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DG Democracy
Directorate of Democratic Participation
Youth Department
THINK YOUTH No 82 - July 2020
The Youth Peace Week was organised under the programme of the Greek Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and took place online from 30 June to 7 July 2020.

The objective of the Youth Peace Week was to support youth organisations active in conflict transformation and peacebuilding by sharing educational resources, capacity-building and networking possibilities to enhance young people’s role in peace and security processes.

Over 60 participants from several Council of Europe member states and beyond followed the programme, a combination of webinars and interactive workshops with experienced trainers and experts in the fields of peacebuilding, youth policy, human rights and conflict transformation.

The programme was complemented by six e-learning modules to learn more about the Council of Europe and human rights, and by an introduction to the UN Security Council Resolution 2250 on youth, peace and security.
5 years with the Lisbon Youth Centre in the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres network
The Lisbon Youth Centre  which is part of the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ) was awarded the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres in 2015.

To commemorate the five-year anniversary, celebrations took place on 1 July with several activities organised by the centre, such as an urban art workshop to promote creativity with young people, a photo exhibition and a video on "5 years with the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres".

The Centre also launched the publication "Lisboa+21–Youth Policies and Programmes from a Global Perspective" which gives voice to key stakeholders who apply policy instruments with ambition and responsibility in shaping youth policy programmes, starting with the Lisboa+21 Declaration, making also an analysis of the National Plan for Youth.

The session was streamed live online on the Lisbon Youth Centre Facebook page and is now available here.
World Youth Skills Day-15 July
Worldwide, millions of young people still lack access to quality education, especially those from vulnerable and marginalised groups such as youth from low-income households, with migrant and Roma background, and youth with disabilities.

The Advisory Council on Youth is calling for action on the World Youth Skills Day among the Council of Europe member states to ensure inclusive and quality education for all young people across the European continent.
COMPASS national training course in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Trebinje, 7-10 July 2020

The course "Gender Equality-Equal Society" was co-organised by the Trade Union Education Centre from Banja Luka and the Youth Department of the Council of Europe to empower young women who are trade union activists.

The purpose of the course was to improve participants knowledge and skills related to human rights and gender equality, thus building their capacities to become multipliers and peer educators in their trade unions.

A strong focus was given to introducing the COMPASS - Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People, which is the most important Council of Europe resource in the field of non-formal education with young people.

The 2nd edition of the Gender Matters manual on gender-based violence was also promoted and appreciated by participants as a useful educational tool and resource when working with young people.
Reboot Europe!
online conference

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the South-eastern Europe Initiative of the Franco-German Youth Office (FGYO) an online conference "Reboot Europe!" was
organised for young citizens from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia by FGYO in co-operation with the Regional Youth Co-operation Office (RYCO), Crossborder factory, Youth Initiative of Human Rights (YIHR) Serbia, Peuple et Culture et Une Terre Culturelle.

The Conference will make an important contribution to shaping the future of Europe by bringing the voice of 100 young citizens from the countries of the Western Balkans, France and Germany to the debate. There is now space to pro-actively think and imagine Europe, not just react to the Brexit and Covid-19 crises but to shape the Europe we want.

Join the conference >>
Thank you for your contributions!
Sharing examples of good practice of youth policy and youth work responses

The Youth Department page dedicated to youth policy and youth work responses during the Covid-19 crisis keeps being fed by your input and good practices; your resilience and your creativity are an inspiration to young people across Europe and beyond.
News from the European Youth Foundation
The Programming Committee on Youth met on 23-24 June to oversee the implementation of the 2020 Youth for
Democracy programme and to finalise the 2021 programme of the European Youth Foundation (EYF) and the European Youth Centres Budapest and Strasbourg. 

The Committee approved 14 study sessions: climate change, the Covid crisis and hate speech were popular subjects, alongside human rights education; the Committee also awarded 6 grants to one-off international activities and 15 grants to annual work plans for 2021.

1st October 2020 is the next deadline for submitting annual work plans and international activity grant applications to the EYF. Ahead of this deadline, two information sessions and bilateral meetings will be organised on 3 and 4 September, to provide international non-governmental youth organisations and networks with the opportunity to meet the EYF Secretariat, learn about and discuss the EYF grant application process and reporting.
See what the Partnership has in store for you...
How much do you know about youth work? Find out by following our course “Essentials
of youth work”. The course is free and open from 1st September to anyone interested. 
Enrol now! https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/3JAPEY

Are you looking for an easy way to understand complex research? Have a look at our new illustrations and infographics page, where we translated some of our research and studies into pictures!
... and more about Youth Knowledge & Youth work

Our Youth Knowledge Break Inspirations continue! Follow our series of online conversations around the importance of research and knowledge about young people. Have a break-have a knowledge break!

Also available: Youth Knowledge Book #26 "Youth worker education in Europe. Policies, structures, practices" 

Read the book >>
Upcoming activities
  • 1-2 August 2020: Don Bosco Study Session Prep Meeting, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
  • 12 August 2020-online: International Youth Day - Youth Engagement for Global Action
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
Coyote magazine
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