scholarly journals Non-formal Learning And The Acquisition Of Skills – How Does The EU Support Youth Employment?

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Wochowska
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Formal Learning ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Youth Policy ◽  
Programming Period ◽  
The Eu

In recent years the issue of youth unemployment has been identified as one of the most pressing for young people, who are affected particularly hard by the economic crisis in the European Union. In response, the EU institutions have designed and introduced a complex mix of political instruments, agencies, programmes and studies that are supposed to establish a complementary and systemic approach to education and youth policies. Youth policy, as a socioeconomic field of EU political intervention began in 2014 to be subject to a paradigm of employability and “the economy of fighting the crisis”, including issues such as non-formal and informal learning and youth work outside of schooling systems. Thus the EU policy in question has significantly shifted from “personal and cultural development, and inspiring a sense of active citizenship among young people,” as it was formulated in the Youth in Action Programme 2006-2013, towards “the acquisition of professional skills of youth workers, validation systems of non-formal learning, and greater complementarities with formal education and training”, as it is formulated in the Youth Sector of the EU programme for Education - Erasmus+ 2014-2020. The objective of this article is to provide a comparative insight into the context that frames the design of EU policies aimed at mitigating the phenomenon of unemployment among young people, and to show how this has changed in light of the new EU programming period.

scholarly journals IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-63
Author(s):  
Maya Lambovska ◽  
Boguslava Sardinha ◽  
Jaroslav Belas, Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
European Union ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Young People ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Unemployment Rates ◽  
The Eu

Youth unemployment is a problem in each member country of the European Union (EU). The EU seeks to alleviate this problem by implementing various programs to support young people in finding and keeping a job, thus contributing to economic growth. In 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The countries have introduced many strict measures to prevent its spread, but they have caused a significant increase in unemployment, including among young people, and thus harmed economic growth. In this paper, we analyze the unemployment of people under the age of twenty-five in the EU. We also point out how unemployment rates have increased in individual countries. This problem concerns not only countries where the youth unemployment rate had been high already, such as Greece, Spain, and Italy, but also countries with previously lower rates, for example, the Czech Republic, Netherland, Poland, and Slovenia. In the latter group of countries, the youth unemployment rate has doubled in some cases due to anti-pandemic measures. We found that the most affected countries in this regard are the aforementioned Czech Republic, where the unemployment rate at the end of 2020 rose to 2.19 times above the level at the end of 2019, and Estonia, where year-over-year youth unemployment rose by a factor of 2.5. However, unfavorable developments occurred also in Lithuania, Latvia, and Ireland. According to our results, in 2020, youth unemployment increased the least in Hungary, Italy, and Belgium. In general, however, as the situation is now much more urgent, measures to alleviate this problem need to be put in place in each country to help young people find employment and, thus, stimulate economic growth.

scholarly journals Governing of young people ‘at risk’ with the alliance of employability and precariousness in the EU youth policy steering

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Mertanen ◽  
Karen Pashby ◽  
Kristiina Brunila
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
European Union ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Young People ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Youth Policy ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Political Rationality ◽  
The Eu

This article focuses on neoliberal governing by the European Union of cross-sectoral youth policies directed at young people ‘at risk’. The aim is to show how the alliance of discourses of employability and precariousness in these policies has emerged and how these discourses operate in policy. In the article, we analyse European Council and European Commission policy documents from 2000 to 2016 by drawing on the idea of discourses and governing with neoliberal political rationality. Our results show that the financial crisis and policy initiatives launched to mitigate its consequences made it possible to mainstream the neoliberal rationality of individual competition and flexibility as an inseparable part of youth policy steering.

Youth and Europe

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-60
Author(s):  
John Bynner ◽  
Walter R. Heinz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Young People ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Erasmus Programme ◽  
The Uk ◽  
European Youth ◽  
The Eu

‘Youth and Europe’ extends the notion of identity further, this time in the context of the development of the European Union (EU). The EU mission was to establish, especially among young people, a European identity in all the EU states. The distribution of resources and the rates of youth unemployment in the UK and Germany follows, considered from the perspective of social justice and the consequences of ‘Brexit’. The contribution of EU youth policies to young people’s participation and active citizenship as well as to respecting and integrating cultural diversity is also highlighted. The economic and cultural divisions, leading to sceptical attitudes toward the European Union are also discussed. The Erasmus programme and the wider benefits of the EU youth agenda aimed at reducing unemployment and poverty are presented as highly valued examples of European youth collaboration.

