Enter Long-Term Training Course 2021-2022
The new Enter! LTTC
The 4th edition of the Enter! Long-term training for Youth Workers was launched in August 2021 with 33 participants from 23 countries. The participants are devising projects which put in practice the Enter! Recommendation and Youth Work Recommendation and innovate youth work activities with young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
The initial seminar of the Enter! European level youth worker training was held from 6 to 13 September in Budapest, with an aim to contribute to the quality, access and diversity of youth work and its social and political role in addressing violence, discrimination and exclusion faced by young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
As a result of the initial training 33 youth work projects were designed by participants from 22 different states. The projects use youth work to improve the access to social rights of young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods focusing on access to education, employment, promoting social inclusion, engaging young people in the social dialogue and local policy making.
The evaluation and consolidation seminar of the course was held from 1 to 9 October 2022 at the European Youth Centre Strasbourg during which the projects and learning experiences of the participants during the practice phase were evaluated. The learning cycle of the course was completed by reviewing and addressing additional competences identified in the evaluation process with inputs from other Council of Europe sectors and experts of the Enter! project.
The course evaluation will be completed in December 2022.
More information is available at the Concept note for the Enter! Long-term training for youth workers 2021-2022.
For youth workers
The function of the course is to better equip youth workers with knowledge and skills to support their local communities in accessing social rights. More specifically, the course supports better understanding of the links between youth work provided at grassroots level in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and access to services, spaces, support, opportunities for young people.
The course addresses a list of competences for youth workers based on the Council of Europe’s Youth Work Portfolio. This recognised Council of Europe training for youth workers will allow the participants to:
- Participation in a recognised training for youth workers and access to spaces and opportunities to learn from and contribute to the youth work development on European level with an accent on social inclusion and social rights for young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
- Have a better understanding of the role of youth work for young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods and the available approaches, tools, resources and networks from the Council of Europe.
- Closer cooperation with other youth workers from member states and opportunities for networking around the topic of youth work in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
- Introduction and cooperation with the Council of Europe youth sector’s instruments: European Youth Centres, European Youth Foundation, the Partnership and the intergovernmental cooperation.
The objectives of the course
The LTTC will equip youth workers with knowledge and skills to provide support and develop joint local approaches that improve the access to social rights for young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. It will support youth workers to engage and work closely with the Council of Europe in developing and implementing specific youth work projects aimed at improving access to social rights (education, housing, heath, transport, culture, employment etc.).
- To motivate participants/youth workers to revise and strengthen local youth work provision through enhanced cooperation between youth work and other service providers in the framework of social rights
- To enhance the competences of youth workers in their professional practices by providing complementary learning opportunities for rights and value-based quality youth work with a focus on:
- Human/social rights and human rights education to address discrimination, violence and exclusion
- Participatory youth work
- European/international perspectives in combating inequalities and their impact on wellbeing of young people and their communities
- Project planning and management based on youth participation and the articulation of youth work and youth policy
- To empower youth workers to support young people’s access to social rights through Council of Europe standards, such as the Enter! and the Youth Work Recommendations
- To promote the further use of the Enter! Recommendation and the results of its review, in youth projects and policies supporting young people to know and access their social rights
- To innovate in youth work provisions and delivery through local youth projects and local partnerships
- To collect experiences and information about the relevance of youth work and local youth policies in promoting Council of Europe human rights standards and the European Youth Work agenda
- To improve the usage and relevance of Council of Europe resources for youth worker training, including the Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio.
Methodology, calendar and features of the course
The long-term training course comprises two intercultural residential seminars with a practice/project phase in between and supported by an e-learning programme, mentoring and networking opportunities. It takes place from August 2021 to December 2022.
