Supporting Young People in Europe: Lessons from the 'second seven' Council of Europe international reviews of national youth policy
Supporting Young People in Europe: Lessons from the 'second seven' Council of Europe international reviews of national youth policy

Author: Howard Williamson

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2002-01-01

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13: 9287162034

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This monograph has two purposes. The first is to develop the framework that was initially established through a grounded reading of the material from the first seven international reviews of national youth policy conducted by the Council of Europe Youth Directorate between 1997 and 2001. This has involved a careful reading of the subsequent national and international reports produced between 2002 and 2006 to identify either issues that merit greater prominence or new issues to be addressed in the future. The outcome of this exercise is the proposal of a new framework for European-level debates on the subject of youth policy. The second purpose is, through consultation with those who took part in the second cycle of reviews, to refine further the process by which international reviews are carried out. A number of observations suggest that immediate action can be taken to improve the experience of participating in review teams and, ultimately, the quality of the international reports.

The Edgeryders guide to the future
The Edgeryders guide to the future

Author: Council of Europe

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2013-04-01

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 9287179816

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This publication is the result of the Edgeryders project, an online dialogue platform run by the Council of Europe with a view to promoting discussion with young people on the challenges of their transition to working life. Given that the imagination and the experiences of young citizens can only be understood in the context of horizontal relations (learning though sharing and joint management) in line with the networking approach, which restores the significance of individual effort and provides innovative solutions, a programme such as Edgeryders can provide a future-oriented alternative. In turn, institutions must show creativity. It is no longer a case of managing inertia, but above all of creating a balance between what the public authorities can do and what they can facilitate. By adopting a spirit of co-operation, the authorities can encourage the sharing of responsibilities, ideas, goods and values, while opening up to mutual learning. Nevertheless, this type of interaction is only possible if two conditions are met. Firstly, institutions must show a clear desire to ensure unprecedented scope for dialogue with young people by ascribing a high value to the proposals that emerge from the contacts among and with young citizens. Secondly, young people’s interest in public affairs must be maintained in the long term by shoring up the online exchange with concrete evidence of legitimacy. This publication is intended to help meet these two conditions.

Youth political participation
Youth political participation

Author: Tomaž Deželan

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2023-01-09

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9287192391

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Young people’s participation is crucial for shaping and transforming democracies. Youth political participation is taking place within a context of democratic transformation, including a global decline in the state of democracy, shrinking space for civil society, polarisation of the political and social space, economic crisis and precarity, rapid digitalisation, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and, most recently, war. In this setting, we are witnessing a lack of trust in political institutions, an increasing disengagement from the political system and a decline in youth participation in institutional politics. This Youth Knowledge book reminds us that while the context might be changing, young people’s participation is crucial for shaping and transforming democracies. Moving beyond the traditional binary of “conventional” and “nonconventional”, the authors ask the question: “How are young people engaging with democracies in transformation?”, seeking to understand the ways in which young people are defining their own participation. This volume includes eight chapters, ranging from the mapping of young people’s involvement in environmental justice movements and climate strikes, dissent and radical kindness, political participation of young refugees in Europe, as well as explorations of the understanding of the concepts of liberal democracy, youth voice and European citizenship, as well as the importance and role of values and the context. In addition to the chapters, four personal essays, written by young people themselves, give a glimpse into the ways young people are engaging in political participation to shape their schools, communities and Europe, but also the broader systems on which our current politics is built. Young people’s political participation, citizenship and relationship with democracy remain a complex topic for youth research, policy and practice. While this publication does not claim to answer all the questions or represent the realities of all young people across Europe, it gives a glimpse into the landscape of youth engagement in a changing world, highlighting realities, trends and main issues.

Needles in haystacks
Needles in haystacks

Author: Madga Nico

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2018-01-30

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 9287185794

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(Young) lives are cross-sectoral by nature, and youth policy also needs to be so. Cross-sectorality is a well-known aspect of youth policy, but the importance of this aspect does not translate into a common understanding of what cross-sectoral youth policy means and of the ways it can be developed. This book is a collection of articles detailing concrete experiences of cross-sectoral youth policy implementation. It starts with the idea that the efficacy and the sustainability of cross-sectoral youth policy depends on the degree and nature of interaction between various youth policy subdomains and levels, ranging from legal frameworks to interinstitutional or interpersonal relations, and from pan-European to local level. By making these examples available, this book will hopefully support the development of a common understanding of what cross-sectoral youth policy means in different countries and settings. The authors themselves reflect the diversity of the people involved in youth policy (policy makers, youth researchers, youth workers and workers in the field of youth) and this work represents their intention to provide these professionals – as well as others interested in the youth field – with the knowledge necessary to implement, in a real-life scenario, cross-sectoral youth policy.

