The stronger the people, the stronger the youth policy!
Geert Boutsen (national coach Lobbying for Youth Work)
This event is open for participants of Germany, Latvia, Croatia, Belgian-Flanders and France.
Youth work is more than just pedagogical work with young people. It also implies a political dimension, which needs concrete action. The everyday work of a local youth officer or youth worker is penetrated with political issues. Too often it feels like youth work is the victim of political decisions. On top of this the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on young people and youth work is tangible with sometimes budget cuts in youth work, youth facilities being closed, etc.
At the same time youth work throughout Europe has a unique position in supporting spaces for young people’s voice and autonomy and in building bridges for young people to take, with competence and confidence, the next steps in their lives. Also on European level a dynamic debate around youth work, resulting recently in the adoption of a European Youth Work Agenda, has created a positive political tailwind for youth work, which can also be a stimulus on national and local level.
That’s why it is essential to engage in lobbying for youth work. And to prepare and empower local youth officers and local youth workers to advocate for youth work and to successfully influence, co-shape and position local youth (work) policy. Lobbying is not a game happening in the backrooms of power, but a competence to master, an attitude to adopt.
Do you agree? Do you want to strengthen your competences to lobby for youth work? And at the same time share with and learn from your colleagues and their youth work context and practice in 5 European countries?
If you say ‘YES’, then ‘Lobbying for Youth Work’ is what you are looking for!
The first pilot edition of ‘Lobbying for Youth work’ (2019-2020) offered a very powerful learning experience to the participants with a clear impact on their local context. That’s why, as from January 2022 on, a second edition will be kicked-off, co-ordinated by JINT, the Belgian-Flemish National Agency, in close cooperation with the German, Latvian, Croatian and French National Agency.
Lobbying for Youth work wants
Successful policy-making in youth work and by the youth work community is comparable to the preparation of a magic cocktail with many different ingredients.
Prof. Werner Lindner (initiator and expert Lobbying for Youth Work)
‘Lobbying for Youth Work’ offers you a rich modular learning experience during a journey of more than one year. Together with your colleagues from the 5 participating countries, you will start from and concretely work on your personal ‘big ask’, i.e. your personal action plan which will be at the core of your own lobby project. This can be a need in your local community that you want to tackle, a project you want to push forward, an ambition you want to realise, …
The entire learning process is built around the following focal pillars and will be inspired by several experts from different European countries:
The project consists of different modules in order to support your hard, but rewarding work on your big asks:
‘Lobbying for Youth Work’ targets 20 to 24 participants with 4-5 participants for each country (Belgium-Flanders, Croatia, France, Germany and Latvia).
We are looking for participants who:
We expect that always the same participants attend the activities, as this is crucial for the learning process and the connection between the modules.
This training course is supported by the Erasmus+ Youth programme. All travel and hosting costs are covered. You can be asked to pay a small participation fee depending on your country of origin. Please contact your National Agency to know if they ask for a participation fee.
The three international modules are planned to be residentially hosted. In case the COVID-19 situation prevails and prevents travelling, the organiser reserves the right to cancel the residential activity and organise the activity online.
All selected participants will need to follow the travel regulations valid by the time of the activity (e.g. be able to show the European digital corona certificate when leaving their home country and entering the hosting country). More detailed information about the travel guidelines will be provided to the selected participants closer to the event.
The organisers will ensure that safety and hygienic measures needed in relation to Covid-19 are in place during the activity, following all national health and safety guidelines of the hosting country which are valid by the time of the activity. All participants will be accommodated in single rooms.
If you want to know more about Lobbying for Youth Work, please read:
For more information please contact the National Agency for the Erasmus+ Youth programme in your country:
Please apply through the following SALTO link at the latest by 29 November 2021.