A Thinking & Action Kit for the Future of Youth Work

It summarizes the results of a large scale research project and presents it in the morning gauging format and language today we have with us Ajsa and Bastian the two authors of the thinking kit. Ajsa, Bastian, could you please say a few things about you.

And who can, uh, it's not so much in the field, but looks at it from the outside.

In the thinking kit we talk a lot about your own context, this means your particular organization, your geographic location, the reality in which you work, the thinking kit is a reality check, it's a journey or checkpoint to bring forward. The European Youth Work environment

And what exactly is its purpose button, please, if you might want to start with that question and then we can give the, give the word to Ajsa.

And so what we wanted to provide was a practical publication or a practical set of ideas that get people to think more questions than answers really, but that all a geared towards action. So that it's not just saying with all, let's think about interesting things, even though that's it. Thing to do in your free time, but if you want to change something, if you want to make things better than the thinking needs to be geared towards action.

And so we wanted to give, uh, a tool that allows people to think deeply and think together and have meaningful conversations with the stakeholders that need to be around the table, but that are all geared towards improving the environment for youth workers all across Europe.

I want everyone to think critically on what actually is the best outcome or the best solutions to the problems that we have at hand, especially when it comes to. a diverse continent as is Europe and every country has their own realities to deal with. Um, Ajsa please.

You need to have a certain understanding of what's happening in your own context, but then also, uh, what we found helpful from different experiences. Both as educators and youth workers is that it helps to know also the examples of how other people or in other contexts things can be done.

Or it helps also to understand, to a simple story of how that affects me, or, you know, anyone, someone who is in the youth work field or, or, uh, in this particular, in this particular case who is a youth worker and these kinds of. Improvements in that, in the field.

And that's, that's why, you know, in order to get to the reflection questions, to the thinking part, and then it will be really the best equipped to take some action and to, uh, actually work on improving the, uh, the youth work environment. In your own context. We also provided a bit of a, let's say, translation of what has been. Collected in an impressive knowledge book that Marietta was talking about summarizing it to the very core of the findings.

And one was the, exactly the diversity of experiences across Europe, and then also what works. And we are really hoping that this will help also to inspire. To an extent to inspire also people who are thinking, okay, now we are stuck with all, you know, what else can we do? How can we move things forward?

But those examples can actually inspire the little stories that we share them and actually show why is it important and how important it is that there are better conditions for youth work in every context in Europe.

Uh, because Europe is very different from the rest of the countries around the world. So can, this may be thinking kit. From South Africa, for example, from Columbia, get the thinking and say, okay, I can actually replicate some of these things, uh, in Europe. Do, do you want to Europe to actually become like a pioneer in making an example of what an actual structural framework for youth work can be, uh, around the world.

And the questions that we were asking, and we're really trying to be as inclusive as possible so that no one, basically really, even, I would say maybe Bastian can also jump in, but even anywhere in the world who say, well, this doesn't have anything to do with me. Okay. This question is good question to start thinking about what we can do. And I think that's the, that's the value of the thinking and action or such. So, right. Answer, provide a solution if you want in particular context.

And of course it helps with the European level. So the resources and factors that are supporting towards you youth work and its recognition and its role for young people in society,

As a matter of fact, can take that same approach.

Because that's not how this works, but they can, uh, that anybody who works with young people anywhere could look at this and say, okay, what could be my version of this? And what way could I be inspired to take a perspective on my context, look at the different stakeholders. In my context, look at the resources that I have available to me that other people might not have. Uh, but what do I have look around, uh, and really see. What might flourish here? What might work here?

What kind of relationship between stakeholders is possible here and what is not possible here? And in what ways can I kind of create an ecosystem of a connection and of ambition and of, um, vision that can. Allow the young people that live here, have the resources and have the access and have a path into their future that is worth working for

Each one can improve, you know, even in the, in the, let's say the most developed and supportive environment for youth work there are still uh, things that could be improved. And, uh, uh, in the let's say, least developed more. Those, the context where youth work is only at the early stages of being recognized, or even be back this sense, there is a horizon that you can see that. This is still a starting point from which we can take things forward.

