3rd European Academy on Youth Work - Webinar 1: Futures of Youth Work

In the European Academy on Youth, we want to support the professional development of youth workers and other professionals in youth work practice, policy and research.

For this reason, we are excited to invite you to a series of three webinars on the topic of “Emerging trends and developments and their impact on youth work in Europe”. The webinars are organised as part of the 3rd European Academy on Youth Work.

The main questions that the 3rd EAYW is exploring are:

• Which emerging trends and developments can we expect to have an impact on youth work?
• What will youth work look like in the future?
• How can we get ready for futures thinking?
• How can we act, plan and envision for a future of youth work we don’t know?

These webinars will be 2-hour long dynamic online sessions where you will explore aspects related to futures thinking in youth work with other colleagues from different parts of Europe. During these sessions you can expect: short and inspiring inputs by experts and interesting conversations with colleagues from other countries.

The series will start with the first webinar: “Futures of Youth Work”, on the 21st of March 2024.

Time: 10.00 – 12.00 CET

The first online event of the 3rd European Academy on Youth Work will gather actors in the youth field to explore the futures of youth work. This will be an interactive webinar to discuss the first outcomes of the ongoing research “Futures of Youth Work”, which started in September 2023.

“Futures of Youth Work” is a collaborative research project using futures foresight methodology. It aims to develop and explore possible future scenarios of youth work and reflect what these could mean for youth work today.

The research has been based on the work of dedicated ‘signal spotters’ who have been collecting signals and trends that can impact the future of youth work. They have documented, e.g., technological advancements, shifts in societal attitudes, policy developments and innovative practices that might influence future developments in youth work in Europe. 

During the webinar, research team members Aleksandra Szymczyk, Gisele Evrard, Ozgehan Senyuva and Darko Marković will share their preliminary findings on how the futures of youth work might look like in different time horizons by 2050. In addition, there will also be an opportunity to reflect on the connections between the possible futures and the present realities of youth work.  

The objectives of the webinar are to:

• Present the preliminary results of the research on Futures of Youth Work, done within the framework of the 3rd European Academy on Youth Work;
• Jointly explore the preliminary results of the research and reflect on the connections with current realities of youth work in Europe;
• Engage with the EAYW community - in preparation for the 3rd European Academy on Youth Work and beyond.

The webinar series "Emerging trends and developments and their impact on youth work in Europe" will be facilitated by Darko Markovic, Anita Silva and Sabrina Apitz.

We welcome all participants that are professionals (including volunteers) in youth work or in a field related to it from across Europe and beyond. Please register by filling in the attached application form in order to receive the link for the webinar.

Outlook to the whole webinar series:

Here are the topics we plan to cover:

Webinar 1: Futures of Youth Work

Date: 21 March, 10:00 – 12:00 CET

The first online event of the 3rd European Academy on Youth Work will gather actors in the youth field to explore the futures of youth work. This will be an interactive webinar to discuss the future foresight research, which started in September 2023.

Webinar 2: How Future-Ready Are You?

Date: 18 April, 10:00 – 12:00 CET

In this webinar, we will look into our relationship with the future and our current strategies to deal with the unknown.

The call for registrations with more information will be open from 4 March.

Webinar 3: Meeting the Future – What Can We Do? 

Date: 6 June, 10:00 – 12:00 CET

In this webinar, we will look at ways forward, based on the outcomes of the residential EAYW event, the first two webinars and the Futures of Youth Work research project.

The 3rd EAYW Online

In addition to the three webinars, selected sessions of the residential EAYW event will be live-streamed.

Calls for registration will be opened for each webinar separately. You can register for one webinar at a time. The webinars build on each other but are also stand-alone activities. You can join one session only, or two or all of them.

The outcomes of the discussions during the webinars will feed into and follow up on the reflections during the residential European Academy on Youth Work, which will be held from 14 - 17 May 2024 in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

More information: www.eayw.net