Call for Trainers

European Academy on Youth Work, 3rd edition, 14 - 17 May 2024 - Call for facilitators, digital facilitator and rapporteur

Description

What is the European Academy on Youth Work (EAYW)?

The EAYW is a strategic partnership of National Agencies of the Erasmus+ programme, youth field, and the European Solidarity Corps[1] and SALTO-YOUTH Resource Centres. The EAYW aims to promote the development of quality youth work, to support its capacity to react to current and future developments, and to contribute to creating a common ground on youth work and youth work policy. To this end, it focuses on supporting innovation in youth work as a response to the trends, challenges and uncertainties faced by young people in today’s fast-changing societies. 

The EAYW offers a platform for reflection, exchange and knowledge gathering on trends and developments in and with relevance to the youth field in Europe, and on innovative youth work responses to these trends and developments. In this way, it contributes to a European youth work ecosystem that supports quality development and innovation in youth work.

The EAYW evolves around biennial residential (and to some extent hybrid) key events, which bring together around 150 stakeholders from the European youth work community of practice. Leading up to, and following up from these events, the EAYW supports additional opportunities for research, knowledge building and exchange. The outcomes of the studies, reflections and debates undertaken by the EAYW aim to support the further development of youth work and of the frameworks for youth work development in Europe and thus contribute to the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda.

Geographically, the EAYW addresses stakeholders from the wider European context and Europe’s neighbouring countries South of the Mediterranean.

More information: www.eayw.net.

Third residential EAYW event: Future developments and their impact on youth work

14 - 17 May 2024, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

The 3rd EAYW event should follow the overall format and approach of the first two editions, which were organised in 2019 and 2022 in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. It  will take place over three days, starting in the afternoon of 14 May and ending with lunch on 17 May 2014. 

150 professionals from the European youth work community of practice will be invited for knowledge-building, peer learning and networking to:

• jointly explore potential future developments and discuss their possible impact on youth work;
• showcase and mainstream a variety of innovative practices, approaches and strategies developed in response to these developments and
• produce outcomes of the discussions and suggestions for follow up that can help to build the knowledge and capacities of the youth work field for supporting the further development of youth work.

Accordingly, key features of the third EAYW will include:

• Creating an environment that stimulates creative and open thinking and exchange;
• Workshops based on presentations of innovative practices, which will be selected prior to the event based on an open call;
• Inspiring inputs and discussions of key questions related to innovation, current and future trends and developments which should help to address the needs of youth work in different environments and build the capacities for innovative approaches of the participants and their organisations;
• Suggestions for follow up at different levels based on the participants’ needs, aiming to bring the outcomes of discussions held during the EAYW closer to the field and to youth work practice;
• Production of discussion outcomes, in the form of key insights, messages or recommendations, with the aim to further enhance the awareness of developments of relevance for youth work and of the related needs to be addressed and to identify possible responses.

The specific focus of the 3rd EAYW will be envisaged future developments and their possible impact on youth work. As the events of last two years have shown us, foresight is crucial when making policy and practice decisions, but predicting the future is difficult. There are a host of challenges for young people and youth work, such as mental well-being, the rise of populism, increasing social polarisation and climate change, that all require innovative solutions. Therefore, the EAYW has decided to invest in futures thinking, to consider the potential impact of all the negative and positive developments on how youth work in Europe is being realised.

A research project aiming to develop "Futures of Youth Work” using futures foresight methodology is being undertaken by the EAYW in the months prior to the event. The insights gained by this research project should take a central role in defining the content and approach of the 3rd EAYW event:

• A verification of the research outcomes by the participants during the EAYW event is planned as an integral part of the research.
• The emerging themes identified by the research might form the basis for the themes to be taken up and further explored by practice presentations and discussions.

The 3rd EAYW further includes the involvement of students in youth work or related studies from selected universities.

[1] National Agencies of Austria, Belgium-FL, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden

Requested trainer profile

With this call, we are looking for three facilitators (including a digital facilitator) and a rapporteur for the 3rd residential EAYW event.

Role and tasks & selection criteria

FACILITATORS

The facilitators will be jointly responsible for

• The development of the methodological approach and the programme of the EAYW event and
• The overall preparation and implementation of the programme.

The preparatory process will include contacting and briefing experts and communication with additional facilitators who might support the implementation of smaller workshops.

