In September – December 2023, the Council of Europe Project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the State Institution "All-Ukrainian Youth Centre" explored the educational practices of higher education institutions of Ukraine in the field of youth work based on the approaches, educational resources and standards of the Council of Europe.

The study included desk review, online surveys, content analysis of educational and training programs, and in-depth interviews. The analysis characterizes the provision of training of youth workers in higher education institutions of Ukraine, analyzes 214 educational programs and curricula, identifies achievements, obstacles, difficulties, needs and possible areas of support for the formal education system in Ukraine in the field of youth work.

44 representatives of 23 higher education institutions reflected and presented the experience and practices of formal education in Ukraine in the field of youth work based on Council of Europe approaches, educational resources and standards.

Among the key results of mapping educational practices:

• The occupational standard "Youth Specialist (Youth Worker)" has already been reflected in the areas of possible employment of educational (educational-professional, educational-scientific) programs in the field of 231 Social Work (5 out of 10 selected educational programs for the second stage of analysis).
• The content of the educational components of all the analyzed fields of knowledge indicates that they contain academic disciplines that allow the implementation of professional training of specialists in the areas of youth participation. In particular, in the areas of "Informing Youth", "Promoting Youth Participation through Information and Communication Technologies", "Support for Youth Projects and Initiatives", educational programs in all fields of knowledge have appropriate educational components.
• The priority themes of the Council of Europe Youth Sector Strategy 2030 are the most evident in educational programmes: 23 Social work - 2.2 Young people's access to rights; 28 Public Management and Administration - 2.2. Youth access to rights; 05 Social and Behavioral Sciences 2.2. Youth access to rights; 01 Education/Pedagogy - 2.2 Young people's access to rights; 02 Culture and the arts - 2.1 Strengthening pluralistic democracy and 2.3. Coexistence in peaceful and inclusive communities; 03 Humanities - 2.1 Strengthening pluralistic democracy and 2.2. