What does youth work need to move forward in times of uncertainty? For four days in May 2026, almost 200 stakeholders in European youth work, policy and research tried to answer that question together – and discovered that the better question may be who do we need to be. The gathering From 5 to 8…
Peter Merry, evolutionary leadership expert and long-time companion of the European youth field, started his speech with a word: hyper-complex. He traced it back to a 2012 IBM study where thousands of CEOs were asked what challenges they were facing. The word they came up with, hyper-complexity, was an admission that they no longer knew…
Prof. Dr. Özgehan Şenyuva (Middle East Technical University, Ankara) walked onto the stage with a confession: he is not a sociologist. He is a political scientist who used to be a youth worker and is now, depending on the room, asked to give shorter and shorter keynotes. The room laughed – not just at the…
Research from Wales found that for children who have experienced significant adversity such as abuse, neglect, household instability, consistent access to a single trusted adult reduced poor health outcomes from 59.8% to 21.3%. So, not a programme, not a policy but one person who showed up, reliably, regularly, over time. Science caught up with practice,…
Every journey into the future is better with a Companion. The European Academy on Youth Work has launched the Companion for navigating innovation and futures thinking in youth work – a reflective resource created by the field, for the field. Drawing on learning from the Academy’s work between 2018 and 2025, the Companion brings together…
Welcome to the second day of 4th edition of EAYW, or in the words of a colleague from my Deep Dive group: the day we finally started doing something. The ultimate understatement, from my perspective here in the evening, as I sit down to write this blog. Feels more like the day we did everything…
We are happy to to share with you keynote sessions from the 4th Edition of the #EAYW, which are streamed live on our official YouTube channel in Kranjska Gora, from 5 – 8 May 2026. These sessions will provide you a nice opportunity to listen to inputs related to change and hyper-complex world, intergenerational solidarity…
Written by: Ana Pecarski
Didn’t manage to join the webinars live? Or would you like to watch them again at your own pace? Are you looking for practical tools and fresh perspectives on the future of youth work! Then this is the place to do it! Meet your future! webinar series offer practical tools, ideas and reflections to support…
We are excited to announce the launch of the Futures of Youth Work Toolbox – a new resource designed to help youth workers, organisations and policy makers engage with futures thinking in a practical and creative way. This Toolbox builds on the research carried out within the Futures of Youth Work project, which explored possible…