Youth work practice needs to be guided by a youth work policy that …

is clearly positioned in relation to and connected with broader youth policy on all levels, from local to European.

In order to be clear, youth work policy, its aims and objectives, must also have a clear and distinct position within the framework of broader youth policy, and be clearly related to the role and mission of the youth worker. Clarifying the division of roles and responsibilities in the youth sector is crucial both for cooperation and for avoiding that youth work gets a compensatory or complementary function instead of being an actor in its own right.

Linking local youth work policy also to policy documents on national and European level will promote the readiness for cooperation and secure a long-term perspective. Linking to European policy documents, e.g. the Council of Europe recommendation on youth work, will also strengthen the recognition and credibility of local policy.

Discuss & assess
Here you find the questions you need to ask yourself to know if you need to develop and the assessment function
Set objectives
Here you describe what you want to achieve.
Needs
Here you describe what you need to acquire, develop or change.
Actions to take
Here you describe the actions you plan to take.

Remember! Development is far from always a linear process! It needs to start with discussions, but the first ‘Action to take’ might be to gather more knowledge before setting aims for development and deciding on further actions to take. Dare to be both flexible and to take one step back before taking two steps forward!

References & tips

“It is important that EU youth policy be implemented with the interlinkages with regional and local levels in mind and that activities are conducted to support policies at grass-roots level.“
European Youth Strategy 2019 – 2027, Engage, Connect, Empower
In the EU resolution on a European Youth Work Agenda (2020/C 415/01), member states are invited to “Integrate youth work into existing and future youth policy strategies and their implementation at all administrative levels in order to facilitate greater innovation, improve quality and increase recognition of the field, with a particular emphasis on action at local level /…/”