The German youth work institutions participating in Generation Europe are from North Rhine-Westphalia, Thuringia, Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, and the City of Munich. They represent the diversity of youth work in the Federal Republic, taking into account urban areas, as well as rural or structurally disadvantaged regions. Each institution forged a project partnership with two other youth work institutions from a total of 13 further European countries. The diversity of project partners encompasses independent youth organisations, youth centres with different operators, institutions of vocational education, as well as municipal institutions. Common to all of us is our already working with youths from the target groups we want to inspire for political participation.
By not funding individual projects, but project partnerships over three years each, Generation Europe creates the foundation for sustainable long-term collaboration. An important part of the concept is an auxiliary programme for the participating youth work institutions‘ professionals. On the one hand, they acquire additional qualifications in order to master the challenges of European political democracy education in the best possible way. On the other hand, the professionals, as part of the auxiliary programme, further develop the available approaches and build a methodological toolkit for working with heterogeneous target groups. These methods are tested in activities at the location and within the framework of international encounters, and then evaluated and further developed in collaboration with the youths themselves. In this connection of theory, training, and practice, Generation Europe contributes equally to the further evolution of concept of democratic pedagogy as well as to the further professionalisation of international youth work.