The 10th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth, titled “Young People for Democracy: Youth Perspectives in Action”, will be held in Valletta, Malta, on 8–9 October 2025. Prior to the conference, a youth event will take place on 7-8 October 2025.

Ministers responsible for youth will assess developments since the last conference in view of the Reykjavík Declaration and agree the main orientations for European youth policy in the years to come. This Conference will present a key opportunity to renew commitments, exchange best practices, and advance concrete actions to strengthen the resilience of our democracies through enhanced youth participation – in particular by including young people’s perspectives in policymaking.

It will also provide a unique platform to assess developments in the youth field and provide orientation for European youth policy and the Council of Europe’s youth sector. To achieve this, the Conference will bring young people and policymakers together, to foster meaningful dialogue and decisions that will lead to effective results.

The reform process of the European Youth Foundation launched after Reykjavik summit in 2023 reached an important milestone. On 24 September 2025, in their 1538th meeting the Ministers’ Deputies adopted the revised Operational Regulations of the European Youth Foundation (EYF). The revision of the Operational Regulations (CM(2025)122-final) will enter into force three months after their adoption.

These Operational Regulations were designed to ensure that the Foundation acts as a unique, agile and relevant donor for youth organisations across Europe and adopts a dynamic approach to grant-making, fostering a trust-based relationship with international and national youth non-governmental organisations and networks, as well as other non-governmental structures involved in youth work.

Representatives of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and regional state administrations strengthened their competencies in ensuring the participation of young people in the development and implementation of youth policy, taking into account the standards and approaches of the Council of Europe.

During the five-day online training, based on the Model General Short-Term Professional Development Programme "Participatory Youth Policy," participants studied Council of Europe standards and approaches to youth participation in decision-making, explored ways to ensure this participation, in particular, the participation of young people who are not involved or are at risk of becoming excluded, and examined the establishment of cooperation between different subjects of youth policy with the participation of young people.

On 20 September, the European Youth Centre Strasbourg welcomed the public for the European Heritage Days. Visitors were invited to discover the Centre through guided tours, information stands, and exchanges with staff.

Highlights of the programme included presentations by Michael Siffert, Director of Central Services, and Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Youth Department, on the architecture and functioning of the building, as well as on the unique role of the Youth Department. Information stands and a quiz on the Council of Europe gave participants the chance to learn more and test their knowledge, in a warm and engaging atmosphere. Check out the new brochure on the European Youth Centre’s architecture

Considerable developments have taken place at the Plovdiv Youth Centre since the last evaluation visit, including the consolidation of a large educational team and the expansion of working facilities with the addition of two new training rooms in an adjacent building.

The youth centre has a very stable and sustainable institutional and financial framework for the coming 4-year cycle and plans to foster programme links with Council of Europe priorities and cooperation with the Centre in the QL network.

As part of its support measures, the European Youth Foundation (EYF) organised several activities in September 2025.

An in-person info session in co-operation with the European Youth Forum was held in Brussels on 3–5 September, gathering nearly 40 representatives of international youth organisations. An online session followed on 15 September, with over 60 participants from Europe. Both sessions covered EYF grant criteria, application processes, and youth sector priorities, including the 2026 EYF reform.

Additionally, two monitoring visits took place: the WSCF Europe’s international activity “A Future and a Hope” funded under the EYF Special Call Ukraine, and for the closing event of HREYN’s annual work plan project "Quality Assurance for All - ensuring quality of youth work through intersectionality and human rights" (in Brussels), which also launched the Quality Assurance handbook.

The Compass National Training Course on Human Rights Education "Human rights on the Compass" takes place at the Lisbon Youth Centre, and gathers 25 young leaders and youth workers from all over Portugal.

It is organised by the Quality Labelled Lisbon Youth Centre of the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ) and the Associação para a Igualdade (Aequalitas), in cooperation with the Council of Europe Youth Department.

Participants have the opportunity to discuss first steps in developing their own action plan for 2026, that will include a programme of activities aimed at promoting human rights education at local, regional, and national levels.

Additionally, Jorge Orlando Queiros, the Portuguese representative on the European Steering Committee for Youth will present Portugal's youth work policy and practice in integrating the Council of Europe standards.

Participants explored and practiced human rights education based on Council of Europe educational resources such as Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People, soon to be available in Romanian.

Taking place at the Timisoara Quality Labelled Youth House, the activity was organised by the Timis County Youth Foundation (FITT) with the Romanian National Youth Foundation (FNT), in co-operation with the Council of Europe Youth Department within the Youth for Democracy programme, and co-funded by the Municipality of Timisoara.

From 16 to 19 September 2025, 26 youth workers and representatives of local self-government bodies from 16 regions of Ukraine strengthened their competencies in creating barrier-free environment and ensuring access to rights for young people.

During the three-day training, organised within the state programme "Youth Worker", participants focused on the role of youth work in enabling young people’s access to rights, studied specificities of youth work with diverse young people, explored practices in creating barrier-free environments in Ukraine, and beyond, experienced “Living Library,”  a Council of Europe unique tool that seeks to challenge prejudice and discrimination.