Getting ready for the thematic workshops

 

The Convention will focus on three overarching youth work themes:

 Youth work core:

a common vision for youth work and its future, which will focus on definitions and descriptions of youth work, values and ethics, recognition and visibility, quality and standards, and monitoring and evaluation.

 Youth work environment:

supporting young people by addressing their needs and aspirations, ensuring their access, inclusion, participation, and empowerment. This includes advocacy in youth work;  the role of employed and volunteer youth workers and youth leaders and their education, training, and recognition, as well as youth work methodologies, tools, approachesand new technologies.

 Youth work systems:

policy and strategy at the European, national, regional, and local levels, covering the voluntary youth sector and youth work associations, networks, centres, and service providers. It also includes cooperation between state/public and voluntary sectors at different levels, state/public and EU/EYF funding and resources for youth work, and youth work’s  interaction with other policy fields.

They will inform, underpin and be the basis for discussions in the plenary sessions, 15 thematic workshops and 30 workshops on projects and inspiring practices which will be presented during the Convention. The projects and practices will reflect the thematic workshops.

Youth work core

The five thematic workshops are:

  1. Definitions and descriptions of youth work - Reaffirming a common vision and understanding of youth work across diverse contexts.
  2. Values and ethics in youth work practice - Ensuring that agreed ethical standards guide youth work practices.
  3. Recognition and visibility of youth work - Enhancing the recognition and visibility of youth work within policy and societal frameworks.
  4. Quality and Standards - Strengthening quality assurance and standardisation in youth work.
  5. Monitoring and evaluating youth work and its impact - Tackling the importance of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess the impact of youth work.

Youth work environment

The five thematic workshops are:

  1. Young people, their needs and aspirations and how youth work can support and empower them - Understanding and responding to the needs of young people. 
  2. Advocacy in youth work - Giving young people a meaningful voice and role and facilitating their active citizenship.
  3. Youth work as a profession - Strengthening the professional development of youth workers.
  4. Volunteering and youth-led youth work in youth organisations - Supporting volunteering and youth-led initiatives.
  5. Methodologies, open and targeted approaches and new technologies in youth work - Integrating innovative tools and approaches to improve youth work effectiveness.

Youth work systems

The five thematic workshops are:

  1. The voluntary youth sector – Supporting and strengthening the crucial role of the voluntary youth sector in many parts of Europe.
  2. Youth work associations, networks, centres and service providers - Recognising the role that youth workers’ associations, networks,  youth centres, and service providers play in supporting youth work.
  3. The state/public and voluntary sectors at the national, regional and local levels – How can the two sectors cooperate and work together to strengthen youth work at the national, regional and local levels?
  4. State/Public and EU/EYF funding and resources for youth work - Ensuring sustainable funding mechanisms and support structures.
  5. Youth work's interaction and relationship with and other policy fields – How can youth work support related policy fields such as education or employment and how can these policy fields provide opportunities for promoting the value of youth work?