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

is developed on the basis of relevant and updated knowledge on young people’s needs, rights and interests as well as on new research and the different forms and methods of youth work that can be used in order to meet aims and objectives.

In order to be knowledge-based, policy development must start from a clear and commonly understood picture of the current state of play. In order to achieve this, there must be clear and well-established procedures for analysing and taking into account the follow up and evaluation of local preconditions, work processes and outcomes.

Starting from this analysis and in order to be able to take relevant steps, all stakeholders must also be well informed about, discuss and consider:

The living situation and needs of all different groups of young people concerned.
The different forms and methods of youth work that can be used in order to meet aims and objectives.
Research and new trends in the field of youth and youth work.

Without this knowledge policy risks to be formed by purely personal opinions and, no longer valid, presumptions.

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

“Youth policy should be evidence-based. Better knowledge and understanding of the living conditions, values and attitudes of young women and men needs to be gathered and shared with other relevant policy fields so as to enable appropriate and timely measures to be taken.” EU Council Resolution on a renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018), 2009