Youth work in a changing world

The UK Parliament (All Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affiars) has recently published a highly significant report on the future of youth work. At the same time, the government has announced the development of a “Youth Charter” to support young people “over the next generation and beyond”. At a time when youth services have been severely cut and when youth workers are under unprecedented pressure, it is encouraging to know that there are new initiatives which could re-establish the importance of youth work as a form of non-formal education, instead of just a crisis response to social and security issues.

The UK National Youth Agency (NYA) has been responsible for the parliamentary report – see https://nya.org.uk/appg-inquiry. It is the leading organization representing youth work in England. Momentum World is working as its partner for international projects and opportunities.

This project has three main objectives:

1. To present the results of the parliamentary report and to share ideas on policy and practice (and how they are connected) from many different countries.
2. To prepare an outline plan for a KA3 structured dialogue project for the October 2019 Erasmus+ deadline.
3. To intensify youth sector links between the UK and other European countries at this time of extreme political instability and uncertainty.

The project will have a duration of 3 working days plus 2 travel days. In outline, the activities will be:
– Day 1: MEETING – introductions; sharing perspectives on youth work policy and practice
– Day 2: TRAINING – presentation of the APPG report; workshops based on the main themes from the report
– Day 3: PLANNING – developing an effective concept for a KA3 project in 2020.

As always, there will also be an intercultural learning element within the project, and a full social programme for each evening. Participants wishing to stay extra days in London are free to do so, but any additional costs will be at their personal expense. All costs for this project will be paid from the Erasmus+ grant if approved. This includes accommodation, food and all activities.