European Training Strategy of the Youth in Action Programme

The European Training Strategy (ETS) aims to contribute to developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organisations in the youth field. The strategy was revised end of 2010 to optimise and further increase the impact of the Youth in Action programme in the area of youth work development, capacity-building and recognition. The Programme Committee of the YiA Programme approved the revised strategy in autumn 2010.

European Training Strategy for the Youth in Action Programme.

The ideas and content of this paper have been defined in cooperation with the Youth in Action National Agencies, on the basis of proposals put forward by the SALTO Training and Co-operation RC.

This revision aims at optimising and further increasing the impact of the Youth in Action programme in the area of youth work development, capacity-building and recognition. It aims at bringing the Youth in Action programme even further in line with the renewed framework for European Cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018), as well as with the strategic framework for European coopoeration in education and training (ET2020).

This revision will aim at improving the existing framework, building on the results achieved in the past.

In order to do so, the Commission will pursue an action aimed at:

• identifying new fields of action of the ETS
• revising the implementing measures of the ETS and its tools
• improving the management system of the ETS

The five core elements of the European Strategy for Training in the Youth in Action programme are:

• the Training and Co-operation Plans (TCPs) of the National Agencies (NAs) for Youth in Action, including the so-called NA network training courses,
• the activities of the eight SALTO-YOUTH Resource Centres and their wide range of co-operation with the NAs, which can be found at several web pages of this web site,
• Action 4.3 of the Youth in Action programme offering essential possibilities for NGOs to receive financial resources for the support of their youth workers and leaders in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the programme,
• the EU-CoE youth partnership with its main fields of Action:         Promoting knowledge-based youth policy by developing and providing efficient tools;
  Supporting youth work and capacity building of youth workers at European level;
  Paying special attention to the geographical scope of its initiatives;Gathering, disseminating and providing information and publications on youth
• further education as well as training and co-ordination meetings for NA staff and other key actors to exchange good practice and to develop synergies and co-operation, such as the annual TCP seminars, or the Stakeholders meeting on European level Training of Trainers.

The development and implementation of the ETS is supported by the ETS Steering Group (SG). It´s function and institutions being members are listed in the revised ETS strategy document. At it´s first meeting in March 2011, the ETS SG decided to involve expert field knowledge and establish an ETS Expert Trainer Group to support further developments of the ETS.
Members of the ETS Expert Trainer Group are: Andreas Karsten, Sakis Krezios, Gisele Evrad, Gulesin Nemutlu Unal, Katya Sherer, Laimonas Ragauskas, Mieke Neven McMahon, Miguel Angel Garcia Lopez, Paola Bortini, Paul Kloosterman, and Yael Ohana.