Generation Europe – The Academy is an international network of youth work organisations and a funding programme for European cooperation. The 2021-2025 project phase was developed and put into practice by the International Association for Education and Exchange (IBB). It is based on a network of European youth work providers and youth organisations implemented by IBB. Its aim is to make international youth work accessible to young people regardless of their origin, economic and social circumstances or educational background.
Stiftung Mercator supported Generation Europe – The Academy with a grant of €4,990,400 for the years 2021-2025. Through the acquisition of additional funding, the total amount of funding for the period amounted to more than €9,000,000. As a major funder, Stiftung Mercator commissioned the association transfer e.V. to review the efficiency and effectiveness as part of a formative evaluation over the period from 2022 to 2025. The evaluation was carried out by Dr Helle Becker, Expertise & Kommunikation für Bildung. IBB and its network partners are seeking to continue Generation Europe – The Academy beyond the current project fundings.
Over the evaluation period, Generation Europe – The Academy involved 42 partner organisations from 14 countries and almost 2,000 active young people and youth work professionals. In total, more than 2,200 local activities and 45 trilateral European youth encounters took place. In addition, the participants met at more than 30 international networking meetings and professional training courses, as well as in numerous working and competence groups that developed materials for international youth work.
Generation Europe – The Academy was able to demonstrate
- that and with which methods youth work can be implemented in a consistently participatory process,
- that it is possible to implement European cooperation in youth work on a common basis,
- how internationalisation can improve the quality of local youth work,
- and vice versa: how the quality of international youth work can be enhanced by embedding it in local youth work,
- how democratic citizenship education can be implemented successfully in (international) youth work,
- that and how young people can benefit from this concept.
Download an overview of the evaluation as a PDF file.
The Evaluation Report Available for Download (in German):
Reaching many
During the evaluation period, Generation Europe – The Academy reached many young people between the ages of 15 and 25 who had never before participated in a local youth work activity: surveys at different dates revealed figures of between 36 and 52 percent. The composition of the youth groups was very heterogeneous. Young people with a migration background, without academic qualifications and those whose parents had not attended secondary school or university were adequately or overrepresented. Many came from places and regions with few youth programmes. Most of the young people who had never participated before lacked information about the opportunities available.
This is where the local projects with their outreach methods were successful. An important factor were the ‘Ambassadors’, young peers who actively promoted the projects in the community and issued invitations to group activities and youth exchanges. The increasing participation rates during the funding period show that once the young people got involved, most of them remained active.
Participation in local activities was also a way for young people to take part in international youth encounters. A large majority of young people who became active in Generation Europe – The Academy report that they were made aware of the youth encounters by Ambassadors, friends, acquaintances or youth work professionals.
82 per cent of the young people involved in local projects also took part in international youth encounters, between 67 and 82 per cent for the first time ever. Here, too, many young people who, according to other studies, are often not involved took part. The 2019 Access Study on international youth exchange had already shown that young people with low levels of formal education make up the smallest proportion of participants in organised stays abroad. Generation Europe – The Academy was able to confirm that it is not a lack of interest that causes young people to participate less frequently in programmes with a European dimension.
Similar to the findings of the Access Study, it has been shown that information alone is not enough to motivate young people to participate. It is important that the information is trusted and that any fears and concerns are counteracted by building trust and relationships with the target group.
How (International) Youth Work Succeeds
Generation Europe – The Academy has shown that international youth work is successful when it is organised in a participatory manner and embedded in local youth activities. Key findings are:
“I felt very confident in the new company of my groupmates. Everyone was nice, understanding and helpful.”
Local youth work can help to overcome familiar barriers to participation through its group structures. Within the group, everyone can contribute to the success of a project in different ways. Group members can support and encourage each other. Within the framework of Generation Europe – The Academy, young people learned to work together in a group, became more courageous and self-confident, and were able to stand up for important social and political issues.
“The project helped me to accept myself and to be able to speak my mind.”
When the topics, formats and methods of local activities are determined by the young people themselves, this promotes experiences of self-efficacy and self-confidence in their own actions. During the course of the projects, which were based on the principles of non-formal education, the young people set the topics, chose the form of their involvement and participated in the creation of materials. They prepared the international youth encounters and helped to implement them. Experiences in the group, recognition by the professionals, an open atmosphere and growing confidence in their own abilities lead to increased and more frequent participation.