The LTTC is composed of several phases which all participants are required to follow:
- Preparatory phase, August -September 2021
- Training seminar 1, 6-13 September 2021, European Youth Centre Budapest
- Distance learning, and mentoring, September 2021 – September 2022
- Professional practice, September 2021 – September 2022
- Training seminar 2, 1-9 October 2022, European Youth Centre Strasbourg
- Closing phase, October-December 2022
The methodology of the course combines a variety of approaches and resources developed withing the youth sector of the Council of Europe, with an emphasis on:
- Experiential learning, recognising youth workers experiences and supporting learning based on these experiences
- Intercultural and dialogical learning whereby the youth workers will play a role in the learning of other participants and enhance cooperation and communication competences by learning and living together in the intercultural environment of the European Youth Centre
- Blended learning opportunities whereby the elearning complements and consolidates previous learning and the understanding of previous experience and group learning
- Holistic learning based on personal development combined with professional skills and competences and valuing youth work practices combing with reflection and critical think skills.
During the course each participant is expected to develop a local youth work project based on active participation of young people and addressing specific challenges that young people face in their access to social rights. The projects should be an example in implementing the Enter! Recommendation through youth work and provide a practical basis for learning about promoting the social rights of young people and how best to link specific policies with youth work. They should be implemented in co-operation with local authorities so as better impact at the local community level.
Profile of participants
The course is designed for youth workers (regardless of the academic or professional status, and including volunteers) who:
- Are directly working with young people in disadvantaged neighbourhoods likely to face exclusion, discrimination and violence or difficulties in accessing social rights (such as education, health, housing, employment, transport, culture and leisure, participation spaces, information)
- Carry out their activities within a non-governmental entity (for example, a youth or community organisation) or in a local authority (for example, local community centres, youth centres, information office of a Municipality, school communities, etc.)
- Are motivated to further develop their professional and personal competences for quality youth work
- intend to remain active and apply their learning in their organisation/institution for the next 2 years
- Are aged between 18 and 35 years, with exceptions possible
- Are resident in a country signatory of the European Cultural Convention
- Are able to work in English or in French
- Are available for the full participation in all the phases of the course
- Are supported by their organisation for the full duration of the course. This implies that:
- The organisation provides a support letter in the application phase
- The sending organisation makes it possible for the youth workers to attend the two training seminars and supports the development and implementation of the project during the practice phase within the framework/programme of the organisation
- The organisation will provide input and visibility to the project(s) developed by the participants (in turn, the Council of Europe will acknowledge and provide institutional visibility to the sending organisations).
The Council of Europe will select up to 35 participants - youth workers and other professionals with a variety of profiles reflecting thematic areas linked to social right
Participants and projects
Expert Group
Expert group for local youth policies and youth work 2021-2023
The Joint Council on Youth has recommended the setting up of a group of experts to support the local authorities in implementing the Enter! Recommendation, and provide guidance when necessary, for the other key activities of the Enter! project.
The expert group members should perform the following tasks:
- Provide guidance and ideas for the implementation of the Enter! Long-term training for youth workers based on the conclusions from the review of the Enter! Recommendation adopted in March 2020.
- Act as experts or advisors to local authorities working on implementation of the Enter! Recommendation.
- Support local authorities and the local youth workers, directly in their work with the Enter! Recommendation, by providing expertise as outlined in the description of the support measures.
- Reflect on potential roles of the Council of Europe in further developing, promoting and providing support measures for local authorities and youth workers to implement the Enter! Recommendation.
Members of the expert group met in November 2021 to set up their work priorities and brainstorm on possible ways to support the participants of the Enter! Long-term training course 2021-2022, as well as, other interested municipalities, youth organisations, youth work structures and partners.
List of members of the expert group:
- Belgium
Bilal CHUITAR - France
Eddy DURTESTE - Florence MOURLON
Pieter-Jan UYTTERSPROT - Georgia
Sulkhan Chargeisvili - Italy
Alessandra COPPOLLA
Silvia VOLPI - Latvia
Natalja Gudakovska - Luxembourg
Mehdi MRIBAH - Russian Federarion
Ruzanna IVANIAN - Spain
Xavier BARO - Turkey
Berat EZEL - Ukraine
Igor NOSACH