YOUTH WORK: ENHANCING YOUTH EMPLOYABILITY?

Background information Youth work is out-of-school education managed by professional or voluntary 'youth workers' within youth organisations, town halls, youth centres, churches etc., which contributes to the development of young people. Together with families and with other professionals, youth work can help deal with unemployment, school failure, and social exclusion, as well as provide leisure time. It can also increase skills and support the transition from youth to adulthood. One of the main aspects of this transition is getting a job and an open question remains: »How can youth work enhance youth employment?« European institutions and organisations responsible for youth policy have on several occasions emphasised the importance of youth work to foster young people’s employability. What’s in it for me? The aim of the seminar is to review the role of youth work and competences acquirement to enhance employability of young people, with an emphasis on non-formal learning in learning mobility programmes. Participants will have the opportunity to: • respond to the challenges, that have been brought by new EU youth strategy to youth work in the context of learning; • identify and present good practice examples (actions on policies and Youth in action projects, which enhance employability of young people); • identify the position and the role of non-formal learning in the frame of key competences for better transition to labour market; • understand more the needs of other stakeholders and understand what and how they can contribute to the employability (getting a job) of young people. Issues on the seminar: The seminar will start with the situation on youth (un)employment, determining reasons for an unpleasant situation. Knowing the reasons, participants will approach possible solutions towards higher youth employment. Participants will look for the ways to develop competences for higher employability. In the main part of the seminar, we will deal with the role of youth work and other policy measures in young people’s competences acquirement / development, focusing on learning outcomes that enhance employability of young people. Participants will refer to the following questions: • How can youth work help to tackle the issue of unemployment among young people? • If youth work should help resolve unemployment among young people, does that mean it is being recognised? Is professionalization of youth work needed in order for it to perform this task? • How can youth work be further supported in order to deliver results? • How to further increase the non-formal learning within youth work? • What is the added value of international youth work in terms of increasing employability of young people? • How is learning mobility increasing working mobility? The outcomes of the seminar will be gathered and published in a booklet showcasing examples and other presented by the participants, which will enable the dissemination of the seminar results to other interested practitioners, researchers, decision makers and experts in Europe. Participants’ profile: “Youth work: enhancing youth employability?” is an international seminar open for youth workers, youth researchers and decision makers or experts, all working in the field of youth employment. The organisers believe that this mixture of participants will add additional value to the seminar, since: - youth workers (working with NEET or similar groups of young people) are equipped with good practice examples, - youth researchers (from faculties, institutes, etc.) are equipped with an overall knowledge on youth (un)employment, - decision makers or experts (local, regional or national decision makers or employees in employment agencies, public services, municipalities) are equipped with the measures to raise youth employment. The seminar will give participants the opportunity to look at the (un)employment issue from different points of view, therefore all representatives of each 3 target groups will get space to contribute own expertise, as well as gain a great possibility for networking with colleagues and know-how enriching. This format will foster better co-operation on different levels and with various dimensions. NB! That is why it is really essential that each participating county provides all three participants. The participants should: • Have experience in the field of youth employment (in general or with projects or measures enhancing youth employability); • Be prepared to share this information / experience in the seminar and in the final publication; • Be aware of the importance of youth (un)employment issues; • Have the ability to multiply the outcomes of the seminar at their regional/local level; • Attend the seminar in full length and to actively participate in all activities. The participants have to come from the Programme countries of the Youth in Action Programme and be over 18 years old. The maximum number of the participants is 30.