

REF: European Union Democracy Observatory on Citizenship, EU Citizenship. 

See also: Citizenship

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. Among other tasks, it proposes legislation, implements decisions, upholds the EU treaties and ensures that the treaties are respected.

The Commission consists of a cabinet government, made up of 28 commissioners (one per member state).

Jean-Claude Juncker is the current Commission President. The usual languages of the Commission are English, French and German.

REF: The European Commission. 

The European Convention on Human Rights, was signed in 1950. It sets forth a number of fundamental rights and freedoms for example, the right to life; prohibition of torture; right to a fair trial; no punishment without law; right to respect for private and family life; etc.

Additional rights were granted by later protocols added to the Convention, such as Protocol 12 which provides a general antidiscrimination principle. Parties undertake to secure these rights and freedoms to everyone within their jurisdiction.

The Convention also establishes an international enforcement mechanism. To ensure the observance of the engagements undertaken by the Parties, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was set up. It deals with individual and inter-State petitions. At the request of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Court may also give advisory opinions concerning the interpretation of the Conventions and their protocols.

REF: Council of Europe, European Convention on Human Rights, Strasbourg.

See also: Council of Europe; human rights

The European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP) is a network within the EU-CoE youth partnership with a "think tank" function aimed at increasing the knowledge about the contexts and needs of young people in Europe, current and upcoming challenges they face in support of the activities of the Partnership. The European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy is an on-line database intended to provide the youth sector with a single access point to reliable knowledge and information about young people's situation across Europe. EKCYP aims at enhancing knowledge transfers between the fields of research, policy and practice through the collection and dissemination of information about youth policy, research and practice in Europe and beyond. The EKCYP is supported by a European wide network of European Knowledge Centre correspondents nominated by the member states ministries and responsible for collecting national data.

REF: The EU-CoE youth partnership, The European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy, http://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/knowledge-/-ekcyp

See also: The EKCYP correspondents; Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR); Country Sheets on Youth Policy 

The European Portfolio for youth leaders and youth workers is an initiative of the Council of Europe in cooperation with experts and partners such as the European Commission and the European Youth Forum. It provides youth leaders and youth workers in Europe, volunteers or professionals, with a tool, which can help them, identify, assess and describe their competencies based on European quality standards.  In using this portfolio, youth leaders and youth workers are not only contributing to the recognition of their experience and skills but also to efforts to increase the recognition of youth work and non-formal education and learning.

REF: Council of Europe, Portfolio for Youth Leaders and Youth Workers.

See also: Council of Europe; European Commission; European Youth Forum; nonformal education; youth leaders; youth workers 

The European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) brings together representatives of ministries and organisations responsible for youth matters from the 49 States Parties to the European Cultural Convention. It encourages closer co-operation between governments on youth issues and provides a forum for comparing national youth policies, exchanging best practices and drafting standard texts related to youth issues. The CDEJ also organises the Conferences of European Ministers with responsibility for youth matters and drafts youth policy laws and regulations in member states. Within the co-management process, the CDEJ and the Advisory Council on Youth are coming together in a co-decision body, which establishes the youth sector priorities, objectives and budgets – the Joint Council on Youth.

REF: Council of Europe, Co-management. 

See also: Advisory Council on Youth; co-management 

The European Commission promotes dialogue between youth and policy makers in order to increase active citizenship, foster social integration, and ensure inclusion of young people in EU policy development. The specified priorities are the core part of the EU Youth Strategy that has been launched in 2010 and operates until 2018 It has two overall priorities: to provide more and equal opportunities for young people in education and the job market, and to encourage young people to actively participate in society. The Strategy mainly targets initiatives in eight fields of action: education and training, employment and entrepreneurship, health and well-being, participation, voluntary activities, social inclusion, youth and the world and creativity and culture.

REF: European Commission, EU Youth Strategy.

See also: Citizenship; culture; employment; European Commission; European youth policy; participation; social inclusion; training; voluntary activities; youth entrepreneurship; youth policy; youth policy reviews

The European Voluntary Service (EVS) gives young people the opportunity to express their personal commitment through full-time voluntary work in a foreign country within or outside the EU, being part of the Erasmus Plus Programme of the European Commission. The EVS aims to develop solidarity, mutual understanding and tolerance among young people, while contributing to strengthening social cohesion and promoting active citizenship. Their learning experience is formally recognized through a Youthpass. Volunteers receive free board and lodging, insurance cover and a grant for the duration of the project (in some cases they may be asked for a contribution for travel costs). EVS volunteers working for more than two months abroad can get additional support to learn and test their progress in the language used during their volunteering.

REF: European Commission, European Voluntary Service.

See also: Citizenship; Erasmus Plus; European Commission; voluntary service; volunteering; Youthpass

The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is the platform of youth organisations in Europe, representing 99 youth organisations, both National Youth Councils and International Non-Governmental Youth Organisations. YFJ aims at investing in youth organisations which then work directly with, and for, young people. The Youth Forum brings together tens of millions of young people from all over Europe, organised in order to represent their common interests. The Youth Forum works to empower young people to participate actively in society to improve their own lives by representing and advocating their needs and interests and those of their organisations. To overcome the challenges faced by young people, the European Youth Forum has three main goals: greater youth participation, stronger youth organisations, increased youth autonomy and inclusion.

REF: European Youth Forum.

See also: Autonomy; inclusion; National Youth Council; youth participation; young people

The European Youth Pact is a document that was adopted by the European Council in March 2005 and ties the European strategies for employment and social inclusion to the Education and Training 2010 work programme. The aim of the pact is to improve the education, training, mobility, vocational integration and social inclusion of young Europeans, while facilitating the reconciliation of family and working life. It also aims at having young people involved in developing and following up the initiatives within the specified areas. There are three strands - employment, integration and social advancement; education, training and mobility; and reconciliation of family life and working life. These are supported and guided by European bodies. They are also fully incorporated into the revised Lisbon Strategy, the European Employment Strategy, the Social Inclusion Strategy and the Education and Training 2010 work programme.

REF: Europa, European Youth Pact.

See also: Integration; mobility; social inclusion; training

European youth policy is the youth policy approaches of the two main European organisations, the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Union. In addition to having their own youth policy principles, they both provide an outline of the youth policy in their member states.

The youth policy of the CoE has a long tradition going back to 1972 and had its first results in the establishment of the European Youth Foundation and in the creation of the European Youth Centre Strasbourg. It is based on the active involvement of young people; the working principle in the youth sector is the co-management in the decision making between representatives of the member states and of youth. The priorities of the CoE youth policy were (re)defined in the Agenda 2020 which dates back to the year 2008. These principles are a) human rights and democracy, b) living together in diverse societies and c) social inclusion of young people.

The youth policy of the European Union was for the first time outlined in the White Paper on Youth in the year 2001 where the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) was introduced. The main youth policy priorities where the OMC should be applied on participation, information, voluntary services among young people and greater understanding of youth.

The European Youth Pact, initiated by four state leaders focused on the new challenges of growing up in the EU and proposed action in three fields: a) employment, integration and social advancement, b) education, training and mobility and c) reconciliation of working life and family life. With this document youth policy was definitely declared as horizontal issue. The new framework is the EU Strategy for Youth: Investing and Empowering, which was adopted in 2009 and will provide the frame of youth policy until 2018 aims on creating more opportunities for youth in education and employment focuses on eight main fields of action, where the OMC should concentrate on: education & training; employment & entrepreneurship; health & wellbeing; participation; voluntary activities; social inclusion; creativity & culture and youth & world. Important instruments for this are the Structured Dialogue and also peer learning activities between the Member States.

REF: European Commission: Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, COM(2009) 200 - 27.4.2009: An EU Strategy for Youth - Investing and Empowering. A renewed open method of coordination to address youth challenges and opportunities, European Commission: Communication from the Commission to the Council on European policies concerning youth, COM(2005) 206 - 30.5.2005: Addressing the concerns of young people in Europe - implementing the European Youth Pact and promoting active citizenship, European Commission white paper - A new impetus for European youth, COM/2001/0681 final, Titley, G. (2008): “The future of the Council of Europe youth policy: AGENDA 2020”, Background Document for 8th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth; Kyiv, Ukraine, 10-11 October 2008.

See also: Co-management; Council of Europe; culture; Council of Europe Directorate of Youth and Sport; empowerment; European Youth Pact; human rights; open Method of Coordination; participation; peer to peer education; social inclusion; training; voluntary activities; youth entrepreneurship; youth participation; young people; youth policy

The Charter on Local Youth Work (Europe goes local) - The aim of the charter is to contribute to the further development of local youth work. It does this by stating which principles should guide it and how different aspects of it should be designed in order to meet these principles. Hence, the Charter constitutes a common European platform for the necessary dialogue on youth work. It is a free-to-use methodological tool, functioning as a check-list around which stakeholders can gather and discuss what measures that might be needed for the further development of youth work, making sure that no aspect or perspective is left out and that youth work provision is carried out in the best and most efficient way.

The Charter formulates youth work’s value basis and its core principles. It also asks that youth work practice is guided by a youth work policy and furthermore states the needs of organisation and practice of local youth work. The Charter also describes on the one hand the role and tasks of youth workers and on the other hand the necessity of quality development of local youth work.

The Charter on Local Youth Work was developed in the Erasmus+ Youth in Action Project “Europe goes local” in a multi-step participatory approach with involvement of practitioners, youth policy makers, researchers and young people on the European level as well as in various consultation and adaptation rounds on the level of nation states.

