Call for Trainers

European Academy on Youth Work, 4th edition, 5 -8 May 2026 - Call for facilitators of Deep Dive sessions

Description

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY ON YOUTH WORK (EAYW)?

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.

Residential EAYW events are held biennially and bring together 150 – 200 participants. In between these events, the EAYW organises smaller-scale activities (online and residential), undertakes research projects and develops educational tools and resources on the topic of the Academy – innovation and future readiness in youth work.

The EAYW is a strategic cooperation of National Agencies of the Erasmus+ programme, youth field, and the European Solidarity Corps and SALTO-YOUTH Resource Centres. Its target group includes youth workers, professionals in areas with relevance for the youth field and representatives of youth policies and public services, National Agencies and other staff working in youth work structures, from NGOs, science and research. Geographically, the EAYW addresses stakeholders from the broader European context, including Europe’s neighbouring countries south of the Mediterranean.

More information: www.eayw.net.

ABOUT THE FOURTH EAYW EVENT

The 4th EAYW event will take place over three days from 5th May afternoon – 8th May mid-day 2026 in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.  

Connecting Dots and Moving Forward, Together

This EAYW event will be closing the cycle of the Academy under the current generation of EU youth programmes. As such it will a bridging event, representing an occasion for looking back and celebrating achievements as well as looking forward and identifying action for future steps youth work can take to move towards the future(s).

The specific objectives of the 4thEAYW are to:

• Celebrate the Academy’s efforts and achievements.
• Build knowledge & capacity around the themes of future-oriented thinking, innovation and change.
• Support youth workers' collective resilience and sense of agency. 
• Create space to reflect on how youth work can move forward in times of uncertainty.
• Strengthen the youth work community and inspire new ideas and initiatives for the future.

Key features of the programme will include:

• Plenary sessions, which will cover horizontal topics and revisit concepts like innovation, managing change, resilience and agency;
• Deep Dive sessions offering space for deeper discussions on selected topics;
• Introduction of tools and practices (throughout plenary, Deep Dive and other designated spaces) that support future oriented conversations and help youth work move forward;
• Inspiring inputs from inside and outside youth work that can stimulate new perspectives and ideas for action;
• Spaces for community-building, networking and joint reflection about futures of youth work;
• Reflection and exchange on how ideas and reflections from the event can be taken further in the participants’ home environment.

DEEP DIVE SESSIONS

Description

After gathering feedback from different stakeholders, the next EAYW event is being designed to include more learning spaces that allow for deeper discussions and reflections.  To this end, we are developing the Deep Dive Sessions: six thematic groups that run in parallel across three 90-minute sessions. Each group explores one central theme shaping youth work today – from AI and social skills to democracy, rights, climate justice, and belonging in times of conflict.

Rather than rushing through ideas, these sessions will create a focused space where 20–30 participants stay with the same topic long enough to actually… well, dive deep. The intention is to create shared spaces of curiosity to reflect together, challenge assumptions, meet new perspectives, and connect what we hear to our own realities and practices. 

Objectives

• Offer participants time and continuity to explore one relevant theme across three sessions.
• Support participants in looking at emerging trends, tensions, practices and contradictions in youth work.
• Bring in innovations, research, and case studies from other fields, while anchoring the exploration in concrete youth work practices.
• Help participants identify insights, practices, or approaches they can take back to their organisations, local realities, and communities.

SESSION THEMES

1. Love, Youth Work & Robots – AI, Technology and Everything In Between

AI is reshaping how young people - and, to an extent, youth workers - learn, connect, create, and show up in the world. This Deep Dive explores the friction and the romance between technology and human connection: from robots as companions to algorithms acting as cultural gatekeepers. Together, we’ll look at possibilities, ethical tensions, and the emotional labour that youth workers navigate in a tech-saturated world. Expect sparks, provocations, and discussions about what technologies support youth work and what we still want to keep beautifully human.

2. Tell Me How to Say Hello – Mental Health & Social Skills in the Era of ChatGPT

Young people speak fluently in memes, voice notes, and AI-generated everything, but still struggle with loneliness, anxiety, and the subtle arts of human interaction. This group will explore how social skills, well-being, communication, and authenticity are shifting in an age where digital tools can speak on our behalf. We’ll look at mental health pressures, emerging support practices, and how youth work can nurture confidence, connection, and real-life relational skills. Bring your stories, your worries, and your hope.

3. From TikTok to Real Talk – Youth Rights & Participation Beyond the Screen

As the world increasingly happens through screens, the youth work mission is to invite young people to real-life action, collective decision-making, and civic transformation, beyond shares and likes. Together, we will ask: How can youth workers foster agency, critical awareness, and commitment for real-world change? Are we even needed? Are we sharing our own power as much as we advocate? This space is for those willing to question our own roles while exploring how new forms of participation and innovation can reshape what youth engagement looks like today.