Youth work in Ukraine: new approaches to the strategic sector of social policy

2018 ◽  
Vol XIV ◽  
pp. 69-80
Author(s):  
Наталия Николаевна Коляда
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Young People ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Youth Policy ◽  
New Approaches

The article highlights new approaches to youth work, training of youth workers as strategic direction of social policy reform in the context of the draft Law of Ukraine On Youth. Current practice indicates a number of topical issues related to the preparation and formation of professional skills and social competencies of social workers – future implementers of youth policy. In particular, the practice demonstrates the failure of existing forms of training, which are now mostly limited academic training specialists in the social and socio-educational fields in universities. Modernity requires wider distribution of non-traditional and innovative forms of formation of personnel potential in the field of youth work. An example of an innovative approach to youth issues in general and youth training personnel reform is a new draft Law of Ukraine On Youth, developed by a group of MPs, together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and experts UNICEF resuscitation reform package. Key areas of the bill are: employment, housing and youth building support young people in difficult circumstances, cultural development, health and physical development, legal protection. Along with the traditional preliminary legal instruments in the field of youth policy, such as informal youth associations, youth organizations, national-patriotic education of youth and others. The draft appears a number of terms that make the content innovative potential of social youth policy, namely vulnerable young people, youth work, youth participation and the Council, Youth Advisory Council, a youth worker, youth center, informal education of young people and others.

scholarly journals CONCEPTUAL BASES AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU YOUTH POLICY

2016 ◽  
pp. 136-144
Author(s):  
E. N. Grachev
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Young People ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
National Council ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Youth Policy ◽  
European Youth ◽  
Supranational Level ◽  
The Eu

Europe is making significant efforts to create a common space where not only common political institutions and values, but also common future is to be shaped. And it is young people who is selected to be the main policy object for building common European identity. To this end in recent years, the European Union has worked out the institutional mechanisms of its youth policy, has formed special agencies for its implementation, developed legal framework. The main document, which laid the conceptual basis of EU youth policy is the White Paper. The document determines the most challenging issues in youth policy that need to be resolved in the short and long term. The next major document - the European Youth Pact - has become a real legal act which came into force throughout the European Union. The most important document which determines the guidelines of the current EU youth policy is a strategy "Youth - Investing and Empowering." The strategy settles a key vector of European youth policy for all EU countries. All documents take into account the interests of the whole EU and not individual nation states that is why they influence young people at the supranational level. The European Union has developed a full-fledged system of management of youth policy on two levels: the supranational (pan-European) and national. Council of Europe and European Parliament are responsible for the implementation of youth policy at supranational level. Various national agencies are responsible for the implementation of certain EU youth programs at national level. The EU documents on the youth policy show that the youth is viewed by European politicians as one of the most politically important social groups in Europe. That is why youth policy is directed not only at youth development, but has to it a significant political component. A significant part of the youth policy is related to the involvement of young people in the democratic institutions, the involvement of young people in the EU governance.

scholarly journals Inclusion, Diversity, Equality in Non-Formal Education through the Optic of Youth and Youth Workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 94-108
Author(s):  
Martin Brestovanský ◽  
Janette Gubricová ◽  
Kristína Liberčanová ◽  
Naďa Bizová ◽  
Zuzana Geršicová
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Data Gathering ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Youth Organizations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Members

AbstractIntroduction: The aim of the study was to find out what is the understanding of relatively new terms coming into the cultures of Middle-European countries – inclusion, diversity, and equality (hereinafter referred to as IDE) – from the point of view of young people (n=30) and youth workers (n=16) in Slovakia.Methods: For data gathering, we used a method of focus groups (4 meetings). Data analysis was based on three criteria: consistency in understanding the terms, an overview of types of obstacles that keep young people from self-realisation and an explicit or implicit expression of understanding the basic principles of inclusion in education. The content of IDE terms was mostly from the area of the social field. The term diversity was closely explained in the psychological-personal fields.Results: The most frequent obstacles for applying IDE approaches were seen in the social, health and religious spheres. From the pedagogical and methodological point of view, the problem is also in the difficulty of preparing the projects based on the principles of IDE while the youth workers proclaim autonomy in solutions and do not trust the possibilities of using general methods because of specific need resulting from the specific context of their work. Also, they proclaim natural applying of the IDE principles and the existence of specific needs in the informal education does not represent any problem for the inclusion of the group members in the activities of the organisation.Limitations: Work with youth is very varied. Performs in different areas of life and also involves working with different groups of young people. The selected research sample consists of youth and youth workers who are only a partial sample of the sample. It is assumed that in a larger group of respondents (both youth workers and youths themselves), respondents' views may differ somewhat in some of the areas studied.Conclusions: This research provides information on understanding, implementation and obstacles to applying the principles of inclusion, equality and diversity in practice. We believe that the information we receive is very valuable as it opens the imaginative door to the specific kitchens of individual youth organizations where these principles are directly implemented. They show their nature of application in practice, they suggest some risks, as well as a certain bias towards the application of the terms emerging (probably?) from theory. As can be seen from the results of our research, the emergence of specific needs in non-formal education in practice does not pose a problem in the inclusion of group members in leisure activities.

YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN VOLUNTEERS’ WORK

2018 ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Jekaterina Moisejeva
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Active Participation ◽  
Youth Participation ◽  
Previous Experience ◽  
Youth Policy ◽  
Policy Strategy ◽  
Low Motivation

Nowadays the problem of youth participation is one of the most important issues among politicians, scientists, teachers, youth specialists and employees. In the last 10 years, the number of young people in Latvia has decreased by 35 % or 180 thousand. The reasons are: passivity, low motivation and lack of interest among young people; insufficient awareness among young people of opportunities to participate and actively engage in various non-formal education activities; the lack of entrepreneurship and communication skills; the youth policy strategy in Rezekne has not been developed and approved. These challenges slower youth engaging in active participation. Based on previous experience, the author believes that the problem of youth participation in NGO can be solved by purposefully working and improving the factors of youth participation such as learning and improving English as well as involvement in youth projects.

scholarly journals Young People’s Engagement With the European Union

2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dagmar Strohmeier ◽  
Martyn Barrett ◽  
Carmen Bora ◽  
Simona C. S. Caravita ◽  
Elisa Donghi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Young People ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Future Vision ◽  
The Eu

Abstract. This study investigated whether demographic variables, efficacy beliefs, visions, and worries are associated with four different forms of (dis)engagement with the European Union (EU): intended voting in the 2019 EU elections, nonconventional political engagement, psychological engagement, and the wish that one’s own country should leave the EU. The sample comprised 3,764 young people aged 16–25 years living in seven European countries: Albania, Austria, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain, and the UK. Economic challenges, human rights, and the environment were the most important future visions; unemployment and poverty, climate change, civil unrests, and collapse of the EU were the most important future worries. The four forms of (dis)engagement with the EU were differentially associated with predictors, although internal efficacy and future vision of economic challenges predicted all forms. Implications for future EU policy are discussed.

scholarly journals SOFIA UNIVERSITY "ST. KLIMENT OHRIDKSI" STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE IN VOLUNTEERING AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ITS PROMOTION

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 503-507
Author(s):  
Petya Hristova
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
University Students ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
European Values ◽  
Sport Events ◽  
The Eu

The importance and benefits of volunteering have long been acknowledged in the European Union. Volunteering activities contribute to strengthening some of the fundamental European values, such as solidarity and connecting with the community. It helps individuals to play a significant role in creating a more democratic, caring and responsible society. Today almost 100 million citizens of all ages make a positive contribution in the EU through an active involvement in volunteering activities in a wide range of organisations including civil society organisations, youth clubs, hospitals, schools, sport clubs and many others. Bulgaria is one of the newest members of the EU (since 2007) and is still adopting and trying to keep up with the good practices and values in the European countries. Being the biggest and oldest in Bulgaria, Sofia University educates young people from all over the country. One of the main targets of their education is to prepare them to be active, valuable and responsible citizens of the Bulgarian society as well as of the European community. The article highlights the importance of volunteering as a way to create more democratic, caring and responsible society as well as what personal benefits come with it. It also emphasizes the significance of volunteering in sport events as a way for introducing the importance of regular physical exercise for humans’ health. The article shows the results from a study aimed at exploring the experience of Sofia University’ students in volunteering, their motives to stay or become a volunteer as well as their will to volunteer in sport events. Participants were 250 university students in different years of their bachelor studies in a variety of subjects. All of them enlisted in different sport classes for the 2017-2018 academic year. For the purposes of the study has been used the Descriptive - explicative method. The results show that young people do not have much experience in volunteering and are not very well educated about all possibilities that it offers today. The author gives some recommendations for the promotion of volunteering among young people. The University could/should establish courses, where students can learn about volunteering in general and volunteering in sport. There could be motivational engines created, which will make students to be more active in volunteering. The University’s Authorities could find and provide the legal background for volunteering in its Regulations. University could make regular calls for volunteers for all of its annual events (conferences, university’s sport championships, projects and charity events). The author suggests that an additional research should be made to identify the type of events young people are interested in, in order to attract them to become volunteers as well as what are the negative sides they find in volunteering.

scholarly journals Reaching the Hard-To-Reach with Civic Education on the European Union: Insights from a German Model Project

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Monika Oberle ◽  
Märthe-Maria Stamer
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Vocational Transition ◽  
Model Project ◽  
German Model ◽  
The Eu

So-called “hard-to-reach” learners with a lower level of formal education have been identified as a “challenge” for civic education and have been neglected with regard to civic education in the past. However, these young people do deal with political processes that relate to their everyday lives; they simply do not perceive these processes as political. The same holds true for the topic of the European Union. To date, hardly any teaching concepts and learning materials for civic education on the European Union that are specially designed for hard-to-reach youth have been available. This paper discusses the relevance, challenges, and promising approaches used to address this severe deficit in the research and practice of civic education regarding the EU. It focuses on the situation in Germany and presents the Jean Monnet project “Junge Menschen erreichbar machen mit politischer Europabildung” (JUMPER). Here, workshops with a focus on the European Union are developed—specifically tailored to the needs of the target group, carried out with pupils in the vocational transition system, and accompanied by systematic evaluation. Finally, conclusions are drawn for civic education and research regarding hard-to-reach youth.

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