For further information see: https://www.europegoeslocal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191002-egl-charter_ENG_online.pdf

EU Youth Strategy – The Commission Communication 'Engaging, Connecting and Empowering young people: a new EU Youth Strategy' proposes to focus on the following areas of action: ENGAGE: Fostering young people's participation in civic and democratic life, CONNECT: Connecting young people across the European Union and beyond to foster voluntary engagement, learning mobility, solidarity and intercultural understanding, EMPOWER: Supporting youth empowerment through quality, innovation and recognition of youth work. This new EU Youth Strategy is valid for the time of 2019 to 2027. It includes some novelties: A) A new EU Youth coordinator will channel voices of young people in the Commission, thus allowing young people to contribute to shaping EU policies across areas; the coordinator will strengthen the dialogue with young people, notably via the European Youth Portal and the EU Youth Strategy Platform. B) A renewed EU Youth Dialogue to take youth concerns better into account and ensure wider outreach, including through innovative formats; C) Tracking of EU spending for youth in main funding programmes; D) An agenda for youth work to further improve its quality, innovation and recognition and to allow other sectors to capitalise on the potential of non-formal learning; and E) A clearer link between EU youth policy implementation and related programme activities in Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps.

Importantly, it includes the 11 Youth Goals, which were developed in a participatory method, as an Annex.

Ref: https://ec.europa.eu/youth/news/eu-youth-strategy-adopted_de

Etymologically speaking, evaluation means appraising or valuing; finding the value of something. It means to evaluate the success of something (for example policies).

It does not imply any specific purpose (such as grading individual performance), nor does it imply any particular method of evaluation (such as a written test), nor do its outcomes automatically suggest that something is of greater value or importance than something else (such as Council of Europe activities in comparison with SALTO activities).

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain and Online etymological dictionary.

See also: Assessment; Council of Europe; educational evaluation; formative evaluation; summative evaluation

Evidence-based youth policies are youth policies that are not only based on political and moral objectives, but also on accurate empirical information on the social situation of young people across the society and their changing expectations, attitudes and life-styles. One important source of information is independent, objective and professional research and statistics. Furthermore, reliable empirical information on the implementation of policies is needed to learn from experiences and further develop goal setting, the policy approaches and youth work methods and activities.

REF: Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy

See also: Knowledge-based youth policies; young people; youth policy; youth work

EUROSTAT uses an indicator to measure risk of poverty and social exclusion. The indicator sums up the number of persons who are at risk of poverty, severely materially deprived or living in households with very low work intensity. Persons present in several sub-indicators are counted only once. Persons at risk of poverty have an equivalised disposable income below 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income after social transfers. Material deprivation covers indicators relating to economic strain and durables. Persons are considered living in households with very low work intensity if they are aged 0-59 and the working age members in the household worked less than 20 % of their potential during the past year.

REF: European Commission Eurostat, People at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion.

See also: Poverty

Extremism - refers to positions that are strongly directed against shared values and moral standards within a given society. The term ‹extremists› refers to people who strongly disrespect or even fight those values and standards (including the use of violence).

Ref: The Contribution of Youth Work to preventing marginalisation and radicalisation to violent extremism, available at: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/0ad09926-a8b1-11e7-837e-01aa75ed71a1 (access October 12, 2019)

UNESCO defines an education programme as a coherent set or sequence of educational activities or communication designed and organised to achieve pre-determined learning objectives or accomplish a specific set of educational tasks over a sustained period. Objectives encompass improving knowledge, skills and competencies within any personal, civic, social and/or employment-related context. Learning objectives are typically linked to the purpose of preparing for more advanced studies and/or for an occupation, trade, or class of occupations or trades but may be related to personal development or leisure. A common characteristic of an education programme is that, upon fulfilment of learning objectives or educational tasks, successful completion is certified. The key concepts in the above formulation are to be understood as follows.

Educational activities are deliberate activities involving some form of communication intended to bring about learning. Learning is individual acquisition or modification of information, knowledge, understanding, attitudes, values, skills, competencies or behaviours through experience, practice, study or instruction. That this is organised, means that it is planned in a pattern or sequence with explicit or implicit aims. It involves a providing agency (person(s) or body) that facilitates a learning environment, and a method of instruction through which communication is organised. Instruction typically involves a teacher or trainer who is engaged in communicating and guiding knowledge and skills with a view to bringing about learning. The medium of instruction can also be indirect, e.g. through radio, television, computer software, film, recordings, Internet or other communication technologies. Learning is sustained, meaning that the learning experience has the elements of duration and continuity.

REF: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2012): International Standard Classification of Education 2011, Montreal.

See also: Certification; competencies; knowledge; learning objectives; skill; teacher

Formal learning is purposive learning that takes place in a distinct and institutionalised environment specifically designed for teaching/training and learning. It is staffed by learning facilitators who are specifically qualified for the sector, level and subject concerned and who usually serve a specified category of learners (defined by age, level and specialism). Learning aims are almost always externally set, learning progress is usually monitored and assessed, and learning outcomes are usually recognised by certificates or diplomas. Much formal learning provision is compulsory (school education).

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

Formal recognition refers to reaching an ‘official’ status for some aspect of youth work and non-formal learning/education, (e.g. validation of competences; official accreditation of programmes; certification of youth workers and trainers, etc.).

REF: Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the Field of Youth (2011): Pathways 2.0 towards recognition of non-formal learning/education and of youth work in Europe, Strasbourg and Brussels.

See also: Accreditation; certificates; certification; competences; nonformal learning; youth work; youth workers

Formative evaluation or assessment refers to a dynamic process over time, which tries to capture the developmental dimensions of learning, performance and achievement. It records the pathways and the changes between two points in time, with the primary accent on what lies between those points and how the journey has unfolded.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Accreditation; assessment; evaluation; summative evaluation

This term primarily refers to homosexuality and same sex preferences.

Gay is a term that is used to describe a man who has an emotional and/or sexual orientation towards men. Some women also define themselves as gay rather than lesbian; it is a generic term for lesbian and gay sexuality.

A person should not be referred to as 'a gay', rather that they 'are gay'.

In recent years the term has been coined by some younger people as a derisive term meaning rubbish or stupid (as in "That's so gay."). In this use, the word does not mean "homosexual", rather an object or abstract concept of which one disapproves. In 2014 Stonewall developed a campaign and educational materials to tackle the use of homophobic language used by young people.

For more information on sexual orientation visit the American Psychological Association

REF: Stonewall.

See also: Bi-sexual; Gay; homophobia; homosexual; lesbian; queer; sexual orientation

Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. It is often confused with the term ‘sex’; however this term refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women, not to social constructions of roles for men and women. In other words, whilst ‘male’ and ‘female’ are sex categories, ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ are gender categories. These rigid gender expectations are increasingly contested with gender understood as being on a spectrum.

REF: Adapted from World Health Organisation.

See also: Gender Identity

Gender Based Violence (GBV) is violence that is directed against a person on the basis of his or her gender. It constitutes a breach of the fundamental right to life, liberty, security, dignity, equality between women and men, non-discrimination and physical and mental integrity.

Gender based violence reflects and reinforces inequalities between men and women.

Gender based violence and violence against women (VAW) are often used interchangeably as most gender based violence is inflicted by men on women and girls. The Council of Europe has estimated that 20 to 25% of women in Europe have suffered physical violence. The number of women who have suffered from other forms of gender-based violence is much higher.

The Council of Europe defines violence against women as ‘all acts of gender based violence that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life’.

Although it is difficult to distinguish between different types of violence since they are not mutually exclusive, gender based violence includes:

• domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, sexual violence during conflict and harmful customary or traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, forced marriages and honour crimes
• trafficking in women, forced prostitution and violations of human rights in armed conflict (in particular murder, systematic rape, sexual slavery and forced pregnancy)
• forced sterilisation, forced abortion, coercive use of contraceptives, female infanticide and prenatal sex selection

While the EU does not have a common policy to deal with gender based violence, it does have a mandate to take action against one of the most severe forms of gender inequality. In fact, gender based violence cannot be understood outside the social structures, gender norms and roles that support and justify it as normal or tolerable.  According to a 2009 Eurobarometer on Gender Equality, 62% of Europeans think that gender based violence should be a priority action in the area of gender inequality, and 92% believe that there is an urgent need to tackle it.

REF: European Institute for Gender Equality, Council of Europe (2006): Combating violence against women: Stocktaking study on the measures and actions taken in Council of Europe member states, Council of Europe, Ad Hoc Committee on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (CAHVIO) (2011): European Commission Strategy for equality between women and men, 2010-2015, The Fourth World Conference on Women (1995): Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and European Parliament Resolution on the elimination of violence against women, 26 November, 2009.

See also: Council of Europe; equality; equity; gender

Gender equality refers to the ideal situation when women and men enjoy the same rights and opportunities across all sectors of society (political participation and representation, participation to the economic life, equal participation in the decision making processes, etc). Ensuring the gender equality had been one of the main priorities both of the international organisations, as well as for the governments and local public authorities, being as well one of the key themes of the discourse and projects of the civil society organisations. In order to have a clear picture of the existent situation when it comes to gender equality, the international organisations developed a series of indexes: United Nations Gender Inequality Index, Social Watch Gender Equity Index, and World Economic Forum Global Gender Pay Gap Index, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment being as well one of the eight Millennium Development Goals.

REF: Gender Equality in Ireland, What is Gender Equality, United Nations Population Fund, Gender Equality, United Nations Population Fund, Gender Inequality Index (GII), United Nations, Millenium Development Goals and Beyond 2015.

See also: Gender; empowerment; equity; equality; participation; youth political participation

The term ‘gender identity’, distinct from the term ‘sexual orientation’ refers to a person's innate, deeply felt psychological identification as a man, woman or some other gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth (e.g., the sex listed on their birth certificate).

For transgender people, gender identity may differ from physical anatomy or expected social roles. It is important to note that gender identity, biological sex, and sexual orientation are separate and that you cannot assume how someone identifies in one category based on how they identify in another category.

REF: Human Rights Campaign; International Spectrum University of Michigan, LGBT Terms and Definitions

See also: Gender; sexual orientation; transgender person; trans man/ woman; transgender

When defining young people with fewer opportunities, a wide range of obstacles and contexts can be identified. Geographical obstacles refer to the obstacles that young people from remote, rural or hilly areas, young people living on small islands or peripheral regions, young people from urban problem zones, young people from less serviced areas (limited public transport, poor facilities, abandoned villages, etc.), are facing. These obstacles limit young people’s participation.

