Youth@Work Conference: Value and Recognition of Youth Work for Employability and Entrepreneurship

As part of the Youth@Work Partnership, the conference will strongly highlight the role and impact of Youth@Work activities in strengthening youth employability, entrepreneurship, competence development and innovation through youth work. Special attention will be given to the Eastern Neighboring countries and Western Balkan region, recognizing the important contribution of youth work in supporting inclusive, sustainable and innovative approaches to employability and entrepreneurship within diverse regional realities and challenges. 

The conference will create space for sharing Youth@Work success stories, collecting regional best practices and strengthening dialogue between practitioners, institutions and stakeholders working in the fields of youth, employment and entrepreneurship. It will also highlight how youth work contributes to the development of competences, opportunities and sustainable support systems for young people across Europe and the Eastern Neighboring countries and Western Balkan region. 

Aim and objectives: 

The overall aim of the conference is to strengthen the recognition, visibility and strategic value of youth work in supporting youth employability, entrepreneurship and competence development, while fostering cooperation, peer learning and exchange of practices among stakeholders from Europe, as well as the EECA and SEE regions. 

• To strengthen the recognition and visibility of youth work as a key contributor to youth employability, entrepreneurship and competence development. 
• To exchange and collect best practices, methodologies and success stories from the EECA and SEE regions and European countries related to youth employability and entrepreneurial learning;
• To foster cooperation and dialogue between youth workers, institutions, National Agencies, SALTO RCs, policy-makers and other stakeholders working in the fields of youth, employment and entrepreneurship;
• To explore and promote the use of competence frameworks such as EntreComp, DigComp, GreenComp, LifeComp and Youthpass within youth work practice;
• To contribute to the development of future Youth@Work strategies, collaborations, publications and knowledge resources supporting the recognition and impact of youth work. 

Profile of Participants:

The conference is designed for participants who are actively involved in youth work, employability, entrepreneurship education, competence development or related policy and practice. 

• Youth workers and youth leaders;
• Trainers and facilitators, youth coaches; 
• Representatives of youth organizations and NGOs; 
• Policy-makers and public institution representatives; 
• Employment, entrepreneurship and career guidance professionals; 
• Project coordinators, researchers and experts working on youth employability and entrepreneurship. 

Participants are expected to: 

• have experience or strong interest in youth employability, entrepreneurship and/or competence development, 
• contribute actively to peer learning and exchange during the conference, 
• share practices, tools, methodologies or success stories from their contexts, 
• and support dissemination and follow-up activities after the conference. 

Special attention will be given to participants who can contribute examples and experiences from the EECA and SEE regions and other contexts where the recognition of youth work is still developing. 

Youth@Work Partnership 

This event is part of the Youth@Work Partnership on Youth Employability and Entrepreneurship of Erasmus+ National Agencies. Youth@Work is the alliance of the Erasmus+/European Solidarity Corps National Agencies of Italy (the leading NA), Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Republic of North Macedonia, Spain, and Türkiye, as well as of the SALTO-YOUTH Eastern Europe and Caucasus (Poland) and SALTO-YOUTH South- East Europe (Slovenia). It has been running since January 2018. For more information about Youth@Work, please visit our website - www.youthatworkpartnership.org and social media channels.