In Italy, there is no formal definition of Youth work as a specific form of professional or voluntary work. A national framework law for the recognition of youth work is under discussion. In this draft law, youth worker is translated in Italian as “Animatore socio-educativo per i giovani (AISEG)”. However, in legislative documents it is already possible to find some formal definitions of youth work practices and operators working with young people in an educational setting outside school. 

At a regional level, for example, educational work with adolescents is expected to support them to assume responsibility as well as develop cooperation skills and solidarity values, as stated by the regional law of Emilia Romagna (R.L. 14/2008). Moreover, the same regional law defines street socio-educational work as a specific method aimed at "strengthening protective factors and reducing risk factors" (art. 14, c. 7, R.L. Emilia Romagna 14/2008). Most of the regional laws on youth policy also recognize youth work in Youth Information Centres, mainly for their ability to expand opportunities to young people in different areas (e.g. vocational training, employment, volunteering, enterprise creation, access to housing, health, sport and leisure). 

With reference to Youth Centres, regional laws tend to entrust operators with the task of encouraging young people in autonomous learning experiences and initiatives within the centre. The regional law on youth policy of the Piemonte Region, for example, highlights that Youth Centres should "produce in a participatory way the project of a space that allows young people to interact with their peers through the free implementation of activities linked to their interests" (L. R. 6/2019, art. 12, c. 2, letter a). This same law is one of the first legislative documents in which operators are explicitly referred to as "youth workers", defining them as "figures who enable young people to develop their human capital, strengthen their social capital and change risky behavior" (art. 1, c. 2, R.L. Piemonte Region 6/2019). The specific task of youth workers is "to broaden youth participation, increase the autonomy and inclusion of young people in society and strengthen youth organizations" (art. 15, c. 2).

Similarly, the Puglia Region focuses on youth workers as operators specialized in "developing a close relationship with adolescents, in order to ensure personal improvement and consequently the building of a better society" (art. 6, R.L. 14/2020).

At a national level, L. 285/1997 ("Provisions for the promotion of rights and opportunities for children and adolescents"), offers some guidelines for the carrying out of youth work. Several priorities identified in art. 3 recall some key tasks expected from youth workers, in particular the support of the parent-child relationship, the fight against poverty and violence, the finding of alternative solutions to residential care centres.

Finally, the national law  206/2003 recognizes the socio-educational function of the oratories, specifically in "encouraging the development, individual fulfilment and socialization of adolescents and young people of any nationality […]  [through] programs, actions and interventions based on sport, solidarity, social promotion and cultural initiatives in leisure time, and the prevention of marginalization, racial discrimination, discomfort and deviance" (art. 1, c.2).

In general, in Italy, the term ‘youth work’ has limited use in youth policy or non-formal education practices. However, there are several policies, practices, professionals and volunteers which can be compared favourably with what comes under the banner of youth work in Europe. In particular, the following spaces and actors created or supported by the State can be considered in Italy operating in the youth work sphere: 

• Spaces and practices of youth work with adolescents, e.g., Centres for Youth Aggregation (“Centri di Aggregazione Giovanile”), after-school groups, street work, outdoor education, toy libraries, summer day care centres, day care centres for children at risk.
• Youth Information Centres where youth workers are specialized in the information and guidance in different areas (leisure time, vocational training, employment, youth mobility etc.).
• Youth Centres (or Youth Spaces) which mainly involve young people (18-25) and young-adults (26-35) and are particularly oriented to supporting youth initiative and projects.
• the National Civil Service, a program for youth volunteering in the unarmed and non-violent defence of the State, with young people involved in projects and services for the community; for each young volunteer, the program includes an operator that supports his/her educational and training experience during the service (the Local Project Operator, refer to paragraph 10.5.2 for further details).
• Europe-oriented youth work in projects supported by the European Union (EU) or the Council of Europe (Coe) programs and assisted in Italy by the National Youth Agency (youth exchanges, voluntary experiences, projects of participation in democratic life, youth initiative projects, pilot projects at local level, transnational mobility of youth workers, strategic partnerships for youth work recognition). 

In terms of the number of facilities and amount of young people reached, the main organizations that have inherited the historical traditions of out-of-school education in the youth sector are the following:

• The Catholic parish oratories, the catholic scout association (AGESCI) and other educational associations of the Catholic Church (e.g. Azione Cattolica Ragazzi, “Catholic Action Youth”).
• Non-denominational scout associations, among which the CNGEI is the biggest one in terms of number of members.
• The network of ARCI clubs, where young people and adults are engaged in cultural and social activities in different fields (e.g. access to culture, urban regeneration, lifelong learning, migrants' rights, education to legality); a specific Pedagogical Manifesto elaborated in 2010 recognizes and promotes the educational impact of ARCI on the younger generations, e.g., Arciragazzi is a consortium of about 80 educational spaces for adolescents affiliated to Arci).

Since the 1980s, EU youth programs have contributed to the growth of a new generation of youth workers that are more focused on the European debate and actions on youth work. The projects funded by these programs, in fact, have required partner organizations to take on an educational role in relationship with young participants. Moreover, the European programs have continuously funded projects aimed at the recognition and development of youth work skills, in which Italian organizations have also participated. Training opportunities have also been offered by strategic partnerships between different National Youth Agencies, some of which have been promoted by the Italian National Youth Agency.