And when we were working on this we were thinking Not only about youth workers as initiators of change. And I think that's important too. Our idea is that actually anyone in the, in the field could recognize themselves as somebody who can initiate this thinking and then action taking to change things. So it can be equally a youth worker who recognize themselves in the situation as much as educators, youth workers.

To do something with their curriculums or work from that point on onwards, it can be a policymaker. It can be a decision-maker looking at, you know, legislation surrounding the surrounding the youth work. It can be an employer, anyone in the civil sector or in the local authorities or in the you know again, very different from, from country to country.

But every single actor we hope they'll recognize themselves as somebody who could be that hero offer youth work development, let's say would be that person of initiating the spark of change or improvement of, you know, putting things in motion toward reaching the better conditions.

So go permit, uh, open up the scope towards the whole of Europe. Bastian what do you think may be the main pillars of that scope would be something that maybe everyone has in common, uh, are not focusing so much on the, uh, well on the specificities of each country or each reality. How would you be able to describe a bit how we can find a common ground and what will be the main things that maybe everyone needs to adopt?

And there's a huge degree of inequality when it comes to this. And so we see quite a lot of youth workers that are. Either going into these precarious situations and having very unstable lives around that, going from project grant to project grant and seeing how they can make a living from it or how they can keep surviving from it and who at some point move somewhere else, maybe where they can actually make a living and make it a profession and not just a glorified hobby.

And so I think it's very difficult to say what is needed everywhere. I think what is. Needed everywhere is, uh, a dissatisfaction with the status quo and a belief that more is possible. But what is also needed, I think, is that from what ever vantage point you have, whether or not you're a practitioner or a politician or a professor who trains youth workers. Is that it can start with you. It doesn't have to start with someone else. You don't have to wait for someone else.

It can always start with you. Which to me is a very empowering perspective. It also is an uncompromising perspective because then it means that if you want change, you actually have to do something and you can't wait for someone else for the European union. To give a framework or for the council of Europe to give some solutions to it, but it actually has to start with you because no one knows your context as good as you do.

No one can find a solution that works for your context, as good as you can in dialogue with the other stakeholders. And I think that for me is the, is the main message here is that it has to start local or regional and it needs. All those factors, it needs policy. It needs pressure from practice that they need the policy. It needs also then an opening in academia to actually take youth work serious and provide actual educational pathways to become a youth worker maybe. And it needs all of this.

And I hope also what this thinking could then provide when people go in and they read examples from other countries. It might instill healthy sort of competition. You're not, not, not every development is done for the altruistic reasons. That would be great. If the development would be motivated from that, sometimes it's just, you don't want to be out done by your neighbor.

And if from that motivation, Possibilities for youth workers to do their work meaningfully without constant fear of precariarity then so maybe it, but at least, uh, we have development in the right direction.

We'll speak about a few examples a bit later on, but I have a question, uh, towards Ajsa because Bastian, you actually brought up policy and what politicians may be can do to actually facilitate uh, these processes, but more importantly, my question as a well, as a youth worker would be, how can we make sure that actually politicians don't dictate what youth workers do when maybe them themselves don't actually know what's

going on at the local level, uh, how we can have that, that right balance between. What's the role of the youth worker specifically to actually create the viable framework in their own reality and how politicians can just leave a good platform for them to act upon and not necessarily impose ideas that might think that might be beneficial. But in the end don't end up working. What do you think might be the role of politicians in that case? Ajsa?

That youth work is actually there for, and I think in that sense, politicians absolutely have a role to play and politicians, decision makers, policy makers, all of those. What creating conditions surrounding how youth work where, could it be practiced, with whom, under which conditions , would it be paid or not how sustainable that would be the, you know, really have the role to answer to those questions, to their whole problems of the society or not.

And in that sense, I think what we were also trying to do for this kit is not to say that one of the actors. has bigger responsibility than the other, not to say that one needs to lead and the others will consult or advice, but rather than actually in the, you will see in, in, in the questions, one of the first things that we are asking people to think about is who else is around you.

Which of the actors, which are the profiles of people with power in the, in, in, in different ways, power to influence the change that you want to see happening. And in that sense, I think if youth worker are initiating. Yeah, certain change.

I mean, through them, it definitely needs to come this connecting with the political level and policy level so that the change could be more sustainable if it starts from the, from the political level, from, from the other side again, you know, it never works. And this is, I mean from more fields than, than, than one and youth work as well. So it's an exception. It never works.

If you are just introducing solutions without actually involving the people to whom they are going to actually address with they're going to change that reality. So I'm hoping that we do put it, with our thinking and action kit it will be very clear that what we are proposing, even though they are asking questions that we are proposing, that it's a consensus building work around what needs to change positively to improve the situation.

So that actually the youth work, ideally youth work how we see it as a meaningful practice contributing to the, to the young people, into the societies is being practiced in a way that, uh, that is optimal in, in certain politics. And that's, and that's what, uh, I would say that I think that's the most important part. We were stressing until now how, you know, the change can start from you and, you know, I can be the one. But I can be the one to initiate it. And this is important element.

I don't need to be a superhero and kind of do everything on my own and actually like that it doesn't really work, but we are actually talking about initiating starting the process and involving all the other actors, all the other stakeholders. So that together you can both think about the change that needs to happen or the concrete step that needs to happen and then actually make it, make it happen.

You need policymakers who know like, yes, I know how to write good policy, but I really don't know how the practice looks like. And you need youth workers who come to the table and said, I really don't know how to work this policy stuff. But I really know the young people that I work with. And if both can come together with confidence in what they know and humility around what they don't know, that's a pretty good starting point. I see.

And I think this collaboration indeed, between decision makers and NGOs or, let's say international networks of youth workers, actually a big actor in Europe, uh, in itself is, um, it's basically the best way to go. And I think there's actual thinking kit and action kit gives the resources to not only decision makers, also youth workers, uh, and everyone in the field to say, okay. What do I need? What do I lack in and where can actually be of service?

Because again, we can't change the world on our own. We actually do need help from other people and we need to collaborate together. And I think that's the whole basis of youth work is teamwork. Essentially. We're not alone, uh, in the, in the journey in some way. I would like to, uh, to, to ask a little closing question, let's say, um, what do you actually hope that youth work will, will be like in five years? Let's say, how would you see it? What do you think now?

The adaptability we need to do, especially maybe COVID for example, we are seeing some complicated situations of youth like around Europe. Um, what are the actions you wish that young people actually do take all decision makers take in order to improve youth work around Europe and the framework in essence, that you've been describing all throughout the episode and in the thinking and action kit.

Beneficial to young people and that access for youth work is really clear and, uh, enabled for every young person across, uh, different European contexts. And as I was saying also even for five years, maybe to be, to be, to be realistic and look at Europe. And I think everything that needs to happen around around that is, you know, this is the aim.

Uh, would really come to, uh, come to place easily in a way, you know, if you are, if there is really no doubt about the benefits of youth work from young people and society, uh, I think it will be much easier for all actors that we were describing and talking about to divert resources over that, and actually come, come up with particular solutions for different contexts to make it happen.

I again, we don't want to prescribe solutions and there are no clear solutions that could work, uh, everywhere. You, you have very different, different situations, but I think you need to have always this kind of horizon or kind of vision in mind. So why would we need to improve anything in the youth work field? You know, if this, if there is a clear answer to that question, then everything else I would say would come to play.

I'm hoping in the next, you know, as soon as the figure of thinking and action kit is published and in years following that people feel more and more come to this question, you know, why? And then I think concrete steps to actually make it work.

Around, um, there, there's a way to make this your life to make this your work. And that there is an appreciation from society that this is crucial work, that this isn't, this isn't hobby stuff. This isn't free time activities. This isn't a luxury. This is actually foundational for a society. And I think in the, in the context of COVID, what we've seen is that the.

The caring professions are the ones that are really foundational and really fundamental when it comes to, uh, uh, functioning of society. They've been labeled essential workers, but I would just call them the foundations of any community. The foundations of any society are the ones who care and nourish and nurture the wellbeing of the community and youth workers are such people.

And I think if they be, um, if we can work towards a recognition of the importance of this work and the, um, the recognition that comes with that is then that there is actually career pathways and there is actually a way to. Make this, your work, raise a family on the salary that you are receiving from it. And, uh, and do this as your life's work, then that would be, uh, uh, a Europe I would be proud to be a citizen of, I think,