
Long-Term Training Course for Youth Workers
(2013-2014)
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
Deadline to apply: 20 December 2012
Many young people in today’s Europe live in situations where they experience exclusion, discrimination and violence. This is not only a youth issue, as it often affects young people during their youth and in their adult life, their environment (family, schools, communities, social networks, etc.), their intergenerational relations and the way society in general relates to young people. In their transition to adulthood, young people experience situations of socio-economic vulnerability and other forms of fragility in their place in society. When this multi-dimensional vulnerability is accompanied by exclusion, discrimination and violence, when young people do not have access to their human rights, when they experience poverty of opportunities and means, then they experience a serious disadvantage, which youth work, local and regional authorities and youth policy have the duty to tackle.
Youth workers and youth organisations are often at the forefront of projects designed to provide alternative non-formal education and leisure time activities, counter discrimination and exclusion of young people, promote participation and citizenship, often with the aim of easing social tensions. In the situations in which young people experience disadvantage, youth work has an important role :
Local and regional authorities, as well as other governmental agencies and institutions working at the local level, also have a significant role to play when it comes to ensuring young people’s access to their social human rights. In many places in Europe, ensuring access to social rights comes under the remit of local and/or regional authorities and other governmental agencies whose responsibilities have been devolved from central government to the local level. Very often, youth workers and local and regional authorities have complementary roles in their work on access to social rights for and with young people.
From the perspective of the Council of Europe, social cohesion is firmly based on human rights (as codified in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Revised European Social Charter ), as well as an acceptance of shared responsibility for the welfare of all members of society, especially those who are at risk of poverty or exclusion. In line with this, the youth policy of the Council of Europe aims at “providing young people with equal opportunities and experience which enable them to develop knowledge, skills and competencies to play a full part in all aspects of society” .
In order to respond to situations of violence, exclusion and discrimination which affect more and more young people in Europe, the youth sector of the Council of Europe has developed since 2009 the Enter! project. The project promotes access to social rights for young people, in particular of those exposed to social exclusion, discrimination and violence. The objectives of the Enter! project for 2012 – 2014 are:
The Enter! project includes initiatives run in partnership by the Youth Department and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. An advisory group, including researchers, representatives of local/regional authorities, the statutory bodies of the youth sector, and the European Youth Forum will support the whole project.
The Enter! project has its main core in the Long-Term Training Course (LTTC) for youth workers on access to social rights for all young people. The experiences of the training course will have a particularly important role in informing other activities of the project, by bringing the direct input of youth workers and young people and by bridging experiences from the European to the local level. This is a complementary training offering youth workers who undertake activities with young people that experience disadvantage the opportunity:
The LTTC will develop the competences of 30 youth workers, in developing and implementing responses, projects and partnerships in support of youth-led efforts to overcome discrimination, exclusion and violence, in a European perspective.
The objectives of the course are:
Throughout the training course, participants will improve their competences in the following areas:
Throughout the course and as a result of its educational process, participants will:
The LTTC is composed of four phases, which participants need to follow:
Preparatory phase January – March 2013
This phase will include preparatory activities for the course. Participants will get to know each other and develop an analysis of social rights related policies in their realities.
First residential seminar
12 – 21 March 2013, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
The residential seminar is an essential element of the course, allowing for participants to improve their competences on the key course curriculum elements and to kick of their projects, by reviewing and developing their project idea.
Project development phase and ongoing learning
April 2013 – September 2014 During this phase, participants will implement local youth-led projects in cooperation with local authorities and civil society.
Evaluation residential seminar
September 2014, dates to be confirmed During this evaluation seminar,
participants will evaluate their learning and the impact of their projects for the young people which were involved in their project. The seminar will also include training elements in order to consolidate participants’ competences development.
In all phases of the course, participants will benefit from the educational support by trainers, advice from the Advisory Group of the project and institutional support from the Council of Europe.
The course overall evaluation will be finalised by the end of 2014. An evaluation meeting of the course will be organised to review the results of the course and provide input for the course follow-up.
