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DG Democracy
Directorate of Democratic Participation
Youth Department
Think Youth No:67 August/September 2018
Interview with Matjaž Gruden - Director of Democratic Participation
Matjaž Gruden was nominated the Director of Democratic Participation.
His responsibilities include culture, education and youth. Think Youth interviewed him on issues ranging from the role of young people and their organisation in sustaining democratic participation to the shrinking space of civil society.
Voluntary contribution for the social inclusion of young refugees
The Government of Flanders (Belgium) has made a voluntary contribution of €80,000 to support a project on "social inclusion of young refugees" within the framework of the CoE Action Plan on "Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019)". The project aims to protect and support refugees in transition to adulthood through the role of youth work and youth policy. In addition it also promotes the implementation of existing and new Committee of Ministers Recommendations to member states.
The publication of the self-assessment tool for youth policy
The English version of the self-assessment tool for youth policy is now available as a hard copy. In addition to the English online version, the French, German, Russian, Italian and Spanish online versions of the tool are currently under preparation and will be available on the CoE Youth portal early October.
Youth policy assistance measure on quality criteria for youth centres in Kiev/Ukraine
As part of its set of assistance measures to member States, the CoE Youth Department provided youth policy advice to the authorities of Ukraine, at their request. ​From 23 to 26 July 2018, a Council of Europe delegation - composed of representatives of the expert group on the Quality Label for Youth Centres and the secretariat – met with a large number of shareholders in the youth field. The advisory group provided feedback on the government’s initiative to develop a network of local and regional youth centres across the country, in the context of current decentralisation reform in Ukraine. The delegation also visited the regional Youth Centre in Chernigiv and a local youth centre in Kipti. The Ukrainian authorities expressed their gratitude for the assistance received, and committed to further develop their national quality label on youth centres on the basis of the recommendations made by the Council of Europe delegation.
First ever meeting of Chairpersons of all intergovernmental committees
On 20 September, Miriam Teuma (chair of the European Steering Committee for Youth - CDEJ) and Anja Olin-Pape (chair of the Advisory Council on Youth - CCJ) attended the first ever meeting of all intergovernmental committees of the CoE. This meeting was initiated by the Directors General of DG Democracy and DG Human Rights and Rule of Law. it was followed by a working lunch with Secretary General Jagland, during which a set of recommendations for improving cooperation was presented by the chairs. The meeting explored ways of strengthening the impact and visibility of intergovernmental co-operation in the CoE and underlined the indispensable role of intergovernmental cooperation in developing, safeguarding and disseminating CoE standards and policies. 
European Youth Centre Strasbourg open to the general public
The Deputy Secretary General of the CoE opened the EYCS to the general public on Sunday 16 September as part of the European Heritage Days programme. Activities during the open day included: presentations of the architecture of the building built in 1972 by the Norwegian architects Lund & Slatto and of the work carried out in the youth sector; interactive activities and exhibitions from the Youth Department, as well as information stands about the Council of the Europe.
Join the MOOC of the EU – CoE youth partnership on the “Essentials of Youth Policy”
This online, free and open course to be organised by the partnership between the European Commission and the CoE in the youth field aims to develop learners' basic competences to engage in youth policy. Participants will learn about the essential elements of youth policy, the steps of youth policy (development, delivery, evaluation), its impact in the lives of young people, and will reflect on their future steps in youth policy and some of the future trends in policy. The course starts on 8 October and ends on 18 November 2018. You can enrol now.
The Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)4 on youth work is now available in nine different languages
The Recommendation aims to help member states provide quality youth work. In addition to the English and French versions, the recommendation is now availble in Bosnian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, Russian, Slovenian and Swedish languages. On this occasion, the CoE Youth Department would like to thank to all ministries in charge of youth affairs for their valuable support.
A new publication on youth work and refugees: Step-by-step together
This new publication by  the partnership between the European Commission and the CoE in the youth field offers practical tools for youth work on the inclusion and participation of young refugees at a local level. It focuses on youth participation and inclusion as key dimensions to build inclusive societies and, at the same time, to create an enabling environment for young refugees to be fully fledged actors of their personal and community development. It tackles the following themes: intercultural learning; access to social rights; young women refugees; youth participation and mental health and trauma.


The EYF on the move
The EYF greatly appreciates the recent voluntary contribution of 20.000€ from France and 5.000€ from Luxembourg, which will be feeding the Pilot activity programme, supporting projects at both
local and national levels. This programme was also the focus of a consultation by the EYF towards Youth Organisations to include them in the discussion of the priorities for pilot activities taking place in 2019.The EYF was also on the road, as part of the on-going effort to reach out to Member States and youth organisations. An info-session was held in Brussels on 6 and 7 September, targeting International Youth NGOs who are preparing applications for the 1 October deadline. In Skopje, “the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, from 6 to 8 September, the EYF held training for local and national youth organisations in cooperation with the Agency of Youth and Sport, in which participants learned about our principles and working methods. Such events are also the best way for the EYF to further understand the context and reality of youth NGOs in Member States.
Upcoming activities
  • Study session - Play your part! Strengthening urban and rural youth participation – in cooperation with the Rural Youth Europe and European Confederation of Youth Clubs, EYCB, 17-22 September 2018
  • The role of young refugees for intercultural dialogue and social inclusion,EYCS, 17-21 September 2018
  • Study session - P.E.A.C.E. - Peace, eActivism & Campaigning Education -in cooperation with the Europe Alliance of YMCAs,EYCB, 17-21 September 2018
  • Human Rights Education - Training course for multipliers working with children and adolescents,EYCS, 20-21 September 2018
  • Study session - Making counter and alternative narratives accessible - in cooperation with No Hate Speech Movement Norway, EYCS, 24-29 September 2018
  • Training for facilitators and organisers of study sessions, the EYCB, 01-06 October 2018
  • Learning from the HIstory of International Youth Organisations and their Impact on Youth Work Today, Ljubljana, 02-04 October 2018
  • Quality Label End-of-term visit Destelheide Youth Centre,  Dworp/Belgium, 04-05 October 2018
  • Human Rights Education in practice – training for trainers, Zagreb, 04-05 October 2018
  • MOOC Massive open online course "Essentials of youth policy", online, 08-18 October 2018
  • Study session - Alliance against Antigypsyism: Youth-friendly reference paper on antigypsyism - in cooperation with  the ERGO Network and TernYpe International Youth Network,EYCB, 08-12 October 2018
  • International training seminar on the implementation of the Enter Recommendation in the member-states of the European Cultural Convention, Kazan/Russian Federation, 09-12 October 2018
  • Study session - Removing barriers for youth civil society to organise itself and participate - The role of National Youth Councils in the youth policy development - in cooperation with the National Youth Councils,EYCB, 15-20 October 2018
  • Statutory bodies (CMJ, CDEJ and CCJ) plenary meetings,EYCS, 15-17 October 2018
  • 41st meeting of the Board of Co-ordination of the Partial Agreement,EYCS, 15-16 October 2018
  • 29th meeting of the Joint Co-ordination Committee of ERYICA,EYCS, 17-18 October 2018
Useful links
The CoE Directorate General Democracy
The CoE Youth Portal
European Youth Centre Budapest
European Youth Centre Strasbourg
European Youth Foundation
Intergovernmental Cooperation
The EU-CoE Youth Parthership
Facebook pages
Advisory Council on Youth
Council of Europe - Youth
European Youth Centre Budapest
EU-CoE youth partnership
European Youth Foundation
No Hate Speech Movement


For comments and suggestions, please contact [email protected]
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Tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 20 00
www.coe.int/youth
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