Youth Work
What is Youth Work?
Youth work includes a variety of activities and means to give youth key personal and professional skills. The role of youth workers is to equip young people with the right tools so they can become active participants in their communities and in decision making.
Youth work covers a wide variety of activities of social, cultural, environmental and/or political nature. Youth work is done by, with and for young people.
Youth workers can be paid, or volunteer and their work is based on non-formal and informal learning focusing on young people and on voluntary participation.
How does the EU support Youth Work?
The EU’s role is to support youth work development by focusing on quality youth work and innovation.
The EU and its member countries support youth work by setting up a legal and regulatory framework, recognising and facilitating activities, and allocating resources to contribute to their projects. The European Youth Work Agenda is the central and approved framework for the support of youth work in Europe.
Knowledge-sharing and evidence is collected through the EU-CoE Youth Partnership. The Youth Wiki, is an online platform which collects information about the situation of youth work in 34 European countries.
EU programmes, such as Erasmus+,’Mobility projects for youth workers, support the professional development of youth workers. SALTO Training & Cooperation created the European Training Strategy of Youth Work, a strategy framework for the development of youth worker’s education and training under the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes.
The EU supports partnerships for cooperation among organisations as well as the creation of joint transnational projects for youth organisations. The Erasmus+ ‘European Youth Together’ action welcomes applications from youth networks who focus on supporting the European Youth Work Agenda implementation.
Who are our Youth Work partners?
The Council of Europe is the main partner of the European Commission on youth policy and on youth work issues. The EU-CoE youth partnership enhances cooperation between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in youth research, policy, and practice and monitors the implementation of youth strategies of both institutions. It fosters synergies in participation, social inclusion, and quality of youth work, supporting the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda and planning future initiatives.
The Alliance of Youth Workers Associations (AYWA), the European network that unites national associations of youth workers and youth work providers. AYWA fosters recognition, professional development, and quality standards for youth work across Europe and beyond.
Flagship events
- 4th European Youth Work Convention - Youth Partnership (27-30 May 2025)
Past events
- Regional seminar: Advocating for youth work in Eastern and South-East Europe (29-30 October 2024)
- Symposium: Young people, democracy and climate action - Youth Partnership (24-26 September 2024)
- Visible Value: Growing youth work in Europe (31 May – 1 June 2023)
- Navigating Transitions: adapting policy to young people’s changing realities - Youth Partnership (21-23 June 2022)
Find out more
Related documents
- Council Resolution on a framework for European cooperation in the youth field: The European Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 (2018/C 456/01).
- Council Resolution on providing local opportunities for young people living in rural and remote areas (16124/24)
- Council Resolution on youth work policy in an empowering Europe (C/2024/3526)
- Council Conclusions on promoting the intergenerational dimension in the youth field to foster dialogue and social cohesion (2022).
- Council resolution on the framework for establishing a European Youth Work Agenda (2020).
- Council Conclusions on fostering democratic awareness and democratic engagement among young people in Europe (2020).
- Council conclusions on digital youth work (2019).
- Council conclusions on education and training of youth workers (2019).
- Council conclusions on smart youth work (2017).
- Council conclusions on the contribution of quality youth work to the development, well-being and social inclusion of young people (2013).