We all know that youth work needs to improve young people’s competences and give them tools and techniques to be active in their local community. Sometimes, this can be made quite easy; sometimes, it can be a more challenging task. This can depend not only on cross-sectorial cooperation that can make our lives easier, but also on proper education of youth workers at different levels (formal or non-formal).

In order to empower young people, we should firstly give them the opportunity to learn and acquire competencies. However, sometimes we have the challenge to reach out to young people, or they do not receive information about what is happening in the training world. And one of the contributions explored this topic in great detail – “Cities of Learning” presented by Nerijus Kriauciunas. Probably you are asking yourself  “What is a City of Learning? And can my city become one that integrates learning?” Yes it can! And these were the main questions which participants at EAYW explored in this contribution. Cities and Regions of Learning is an approach to learning on a territory where a network of learning providers offers diverse educational activities using an online platform. Young people can use an interactive map to choose learning opportunities based on their passion and interests. Organisations can create learning playlists where online learning and local activities are combined into thematic learning pathways. Already, 12 cities and regions across Europe are part of this the network and platform of Cities and Regions of Learning. Read more about this interesting concept in the workshop report!

When we empower young people with competences, and even before that, we should encourage them to make a change. We should encourage them to see what needs to be improved in their local community. We should encourage them to take action. And one of our contributions presented by Ksenja Perko dealt with making the ideas of youth happen. We present you the “City Incubator”, which is a sustainable tool of knowledge support, implementation tools and co-financing for local youth initiatives. The innovation addresses young people who have their own ideas on how to increase the quality of life in their city and who wish to be actively involved in the life of the city. And how does the process look like? Firstly, young people submit their ideas in a simple online form. Up to 15 ideas participate in workshops, discussions and fun activities, to clarify and fine-tune their ideas. Then, participants submit their ideas in the form of a project application, which are assessed by a committee of experts. They select a maximum of 10 projects for implementation, which receive mentorship and financial support. Implementation of selected projects is conducted in collaboration with other public institutions founded by the City of Ljubljana and with NGOs for youth and local businesses. Interested to find out more about this practice? Than hurry up and read more in our workshop report and presentation!

Watch the contribution City Incubator!

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And in order to implement all of mentioned above, we need educated youth workers. In previous contributions, we have discussed the importance of research in youth work and we are continuing to highlight this topic with our next contribution. “Educational and Career Pathways of Youth Workers – Ethical Standards in Youth Work” is the name of the contribution by Sladjana Petkovic and Davide Capecchi. It is certainly connected with already presented contributions: Developing a Universal Code of Practice for Youth Workers and Tertiary Level Education of Youth Workers, which are dealing with ethics in youth work and challenges and opportunities in education of youth workers on university level. The main aim of the contribution Educational and Career Pathways of Youth Workers was to inform about identified patterns in which the support systems for the development of educational and career pathways of youth workers are organised in Europe, and to present key findings of a thematic research on ethical standards in youth work and how they support systems for the development of educational and career pathways of youth workers in Europe. During the contribution, two main questions were discussed: What is the role of innovation in supporting the development of educational and career pathways of youth workers? What is participants’ experience in applying ethical standards in youth work practice and policy and what types of challenges have they encountered? To get insights to answers to these questions and find out more about educational and career pathways of youth workers, download the workshop report and enjoy!

Stay tuned for fresh three new contributions coming to you on Friday! 🙂