“Shaping the Table" A Training Course on Youth Participation in Policy Making

This training course offers youth workers the opportunity to deepen their understanding of participatory youth policy making and to strengthen their capacity to design and facilitate meaningful participation processes for and with young people. Through non-formal education and experiential learning approaches, participants will explore key concepts related to participatory youth policy, including the policy cycle, principles of effective youth policy, stakeholder mapping, vision for change, and monitoring and evaluation, while gaining insight into practical tools and methods that promote youth participation in democratic decision-making.

The course places strong emphasis on the role of youth workers as facilitators of participatory policy processes. Participants will examine how educational activities can be designed and facilitated in an engaging and empowering way, with particular attention to building young people's agency, encouraging civic engagement, supporting youth organisations in navigating policy spaces, and connecting participatory competences to real-life youth work contexts. By combining theoretical input with structured reflection and peer exchange, the training supports participants in critically analysing their own facilitation styles, professional practices, and the participatory realities of youth policy in their home countries.

Going beyond theory, the training course is highly participatory and practice-oriented. Participants will engage in interactive workshops, small-group design sessions, and hands-on activities focused on applying participatory youth policy principles in youth work. Special focus will be placed on developing concrete local-level activities and follow-up plans that integrate participatory approaches into everyday youth work practice. By the end of the course, participants will have strengthened their facilitation competences, developed practical activity concepts, and gained tools and strategies to foster youth participation, civic engagement, and young people's meaningful involvement in shaping the policies that affect their lives.

The training course is developed in line with Youth Goal 1: Connecting EU with Youth, and contributes to:

• Guaranteeing meaningful youth involvement and dialogue in all stages of EU decision making by improving existing participatory mechanisms and creating new ones.
• Introducing and increasing education about Europe and the EU in formal and non-formal settings.
• The training course is grounded in non-formal education principles and experiential learning approaches. The programme is designed to equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and practical tools needed to understand participatory youth policy making, apply its core principles in youth work contexts, and design and facilitate participatory activities for and with young people.

The initial phase of the training focuses on building a safe and supportive learning environment, fostering trust among participants, and creating a strong sense of group cohesion. During the first days, participants will engage in activities that explore similarities and differences, group alliance, and shared expectations. They will be introduced to the foundations of non-formal education and participatory youth policy, the policy cycle, and the role of youth workers in fostering meaningful youth participation in democratic decision-making. This phase also includes reflection on country realities related to youth work and participation, as well as the Erasmus+ and Youthpass frameworks as tools for recognition and professional development.

As the training progresses, participants will deepen their understanding of core concepts in participatory youth policy, including principles of effective youth policy, vision for change in the youth policy field, stakeholder mapping, and monitoring and evaluation. Through practical workshops and reflective exercises, they will strengthen their facilitation competences and explore methods for designing engaging participatory learning experiences. Particular attention is given to empowering young people's agency, supporting youth organisations in navigating policy spaces, and integrating participatory approaches into everyday non-formal education practice.

In the later stages of the programme, participants will focus on applying their learning through local-level activity design and experiential learning cycles. Working in teams, they will develop concrete educational activities that integrate participatory youth policy principles into youth work practice. Through simulation, peer feedback, and structured reflection, they will refine their activity concepts and adapt them to their local contexts.

On the final day, participants will engage in structured reflection and evaluation of their learning journey, and their achievements will be recognised through the Youthpass ceremony, supporting further professional development and transfer of participatory youth policy competences into their everyday youth work practice.

Short description:

By the end of the training, participants will have deepened their understanding of participatory youth policy making in non-formal education contexts, explored practical tools and methods for fostering meaningful youth participation in democratic decision-making, and gained the skills to design and facilitate local-level participatory activities transferable to their own youth work practice.

Objectives:

• To introduce participants to key concepts of participatory youth policy making within non-formal education, using the policy cycle and core principles of effective youth policy as a common reference point.
• To explore country realities of youth work and participation, fostering exchange of experiences and good practices among participants from different national contexts.
• To develop participants' understanding of core participatory youth policy competences, including stakeholder mapping, vision for change, monitoring and evaluation, and their relevance to youth work practice.
• To equip participants with practical NFE methods and tools for designing and facilitating participatory activities with and for young people at local level.
• To support participants in creating concrete plans for local-level participatory sessions, transferable to their own youth work contexts after the training.
• To encourage personal and professional reflection through experiential learning, peer exchange, and Youthpass recognition.