The Youth Partnership has been conducting studies and research on youth work, with a focus on key areas such as recognition, quality standards, practice architectures, and youth work development in Eastern and Southeast Europe.

Recently, in 2023, the Youth Partnership conducted the study “Growing Youth Work in Europe: Results of the Mapping European Youth Work Ecosystems”. This study aimed to map the diversity of youth work actors and their initiatives at European level, identifying thematic overlaps and gaps, and providing a structured overview of their contributions to youth work development. This was followed by a second publication, “Growing Youth Work in Europe: A Methodology for Mapping Studies on National Youth Work Ecosystems”, which offers a comprehensive guide for conducting similar mapping exercises at national or sub-national level.

On the EU side, the EU Youth Wiki also contributes to the knowledge base on youth work at national level. It provides detailed, country-specific information in 34 European countries. In collaboration with EU4Youth, similar chapters were produced for five countries involved in the Eastern Partnership co-operation. Recently, the SNAC “Growing youth work in Europe” has monitored the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda at the national level and produced a series of Survey Reports.

Objectives

Building on this context, the Youth Partnership will carry out studies – directly or in co-operation with other relevant initiatives – to assess youth work development both at European and national levels. These studies will be aligned with the directions outlined in key policy frameworks from the two partner institutions, namely, the Council of Europe Recommendation on Youth Work and the European Youth Work Agenda (EYWA), as well as in the conclusions and roadmap of the 4th European Youth Work Convention. Research themes will reflect the priorities set by these policy documents and will draw on inputs from the European and national-level networks, along with other data collection processes.

These studies could be regarded as foundational steps in strengthening the Youth Partnership’s observation mission on youth work development in Europe, as suggested in the conclusions of the 4th European Youth Work Convention. They would support the collection and sharing of evidence, helping to identify patterns, gaps, and opportunities for strategic development and knowledge exchange across Europe.

Specific objectives include:

  • Providing a structured overview of initiatives and actors involved in youth work development in Europe.
  • Identifying gaps and overlaps in actions at European level to support a coordinated approach to youth work development across Europe.
  • Following youth work development at national level, within Member States, focusing on alignment with the most recent European-level policy frameworks. This includes analysing progress, achievements, challenges, and areas requiring further support, leveraging EU Youth Wiki data and complementary data collection methods in co-operation with the national correspondents on youth work, and building on the work carried out by the SNAC “Growing youth work”.
  • Supporting peer learning by making the data and analysis publicly available, thereby fostering evidence-based development at national and European levels and promoting it through Council of Europe’s statutory bodies meetings and Advisory Groups of European Training Strategy, Youthpass and other relevant Council of Europe and European Union co-operation.
  • Informing decision-making processes and strategic planning within member States, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and other stakeholders.
  • Ensuring wide dissemination of mapping results and insights through the Youth Partnership’s website and other communication channels.

Expected outcomes

  • Data collection and analysis on youth work development at European level, based on the contribution of the EU-Council of Europe networking group, reflecting developments and analysing key evolutions.
  • Data collection and analysis on youth work development at national level, aligned with current European policy frameworks and priority topics, leading to published outputs.
  • Design and launch of a dedicated webpage on the Youth Partnership’s website to present the European and national-level mappings in an engaging and visual way (e.g., interactive maps), and further development of the webpages dedicated to youth work.
  • Visibility and communication materials to support the promotion and accessibility of the mapping results to different stakeholders.
  • Concept note outlining potential approaches to strengthen the Youth Partnership’s observation mission on youth work development in Europe.
     

Indicative timeline

2026

Data collection / general updates on youth work development at European level, based on the outcomes of the meetings of the EU-Council of Europe reference group

2027

Data collection / general updates on youth work development at European level, based on the outcomes of the meetings of the EU-Council of Europe reference group.

Data collection and analysis of youth work development at national level

2028

Data collection / general updates on youth work development at European level, based on the outcomes of the meetings of the EU-Council of Europe reference group

Data collection and analysis of youth work development at national level