In the last few years, informal networks and associations between operators are emerging, which are beginning to recognize themselves as "youth workers" in line with the European strategies and debate on youth work. For example, the Youth Worker Italia is an informal network of youth workers created during the pandemic emergency. Recently, an association named Ninfea (National Informal and Non-Formal Education Association) has been established with the specific aim of promoting "the profession of the Youth Worker, of the Youth Trainer and of the Socio-Educational Animator". Finally, youthworker.it. is among the first online think tanks on youth work. The purpose of this blog is to inform on the “state-of-the art on youth work in Italy, by starting from what is happening in relation to youth work in Europe and the rest of the World”.

In the absence of specific legislation at a national level, most of the Regions recognize and define a series of professional figures working in out-of-school education. These figures have taken on different names, including community counselor, social counselor, socio-educational counselor, and socio-educational instructor. A research carried out in a degree thesis at the University of Trento (Amanda Milan, 2018, supervisor Prof. Davide Galesi) shows how these figures are present in most of the regional repertoires of professional figures. They are mainly in the socio-healthcare and social-assistance fields, as well as focusing more on work with adolescents (policies and services for minors). As indicated in the last annual activity report of the National Youth Agency, there are currently 18 Regions that recognize these professional figures involved in different degrees and forms of youth work (they are missing only in Valle d'Aosta and in the Autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano). These professional figures, however, are not normally specialized at a training level in youth work, as they can also work with social categories of different ages (children, adults, elderly, etc.). 

Although not explicitly linked to EU policies on youth work, some Regions have already formally recognized the training of professional or volunteer workers involved in non-formal education in the youth sector. For example, the regional law on youth policy in the Emilia Romagna Region includes actions for the "training of public and private operators" working with youth (art. 3, c. 1, letter c, R.L. 14/2008). Similarly, the Autonomous Province of Trento also includes the training of "youth workers and operators working, on a voluntary or professional basis, with youth groups and associations" (art. 2, light i, R.L. 5/2007). 

With the growth of interest in the theme of youth work from a European perspective, the Regions of Campania, Piemonte and Puglia have recognized at a legislative level the need to launch specific training actions for youth workers. The use of the word "youth worker" in the Italian text of these regional laws denotes a specific interest in starting to frame this figure in the policy framework built up until now at a European level. In particular, the Campania regional youth policy law considers the training of youth workers (in the law also translated into "socio-educational operators") as a means to improve the quality of the services and projects in the field of youth policy (L. R. 26/2016, art. 3, c. 1, letter c). The Piemonte regional youth policy law also commits the Region to "recognize the good practices of youth workers" (R.L. 6/2016, art. 1, letter p), dedicating a specific article of the law to the "figure of the youth worker" (art. 15). In the legislative text, youth work practices are recognized both in terms of promoting the autonomy and skills of young people (human and social capital, participation, inclusion) and in terms of preventing discomfort ("changing possible risk behaviors"), areas in which the Region undertakes to support the training of youth workers. More recently, the Puglia Region has also begun to frame the figure of youth workers in socio-educational work adolescents at a legislative level (L. R. 14/2020). Art. 6, c. 1 of the law entrusts youth workers with the task of "guaranteeing a close relationship with adolescents, in order to ensure personal improvement and, consequently, the future society". Moreover, the Region undertakes to support the training of youth workers through training courses aimed at "acquiring the necessary and useful skills and abilities to increase youth participation, increase the autonomy and inclusion of young people in society and strengthen youth organizations" (art. 6, c. 2)

The Youthpass is the main tool for the recognition of competences developed in youth work projects in Italy. The National Youth Agency (NYA) provides a specific activity of information, promotion and technical assistance on the use of Youthpass among young people who have participated in projects funded by Erasmus+. In 2018, for example, the NYA signed a specific two-year protocol with the Piemonte Region to promote Youthpass through meetings, seminars and awareness campaigns.  The Youthpass is also promoted as a useful tool for the recognition of University Training Credits (UTCs). However, there are still no common national regulations or guidelines for Universities, since the recognition of UTCs depends on the individual Degree Courses to which students present their Youthpass.  

Specific tools for self-assessment and transparency of competences have been developed and tested in projects funded by Erasmus+ and coordinated by Italian organizations, on the basis of data drawn from Erasmus+ results. Specific attention is given in these tools to the employment impact that can result from the transparency of skills developed in youth work projects. Some examples of tools developed in projects led by an Italian organization are the following:

• I’ve-I have Experienced: tool for the recognition of competences developed in workcamps and voluntary service projects; it includes an App that automatically produces the Certificates of Competences Recognition.
• Easy Soft-Skills: it has developed a self-assessment test of skills that young people develop during an international volunteering experience.
• Voyce - Volunteering Youth: routes and tools for Competence Emersion: a self-assessment test to enhance the learning acquired by young volunteers with particular attention to their employability.
• OPELO - Optimization of validation process of EVS learning outcomes project developed a Portfolio of employability skills for volunteers of the European Voluntary Service.

(From the Youth Wiki)