REF: Salto Youth, Young People with Fewer Opportunities

See also: participation; young people; youth participation

Global education is a holistic education that opens people’s eyes and minds to the realities of the globalised world and awakens them to bring about a world of greater justice, equity and Human Rights for all. The Global Education Programme of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe promotes global education to strengthen public awareness of sustainable development, bearing in mind that for all citizens is essential to acquire the knowledge and skills to understand, participate in and interact critically with our global society, as empowered global citizens.

The Global Education Week is the Europe-wide annual awareness raising kick-off event to encourage global education practice in formal, non-formal and informal educational settings. The Global Education Week is coordinated with the assistance of the Global Education Week Network and supported by an interactive webpage and a periodic electronic newsletter.

REF: North-South Centre of the Council of Europe: Global Education Guidelines (2012), available at www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/GE/GEguideline_presentation_en.asp ;

The Maastricht Global Education Declaration (2002), available at www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/GE/GE/Maastricht_Global_Education_Declaration_EN.pdf

See also: North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, Learning for Sustainable, development education, human rights education, peace education

“Golden triangle" is a notion which refers to the idea of permanent cooperation and exchanges in the youth field between researchers /research institutions, policy makers/ministries and practitioners/ youth work organisations. Interactions between the three different actors, which all have different organisational frameworks, competences and roles, is expected to contribute to the quality and development of the youth field (youth work, youth policy, living conditions of young people). There are a number of other interaction formats which carry out roughly similar functions (e.g. networks, roundtables, working groups, etc.).

REF: Milmeister, M. and Williamson H. (eds.) (2006): Dialogues and networks: Organising exchanges between youth field actors, Luxembourg: Scientific – Editions PHI.

See also: Young people; youth organisations; youth work

Guidance counselling is the process of helping individuals discover and develop their educational, vocational, and psychological potentialities and thereby to achieve an optimal level of personal happiness and social usefulness. Guidance in a wide sense is a pervasive activity in which many persons and organisations take part. It is provided to individuals by their parents, relatives, and friends and by the community at large through various educational, industrial, social, religious, and political agencies and through the press and broadcasting services.

REF: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Guidance counseling.

Though most states have adopted legislation banning expressions amounting to “hate speech”, definitions differ slightly when determining what is being banned. Hate speech has no particular definition in international human right. It is a term used to describe broad discourse that is extremely negative and constitutes a threat to social peace.  Only the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers Recommendation 97(20) on “hate speech” provides a definition condemning all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin. In this sense, “hate speech” covers comments which are necessarily directed against a person or a particular group of persons.

REF: Weber A., Manual on hate speech (2009), Council of Europe publishing, available at www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/hrpolicy/Publications/Hate_Speech_EN.pdf ;

Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers” Recommendation 97(20) on “hate speech” (1997), available at www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/hrpolicy/other_committees/dh-lgbt_docs/CM_Rec(97)20_en.pdf

See also: No Hate Speech Movement; Freedom of expression; European Convention on Human Rights

The Commission Recommendation of 20 February 2013 'Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage' provides an indicator-based monitoring framework including indicators on children's health. Health indicators include:

• Infant mortality
• Child mortality 1-14 years
• Low birth weight
• Vaccination coverage
• Obesity
• Regular smokers
• Mental health
• Causes of death among young people – suicide.

REF: European Commission, EU Youth Health Indicators and European Commission, Commission Recommendation of 20.02.2013 - C(2013) 778 : Investing in children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage, Brussels 2013.

See also: Health problems; social inclusion; young people

Youth health is the range of approaches to preventing, detecting or treating young people’s health and wellbeing. Even though the health of Europe’s young people is considered to be in general rather satisfactory, concerns remain regarding:

• Nutrition
• Physical activity
• Alcohol abuse
• Sexual health
• Mental health.

It is essential to promote a healthy lifestyle, to adopt preventive measures and to take gender issues into consideration. To ensure the healthy development of young people, their physical and social environments should be wholesome. This aim is best achieved by giving further support to parents. The extent of social inclusion and level of education of young people is closely related to their health and wellbeing. Hence, it is important that young people are kept well informed of the advantages of a healthy lifestyle and that they are encouraged to become more responsible and autonomous with regard to their own health.

REF: European Union (n.d.): Summaries of EU legislation, Health and well-being of young people, and

World Health Organisation (2014): Fact Sheet N°345: Adolescents: health risks and solutions.

See also: Health indicators; social inclusion; young people

Homophobia is a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). It can be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, or hatred, may be based on irrational fear, and is sometimes related to religious beliefs.

REF: International Spectrum, University of Michigan

See also: Bi-sexual, Gay, Homosexual, Lesbian, Queer, Sexual Orientation

‘Homosexual’ is a term that is used to describe a person who has a sexual orientation towards people of their own sex.

The term was coined by the Hungarian doctor Karoly Maria Benkert in 1869 and introduced into English by sexologist Havelock Ellis in the 1890s.

Originally the term ‘homosexual’ was used by scientists and doctors to describe same-sex attraction and behaviour as a sign of mental disorder and moral deficiency. To obtain distance from such medical labels, the terms gay and lesbian are now used. For more information on sexual orientation visit the American Psychological Association.

REF: Stonewall

See also: Bi-sexual; gay; lesbian; queer; sexual orientation

Host environment (organisation / community), host society - The term host community is used in two different approaches. On the one hand in the understanding of learning mobility in the youth field it refers to the organisation or the community hosting young people in an exchange or a voluntary activity (EVS, ESC).

In the context of migration, host community or host society refers to the country or region in which migrants and refugees settle down. In the special case of flight and asylum seeking the UNHCR describes a “host community in this context [as] the country of asylum and the local, regional and national governmental, social and economic structures within which refugees live. Urban refugees live within host communities with or without legal status and recognition by the host community. In the context of refugee camps, the host community may encompass the camp, or may simply neighbour the camp but have interaction with, or otherwise be impacted by, the refugees residing in the camp.”

Ref: UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/protection/resettlement/4cd7d1509/unhcr-ngo-toolkit-practical-cooperation-resettlement-community-outreach.html, accessed December 26, 2019

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups.

The principle of universality of human rights is the cornerstone of international human rights law. This principle, as first emphasised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, has been reiterated in numerous international human rights conventions, declarations, and resolutions.

The European Convention of Human Rights is the first Council of Europe convention and the cornerstone of all its activities. It was adopted in 1950 and entered into force in 1953. Its ratification is a prerequisite for joining the Organisation.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg oversees the implementation of the Convention in the 47 Council of Europe member states. Individuals can bring complaints of human rights violations to the Strasbourg Court once all possibilities of appeal have been exhausted in the member state concerned. The European Union is preparing to sign the European Convention on Human Rights, creating a common European legal space for over 820 million citizens (ECHR).

REF: United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights; European Convention on Human Rights

See also: Council of Europe; discrimination; European Convention on Human Rights; human rights; human rights education; prejudice

Human Rights Education refers to educational programmes and activities that focus on promoting equality in human dignity, in conjunction with other programmes such as those promoting intercultural learning, participation and empowerment of minorities.

Human rights education includes:

• Promoting awareness and understanding of human rights issues, in order that people recognise violations of human rights (learning about human rights)
• Developing the skills and abilities necessary for the defence of human rights (learning for human rights)
• Developing attitudes of respect for human rights, so that people do not willingly violate the rights of others (learning through human rights)

REF: Council of Europe (n.d.): COMPASS. A manual on human rights education.

See also: Empowerment; European Convention on Human Rights; human rights; intercultural learning; participation

Identity refers to the sense of self, of personhood, of what kind of person one is. Even if identities tend to be seen as being fixed or given, sociologists make clear that they are fluid and changeable. Common habits, characteristics, and ideas may be clear markers of a shared cultural identity, but essentially identity is determined by difference: we feel we belong to a group, and a group defines itself as a group, by noticing and highlighting differences with other groups and cultures. Identity (or ‘self') is very much a social construction: for example feminist studies argue that gender identities must be understood in relation to the (often male) expectations of women, girls, mothers and wives. Identity is complex, because it is shared by the affiliation to different groups.

REF: Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy; Abercrombie, N., Hill, S. and Turner, B. (2006): The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology, Penguin Reference.

See also: Culture; diversity; gender; gender identity

Movement of people into a country to which they are not native, in order to settle there.

REF: European Commission, EMN Glossary.

See also: Migration

Impact - Positive and negative, primary and secondary long-term cumulative effects produced by a development intervention, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. The impact is the long-term effect of an outcome. In other words, impact is defined as the meaningful and lasting (short or long term) change generated by a policy or other type of intervention and when speaking about youth policies, impact is generally seen as the change generated (directly or indirectly) by the policy in the life of young people, youth workers, youth organisations and local communities where young people live.

Ref.: OECD (2002) Glossary of Based Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Management, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/2754804.pdf, accessed: December 22, 2019; Lonean, Braziene and Taru (2020) Youth Policy Evaluation Review. EU-CoE youth partnership

Inclusion is a term used widely in social and educational policymaking to express the idea that all people living in a given society should have access and participation rights on equal terms. This means on the one hand that institutions, structures and measures should be designed positively to accommodate diversity of circumstances, identities and ways of life. On the other hand, it means that opportunities and resources should be distributed so as to minimise disadvantage and marginalisation.

In the sphere of European youth work and nonformal education, inclusion is considered as an all-embracing strategy and practice of ensuring that people with fewer opportunities have access to the structures and programmes offered.

REF: European Commission: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, COM (2009) 200 - 27 April 2009: Youth - Investing and Empowering. EU Youth Report.

