European cooperation unleashes new energies: for six days, representatives of 42 youth organisations from 14 European countries met in Hattingen (Germany) to further develop concepts for international youth work and plan projects within the network of Generation Europe – The Academy. Now others can benefit from their experience: At the conference, they presented a series of booklets and other publications that make methods and best-practice examples accessible to youth workers throughout Europe.
What the youth organisations in the Generation Europe – The Academy network have planned for 2024 is really quite something: 14 international youth encounters in eleven European countries, local activities in more than 40 municipalities, youth leader training events, a European Action Week and an international symposium at which young people, experts and representatives from academia, politics and administration will stick their heads together. With so many plans for this year, there is a lot to talk about. The common goal of this unique large-scale programme of European youth cooperation is to bring together young people from various target groups to get involved, both locally in their communities and across all borders as an active part of European civil society.
Booklets for Youth Work Now Online
Another central aim of Generation Europe – The Academy is to make the experience gathered in the network accessible to all those active in the field of youth work. For almost two years, youth work professionals compiled their knowledge in transnational competence groups and prepared it for publication. One of the results is a booklet series consisting of five compact guides: How can youth groups be set up and sustainably motivated? How can barriers to participation and inclusion be overcome? How can participatory processes help to connect young people with their local communities? All five guides, which are primarily aimed at youth leaders and other youth work professionals, are now available for download at generationeurope.org/booklets.
Handbook for Advocacy and Lobbying
Good youth work needs better framework conditions and reliable funding – especially in times of crisis and conflicts. Under the title “Take Power. Handbook to Get Started With Advocacy and Lobbying”, the campaigners have also presented a guide for youth organisations that want to become more involved and effective in representing the interests of young people and youth work professionals at various levels. It can also be downloaded free of charge at generationeurope.org/handbook.
Civic Education – what’s that?
Another publication presented at the conference documents a process of understanding that is central for the work within the international network of Generation Europe – The Academy. The participating European youth organisations are committed to democracy and equal participation of young people in society across borders. In Europe, however, there are a variety of approaches and different historical experiences with concepts of civic education. This can lead to misunderstandings and make cooperation more difficult. In order to provide an insight into the debates and to develop a common understanding of differences and similarities, the handout “Discussing Civic Education. Handout on Different Understandings of the Term and Common Solutions” has now been published. This paper is also available for download to all those involved in international youth work across Europe.