One person closes their eyes, the other guides them through the room. After a few minutes, they switch roles – and suddenly the person with closed eyes decides for themselves where they want to go. The task of the guide is now to stay attentive, give a sense of safety and only step in when necessary.
When youth workers collaborate with young people, their role is to support and empower them, not to control or direct them. With exercises like this, youth leaders from the network of Generation Europe – The Academy explored their role in Weimar. From 5 to 10 June 2026, they met at the European Youth Education and Meeting Centre (EJBW) to work on how they can support young people to build a collaborative group, choose their own topics, develop local projects and experience European cooperation during international youth encounters.
Support that strengthens self-determination
Using a wide range of methods, the youth work professionals explored what good youth work can do: youth leaders give orientation and enable self-determination. They empower groups to make their own decisions, act with confidence and take responsibility for each other. As this was the first youth leader training in the new Generation Europe Programme phase, it focused on important questions: How can trust grow in a newly formed group? How can people with different languages and experiences work well together? What do young people need in order to express their concerns and make them visible in public? And how can youth work professionals make sure that everyone can participate?
Legal and organisational frameworks also played an important role. Using practical cases, the youth leaders addressed supervision duties, consent forms, health and safety, child protection, complaint procedures and clear communication in challenging situations. The pedagogical approach was closely linked to practical responsibilities: good preparation helps to ensure that group processes are reliable, fair and safe. The participants also became familiar with the new programme structure of Generation Europe – The Academy, reflected on the basics of non-formal education, worked on group moderation skills and public relations, and used time in their partnerships to further prepare the upcoming youth encounters.
Weimar as a method
Another key approach in Generation Europe – The Academy is to include the locations where encounters take place in a concrete and methodical way. During a city tour through Weimar, the youth leaders tested how specific places and their history can be connected with questions about democracy, exclusion, remembrance and solidarity. Such methods invite people to find their own approaches, share experiences and connect social issues with their own actions.
Starting the new programme phase
The Youth Leader Training was the first part of a three-year training series. It supports the youth leaders in their continuous professional development alongside their work on the ground. In the 2026–2028 programme phase, Generation Europe – The Academy brings together 40 partner organisations from eleven European countries. In twelve trilateral partnerships, young people and youth work professionals collaborate in local groups and during international youth encounters. The programme also includes further training opportunities, not only for youth leaders, as well as joint advocacy activities.
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