Make the European Youth Work Agenda alive!

2021

Make the European Youth Work Agenda alive!

RECOGNITION OF YOUTH WORK AND YOUTH INFORMATION

The final outcome of the 3rd European Youth Work Convention Convention was the final Declaration ‘Signposts for the future’, which plays a crucial role in establishing the European Youth Work Agenda’s implementation process, the so-called ‘Bonn Process’. We are delighted to see that the paper includes a call to action to make youth work greener and to develop curricula for youth worker education and training – in our case, a competency framework –, both of which ERYICA is currently working on in co-operation with Eurodesk.

Read this article on how ERYICA and Eurodesk see the follow-up of the Bonn process.

RECOGNITION OF YOUTH INFORMATION WORKERS

While youth worker is a recognised profession in most European countries, this is not the case with youth information worker. ERYICA and Eurodesk built a partnership with SALTO Training & Cooperation and the EU-CoE Youth Partnership to propose this as a new occupation in the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations database (ESCO). The Europe-wide consultation confirmed that a youth information worker has specific competences as compared to a youth worker and resulted in a definition and set of competences. The proposal was validated by the Commission and is now to be reviewed by the Member States.

A COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK OF THE YOUTH INFORMATION WORKER

Moreover, Eurodesk and ERYICA decided to launch a joint working group to develop a competence framework of the youth information worker, to be released by the end of 2021. The aim is to raise awareness on the occupation, contribute to the quality of the sector and propose a model for governments willing to develop or revise their own competence frameworks. The adoption of this framework will be another milestone in the recognition of our profession that will build on the Bonn Process and the European Youth Work Agenda