The 4th European Academy on Youth Work focuses on the question: How can youth work move forward in times of uncertainty?

 

The main questions the EAYW is exploring are:

  • What does youth work need in order to move forward in times of uncertainty and disruption?
  • How can youth work build resilience, agency and readiness for change?
  • How can we respond to the major challenges affecting young people and youth work today?
  • How can we learn, innovate and act together for positive futures of youth work?

 

The specific objectives of the 4th EAYW are the following:

  1. Celebrate the Academy’s efforts and achievements.
  2. Build knowledge & capacity around the themes of future-oriented thinking, innovation and change.
  3. Support youth workers’ collective resilience and sense of agency.
  4. Create space to reflect on how youth work can move forward in times of uncertainty.
  5. Strengthen the youth work community and inspire new ideas and initiatives for the future.

4th Residential EAYW Event: Connecting Dots and Moving Forward, Together

Almost 200 professionals from different fields of European youth work, youth policy and research came together at the 4th EAYW event in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, from 5 – 8 May 2026.

This EAYW event was closing the cycle of the Academy under the current generation of EU youth programmes. As such it was a bridging event, representing an occasion for looking back and celebrating achievements as well as looking forward and identifying action for future steps youth work can take to move towards the future(s).

The programme included:

  • Plenary sessions addressing key cross-cutting themes like change, innovation, resilience and agency, inspiring collective reflection within the field and providing “container” space for the more specific Deep Dive conversations. The plenary sessions also provided moments for collective sense making and discovering the source of the future movement in the youth work field. 
  • Deep Dive sessions offering space for deeper discussions on selected topics (see more below).
  • Introduction of youth work tools and practices that support future oriented conversations and help youth work move forward. They were shared at different moments throughout the programme.
  • Spaces for community-building, networking and joint reflection about futures of youth work and how ideas and reflections from the event can be taken further in the participants’ home environment.
  • Informal spaces for seeing things from a different perspective and having fun together.

Deep Dive sessions

After gathering feedback from different stakeholders, this EAYW event was designed to include more learning spaces that would allow for deeper discussions and reflections.  Each participant could follow one Deep Dive session on the theme of their choice.

The Deep Dive Sessions were six thematic groups that ran in parallel across three 90-minute sessions. Each group explored one central theme shaping youth work today – from AI and social skills to democracy, rights, climate justice, and belonging in times of conflict. These sessions created a focused space where 20–30 participants stayed with the same topic long enough to actually… well, dive deeper – to reflect together, challenge assumptions, meet new perspectives, and connect what we hear to our own realities and practices.

Deep Dive Themes:

1. Love, Youth Work & Robots – AI, Technology and Everything In Between

2. Tell Me How to Say Hello – Mental Health & Social Skills in the Era of ChatGPT

3. From TikTok to Real Talk – Youth Rights & Participation Beyond the Screen

4. Us, Them & the Nothing Inbetween – Youth Work in a Fragile Democracy

5. Environment & Climate Justice – Are We Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic?

6. From Division to Dialogue – Supporting Young People in Times of Conflict

Greetings from the 4th EAYW event! We are currently processing all the outcomes and materials. They will be uploaded here when ready.