The EU-Council of Europe (EU-CoE) youth partnership began in 1998 when the Council of Europe and the European Commission decided to unite their action in the field of training European youth workers.[1] This partnership brings together young people and politicians, researchers and professionals from the youth sector every year in South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, as well as in the countries of the southern Mediterranean.[2] The main objective was “to promote active European citizenship and civil society by giving impetus to the training of youth leaders and youth workers working within a European dimension”[3]
Since its creation, the partnership agreement has been renewed and supplemented by other agreements initiated in the field of youth research and Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. In 2005, all the activities of the partnership were unified into a single framework agreement which addresses the following themes:
- European citizenship;
- human rights education and intercultural dialogue;
- quality and recognition of youth work and training;
- better understanding and knowledge of youth;
- youth policy development.
The partnership allows for an exchange of experiences between the Council of Europe and the European Commission in the field of non-formal education, youth policy, research on youth and the practice of youth work.[4]
The intervention logic is inspired by the triangle of governance of the youth field : 1) youth research 2) youth policy 3) youth work.
These three angles are interconnected and the role of the EU-Council of Europe youth partnership is to strengthen the dialogue among them, involving young people and youth organisations. Wherever relevant, stakeholders from other sectors are invited to engage in a cross-sectoral exchange.[5]
All the activities and publications of the partnership strengthen the exchange of experiences and good practices between the actors concerned. They form part of a structured dialogue and contribute to the implementation of the political objectives of the two partners.
Since 1998, several thousand young people have participated directly in these activities and many others have benefited from this experience thanks to the publications of the partnership. The results of EU-CoE youth partnership’s work are disseminated via the following publications: Coyote, Perspectives on youth, Youth Knowledge Books and T-kits.
>> Find also about Coyote Magazine in our previous blog post about youth policy here
[1] https://www.coe.int/fr/web/youth/eu-coe-youth-partnership?desktop=false
[2] https://europa.eu/youth/strategy/world_fr
[3] https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/eu-coe-youth-partnership?desktop=false
[4] https://www.coe.int/en/web/youth/eu-coe-youth-partnership?desktop=false
[5] https://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/about-us
This blog is part of the Together Thursdays project, co funded by the European Union.
