I’m changing Europe!
At the closing of the 3rd European Youth Work Convention in December 2020, participants presented its final Declaration - 'Signposts for the Future'. In expressed commitment to successfully implement the European Youth Work Agenda (EYWA), the Convention outlined future steps, actions and measures to be taken under the Bonn Process on local, regional and European level. As a good example of how to strengthen cooperation within the local youth work community of practice, the Declaration cited EGL and its European Charter on Local Youth Work, identifying and recommending it as a 'useful tool to start building this community'.
Since its inception in 2016, EGL was intended and established as a strategic partnership that aims to strengthen and further elevate the quality development of youth work across Europe. As EYWA is now calling for the whole youth work community of practice to shape and take collective and coordinated action for youth work development, EGL is consciously stepping in its role of a multiplier and a platform for collaboration and communication where good examples of activities, initiatives and programs of members and partners are collected, highlighted and shared in an effort to create opportunities for growth, unity and further quality development of youth work across the different sectors and stakeholders from local to European levels.
The task of establishing EYWA was taken on by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and came from the European Union and the Council of Europe. As part of EGL’s commitment and mission to showcasing European cooperation in the youth field and bringing in the youth work community of practice into a shared space of knowledge and development, we invited Mr Thomas Andersson, spokesman for Youth, at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe to talk to us about how the Congress promotes youth participation and empowerment at local, regional and European levels.