1euaGiT

It is clear that young people are a core priority for policy makers at the EU level,
particularly today given the impact of the economic crisis on their futures, but what role
does youth work play in all of this Formal education might be considered to be the
most obvious route to ensuring that young people have access to the best opportunities
for learning, however young people have a great deal of time outside the classroom.
How young people spend the majority of their time when they are not in education,
training or at work can also influence the opportunities that are open to them. Indeed,
there is big potential for non-formal and informal learning and youth work can play a
key part of this. As Williamson stated at a recent conference on ‘The Current Crisis and
Youth 39 ’, it is ‘not only human capital (qualifications), but also social capital (networks)
and identity capital (self-presentation skills) that confers the best advantages on young
people and the greatest protection against risk’. Youth work may take on many different
guises, but the heart of youth work is that it focusses on the needs and interests of the
young person in order to develop both human and social capital competences amongst
young people. Human and social competences are important competences for example
in work. A recent study by Eurofound finds that vulnerable NEETs often lack social,
cultural and human capital 40 .
Youth work invests in the lives of young people and whilst it is focussed on personal
development and non-formal education, the value of the non-formal learning that takes
place in youth work settings has the ability to improve both social well-being and
employability. The transversal skills that are increasingly needed for personal, civic and
professional routes from youth to adulthood can be achieved through youth work.
Despite the clear policy agenda focussing on young people, and the evidence from some
individual studies within a given national or youth work context, not enough is known
about the landscape of youth work and most importantly, what the value is of the sector
across the EU in terms of its outcomes and impacts. Whilst work has been carried out
on various aspects of youth policy and youth work exploring themes such as the history
of youth work and the impact of the crisis, there is a lack of comprehensive, comparable
evidence on youth work across the EU as a whole.
Therefore, the aim of this study is four-fold, to paint a picture of the landscape of youth
work activities that take place across the EU, examine the value of the different forms of
youth work, explore success stories which illustrate the experiences of those in the field
and finally, identify the critical success factors that underpin effective youth work. F
Navigating this report
Chapter Two sets out the main facts relating to the key features which characterise
youth work by identifying the kinds of actions that fall under youth work and who
delivers those activities. It also looks at where youth work is headed by taking stock of
the main trends in the sector during the last decade, examining the experiences within
the sector.
Chapter Three outlines the legal framework under which youth work falls in countries
across the EU. It identifies what elements of youth work are regulated, highlighting the
legal context of issues such as definitions, and funding, in addition to the requirements
and responsibilities of those delivering activities.
39
Symposium ‘The Current Crisis and Youth – Impact and Ways Forward’", European
Youth Centre, Strasbourg - 20-21 February 2013.
40 NEETs: Young people not in employment, education, or training: Characteristics and
costs and policy responses in Europe, European Foundation for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions, 2012.
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