A youth meeting involving young people that have participated in the local projects developed will be organised in 2014 or early 2015.
The methodology of the course will allow for a good balance between theory and practices, learning and project implementation. A diversity of working methods will be use, based on non-formal education.
Candidates must be youth or social workers, working directly with young people, and
All participants must also:
- have the motivation and capacity to develop projects for and with young people on access to social rights;
- have an interest to work in partnerships with local authorities on enhancing dialogue for improving access of young people to social rights;
- have a specific target group of young people they will be working with throughout the LTTC;
- are motivated to learn and to develop their professional and personal competences;
- intend to remain active in their organisation/institution for the next 2 years and multiply their learning in their organisation/institution and community;
- be aged 18-35, with exceptions possible;
- be resident in one of the countries of the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe;
- be able to work in English or French (tbc);
- be available for full participation in all four phases of the course.
The candidates must be supported by their organisation for the whole duration of the course. This means, concretely:
It is a requirement for the selection that candidates’ organisations have developed or are in a position to develop partnerships with local and regional authorities/civil society for the enhancement of social inclusion of young people.
During the training course, each participant is expected to develop a local youth-led project based on active participation of young people and addressing specific challenges that young people face in their access to social rights, and as a consequences of the negative effects of discrimination, violence and exclusion.
Projects provide the practical basis for learning about how to promote the social rights of young people and how best to use youth research for youth policy action. They should be implemented in co-operation with local or regional authorities. Through the involvement of local authorities, other organisations and various actors in the social field, the projects aim at bringing real change and impact at community level concerning the access to social rights of the young people. The community awareness of the project is also important to secure the sustainability of the project and its support by the local authorities.
Working languages
The course proposed languages are English and French, with interpretation ensured during the residential seminars.
All candidates must apply online, completing the application form through this link: online application
Before applying, each candidate should prepare:
- a support letter from their organisation, stating the support offered to the participant throughout the course, and
- a social analysis and an outline of the project idea that the candidate intends to develop during the project development phase, which should specify the role of local authorities and civil society organisations in the project. The project outline is important to illustrate what the applicant has in mind and the social context within which the project is placed. The possible acceptance of an applicant does not imply, for the Council of Europe, automatic support or acceptance of the project. Participants will, as part of their learning process, look for funding sources for their projects themselves.
The letters of support for the candidate should explain the need and the value for the sending organisation or authority and for the candidate to attend this course. If an organisation wishes to propose more than one candidate, the order of priority should be clearly indicated and justification for the priority list should be provided. Applicants without recommendation letter will not be accepted.
All candidates must apply online and send their recommendation letters by 20 December 2012, at midnight Central European Time. Support letters have to be uploaded on the platform or sent separately by e-mail to eyc.programme@coe.int by the same deadline.
A group of preselected participants will be announced by the mid-January 2013. Only candidates who will be able to provide after the preselection and before the seminar a generic support letter from local or regional authorities (or other relevant governmental agencies and institutions working on the local level), and respectively for preselected candidates working for public institutions a letter of agreement from civil society organisations, will be invited to the course.
The selection will be done respecting the candidates’ organisations’ priorities, but also ensuring a balance between sexes, geographical regions, different types of experiences, backgrounds and organisations, institutions or projects. A waiting list may be drawn up.
Meals and accommodation for the residential seminars will be provided and paid for by the Council of Europe.
Travel costs for the seminars will be fully reimbursed according to the Council of Europe rules.
An enrolment fee of 60 Euros is payable by each participant. This amount will be deducted from the amount to be reimbursed for travel expenses or paid during the residential seminar. The Council of Europe will not reimburse any fees related to the usage of Internet during the course.
Other Courses of the Youth Department
If you are interested in a training course in international youth work, but your profile does not fully correspond with the requirements of this course, please note that the Youth Department organises other training courses for youth workers, youth leaders and trainers. Further information about the courses can be obtained from the Youth Department:
website youth department
Further information and contact
Jackie Lubelli/Nina Kapoor, email: training programm