See also: citizenship; marginalisation; nonformal education; participation; social exclusion; youth work

Independent living - Independent Living is the daily demonstration of human rights-based disability policies. Independent living is possible through the combination of various environmental and individual factors that allow persons with disabilities to have control over their own lives. This includes the opportunity to make real choices and decisions regarding where to live, with whom to live and how to live. Services must be available, accessible to all and provided on the basis of equal opportunity, free and informed consent and allowing persons with disabilities flexibility in their daily life. Independent living requires that the built environment, transport and information are accessible, that there is availability of technical aids, access to personal assistance, or community-based services, or both. Independent living is for all persons with disabilities, regardless of the gender, age and the level of their support needs.

Ref: European Disability Forum, 2016, available at: http://www.edf-feph.org/independent-living-social-services, accessed December 18, 2019

Indicator - a quantitative or qualitative factor or variable that provides a simple and reliable means to measure achievement, to reflect the changes connected to an intervention, or to help assess the performance of a development factor.

For the purposes of policy processes, an analytical distinction between two types of indicators is in place:

a) Indicators that are used for capturing how an intervention is implemented and what are its immediate outputs, and

b) Indicators that are used capturing changes in society, that is outcomes of an intervention.

Good indicators are SMART:

Specific: The measured changes should be expressed in precise terms and suggest actions that can be taken to assess them.

Measurable: Indicators should be related to things that can be measured in an unambiguous way.

Achievable: Indicators should be reasonable and possible to reach, and therefore sensitive to changes the project might make.

Replicable: Measurements should be the same when made by different people using the same method

Timebound: There should be a time limit within which changes are expected and measured.

Ref: Lopes Severino A., Petkovic S., Taru M. & Zentner M. (2019) Desk research on Indicators for Impact of Learning Mobility (to be published?); UK aid (2013), Indicators of Inputs, Activities, Outputs, Outcomes and Impacts in Security and Justice Programming, available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/304626/Indicators.pdf, accessed December 22, 2019

Informal learning, from the learner's standpoint at least, is non-purposive learning, which takes place in everyday life contexts in the family, at work, during leisure and in the community. It does have outcomes, but these are seldom recorded, virtually never certified and are typically neither immediately visible for the learner nor do they count in themselves for education, training or employment purposes. APEL systems are one way in which the outcomes of such learning can be made more visible and hence open to greater recognition.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Accreditation; APEL; certificates; certification; nonformal learning; nonformal education

Input - the financial, human, and material resources that are used in a programme or in an intervention.

Ref: OECD (2002) Glossary of Based Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Management, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/2754804.pdf, accessed: December 22, 2019

In everyday use, the term frequently connotes the social integration of foreigners, migrants, minorities or of persons living with disabilities on equal terms with the mainstream or majority. Currently, European socio-political discourses on integration are focusing above all on linguistic and religious issues arising from immigration from third countries, especially (but by no means only) from world regions beyond Europe.

Opposite to assimilation, integration asks not for the abandoning and denying the own culture but implies a conjunction of different cultures. Integration is necessarily (at least) a two-way process, so minorities and majorities (whose composition shifts according to what is in the foreground) have to negotiate multiple reconciliations in order to create together a mutually pleasing synthesis.

Integration revokes the situation of exclusion and separation. Integration is a dynamic, continuing process of joining and merging.

REF: European Commission, DG Integration and Home Affairs, (among other documents: European Commission: Commission Staff Working Paper accompanying the Communication from the Commission COM(2011) 455 - 20.7.2011: “European Agenda for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals”).

See also: Community cohesion; culture; cultural differences; cultural diversity; immigration; migration

Concerning or representing different cultures.

REF: European Commission, EMN Glossary.

See also: Culture; cultural differences; cultural diversity

Intercultural competences (ICC) are the ability to work/interact well across cultures.

In the framework of European youth work, ICC refers to the “qualities needed for a young person to live in contemporary and pluralistic Europe. It enables her/him to take an active role in confronting social injustice and discrimination and promote and protect human rights. ICC requires an understanding of culture as a dynamic multifaceted process. In addition, it requires an increased sense of solidarity in which individual fear of the other and insecurity are dealt with through critical thinking, empathy, and tolerance of ambiguity”.

REF: Salto Youth, Intercultural Competence.

See also: Discrimination; culture; empathy; human rights; youth work

In its White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue, the Council of Europe talks about intercultural dialogue as "an open and respectful exchange of views between individuals, groups with different ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage on the basis of mutual understanding and respect. It operates at all levels – within societies, between the societies of Europe and between Europe and the wider world". Similarly, and after recognising 2008 as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the European Commission has coined this term as "an instrument to assist European citizens, and all those living in the European Union, in acquiring the knowledge and aptitudes to enable them to deal with a more open and more complex environment". In the online page dedicated to intercultural dialogue by the European Commission, it is defined as “the exchange of views and opinions between different cultures […] and seeks to establish linkages and common ground between different cultures, communities, and people, promoting understanding and interaction”.

The value of youth work and youth organisations is particularly recognised as essential to advance intercultural dialogue in a non-formal education context. Such structures often succeed in reaching out and giving a voice and an opportunity to young people who are often marginalised, giving them a chance to engage in dialogue and in generating greater solidarity and opportunities for social cohesion within neighbourhoods and communities.

Engaging in constructive intercultural dialogue from an early age can set the tone for greater understanding, respect and participation for later, be it in the personal or professional spheres.

REF: Council of Europe (2008): White Paper on intercultural Dialogue. “Living together as equals in dignity”, Strasbourg, Martinelli, S. and Taylor, M. (eds.) (2000): Intercultural learning T-kit No. 4, Strasbourg.

See also: Council of Europe; cultural diversity; culture; European citizenship; European Commission; participation; social cohesion; youth organisations; young people; youth work

Interculturality describes a set of multi-faceted processes of interaction through which relations between different cultures are constructed, aiming to enable groups and individuals to forge links between cultures based on equity and mutual respect. It is also linked with the idea of hybrid identities and fusion cultures, in which people and groups create and recreate new cultural patterns that take up elements of formerly distinct and separated norms, values, behaviours and lifestyles.

REF: Adapted from Leclercq, Jean-Michel (2003): Facets of interculturality in education, Strasbourg.

See also: Cultures; equity; intercultural; intercultural learning

Intercultural learning refers to the process of becoming more aware of and better understanding one's own culture and other cultures around the world. The aim of intercultural learning is to increase international and cross-cultural tolerance and understanding. The learning process itself is a constant movement of cultural awareness – from the freedom and comfort of expecting others to be like oneself, to the shock and constraint of one's emotions and projections when they prove not to be. The Council of Europe Youth Sector is a pioneer in developing intercultural learning as a pedagogical tool (see Intercultural Learning,T-kits, and the European Federation of Intercultural Learning.

REF: Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy

See also: Council of Europe; culture; intercultural; interculturality

The intergenerational contract describes the fictitious contract between generations to value the former generations by ensuring a form of pension system within a society.  It refers to the understanding of society as having a social contract between those who are living, those who are dead and those who are not born. It also refers to the concept of intergenerational justice elaborated by Rawls and also by Jonas.

A state pension fund where the current working generation finances the pensions of the retired generation has direct implications on intergenerational justice. This is expressed through the discussion of a (fictional) contract between generations.

REF:  Herdt, J. (2013): Beyond the intergenerational Social Contract, in: Reflections; Kluth, W. (2011): Intergenerational Justice, in: Online-Handbook Demography, Berlin Institute.

Demographic ageing is an issue for all generations. The challenge for future growth in the EU requires a perspective that spans the life course of individuals and that addresses their labour market needs throughout their working lives. At the same time as the EU seeks to prolong working lives, young workers are struggling to gain a foothold into work, as the sluggish economy is conspiring with structural labour market problems to impede their entry. Intergenerational dialogue refers to political and policy processes to deal with the situation so that all generations, all age groups would feel they have not been treated unfairly.

REF: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2012): Intergenerational solidarity, Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union.

The United Nations’ International Youth Day is celebrated on 12 August each year to draw attention to youth issues worldwide and recognize efforts of the world’s youth in enhancing global society. It also aims to promote ways to engage young people in becoming more actively involved in making positive contributions to their communities. During International Youth Day, concerts, workshops, cultural events, and meetings involving national and local government officials and youth organisations take place all around the world.

On 17 December 1999, in its resolution 54/120, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day.

REF: United Nations General Assembly Resolution 54/120 (1999), available at http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/54/120

See also: International Volunteer Day; UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth

Inter-religious means any relation between two or more different religions and /or faiths. This is different to intra-religious which refers to the relation between different confessions of one religion/faith.

The term inter-religious dialogue refers to any cooperative and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions, (i.e. "faiths") on personal as well as on institutional level. Mutual understanding and respect for the other's belief while remaining true to the own faith is the basis for inter-religious dialogue.

The Berlin Declaration on Interreligious Dialogue of the European Council of Religious Leaders, one of the five regional interreligious councils, described the spirit of interreligious dialogue as emphasising both the similarities and differences of religions: "In interreligious dialogue we acknowledge that human beings of all faiths share certain experiences, needs and longings. We also acknowledge that we are different from each other in many respects and will remain different. Our religious traditions have formed different social rules and models which sometimes contradict each other. One aim of interreligious dialogue is to reduce false perceptions of difference and culture gaps, while we respect that something about our dialogue partner will necessarily remain other (or even alien) to us."

REF: European Council of Religious leaders' Berlin Declaration on interreligious dialogue.

See also: Culture; intercultural dialogue

‘Intersex’ is a general term used for a variety of conditions in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. For example, a person might be born appearing to be female on the outside, but having mostly male-typical anatomy on the inside. Or a person may be born with genitals that seem to be in-between the usual male and female types—for example, a girl may be born with a noticeably large clitoris, or lacking a vaginal opening, or a boy may be born with a notably small penis, or with a scrotum that is divided so that it has formed more like labia. Or a person may be born with mosaic genetics, so that some of the person’s cells have XX chromosomes and some of them have XY.