4. Us, Them & the Nothing Inbetween – Youth Work in a Fragile Democracy

Across Europe, democratic values are being reframed or quietly eroded while algorithms and political discourse foster polarisation. Youth work stands at a crossroads: political enough to matter, but often pressured to focus on life skills outside of politics. This group will explore how narratives shape democratic life, how youth work gets pulled into (or pushed out of) political spaces, and whether depoliticising is a coping mechanism or a trap. Together, we’ll explore how we navigate risk and responsibility, and how we can contribute to balanced democratic ecosystems.

5. Environment & Climate Justice – Are We Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic?

Climate anxiety is real, and so is the frustration of doing small things in the face of massive global crises. So what can youth work offer beyond symbolic action? This Deep Dive looks at climate justice, resilience, system change, and how young people are crafting their own movements and coping strategies. We’ll explore practices that go beyond guilt and quick fixes, and ask ourselves how youth work can help young people reclaim agency, imagination, and community.

6. From Division to Dialogue – Supporting Young People in Times of Conflict

War, polarisation, and geopolitical instability are no longer distant events — they are always present in young people’s information ecosystems. Trauma-informed, culturally grounded, and community-building approaches are essential — and often still underdeveloped. In this group, we will explore how youth work can foster spaces of awareness, safety, dignity, and dialogue even in turbulent times. 

METHODOLOGY

Each thematic group follows a participatory, dialogue-driven methodology. The flow combines:

• Plenary conversations to map perspectives and raise big questions;
• Small-group dialogues that allow for nuance, deeper listening, and personal experience to be shared;
• Short inputs by facilitators with sparks from other sectors (innovations, research insights, surprising case studies) to broaden the horizon;
• A youth work practice spotlight in every group, ensuring the conversation stays focused on the possibilities and challenges in the field;
• Light sense-making moments at the end of each session, supporting participants in noticing patterns, dilemmas, and possible next steps for themselves.

Participants are encouraged to stay with the same group across all three meetings, but movement between groups is possible for those who need it.

ROLE OF FACILITATORS

Each Deep Dive Session will be facilitated by two facilitators. It is their task to jointly prepare and facilitate the session, in communication with the coordination team.

Facilitators should hold the space with care and clarity. Their role is to:

• Design and guide the sessions using dialogue-based methodologies that fit each theme;
• Bring inspiring inputs, trends and innovations from other sectors, not as experts but as storytellers who widen the reference field of the conversation;
• Facilitate the sharing of at least one concrete youth work practice related to the topic and support the group in reflecting on the concrete possibilities and limitations in the field;
• Support balanced participation, ensuring all voices feel welcomed and safe to contribute;
• Harvest insights and help the group track its learning journey across the three encounters.

Facilitators will work closely with the coordinating team, who will accompany and support the design process to ensure coherence across all Deep Dives.

Requested trainer profile

Facilitators are expected to have:

• Experience in facilitating activities for different stakeholders, in English language, in a non-formal educational context of European youth work and/or related fields;
• Broad knowledge of the main themes, current structures and developments in European youth work;
• Experience and interest in the topic of innovation and future thinking related to emerging developments and the challenges and opportunities for youth work;
• Expertise in the specific topic of the Deep Dive for which they apply as a facilitator;
• Ability to think conceptually as well as affinity for creative and participatory facilitation methods and approaches;
• Readiness to integrate into the larger event coordination team.

Working conditions

PREPARATION PROCESS

The preparation process will include several joint online meetings to ensure follow up, the recruitment of and contact with external contributors (practices and inputs) and coherence with the EAYW as a whole and between the different Deep Dive sessions.

The introductory online meeting is planned for 13 February from 13:00 – 16:00 CET. Dates for other shorter meetings will be defined in communication with the selected Deep Dive facilitators.  

Cooperation during the preparation process between the two facilitators who will be jointly responsible for one Deep Dive session is essential. It can be scheduled according to the availabilities of both facilitators.

FOURTH EAYW EVENT: ARRIVAL AND DEPATURE

The Deep Dive Sessions will take place on 6 and 7 May.

Facilitators are expected to arrive on the 4 May for a residential preparation meeting prior to the start of the event and to take part in the full EAYW event. Departures are foreseen on 8 May after 14:00.

CONTRACT AND FEES

Full board & lodging at the venue of the 4th EAYW event will be covered, and travel costs will be reimbursed by the organisers.

Selected facilitators will receive a fee of 2.450 EUR (based on 7 days of work) upon completion of all tasks.

Contracts are made with legal persons (i.e. organisations or freelancers registered as legal entities). Fees and travel costs are paid based on an invoice from the facilitator.

Team composition

The overall EAYW organisation team consists in three facilitators, a communication team, the Deep Dive session facilitators and a coordinator, the EAYW coordinator and assistant and the local hosting team. 

Application & selection procedure

Apply no later than: 19 January 2026
How to apply:

All applicants must fill in the online application form available at http://onlineform.salto-youth.net/2198

The application requires 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 experience of the candidates in relation to the theme of the EAYW and the Deep Dive Sessions. Applicants will be selected based on their competences and suitability for the required tasks, with reference to the criteria indicated under the facilitator profile.

For more information

Sonja Mitter Skulj, EAYW coordinator
Phone: 0038614304747
Email:

E-mail: