Ministers, youth representatives and institutional partners met in Malta on 8-9 October 2025 for the 10th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth, reaffirming that Europe’s democratic renewal depends on genuine intergenerational partnership.

Held under the theme “Young people for democracy: youth perspectives in action”, the conference concluded with the adoption of two milestone documents: the Final Declaration and the Resolution on the Council of Europe Reference Framework on a Youth Perspective

On 1 October 2025, during its fourth part-session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Resolution 2619 (2025) and Recommendation 2299 (2025) on Youth Movements for Democracy.

The initiative was led by Ms Yevheniia Kravchuk (ALDE, Ukraine), PACE member and youth rapporteur in the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, in close co-operation with the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe. Her report highlights that young people across Europe are “among the most active defenders and imaginative builders” of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and deserve “not repression or indifference, but recognition, protection and support.”

With this initiative, PACE reaffirms its commitment to strengthening Europe’s democratic future by empowering young people and supporting youth civil society. The resolution also builds on PACE Resolution 2553 (2024) on “Strengthening the Youth Perspective in the Work of the Parliamentary Assembly”, which established a formal mechanism for co-operation with the Council of Europe’s youth sector

Over 50 Moldovan teachers and youth workers gathered in Holercani for the Compass National Training Course on Human Rights Education.

The course aimed to strengthen the provision and quality of human rights education (HRE) in the country by developing the skills of teachers and youth workers to act as multipliers of HRE and education for active citizenship among pupils and youth, thus promoting the implementation of the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education.

The programme allowed participants to explore and practice HRE and non-formal learning methods using  Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People. 

The training course was organised by the National Youth Agency, together with the Ministry of Education and Research, in cooperation with the Council of Europe Youth Department within the Youth for Democracy programme.

Over 30 members of the pedagogical teams from 13 Quality Label centres and other candidate centres attended the Forum, to explore the connection between young people and democratic participation. Debates addressed various forms of youth participation in local cities, communities and countries.

The Forum took place during several important Council of Europe political processes related to youth and beyond, such as The New Democratic Pact for Europe, the conclusions of the 10th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, the process of consultation and adoption of the European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life and the follow up to the 4th European Youth Work Convention.

The youth work sector in Ukraine is directly affected by the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Many youth workers have been displaced, forced to leave the country, or experiencing other forms of disruption to their professional activities and personal well-being. With the war, youth workers’ roles and responsibilities have expanded far beyond their usual scope to include providing humanitarian aid and psychological support and have allowed Ukrainian youth work practitioners to develop unique expertise that is being shared with their peers in other Council of Europe member states.

Against this backdrop, from 21 to 23 October 2025, in Strasbourg, the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine organised a study visit to the Council of Europe, for youth workers and representatives of youth centres from Ukraine who are providing youth work during war time.

23 trainers specialising in professional training for civil servants and local self-government officials strengthened their competencies to deliver training on "Participatory Youth Policy", based on the Model General Short-Term Advanced Training Programme.

The trainers from 16 regional centres for advanced training, higher education institutions, and programmes from 10 regions of Ukraine participated in the second educational and practical course on "Participatory Youth Policy".

The programme included research on participatory youth policy and youth work, exploring standards, approaches, and educational and resources in the field of youth policy, in the Council of Europe and Ukraine. Participants exchanged practices in delivering professional development courses and analysed the possibilities of implementing the "Participatory Youth Policy" programme in the activities of providers offering training for civil servants and local self-government officials.

On 20–21 October 2025, the international conference Youth Perspectives in Contemporary Europe brought together researchers, policy makers and youth organisations to discuss young people’s realities in a changing Europe.

Participants explored how youth research and data can inform better policies and practice on participation, civic space, mental health, rural realities and youth inclusion in policymaking, including youth mainstreaming and the integration of a youth perspective across policy domains. The event also marked an opportunity to take stock of the Youth Partnership’s recent research and to identify priorities for a future youth research agenda.

In October, several EYF supported organisations have organised activities to raise awareness about mental health of young people. In particular, IFLRY developed the toolkit Surviving Politics. A Well-being guide for Young Politicians designed to strengthen mental health and resilience of young politicians.

A monitoring visit to an international training course organised by ECYC / the European Confederation of Youth Clubs for youth workers on mental health took place in Valencia, Spain.

Moreover, the EYF has started working with the IT company, Tribus Technologies SRL on the development of its improved online granting and management system. This update, expected to be launched in spring 2026 aims to improve the functionality and the design of the platform by enhancing user-friendly navigation, facilitate smooth multi-tasking within the platform and will include the functionality for youth organisations to apply for study sessions. The overall goal of this update is to ensure better interaction among the EYF, youth organisations, and the Programming Committee on Youth.

25 participants from mainland France, French Overseas departments, and several French-speaking countries took part in REPERES, the French-language regional training course on human rights education for young people, designed for youth workers, educators, teachers, and actors in the associative world.

The objective of the training was to strengthen the participants’ human rights education skills to engage within French-speaking space; during the course, they deepened their knowledge of human rights, explored non-formal education methods, and developed the skills necessary to design and implement human rights promotion and awareness-raising activities for young people.

The course was designed to support the implementation of human rights education (HRE) and education for democratic citizenship (EDC) in both formal and non-formal educational settings. 30 youth workers & leaders, teachers and human rights educators deepened their understanding of key concepts of human rights and HRE and their ability to put them into practice with young people living in the UK. Participants were familiarised with the HRE approaches of Compass-Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People.

Maurizio Cuttin, Vice-President of the Advisory Council on Youth, presented the Council of Europe’s activities for and with young people, and their active contribution to a democratic and values-based society.