Although we speak of intersex as an inborn condition, intersex anatomy does not always show up at birth. Sometimes a person is not found to have intersex anatomy until she or he reaches the age of puberty, or finds himself an infertile adult, or dies of old age and is autopsied.

REF: Intersex Society of North America

See also: Gender; gender identity; LGBTQI

The Joint Council on Youth brings the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) and the Advisory Council together in a co-decision body which establishes the youth sector’s priorities, objectives and budgets.

REF: Council of Europe, Co-Management.

See also: Advisory Council on Youth; CDEJ; co-management

Juventization is a pro-active, problem-solving approach to youth participation perceiving it as the active involvement of young people in the social transformation of their societies.

REF: Kovacheva (2000), cited in: Council of Europe and European Commission Research Partnership: Report of the Research Seminar ‘What About Youth Political Participation?', Strasbourg, 2003.

See also: Participation; youth participation; young people

Key competences are a combination of basic knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context, to be provided through lifelong learning as a key measure in Europe's response to globalisation and the shift to knowledge-based economies. Moreover, they are particularly necessary for personal fulfilment and development, social inclusion, active citizenship and employment.

Key competences in the shape of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to each context are fundamental for each individual in a knowledge-based society. They provide added value for the labour market, social cohesion and active citizenship by offering flexibility and adaptability, satisfaction and motivation. The EU recommends that they should be acquired by everyone, this recommendation proposes a reference tool for European Union (EU) countries to ensure that these key competences are fully integrated into their strategies and infrastructures, particularly in the context of lifelong learning.

Key competences should be acquired by:

• Young people at the end of their compulsory education and training, equipping them for adult life, particularly for working life, whilst forming a basis for further learning;
• Adults throughout their lives, through a process of developing and updating skills.

The acquisition of key competences fits in with the principles of equality and access for all. This reference framework also applies in particular to disadvantaged groups whose educational potential requires support. Examples of such groups include people with low basic skills, early school leavers, the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, migrants, etc.

REF: Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning (2006/962/EC); Europa - Summaries of EU legislation, Key competences for lifelong learning.

See also: Citizenship; competencies; disabilities; early school leaving; knowledge; lifelong learning; migrants; skills; social cohesion

It is impossible to provide a satisfactory account of the conceptual background behind the term knowledge in a few words. In the everyday world, the meaning of the term knowledge appears self-evident: it is what someone individually knows or the sum of what a given civilisation collectively knows.

In educational practice knowledge is what there is to learn, but it is not necessarily useful and worthwhile of its own accord. It has to be joined up with skills and competences (to become useful), and  with principles and values (to become worthwhile).

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Competences; skills

A greater understanding and knowledge of youth is of paramount importance for policy making in the youth field. In order to meet the needs and expectations of young people, policies should be based on comprehensive knowledge and well-researched understanding of young people's situation, needs and expectations.

A knowledge-based approach to policy development is particularly imperative in the context of rapidly evolving realities and permanently fluctuating circumstances of younger generations in Europe. Youth research plays a vital role in generating knowledge and understanding in aid of youth policy development, as the Youth partnership document "knowledge based policy" claims. Thus youth research and the exchange between researchers and policy makers are essential to a knowledge based policy approach.

However, knowledge based youth policy includes more than results gained by the scientific community; it also refers to experiences of those working with and for young people. Knowledge includes data, facts and figures, evidence and experience from various sources both from the scientific community and the civil society as well as the policy makers.

REF: Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of Youth (n.d.): Knowledge based policy. Better understanding of youth policy framework.

See also: civil society; evidence based youth policies; knowledge; young people; youth involvement in policy and decision making processes; youth policy; youth research

Knowledge-based youth work refers to experiences of those working with and for young people, as well as accumulation of data, facts and figures, evidence and experience from various sources both from youth work practitioners, scientific community, civil society as well as the policy makers.

Declaration of the 2nd European Youth Work Convention emphasises the importance of building a knowledge base for youth work in Europe. Certainly, youth work needs more national and European research – exploiting different methodologies - about the different forms of youth work, its values, impacts and merits. There is an identified need for support for appropriate forms of scrutiny, inquiry and assessment of youth work practice and concepts in Europe. Based on the evidence of monitoring and research, youth work has a need for mechanisms for the development of reflective practice in Europe.

REF: Declaration of the 2nd European Youth Work Convention (2015), ), available at http://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/eywc-website-declaration

See also: Knowledge-based youth policy, evidence-based youth policy, youth work

Learning mobility is mainly defined as a trans-national mobility for a predefined period of time, with clear educational purposes aiming at offering the individual to get new competencies, knowledge, skills and attitudes within a different, international learning context. The learning mobility could be implemented both in formal and nonformal settings.

REF: Council of Europe, European Platform on Learning Mobility.

See also: Competences; formal education; formal learning; knowledge; mobility; nonformal education; nonformal learning; skill

Learning objectives describe the desired outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that individuals are to acquire at the end of the learning process. The learning objectives are also related to the performance of the individual within the learning opportunity structured. Most of the times, the learning objectives are defined so that they can be measured, the measurement being different within learning processes based on different educational approaches (exams in the formal systems, different evaluation methodologies in the nonformal settings).

REF: Teaching Effectiveness Program, What are Learning Objectives?

See also: Educational evaluation; evaluation; formal education; formal learning; informal learning; knowledge; skill; nonformal education; nonformal learning

The term ‘lesbian’ is used to describe a woman who has an emotional and/or sexual attraction for other women.  The term ‘lesbian’ is associated exclusively with women and comes from the name of the Greek island Lesbos. The prominent Greek poetess Sappho lived there in the 7th Century BC and was famous for her passionate poems dedicated to other women. The term ‘lesbian’ has been used in English since the 19th Century.

Some women who are attracted to other women may feel that the term ‘lesbian’ does not fit who they are. They may identify as gay, queer, or have a personal definition of their orientation. The term gay is now regarded as a generic term for lesbian and gay sexuality.

Women may experience erotic and romantic feelings for both their own and the opposite sex. Such people are often called bisexual.

For more information on sexual orientation visit the American Psychological Association

REF: Stonewall

See also: Bi-Sexual; gay; homophobia; homosexual; lesbian; LGBTQI; queer; sexual orientation

LGBTQI is a common abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex people.

For further information about each of these terms please see the relevant section.

REF: Combating discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.

See also: Bi-sexual; gay; homophobia; homosexual; intersex; lesbian; transgender; queer; sexual orientation

The European Commission  has defined lifelong learning in its Communication Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality as: 'all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective’.

The key features of lifelong learning include the principles that learning (1) is an integral part of life from cradle to grave, (2) should be accessible to all in the forms, at the times, at the stages and in the places people want and need to learn, and (3) takes place across the continuum of informal, nonformal and formal education and training in all spheres of life.

Putting lifelong learning into practice obviously requires innovation in teaching and learning methods, including much greater development of open and distance learning, together with blended learning and virtual learning resources. The shift also implies introducing much more flexibility and permeability within and between education tracks, pathways and institutions, which in turn creates the demand for new ways of making learning processes and outcomes more visible and for new forms of recognition and certification.

REF: European Commission: Communication from the Commission, COM(2001) 678: 21.11.2001 - Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality.

See also: Accreditation; certificates; certification; Competence; European Commission; formal learning; informal learning; knowledge; nonformal learning; recognition; skill; training

Lobby refers to the act of trying to influence the decision making process of public bodies and of the attempt of the civil society sector or different private actors of influencing the public agenda. Considering the fact that within the lobby processes the causes are not always generally accepted, when it comes to the ethical dimension of the lobby processes, they could be defined as ethically dual-edged.

REF: Smucker, B. (1999): The Nonprofit Lobbying Guide Second Edition.

See also: Civil society

A local authority is an organisation that is officially responsible for all the public services and facilities in a particular area.

In many EU countries, the regional or local authorities are responsible for policy areas linked to the Europe 2020 strategy such as education and training, entrepreneurship, labour market, infrastructure or energy efficiency.

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is the oldest and broadest European association of local and regional government. It is the only organisation that brings together the national associations of local and regional authorities from 41 European countries and represents, through them, all levels of territories – local, intermediate and regional.

Since its creation in 1951, CEMR has promoted the construction of a united, peaceful and democratic Europe founded on local self-government, respect for the principle of subsidiarity and the participation of citizens. Their work is organised around two main pillars:

Influencing European policy and legislation in all areas having an impact on municipalities and regions

Providing a forum for debate between local and regional authorities via their national representative associations.

REF: The Council of European Municipalities and Regions.

See also: Citizen; European citizen; Europe 2020 Strategy; participation; training

Long term unemployment is defined as referring to people who have been unemployed for twelve months or more. Lower duration limits (e.g. six months or more) are sometimes considered in national statistics on the subject.

Unemployment is defined in all OECD countries in accordance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Guidelines. Unemployment is usually measured by national labour force surveys and refers to persons who report that they have worked in gainful employment for less than one hour in the previous week, who are available for work and who have taken actions to seek employment in the previous four weeks. The ILO Guidelines specify the kinds of actions that count as seeking work.

Rates of long term unemployment are generally lower in countries that have enjoyed high GDP growth rates in recent years. Lower rates of long term unemployment may also occur at the onset of an economic downturn due to rising inflow of newly unemployed persons, as witnessed during the first years of the current jobs crisis. Subsequently, long term unemployment may gradually begin to unfold in cases of prolonged crisis as is currently the case in a number of OECD countries.

REF: OECD iLibrary

See also: unemployed

Mainstreaming means bringing a certain topic to bear on policy-making, planning and decision-making, at the centre of analyses and policy decisions, medium-term plans, programme budgets, and institutional structures and processes.

The term mainstreaming is very often used in relation to gender (gender mainstreaming), which was defined in 1997 as:

“…the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.”

REF: ECOSOC: Agreed conclusions 1997/2, 18.7.1997 and United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (2002): Gender Mainstreaming. An overview, New York.

