On 31 May-1 June 2023, over a 100 policy makers, practitioners, researchers and young people met for the Youth Partnership symposium “Visible Value: Growing youth work in Europe” at the European Youth Centre Budapest, looking at the challenges and opportunities for youth work in Europe. They shared good practices, resources and ideas which will help furthering youth work in their communities. More information as well as resources and photos are available on the event's website.

The symposium marked the 25 years of cooperation between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth. Matjaz Gruden, Director of Democratic Participation, Council of Europe, Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot, Director for Youth, Education and Erasmus+, European Commission, and Spyros Papadatos, Chair of the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) and of the Joint Council on Youth (CMJ), Jorge Orlando Queirós, Chair of the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) and Maria Rodriguez Alcazar, President of the European Youth Forum, discussed in a panel exchange the Youth Partnership’s contribution to the youth sector in Europe.

Watch the video message of Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General, Council of Europe and visit the Youth Partnership’s anniversary page to have a look at the most important and impactful resources from the last 25 years!

Ahead of the 4th summit of Heads of State and Government (Reykjavik, Iceland, 16-17 May 2023), Velislava PETROVA, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, paid a visit to the European Youth Centre Strasbourg where she was introduced to the work of the Council of Europe youth sector.

The Deputy Minister held an exchange with the Director of Democratic Participation, Matjaž GRUDEN. She also attended the 14th Platform of European Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres as an honoured guest, and met with representatives of Quality Labelled Youth Centres in Bulgaria.

During her meetings she discussed the role and the importance of meaningful participation of young people and youth civil society for reinstating trust in political institutions, strengthening and shaping democratic and political processes, especially on matters that affect young people. Quality education, education for democracy as well as the importance of the diversity of cultures were stressed as essential elements for the development of a genuine openness of mind and basic rights, and for strengthening and preserving today’s democracies in Europe.

The European Youth Foundation opened a special call for pilot activities in support of young people from Ukraine since November 2023, by decision of the Joint Council on Youth. So far, ten projects have been awarded to six youth organisations from Ukraine and four from other Council of Europe members states working directly with young people from Ukraine.

In May 2023, the Programming Committee on Youth decided to prolong and reinforce this special call with a stronger international youth co-operation dimension. National youth organisations with partners and international youth organisations and networks may as of now apply for international activity grants within this special call.

Local and national youth organisations can continue to apply for pilot activity grants within this special call.

Between 9-10 May representatives of youth centres awarded with the Council of Europe Quality Label for youth centres, as well as youth centres aspiring to its acquisition, gathered in the European Youth Centre Strasbourg for their annual European Platform for Youth Centres meeting. The meeting brought together 22 youth centres from 14 member states of the Council of Europe, including candidate centres from Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg and Ukraine.

The Platform meeting is designed to create a space for directors and key staff of youth centres to focus on strategic issues in the management of youth centres. This year’s programme aimed in particular to address themes which are currently high on Council of Europe’s youth sector agenda such as the ’role of youth in peace building’ and ‘climate change, human rights and the role of youth’. The meeting also introduced the participants to the work of other sectors of the Council of Europe, such as gender equality, Roma youth and children’s rights, that could support new ideas and developments in the youth centres. Participants also had the opportunity to exchange practices among centres and to develop joint approaches to promote quality youth work in youth centres.

A Consultative Meeting to follow up on the 2022 Turin Forum on Citizenship and Human Rights Education and the 3rd review of the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education was organised by the Youth Department in cooperation with the Education Department of the Council of Europe.

The meeting gathered 30 practitioners and experts on EDC/HRE and resulted, among others, in proposals to the Joint Council on Youth of a roadmap to implement the conclusion of the 3rd review of the Charter through the Youth for Democracy programme and in similar proposals to the programme of the Education Department of the Council of Europe.

The participants made specific proposals to improve the provision and quality of human rights education and stressed that the backsliding of democracy is accompanied by a backsliding of human rights, which is equally worrying and needs to be addressed by human rights education.

The programme, based on Compass methodologies, paid a specific focus on relating Human Rights and “Nature rights” violations and on peace education.

“Initially intended to support young people, youth organisations and local authorities in promoting the participation of young people in local and regional life across Europe, the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life is more relevant than ever," says the Congress' Deputy Spokesperson on Youth, Véronique Bertholle, on the occasion of this instrument's 20th anniversary.

Progress has been made in many local and regional authorities, however, 20 years after the adoption of the revised Charter on 21 May 2003, youth participation is not fully guaranteed everywhere in Europe.

"In a world marked by war and crises that often lead to democratic regression and increased inequality, every political decision has lasting effects for youth. Youth participation must therefore be an intrinsic part of democratic processes at all levels of governance," underlines Véronique Bertholle, concluding that she is ‘’delighted that this 20th anniversary coincides with the decisions adopted by the Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government on 17 May 2023 in Reykjavik, which support the participation of civil society and youth in our democracies. The Congress will continue to promote the European Charter on Youth Participation so that it becomes a reality in all cities and regions of Europe".

“Education and empowerment of young people as to what constitutes a just and fair society – as embodied in Rule of Law principles – is vital to our democracies and essential in order for the next generation to become active citizens.”

ELSA, the European Law Students Association, is carrying out a Rule of Law Education programme in 2023. As part of this, ELSA received financial support from the European Youth Foundation for a project that aims at informing and raising awareness of high-school students about rule of law, fairness, equality and other dimensions of Justice in society. Following this training of trainers, law students and young lawyers from ELSA local and national groups are implementing human rights education activities for 15- to 18-year-old students in high schools. 

This project was supported by the European Youth Foundation as part of its international activity grants.

What is the current socio-political context and what is its influence on shaping youth policies? What are the resources of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Youth Partnership to support youth policy development in Europe!

Have a look at the new illustrations developed for the Shaping youth policies in practice project and find out more!

Shaping youth policies in practice is a one-year capacity building project of the Youth Partnership. In the framework of the project, delegations from Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova, Portugal and Ukraine are currently developing and implementing national youth policy projects with the guidance and support of mentors and the Youth Partnership.