Youth policy in Greece
Youth policy in Greece

Author: Sladjana Petkovic

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2015-06-01

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13: 9287181586

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Greece is the 20th country to have had its youth policy reviewed by an international review team appointed by the Council of Europe. The financial crisis and resulting high unemployment rate, especially among young people, was the major concern encountered by the review team. Although the crisis has compelled Greece to engage in profound fiscal reform and address many of its structural weaknesses, this has not been matched by labour market activation policies and other youth policy measures needed to reverse the mood of despondency and stem the tide of emigration of young people. This international review focused in particular on two aspects of youth transitions: the transition from the education system to the labour market; and the related issue of military service and conscription, which is an integral part of life for young men in Greece. The review team also considered characteristics of the public administration, which dwells on bureaucratic compliance and has limited scope and licence for fostering initiative and creativity, despite incessant rhetoric about the need for “entrepreneurship”. The review team advocates the establishment of more creative and innovative mechanisms to free the entrepreneurial and participative spirit not only of young people in Greece, but also of its regional and local administrations, youth organisations and local youth councils, in order for them to provide timely and purposeful intervention, opportunity and support according to local need and circumstances.

Youth Policy in Hungary
Youth Policy in Hungary

Author: Andreas Walther

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13: 9789287164476

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This international review of Hungarian national youth policy is the fifteenth in the series started in 1997 by the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe. Like preceding reviews, it aims to fulfil three distinct objectives: - to advise on national youth policy; - to identify components which might combine to form a harmonised approach to youth policy across Europe; and - to contribute to a learning process in relation to the development and implementation of youth policy. Hungary, at its own request, embarked on an international review to benefit from ten years of reviewing experience and to contribute to the European exchange of information on youth policies. This report includes information gathered by the international review team as well as its analyses and recommendations concerning the development, perspectives and challenges for the future of youth policy in Hungary.

Youth Policy in Latvia
Youth Policy in Latvia

Author: Herwig Reiter

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13:

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This international review of the national youth policy in Latvia, like preceding reviews, aims to fulfil three distinct objectives: - to advise on national youth policy; - to identify components which might combine to form a harmonised approach to youth policy across Europe; and - to contribute to a learning process in relation to the development and implementation of youth policy. The Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe embark¬ed on its international reviews of national youth policy in 1997. Latvia, at its own request, is the fourteenth country to be the focus of an international review. This report goes from the historical back¬ground through to the present day and includes information gather¬ed by the international review team as well as its analyses and recommendations concerning the development, perspectives and challenges for the future of youth policy in Latvia.

Youth Employment and the Future of Work
Youth Employment and the Future of Work

Author: Council of Europe

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 9789287166579

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"Young people are particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in economic trends. Youth employment is therefore high on the policy agenda of those concerned with promoting social inclusion. While youth-targeted employment policies tend to combine both demand-side and supply-side approaches, it is important to recognise that traditional notions of "work" have more recently been challenged and reconceptualised. The old assumptions about gender roles, "job security" and "planned careers" have thus been transformed by the profound economic and social changes of recent decades. The essays collected here were developed from papers first delivered at a research seminar on youth employment organised by the partnership between the Council of Europe and the European Commission in the field of youth. They represent a diverse and, at times, provocative collection of analytic snapshots of the position of young people on the European labour market. What emerges is a shared commitment to finding flexible responses to economic globalisation and a concomitant concern for promoting the rights, interests and welfare of young people in both training placement and in the workplace."--P. [4] of cover.

Learning mobility and non-formal learning in European contexts: Policies, approaches and examples
Learning mobility and non-formal learning in European contexts: Policies, approaches and examples

Author: Günter J.Friesenhahn, Hanjo Schild, Hans-Georg Wicke, Judit Balogh

Publisher: Council of Europe

Published: 2014-01-01

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 928717833X

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Mobility is considered to be important for the personal development and employability of young people, as well as for intercultural dialogue, participation and active citizenship. Learning mobility in the youth field focuses on non-formal learning as a relevant part of youth work, with links to informal learning as well as to formal education. Different stakeholders at European level, particularly the Council of Europe and the European Commission, but also individual member states, foster programmes and strategies to enhance the mobility of young people, and particularly the learning dimension in mobility schemes. This book on learning mobility is a joint Council of Europe and European Commission publication, and provides texts of an academic, scientific, political and practical nature for all stakeholders in the youth field - youth leaders and youth workers, policy makers, researchers and so on. It should contribute to dialogue and co-operation between relevant players and to discussion on the further development and purpose of youth mobility schemes and their outcomes for young people.