See also: Equality; equity; gender

The process whereby people or groups of people are pushed to the margins of a given society due to poverty, disability, lack of education, also by racism or discrimination due to origin, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc.

See also: Disability; discrimination; ethnic minorities; NEET; sexual orientation; social cohesion; social exclusion

Within EVS – European Voluntary Service – and Erasmus Plus granted projects, a mentor is an independent person who supports the volunteer during the service, within the hosting community. The support comes mainly in order to help the volunteer to adapt to the new environment as well as to help the volunteer to structure the outcomes of the learning process for the Youthpass certificate, also helping the volunteer to monitor the EVS project in general. 

REF: Leargas (n.d.): Hands on guide to… Mentoring in European Voluntary Service Projects.

See also: Certificate; European Voluntary Service; Erasmus Plus; Youthpass; volunteering

Mentoring is a structured process for providing personal guidance and support to someone who is younger, less experienced or new. It is most commonly used in education, training and employment contexts. Mentors act as critical but non-judgemental friends, provide a role model and a source of useful information and advice, and can take on a coaching task (helping to improve performance). They may be freely chosen, but may also be allocated using a set of matching criteria. Formal mentoring programmes are likely to specify a given time-period for the mentoring relationship.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Training

Meta-evaluation - evaluation of evaluations. In order to have a quality evaluation, evaluation should produce findings that are internally and externally valid; i.e., the findings must be true and they must be generalisable But this technical adequacy, is not sufficient for judging the evaluation’s findings. In addition to producing good information; i.e., technically sound -information, evaluation must produce findings that are useful to some audience (utility) ; and the findings must be worth more to the audiences than the cost of obtaining the information (the concern of cost/effectiveness). Overall the three dimensions – technical adequacy, utility and cost/effectiveness have to be tested with meta-evaluations.

Ref: Stufflebeam, D. L. (2011) Meta-evaluation. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 7(15), 99-158.

In education and training, methodology is commonly understood to be the educational logic and philosophical rationale underlying a particular pedagogical approach. It can be used as a reference framework that enables an evaluation of whether a specific method is appropriate for given learning aims, contents and contexts. This means that methodologies are coherent sets of principles and relations that frame specific methods and their use. They ‘make sense' of individual methods, and in so doing they provide a meta-orientation for planning training/teaching and learning processes.

REF: Teach - Make a difference, Teaching Methods and Bakker, J.I.H. (2007): Methods. In Ritzer, G. (ed.): Encyclopedia of Social Theory, SAGE Publications, Inc.

See also: Methods; research methods; training; qualitative research, quantitative research

In research, a method is a concrete technique for collecting or analysing information and data in a systematic way – and so ideally producing reliable results. The technique may be designed for dealing with quantitative material (essentially, numbers or abstract symbols), such as questionnaires (data collection) or statistical significance tests (data analysis). It may also be designed for dealing with qualitative material (for example in words, pictures or observational accounts), such as narrative interviews (data collection) or analytic induction (data analysis). Many types of information can be collected and analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively, so that different methods can be used to research the same phenomenon – but they might not all be equally useful or appropriate for doing so. Individual research methods are usually ultimately related to differing philosophical approaches to understanding and explaining the social world.

REF: Bakker, J.I.H. (2007): Methods. In Ritzer, G. (ed.): Encyclopedia of Social Theory, SAGE Publications, Inc.

See also: Methodology; qualitative research; quantitative research; research methods

Migrant - An umbrella term, not defined under international law, reflecting the common lay understanding of a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons. The term includes a number of well-defined legal categories of people, such as migrant workers; persons whose particular types of movements are legally-defined, such as smuggled migrants; as well as those whose status or means of movement are not specifically defined under international law, such as international students.

Generally, a distinction is made between short-term or temporary migration, covering movements with duration between three and 12 months, and long-term or permanent migration, referring to a change of country of residence for one year or more.

In the global context, a person who is outside the territory of the State of which they are nationals or citizens and who has resided in a foreign country for more than one year irrespective of the causes, voluntary or involuntary, and the means, regular or irregular, is considered to migrate.

In the EU/EFTA context, a person who either:
(i) establishes their usual residence in the territory of an EU/EFTA Member State for a period that is, or is expected to be, of at least 12 months, having previously been usually resident in another EU/EFTA Member State or a third country; or
(ii) having previously been usually resident in the territory of the EU/EFTA Member State, ceases to have their usual residence in the EU/EFTA Member State for a period that is, or is expected to be, of at least 12 months.

Ref: IOM: available at: www.iom.int/key-migration-terms ; European Commission, EMN Glossary available at: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/glossary_search/migrant_en   

Migrant background / migrant history - For persons with migrant history or migrant background different descriptions and definitions exist in different countries. In the European Union a person with migrant background is defined as a person who has:

(a) migrated into their present country of residence; and / or

(b) previously had a different nationality from their present country of residence; and / or

(c) at least one of their parents previously entered their present country of residence as a migrant. 

Ref: EMN Glossary, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/glossary_search/person-migratory-background_en

See: migration, migrant, immigrant, emigrant

Migration - The movement of persons away from their place of usual residence, either across an international border or within a State.

Ref: https://www.iom.int/key-migration-terms

A minority group is defined on the basis of being different from a majority group. This may include minorities based on ascribed statuses such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. It may also include groups with deeply held shared identities and practices, including religious or linguistic groups.

For all types of minority groups, it is typically true that the group is different from those who hold the dominant influence in society in some way that is regarded as socially significant, and on the basis of that difference the group is assigned to a subordinate or disadvantaged status.

Early approaches to minorities began from the assumption that such social groups are always smaller in number than those belonging to the mainstream or majority in a given society. By the 1970s, feminist analysis had shown that girls and women, though outnumbering boys and men in most societies of the world, share many of the social features of minority groups – not least in terms of prejudice and discrimination. Most, if not all, contemporary societies are androcentric, that is, values, beliefs, practices and institutional arrangements are predicated on the circumstances of men's lives and on the tenets of masculinity as a set of social and cultural ideologies and practices. This in turn structures social power relations between women and men, generally to the disadvantage of the former, and tends to make such inequalities appear ‘natural'. These insights revolutionised theoretical perspectives on majority-minority relations, so that today, the term ‘minority group' refers to a complex set of features that together signify distinctiveness in relation to that which is perceived as ‘typical' or ‘standard' in a given historical time and social space.

On the whole, members of minority groups are prone to experience disadvantage of various kinds, but the attributes and life circumstances of some minorities instead lead to personal and social privilege – and in this case, such social groups are called ‘elites'.

REF: European Commission, EMN Glossary.

See also: Disability; ethnicity; ethnic minorities; equality; gender; sexual orientation

Refers to having both participants with no disabilities as well as participants with disabilities or learning difficulties in the same working group. Having a mixed abilities profile of the group favours the valorisation of different abilities in the group, even if the youth activities might have to be specially adapted. The special adaptation of the work setting and pedagogy ensures the right for everyone to participate in the activities is respected, and that it is a positive experience for all the participants.

REF: Salto Youth Inclusion Research Centre (n.d.): No barriers, No borders, A practical booklet for setting up international  mixed-ability youth projects (including persons with and without a disability).

See also: Disability; inclusion; participation; youth participation

Youth mobility in Europe is based on the principle of free movement benefiting every European citizen. It is a central component of the European cooperation on education and training to improve formal, informal or non-formal learning.

Mobility concerns all young Europeans, whether they are schoolchildren, students, apprentices, volunteers, teachers, young researchers, trainers, youth workers, entrepreneurs or young people on the labour market. Mobility is to be understood primarily as physical mobility, which means moving to another country for study, a work placement, community work or additional training in the context of lifelong learning.

Nevertheless, ‘virtual mobility', i.e. the use of information and communications technology (ICTs) to develop partnerships or long-distance exchanges with young people in other countries can also make a significant contribution to mobility.

REF: Conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 21 November 2008 on youth mobility (2008/C 320/03).

See also: Lifelong learning; mobility scheme; social obstacles; volunteering; young people; youth entrepreneurs; youth workers

Monitoring - is a systematic process of collecting data during the implementation of an intervention for the purpose of tracking the progress against set goals and objectives. It provides management and all stakeholders of an intervention with information on the extent of achievement of stated targets and goals, allowing them to make informed decisions and take remedial actions whenever deviations from initial plans are detected.

Ref: European Commission (2014) Guidance Document on Monitoring and Evaluation, https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/2014/working/wd_2014_en.pdf, accessed: December 22, 2019, OECD (2002) Glossary of Based Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Management, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/2754804.pdf, accessed: December 22, 2019

Multicultural refers to the idea that different cultural and ethnic groups can coexist in a pluralist society.

This adjective refers to ‘multiculturalism’, which encompasses various approaches. In a nutshell, it refers to policies developed either by autochthonous ethnic groups or through immigration flows from different areas of the world.  It also concerns  a variety of  policies that promote the institutionalization of cultural diversity.

REF: European Commission, EMN Glossary.

See also: Diversity; immigration

Multidimensional citizenship focuses on citizenship as a continuous process of civic learning, reflection and action. It centres on the development of citizens' personal civic beliefs, their capacity for joint social and public action, their ties to local communities as well as the world outside, and their awareness of past, present and future. The components of this model include a personal, a social, a spatial and a temporal dimension, all of which are interconnected and interrelated.

The concept of citizenship has become more complex with the increasing incursion of global issues into everyday life and, in consequence, the greater recognition of interconnected and intercultural social worlds. The concept of multidimensional citizenship aims to respond to these new realities.

REF: Adapted from Cogan, John and Derricott, Ray (2000): Citizenship for the 21st Century: An International Perspective on Education, London and Cogan, John et al (2000): Citizenship: The Democratic Imagination in a Global Context.

See also: Citizen; citizenship; European Citizenship

National agencies are structures established by the national authorities in each  program country in order to assist the European Commission with management and to assume responsibility for implementation of most of the Erasmus + and Youth in Action Programme. They promote and implement the program at national level and act as the link between the European Commission, promoters at national, regional and local level, and young people. The implementation of the program is mainly decentralised, the aim being to work as closely as possible with the beneficiaries and to adapt to the diversity of national systems and situations in the youth field.

