Insights are short thematic publications to support youth sector engagment with specific topics.
Insights into artificial intelligence and its impact on the youth sector
What is artificial intelligence (AI)? How does it affect young people’s education, employment and other fundamental rights? How do youth workers perceive AI and what opportunities do they have to engage with AI governance? This edition of Insights explores the intersection between AI and the youth sector by looking at how the evolution of this technology affects young people’s lives, the policies and practices of state and non-state actors and perceptions of youth workers towards it.
As AI has become an omnipresent technology in our society, the main aim of the publication is to provide an overview of what AI is and its impact on young people’s rights and the youth sector at large. With the adoption of major AI regulations, both within the Council of Europe and the European Union, it also sets out to inspire and provide guidance for the youth stakeholders interested in playing an active role in AI debates and policies.
Insights into the Selected case law of the European Court of Human Rights on young people
How are young people affected by human rights violations in Europe? How are their rights safeguarded? What deficiencies exist in the legal systems requiring further action to ensure the protection of their rights in the Council of Europe member states?
This edition of Insights examines the rights of young people within the framework of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)7 on Young people’s access to rights. Focused on rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols, it relies on lessons learnt from the selected case law of the European Court of Human Rights on young people and relevant legal and policy documents.
The selected case law underscores the vulnerabilities faced by young immigrants, emphasising the necessity for supportive social networks. Additionally, it emphasises the high significance given by the Court to non-discrimination and accessibility in educational settings, equitable application of professional access rules, effective legislation to combat forced labour that may have young people as victims, and the importance of limiting and carefully examining the need for young migrant deportations, when they are required by national legislations.
Can digitalisation help us to tackle existing inequalities, or does it leave some young people even further behind?
This publication explores the extent to which digitalisation can support the process of social inclusion for various groups of young people, particularly those who face multidimensional barriers, such as youth with disabilities; youth who are not in employment, education or training (NEET); young refugees and migrants; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) youth; young women and girls; youth suffering from substance abuse or dependency; young people from minority ethnic, racial or religious backgrounds; socio-economically marginalised youth; homeless youth; youth in abusive households and those who have
committed or have been a victim of crime.
The authors of this Insights examine, using the literature review and data collected through the survey, the policy instruments developed by European, national and local authorities, aimed at addressing social inclusion within the context of growing digitalisation. They further explore and present existing digital platforms, online tools and educational and training opportunities available to young people and youth workers or teachers and critically look at the opportunities and risks associated with social inclusion of young people as they face increasing digitalisation.
Policy monitoring and evaluation are complex aspects of policy making, and there are many myths that make them difficult to understand.
This volume of Insights explains these concepts, presents the reality across Europe, gives examples of good approaches and tips for how to integrate monitoring and evaluation in youth policy making. It looks at the following questions.
How can evaluation bring forward learning in youth policy?
How can it lead to more agile, flexible and adequate policy making in the youth field?
What are the benefits of good policy monitoring and evaluation?
How can young people contribute?
The publication is addressed to all those initiating, implementing or participating in youth policy evaluation. Drawing on the results of the Youth Policy Evaluation Review, a study carried out in 2019 by the EU-Council of Europe youth partnership with the correspondents of the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy across more than 30 countries in Europe, this Insights presents concepts, methods, steps and case studies in youth policy monitoring and evaluation.
Insights - Meaningful youth political participation in Europe
Young people’s political participation has many diverse forms; it can be conventional or unconventional, and include activities such as voting, being a member of a political party, serving on a local youth council, engaging through a youth organisation or taking part in online political activism, boycotts or a protest movement. This edition of Insights “Meaningful youth political participation in Europe” examines the key concepts and aims of youth political participation, types of democratic environments and various mechanisms of participation within the context of shrinking space for civil society, rapid digitalisation, advancement of populist ideologies, increased inequalities, a rise of global youth movements and a health pandemic.
Both conventional and unconventional types of participation are explored throughout the publication, reflecting upon young people’s participation skillsets, the cultural sensitivity of participatory opportunities and intersectionality. The authors conclude with a set of recommendations for the youth sector to support the development of a more open, transparent and accessible democratic environment for young people.
Insights into developing the youth work environment
Research shows how diverse youth work has evolved in different countries and regions. This is reflected in the definitions, the regulatory environment, changes in accessing formal and non-formal education and qualifications, mentoring and career support programmes and quality development of the whole ecosystem. Starting from this reality and aiming to support the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda, this edition of Insights into developing the youth work environment translates the knowledge gained in Europe over the last
decades into a hands-on support tool.
The publication is designed to support change makers at national and local levels as they carry out an assessment of where youth work stands and how to plan the way forward. This publication includes a short background, good practice examples, as well as questions for reflection, guidance and checklists. It complements the Youth Work Essentials and the massive open online courses (MOOC), Knowledge Books, T-Kits, Visible Value library and other capacity-building and support tools for youth work development offered by the EU–Council of Europe Youth Partnership.
Youth policies are initiated and reviewed regularly at various levels, from local to national and international. People who work within this process, from policy makers to practitioners, researchers and young people, ask themselves how they can set up the best governance system for their context, who should manage youth policy, how communication can be ensured among the different stakeholders and how young people are involved.
Using over 15 years of gathering and analysing evidence in the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP), the EU-Council of Europe youth partnership presents its first Insights. This publication seeks to provide insights into youth policy governance with presentations of approaches in different countries and with guiding questions for reflection. It thus offers a picture of how youth policies are set up (the legal framework) and which public structures manage their implementation, as well as how young people are involved.
The analysis is presented based on a multi-country review of contributions gathered in 2016 and 2017 from the EKCYP and the EU Youth Wiki. To frame the analysis across Europe, Insights also presents European-level policy imperatives and governance in the Council of Europe and the European Union, and the knowledge on this subject gathered through their partnership in the field of youth.
Insights into youth knowledge networks and resources in Europe
As part of its objective to facilitate and support the dialogue between youth policy, youth work practice and youth research, the EU-Council of Europe youth partnership has developed a series of guidelines and tools for actors in this field.
This publication introduces the readers to what is understood by youth research today, what youth knowledge networks are available at European and national levels and the resources they offer for knowledge-based youth policy and practice. Examples from different countries show the diversity of structures and approaches across Europe. Models of co-operation among policy makers, researchers, practitioners and young people, as well as their organisations, are introduced and guidelines and approaches are shared at the end. Questions for reflection conclude each section to support the development of youth knowledge networks in various contexts.
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