“From me to the world, yeah?”
A central aspect of the Generation Europe – The Academy concept was to establish the connection between local activities and their respective European dimensions. Through contact with partner youth groups abroad, it became clear that young people in Europe have common themes, experiences and interests. Even outside the youth encounters, the young people kept in touch with their international project partners. They sent each other texts, photos and videos and planned the next meetings together. European cooperation broadened their horizons and contributed to a sense of European unity.
“I realised how many of my problems can be similar to those of young people in other countries.”
The programme‘s approach to promoting active European citizenship focuses on the political concerns of young people. Young people were encouraged to stand up for their interests, make them public and bring them into politics. In this context, young people implement activities on the topics of diversity, inclusion, racism, human rights, refugees, the environment and sustainability, animal welfare and veganism, gender and LGBTQ+, elections, the war in Ukraine, intergenerational relations, culture, education, mental health and support for youth work. The topics were addressed in workshops, meetings, seminars, discussions, games, research, projects, excursions, demonstrations, petitions, political discussions, public actions and, last but not least, European youth conferences.
How Peers Make a Difference
The Access Study has demonstrated the role of trusted individuals in international youth work: people from the personal environment, trusted individuals and other role models can provide impetus for participation. They help to overcome any concerns, lack of confidence or other barriers to participation.
As part of Generation Europe – The Academy, young people who had already participated in youth work activities and youth mobility programmes were trained as ‘Ambassadors’. The Ambassadors organised local and national events with young people from the region, experts and policymakers to present the programme, the peer concept and the local activities of the youth groups. The peer-to-peer concept helped to attract young people to local youth work, focus on youth issues, organise safe spaces where necessary and break down barriers to participation in international youth encounters. The young Ambassadors themselves gained important experience that promoted their individual development and skills building. For the local youth groups and the organisations, the concept contributed to the development of young talent, as some of the ambassadors grew into (professional) youth work.
How European Cooperation Helps
European cooperation broadens horizons, creates new perspectives on local issues and promotes pan-European solidarity and commitment to democracy and human rights. Accompanied by experts, the young people planned, prepared and organised international youth encounters in European cooperation as part of Generation Europe – The Academy. The programme thus offered them an international platform for their topics of political interest. The methods and materials developed in European cooperation provide inspiration for local youth work in different countries, thereby strengthening the common ground of youth work in Europe.
How Active Citizenship Works in Europe
Active Citizenship and Civic Education were the focus of Generation Europe – The Academy. Local and European activities enabled participatory, democratic experiences and promoted political knowledge and reflective awareness of democracy and political contexts in young people‘s everyday lives. The approach highlighted opportunities for local and pan-European solidarity and commitment to democracy and human rights and created a local and European public sphere for young people‘s policy concerns. A paper developed within the network, Discussing Civic Education. Handout on Different Understandings of the Term and Common Solutions, shows that, despite all the conceptual diversity, it is possible to develop a common idea of Civic Education and Active Citizenship Education in Europe.
Results and Benefits
“It really changed my life for the better and helped me to grow and explore things that before seemed impossible. It was a dream come true that I hope I can repeat again.”
Young people who gained experience through Generation Europe – The Academy reported personal development: they learned to work with others and became more courageous and self-confident. They learned a lot about policymaking and how to advocate for important social issues. An overwhelming majority of young people – between 71 and 94 per cent – expressed an interest in continuing to engage in local youth work and international youth encounters in the future.
For the organisations involved, the programme has shown that shared principles focusing on a consistent subject orientation, international networking, the training programme for youth work professionals and the joint development of methods and materials have contributed to capacity building and the promotion of young talent in youth work. A special feature is that the handouts produced during the evaluation period were created by young people for young people and from practice for practice. This makes them attractive for youth groups that do not have access to specialist material and for young people in countries where such material is lacking.
What is Needed
Successful local and international youth work requires long-term security in order to build sustainable partnerships, structures and resources. It creates the conditions for reliable local youth work and more opportunities for international encounters. Generation Europe – The Academy could only be successful because the funding conditions allowed for participation and flexibility, and the five-year term of the project funding enabled new ideas, learning processes and developments.