Developing youth policy and constructing links with research and practice are at the core of the mission of the EU-Council of Europe youth partnership: most of our activities, therefore, develop across these areas and promote dialogue among youth researchers, young people, youth organisations, policy makers and practitioners on themes of relevance to young people in Europe. This leads to formulating conclusions and recommendations for future reflection and youth policy, research and practice actions.

For further information do not hesitate to contact EU-Council of Europe youth partnership team.

The European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP)

The European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP) 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...

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“Shaping youth policy in practice”: a capacity-building project for strengthening youth policy, 2019 - 2020

The aim of the project is to build capacities of those involved in youth policy in different countries and from different angles (governmental, non-governmental and research) with a vision to strengthen their youth policy work on the basis of the know-how and principles promoted by the EU-CoE...

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Massive open online course 'Essentials of youth policy’

7 October - 17 November 2019

The 2019 edition of the MOOC on ‘Essentials of Youth Policy’ is now closed. You may find the related materials and its report here.

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Geographical co-operation

In the context of this objective the EU-CoE youth partnership encourages and creates opportunities for representatives of youth policy-makers, youth researchers, youth workers and young people themselves to engage in a debate on the situation of young people and the response of youth policies to...

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South-Med youth policy co-operation

In 2005 the EU-CoE youth partnership, together with several national and regional partners, initiated a process of youth policy co-operation in the broader Euro-Mediterranean region, with a view to fostering greater co-operation between youth policy stakeholders.

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our publications

Back Youth Policy manual - How to develop a national youth strategy

Finn Yrjar Denstad

Council of Europe, 2009. ISBN 978-92-871-6576-3

What is youth policy, and what major elements should a national youth policy strategy include? How can young people be consulted and otherwise involved in developing youth policy? How do institutions such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations address youth policy, and how can this work be concretely linked to the efforts of a national government to develop a youth policy agenda?

These are some of the essential questions addressed in this publication. The Youth Policy Manual should be considered a resource, a tool and a helpful guide both for policy makers in the youth field and for non-governmental organisations and other stakeholder groups who advocate for improved youth policy at the national level.

This manual proposes one possible model for how a national youth policy strategy can be developed. It is based on the author's observations from the countries of Southeastern and eastern Europe, as they gain experience in addressing youth policy in a transversal and cross-sectorial manner and with the active involvement of young people.

Download Youth Policy manual - How to develop a national youth strategy >>