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Reflections on Expectations of youth work in Europe
Start date: Jan 1, 2015, End date: Jul 1, 2015 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Professional Open Youth Work exists in a variety of forms in Europe and faces sometimes diverse circumstances in different Europen countries. This includes expectations of youth work that might change significantly over time but also from one country to the other. On the other hand the expectations that young people themselves express seem quite coherent and stable - as for example a youth exchange in Croatia during summer 2014 called "The Big R" and working with the young people on their expectations towards professional open youth work confirmed: - a safe place where to explore own interests and feel respected and encouraged - concrete help & support on practical and emotional issues - a meeting place to have fun, but also to learn how to interact (interpersonal/intercultural skills) - a space that provides access to opportunities, possibilities and tools just to name the most important. On the other hand youth work is also named quickly by policy makers and society when it comes to dealing with actual problems within society e.g. nowadays the radicalisation of Muslim young people and it is expected from professional open youth work to propose action and solution for contributing to solve those problems. This seminar did strive to discuss and exchange among practitioners, researchers and policy makers in the field of youth work: to which extend professional open youth work nowadays can meet the expectations of young people themselves under these circumstances. What measures, tools, resources do we need to implement to meet those expectations of young people. How do we match those expectations with sometimes (slightly) different expectations of politics and administration of professional open youth work such as safety, employability,... The seminar did give room for lectures as well as workshops and exchange of experience by the participants aiming at a balanced mix of input from different backgrounds and concrete experiences made on the grass root level and shared throughout Europe. Thus we aim to create learning experiences for each individual as well as more common knowledge on the subject on European Level and a stronger network of professional open youth work for creating a basis for further debate and common European values. A on line report can be found on: http://poywe.org/reflections/
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