It is the role of national agencies to:

• collect and provide appropriate information on the program
• administer a transparent and equitable selection process for project applications to be funded at decentralised level
• provide effective and efficient administrative processes
• seek cooperation with external bodies in order to help to implement the program
• evaluate and monitor the implementation of the program
• provide support to project applicants and promoters throughout the project life cycle
• form a functioning network with all National Agencies and the Commission
• improve the visibility of the program
• promote the dissemination and exploit the results at national level.

In addition, they play an important role as an intermediate structure for the development of youth work by:

• creating opportunities to share experiences
• providing training and nonformal learning experiences
• promoting values like social inclusion, cultural diversity and active citizenship
• supporting all kinds of youth structures and groups, especially less formal ones
• fostering recognition of nonformal learning through appropriate measures.

Finally, they act as a supporting structure for the Framework for European cooperation in the youth field.

REF: European Commission, Directorate-General Education and Culture, Youth in Action Programme Guide, 2012.

See also: Citizenship; cultural diversity; Erasmus Plus; European Commission; nonformal learning; recognition of nonformal learning; social inclusion; young people; Youth in Action; youth work

A National Youth Council is an umbrella organisation for youth NGOs and sometimes also other actors in youth work. National youth councils exist in most countries and almost all national youth councils in Europe receive financial support from their governments for maintaining their role as young people’s voice at the national level.

Youth Councils function primarily as a service organisation to their members. However, they can also act as a lobby and advocacy body. They play a privileged role as a government partner in the development of policies and programmes affecting youth and consequently, should be involved in development, implementation and evaluation of policy initiatives in the youth field.

At an international level, the European Youth Forum is the platform of the national youth councils and international non-governmental youth organisations in Europe. It strives for youth rights in international institutions such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

REF: Denstad, F.Y. (2009): Youth Policy Manual. How to develop a national youth strategy, Strasbourg, Council of Europe Publishing and Siurala, L. (2005): European framework of youth policy, Strasbourg, Council of Europe Publishing.

See also: Council of Europe; European youth policy; evaluation; lobby; national youth policy review; youth organisations; youth work

In Europe, youth policy is regarded as an integrated or cross-sectoral policy area. This means that formal and legal responsibility is consensual and plans, actions and programmes are integrated and discussed across sectors. However, in reality, three main problems in the development of a European wide cross-sectoral youth policy have been identified:

1. cross-sectoral youth policy does not go beyond rhetorical exercises, mere intentions or the use of youth framed, vocabulary. This includes a lack of legal framework; intentions with no action; principles with no specific programmes; and unclear relationships between departments, ministries or agencies
2. there is a lack of functionality and efficiency of existing structures. This includes lack of communication, collaboration or coordination between departments, ministries or agencies; or the overlapping of responsibilities and disregard for what is being done outside or beyond the Ministry of Youth or equivalents at a country wide level
3. there are problems associated with the structure itself for example, at a country level youth ministries (or its equivalents) are situated at the bottom of the Governmental hierarchy, or alternatively, are not even part of that hierarchy.

REF: Nico, M. (2014): Life is cross-sectoral. Why shouldn’t youth policy be? Overview of existing information on cross-sectoral youth policy in Europe, Strasbourg, Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth.

See also: European youth policy; national policy review

The Youth Department of the Council of Europe is running a project for the evaluation of national youth policies in member States. On the basis of an extensive national evaluation report and study visits in the countries concerned, an expert team drafts an international evaluation report which is presented to the Steering Committee for Intergovernmental Co-operation in the Youth Field (CDEJ) and the Minister responsible for youth issues at a public hearing. In autumn 2014, 19 international evaluation reports and two synthesis reports were available.

The first review was carried out in 1997 and the report was produced in 1999 (Finland). Since then, reporting methodology and composition of expert groups have been in development.

REF: Council of Europe, Youth - Young People Building Europe.

See also: Council of Europe; European youth policy; national youth policy

The term NEET is an acronym for Not in Education, Employment or Training. It is used to describe young people who are not engaged in any form of employment, education or training. The term has come into the policy debate in recent years due to disproportionate impact of the recession on young people (under 30 years old). The unemployment rate for those under thirty is nearly double the average rate.

Those with low levels of education are three times more likely to be NEET than those with third-level education. The risk is 70% higher for young people from an immigration background than nationals, while having a disability or health issue is also a strong risk factor.

Some 14 million young people are not in employment, education or training across the EU as a whole. However rates vary widely from around 5.5% of 15-24 year olds in the Netherlands to 22.7% in Italy.

The economic cost is not the only one. Young people not in employment, education or training are at higher risk of being socially and politically alienated. They have a lower level of level of interest and engagement in politics and lower levels of trust. Even in those countries where NEETs are more politically engaged (such as Spain) they do not identify with the main political or social actors.

EU Member States have tried a number of measures to prevent young people from becoming NEET and to reintegrate those who are NEETs. The involvement of a range of stakeholders in the design and delivery of youth employment measures is essential. In particular, a strong level of engagement with employers and their representatives is needed for measures that focus on fostering their beneficiaries’ employability.

Source: Eurofound, Young people and ‘NEETs’.

See also: Educational difficulties; employment; exclusion; long term unemployment; social exclusion; social obstacles; training; unemployed; vulnerable young people; young people; young people with fewer opportunities; Youth Guarantee

No Hate Speech - The No Hate Speech Movement is a youth campaign led by the Council of Europe Youth Department, seeking to mobilise young people to combat hate speech and to promote human rights online. Launched in 2013, it was rolled out at the national and local levels through national campaigns in 45 countries. The movement remains active beyond 2017 through the work of various national campaigns (https://www.coe.int/en/web/no-hate-campaign/national-campaigns1), and online activists and partners (link: https://www.coe.int/en/web/no-hate-campaign/library).

Ref: Council of Europe, No Hate Speech Youth Campaign, available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/no-hate-campaign, accessed December 17, 2019.

Nonformal education is any educational action that takes place outside of the formal education system. Non-formal education is an integral part of a lifelong learning concept that ensures that young people and adults acquire and maintain the skills, abilities and dispositions needed to adapt to a continuously changing environment. It can be acquired on the personal initiative of each individual through different learning activities taking place outside the formal educational system. An important part of non-formal education is carried out by non-governmental organisations involved in community and youth work.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has passed a resolution and a recommendation on “Young Europeans: an urgent educational challenge” promoting enhancement of traditional forms of education settings, recognition and support of non-formal and informal learning settings.

REF: Parliamentary Assembly (1999): Report of the Committee on Culture and Education, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, document 8595: Non-formal education; Parliamentary Assembly, Resolution 1930 and Recommendation 2014 (2013): Young Europeans: an urgent educational challenge.

See also: Council of Europe; formal education; formal learning; informal learning; nonformal learning; skill; youth work

Non-formal learning is a purposive, but voluntary, learning that takes place in a diverse range of environments and situations for which teaching/training and learning is not necessarily their sole or main activity. These environments and situations may be intermittent or transitory, and the activities or courses that take place may be staffed by professional learning facilitators (such as youth trainers) or by volunteers (such as youth leaders). The activities and courses are planned, but are seldom structured by conventional rhythms or curriculum subjects.

Non-formal learning and education, understood as learning outside institutional contexts (out-of-school) is the key activity, but also the key competence, of youth work. Non-formal learning/education in youth work is often structured, based on learning objectives, learning time and specific learning support and it is intentional. It typically does not lead to certification, but in an increasing number of cases, certificates are delivered, leading to a better recognition of the individual learning outcome.

Non-formal education and learning in the youth field is more than a sub-category of education and training since it is contributing to the preparation of young people for the knowledge-based and the civil society.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvainand Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the Field of Youth (2011): Pathways 2.0 towards recognition of non-formal learning/education and of youth work in Europe, Strasbourg.

See also: Civil society; formal education; formal learning; informal learning; learning objectives; nonformal education; training; youth facilitator

Non-organised or unorganised youth is the term used in prevailing youth work research and policy to refer to young people who do not engage in youth work activities. In these contexts, they are often associated with the concept of ‘marginalized group’. This is because is youth work practice many initiatives are created to organise the unorganised young people, increasing the participation of young people in youth work. This practice contributes in  marginalising these young people by labelling them “irregular”, separating them from their social context and reinforcing social dividing lines.

Extensive research projects had been conducted on analysing the youth development within an organised youth participation settings (such as youth clubs, sports clubs, youth centres, youth organisations, etc), however less attention has been invested in non-organised youth. Compared to organised settings, non-organised youth movements/groups involve less adult supervision, might have an irregular participation agenda, less crystallised goals and objectives or rules for behaviour. Even if developed, conducted and evaluated in non-standard settings, the non-organised youth groups develop and conduct activities that are both challenging and attractive to young people.

REF: DesRoches, A. and Willoughby, T. (2014): Bidirectional Associations Between Valued Activities
and Adolescent Positive Adjustment in a Longitudinal Study: Positive Mood as a Mediator, in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Volume 43, Issue 2, pp 208-220; Verschelden, G., Coussée, F., Van de Walle, T., and Williamson, H. (2009) The History of Youth Work in Europe: Relevance for youth policy today, Council of Europe Publishing, 2009.

See also: marginalisation; social exclusion; youth leader; youth organisation; youth participation; youth work

Open and distance learning (ODL) combines two distinct categories of learning provision and participation which frequently occur together. Open learning is purposive learning that takes place where, when and how the learner chooses. It may also be self-directed learning, that is, the learner also voluntarily chooses what and why to learn. Open learning may be formal or non-formal in character. Distance learning covers the spectrum from correspondence learning (‘by post') to eLearning (IT supported learning, whether as content, pedagogy or medium). It can include highly formalised and closely assessed types of learning processes and outcomes.

REF: Chisholm, L. (2005): Bridges for Recognition Cheat Sheet: Proceedings of the SALTO Bridges for Recognition: Promoting Recognition of Youth Work across Europe, Leuven-Louvain.

See also: Formal education; formal learning; informal education; informal learning; learning mobility; learning objectives; lifelong learning; participation

In many policy areas, EU Member States set their own national policies rather than having an EU-wide policy laid down in law. The OMC provides a framework for cooperation between the Member States whose national policies can thus be directed towards certain common objectives. Under this method, the Member States are evaluated by one another, with the European Commission's role limited to coordination and surveillance. In this way, European guidelines can be integrated into national and regional policies.

In the youth field, the OMC is applied with a flexible approach, with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity. Consulting young people is part of the process, because the dialogue is so that it actively involves young people in policy-shaping debates and dialogue in relation to the European agenda.

A revised procedure for the OMC and Structured Dialogue was introduced at the end of 2009 for the period 2010-2018. It was based on the European Commission approved EU Strategy for youth: ‘Investing and Empowering – A renewed open method of coordination to address youth challenges and opportunities’.

REF: Europa - Summaries of EU legislation, Open Method of Coordination.

See also: European Commission; recognition of nonformal learning; young people

Open Youth Work - the purpose of Open Youth Work is to offer young people, on the basis of their voluntary involvement, developmental and educational experiences which will equip them to play an active part in a democratic society as well as meet their own developmental needs. Open youth work is based on universalist principles and it is targeted to all young people who join the activities on a voluntary basis. Open youth work takes place in youth clubs, youth projects, youth centres, youth houses as well as on the street (through detached youth work).

Ref: European Confederation of Youth Clubs, available at: https://www.ecyc.org/about-us/open-youth-work, accessed December 17, 2019; Professional Open Youth Work in Europe, Open Youth Work Declaration of Principles, available at: http://www.poywe.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Declaration-of-Principles_Professional-Open-Youth-Work.pdf, accessed December 17, 2019.

Outcome - the likely or achieved short-term and medium-term effects of an intervention’s outputs, such as change in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, behaviours. While outputs do not address the impact or value of the services, the outcome is reflected by the level of achievement or performance that occurred as a consequence of the activities or services provided. An outcome is an appropriate measure of effectiveness as it is a finite and often measurable change.

Ref: https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Monitoring-and-Evaluation-Series-Outcomes-Outputs-and-Impact-7.pdf, accessed December 22, 2019

Outdoor education. Outdoor experiences  promote learning through engaging with nature and facing novel situations, which might be termed adventures. Outdoor education is action-centred learning which is based on a holistic experience. The aim is to learn about nature, but also about peer relations, personal capabilities and society in general. Outdoor education is social education where young people have opportunities to work together in nature settings. Outdoor education programmes have a positive impact on the development of young people’s self-perception and social skills. Outdoor activities have been used in youth work throughout history. The emphasis on doing meaningful group activities in real-life settings in the company of a skilled facilitator links outdoor education to the tradition of youth work. The growing awareness of environmental issues also highlights the importance of sustainability issues, which can be handled through outdoor education.

Ref: Veigel M., Reedik T. (2016) Opportunities for implementing outdoor education in youth work. Society. Integration. Education 2016, 363-372.

Output - the results of programme or intervention activities; the direct products, capital goods, services or deliverables of programme or intervention activities, which may also include changes resulting from the intervention which are relevant to the achievement of outcomes. While outputs do not address the impact or value of the services, the outcome is reflected by the level of achievement or performance that occurred due to the activities or services provided. Outputs are not an appropriate indicator of effectiveness.

Ref: https://www.intrac.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Monitoring-and-Evaluation-Series-Outcomes-Outputs-and-Impact-7.pdf, accessed December 22, 2019

Participation - Participation can refer to taking part in decision-making processes either in the lives of young people or in a collective context; more broadly, it can mean taking part into an activity. Participation can refer to a process or to an outcome. Different justifications for youth participation have been offered, including respecting the rights of young people, making better decisions, enhancing democracy, and to empower marginalised young people. To promote youth participation, it is necessary to look at power relations, actual possibilities to influence decision-making in different stages of the process, the roles given to young people in the process, to offer training, and to be able not only to respond to offered agenda but also to set the agenda themselves. Participation happens within and through formal participatory structures and practices, but also in everyday situations.

Ref: Nigel Thomas (2007) Towards a theory of children’s participation, International Journal of Children’s Rights 15 (2007) 199–218; Cahill H., Dadvand B. (2018) Re-conceptualising youth participation: a framework to inform action. Children & Youth Services Review 95, 243-253.

See also: citizen; citizenship; e-participation; participation – models; participation – ladder; political participation; youth participation

The degree of involvement in decision-making can vary significantly. In 1969, Sherry Arnstein described citizen’s participation as being a ladder of eight steps. At the bottom of the ladder was ‘manipulation’, and ‘therapy’ (which she considered to be non-participation); these rungs were followed by the rungs of  ‘informing’, ‘consultation’ and ‘plaction’ (which Arnstein called ‘degrees of tokenism’); whilst the rungs leading to the top of the ladder were ‘partnership’, ‘delegated power’ and ‘citizen participation’ (which Arnstein called ‘degrees of citizen power’). Arnstein, argued that only ‘partnership’, ‘delegated power’ and ‘citizen control’ can be regarded as real participation.

Roger Hart focused on children’s participation and described eight rungs on the ladder from tokenism to citizenship. He summarised manipulation, decoration and tokenism as forms of non-participation because it does not allow children to bring in their own ideas and wishes. The fourth rung, the first step of real participation is described as assigned but informed. This is followed by consulted and informed. The sixth rung of the ladder is adult-initiated projects, where shared decisions are taken. The next levels, the highest form of children’s participation, are child-initiated and directed. Here children and young people initiate and share decisions with adults.

REF: Arnstein, S. (1969): A Ladder of Citizen Participation, in: Journal of the American Institute of Planners, Vol 35, Issue 4, p. 216-224; Hart, R. (1992): Children’s participation: From Tokenism to Citizenship, UNICEF, Italy.

See also: Citizen; citizenship; co-production; participation – models; political participation; youth participation; young people

Models of youth participation in projects and policy making often refer to the different levels of involvement and thus to the ladder models by Hart or by Arnstein. Another popular model is Shier’s Pathways to Participation where five levels of participation are discussed. An extensive collection of models of participation was undertaken by Andreas Karsten.

REF: Karsten, A. (n.d.): Nonformality.

See also: Citizen; citizenship; co-production; participation; political participation; youth participation; young people

Peer learning. In peer learning a pair or group takes responsibility for executing a task or a project and learning while doing it. Peer learning provides equal opportunities to all the participants and should be based on inclusive principles. All participants should be able to participate and make an impact.  Peer learning is based on? a trusting relationship and it requires communication skills, such as explaining, listening, questioning and summarising. In peer learning, the participants are active, and the process is built on individuals’ strengths which they bring to the group. Consequently, peer learning promotes both individual and social development. There are different elements of peer learning such as peer tutoring, peer mentoring, peer monitoring or more generally co-operative learning. Besides in youth work peer learning methods are also used in formal education, voluntary organisations, after-school clubs and churches.

Ref: Topping, Keith J. (2005) Trends in Peer Learning. Educational Psychology 25(6), 631-645.

Peer to peer education is a method of informing, teaching and learning among equals whereby young people educate other young people. This is based on the view that often young people can more profitably discuss and explore issues with young people of their own background than with adults such as youth workers, teachers, experts, parents. The approach is widely used in peer tutoring at schools, substance use prevention, promotion of healthy life styles and HIV/AIDS prevention (http://www.europeer.lu.se/).

Peer to peer education also refers to a planned intervention of young people for young people reaching from peer information to peer counselling and to peer group education. The method has great overall potential, but must be adapted to local needs and requirements, catering to the specific characteristics of young people in each individual country. The approach is commonly used in various settings from information on European Union projects (e.g. Europeers) to information on education and job opportunities and in prevention work (e.g. risk’n’fun) and health provision (e.g. the UNFPA regional project Y-Peer).

REF: Bundesministerium für Familien und Jugend (2003): Vierter Bericht zur Lage der Jugend in Österreich, United Nations Population Fund, Peer Education Toolkit.

See also: Education methodology; mentoring; methods; training; young people

Policy evaluation - The objective, systematic, empirical examination of the effects that ongoing policies and public programmes have on their intended target groups in terms of the goals they are meant to achieve. In other words, policy evaluation includes principles and methods to examine the content, implementation or impact of a policy. Policy evaluation was expected to consist of assessing if a public policy was achieving its stated objectives and, if not, what could be done to eliminate impediments to their attainment. However, while analysts often resorted to concepts such as ‘success’ or ‘failure’ to conclude their evaluation, Ingram and Mann (1980) caution that such concepts are slippery and often highly subjective. That is, public policy goals are often neither stated clearly enough to find out if and to what extent they are being achieved, nor are they shared by all key policy actors.

Ref: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/policy-evaluation, accessed December 22, 2019

Political participation is any activity that shapes, affects, or involves the political sphere. Recent understanding is that political participation cannot be narrowed to the conventional forms of participation in elections or referendums, or being members of political parties. Unconventional forms like signing petitions, organising demonstrations or strikes have, for some time, been considered legal forms of political participation, as are supporting boycotts or express political opinions via badges, T-shirts, stickers or letters to media and online postings.

Beside these legal forms of political participation some activities carried out with the intention of influencing society and/or the political sphere are considered illegal. These could involve actions such as vandalism or acts of terrorism, as well as civil disobedience or resistance.

See also: Activism; e-participation; participation; participation - ladder; political participation; youth participation

Political recognition refers to the development of relevant policies (strategies, laws, etc.) around youth work and non-formal learning/education. It is also about putting youth work on the political agenda of the key institutions in your context.

See also: nonformal education; nonformal learning; youth work