The digital facilitator will work together with the other two facilitators to build the concept and programme of the EAYW event. In particular, the digital facilitator will be responsible for creating digital support for the event according to the needs and objectives defined by the facilitation team:

• Identify, prepare and take care of usage of digital tools to be used prior to the event and during the programme in order to support the process of knowledge building and communication in the group of participants, and to keep track of reflections and discussion and final evaluation outcomes to be used for the final report.
• Specific objectives and tools will be identified during the preparatory process;
• Support the work of the video production and broadcasting team;
• Work in close communication with the EAYW communication expert who will be in charge of ensuring communication of the EAYW with the wider public.

The facilitators are expected to have:

• Sound experience in facilitating large-scale events for different stakeholders, in English language, in European youth work and/or related fields;
• Broad knowledge of the main themes, current structures and developments in European youth work;
• Experience in, and some “passion” for innovation and thinking about future developments and the related challenges and opportunities for youth work, and how to translate this topic into an appropriate methodological approach for the event that stimulates creative and open-minded reflection and exchange.
• Ability to think conceptually as well as affinity for innovative and creative training and facilitation methods and approaches
• Experience in using digital tools in international educational events.

The digital facilitator should have broad experience and the ability to suggest and use digital tools (potentially in combination with social media) to support communication among the participants, the implementation of the programme and the production of outcomes, and to introduce those to the team and to the participants where needed. The programme is expected to include hybrid or blended elements.

NOTE!

As an integral part of the EAYW, onboarding activities are envisaged in the period February – April 2024, leading up to the residential event. This might include a virtual gathering and exchange with the participants but also the wider community of practice (e. g. in the form of 2 - 3 webinars and/or the creation of an online platform). These activities are to be more closely defined and contracts will be made separately for this part of the process in 2024.

RAPPORTEUR

The rapporteur will be engaged to write:

• A shorter pre-event report analysing in particular the innovative practices to be presented during the EAYW and
• A post-event report based on the pre-event report and integrating the outcomes of the EAYW event.

S/he should also prepare a structure for the summary report of each innovative practice presented during the EAYW. The presentations will be compiled and published separately after the event.

The structure and logic of analysis of the report should be in line with the programme structure of the event. It will be discussed and agreed during the second preparatory meeting (see Preparatory process below).

The rapporteur is expected to have:

• sound experience in writing analytical reports of a more complex nature;
• relevant knowledge of European youth work, trends and developments and the role of different stakeholders of the European youth work community;
• excellent writing skills in English language.

Links to examples of former work should be provided in the application form.

Working conditions

Preparatory process

The facilitators and the rapporteur are expected to participate in preparatory meetings in the following periods:

• Kick-off meeting: 9 – 20 October  - 1 day, online
• Programme development meeting 1: 4 – 8 December 2023 - 2 days, residential
• Programme development meeting 2: 5 – 18 February 2024 - 1 1/2 days, online
• Arrival on 13 May 2024 for ½ day preparation meeting before the start of the event

Availability should be indicated in the application form.

The further preparatory process, which is likely to include additional shorter online meetings, will be defined jointly by the preparation team.

The facilitators are expected to take part in all preparatory team meetings.

The rapporteur is expected to fully participate in the residential meeting. In the other meetings, the rapporteur should participate at least partially in order to gain a conceptual understanding of the event and the related requirements for the report.

Payment

Full board & lodging at the residential preparatory meeting and the EAYW event will be covered and travel costs will be reimbursed by the organisers.

The selected facilitators will each receive a fee of 3.960 EUR (based on 12 days of work) upon completion of all tasks.

The rapporteur will receive a fee of 4.620 EUR (based on 14 days of work) upon completion of all tasks.

Team composition

The facilitators and the rapporteur will work closely together with the research team, the coordinator of the EAYW, the EAYW communications expert, the rapporteur and other members of the preparation team.

The EAYW is developed based on the decisions of the EAYW Steering Group and the guidelines developed by the EAYW Advisory Board. The Steering Group is composed of representatives of the participating National Agencies and SALTO Resource Centres. 

Application & selection procedure

Apply no later than: 10 August 2023
How to apply:

All applicants must fill in the online application form available at http://onlineform.salto-youth.net/2011

The application requires a registration in the MySALTO system. If applicants do not have a MySALTO profile yet, the page will direct them to the registration.

Applications should highlight the background of the candidates in relation to the theme of the EAYW. Applicants will be selected on the basis of their competences and suitability for the required tasks, with reference to the selection criteria indicated above.

For any questions please contact:

Sonja Mitter Škulj, MOVIT, Slovenian National Agency for Erasmus+, youth chapter, Email: , Tel: + 386 (0)1 430 47 47

For more information

Sonja Mitter Skulj, EAYW coordinator
Phone: 0038614304747
Email: