National and EU Youth Policies

BACKGROUND INFORMATION In the last decade the European youth policy has been developing rapidly, encouraging EU member states to develop complementary youth policy measures and strategies on national, regional and local level. After a decade it is a good moment to have a close look at what happened in this field in the member states during these past years. Have the developments at the EU level stimulated the development and implementation of complementary national or local youth policy measures and strategies? If yes, what kind of measures are they and could they be an inspiration for some other communities? The Renewed framework of European cooperation in the youth field for 2010-2018 covers many different topics of common European interest in the field of youth and they have all been identified in cooperation with the national authorities and other national, regional and local actors in the field of youth, including young people themselves. This means that they should provide a solid ground for the exchange of experience between countries in the implementation of complimentary measures and/or strategies in the field of youth. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE SEMINAR The overall aim of the seminar is to stimulate the development of instruments (programmes, measures, etc.) supporting the coherence of European / national / regional / local youth strategies. The objectives of the seminar are: • To introduce the latest developments of EU youth policy • To exchange best practices among participants and beyond • To place local, regional, national development in the frame of EU developments • To make links between local, regional, national development in the frame of European developments • To review existing instruments supporting European cooperation in the field of youth CONTENT OF THE SEMINAR The seminar will start with the update on youth policy development on EU level and EU youth strategy. Participants will tackle the ever present question why Youth Policies are needed and how to ensure the effect of Youth Strategies. Knowing the background and needs, participants will be able to draw links between the local, national and EU youth strategies and try to create an ideal strategy model. The final day will be focused on discussing how youth work development and mobility are addressed and supported and which instruments support European cooperation in the field of youth. A publication showcasing examples presented by participants and inputs from the seminar will enable the dissemination of the seminar results to other interested practitioners, researchers, decision makers and experts in Europe and wider. PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS The seminar is open to: - representatives of national /regional / local authorities responsible for the field of youth work and youth policy, participating in setting up and/or implementing strategies, measures, instruments in the field of youth policy and youth work; - national / regional / local experts in youth policy and/or youth work development, participating in setting up and/or implementing strategies, measures, instruments in the field of youth policy and youth work. Participants should come from the Programme countries of the Youth in Action Programme (EU27 + Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey) and be over 18 y ears old. Working language of the seminar will be English, so participants must be able to work in English language. Important: each participating country will have to present at least 1 example of national/regional/local strategy in the field of youth work and learning mobility. The maximum number of participants is 30.