Conference on Value and Recognition of Youth Work

Conference – Symposium – Forum

4-7 December 2023 | Zagreb, Croatia

The European Youth Work Agenda (EYWA) aims to boost youth work by strengthening and further developing youth work practice and policies- One of the specific topics of the EYWA is the value and recognition of youth work.

The conference is part of a strategic cooperation project “Strengthening youth work in Europe by supporting the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda” (SNAC EYWA), of 15 National Agencies and SALTO Resource Centres that has the aim to contribute to the EYWA by mobilising the EU youth programmes for youth work development within the Bonn Process and by setting thematic impulses.

The overall aim of the conference is to contribute to creating more recognition of youth work and to provide a platform for further reflection on the different dimensions of recognition. So far, recognition as understood in this way addresses the following four areas:

• Self-recognition (valuing one’s own work as a field and gathering evidence of the impact of one’s own work)

• Formal recognition (recognition of individual learning in youth work by young participants and individual competences and pathways in the provision of youth work by youth workers and trainers)

• Societal recognition (of the value of youth work as a professional field that contributes to society)

• Political recognition (in the shape of adequate political, legal, and financial framing conditions and cross-sectoral cooperation)

AIMS OF THE CONFERENCE:

• To share and explore good practices and strategies for strengthening recognition and to bring together what is already happening within the youth work sector (from different recognition dimensions and from different countries)

• To learn about good practices in relation to recognition in other sectors

• To create an overview of the current state of recognition of youth work (building on a communication campaign prior to the event and a collection of initiatives during the event)

• To create a common message about the value of youth work that can be communicated to others external to our field with one voice

• To empower participants and facilitate capacity-building to increase commitment to recognition (by increasing knowledge, tools, resources, networks etc.)

• To develop strategies and action-planning to further strengthen the recognition of youth work

• To develop strategies and action-planning to create strategic alliances with other sectors

• To explore the opportunities of the EU youth programmes for implementing measures to strengthen the recognition of youth work

TARGET GROUP OF THE CONFERENCE:

The conference aims at empowering those stakeholders who are already engaged in the professional debate on recognition, and who are looking for additional cross-border exchange and inspiration, resources, and practical tools as well as strategic alliances within and beyond the youth work community of practice.

It mainly targets stakeholders from the youth work community of practice, but representatives of other sectors with the scope of their work having an impact on validation and recognition of youth work are also warmly invited and welcomed.

The selected participants should be motivated to actively participate in the conference and to contribute to the follow-up of the conference.

More information at: SALTO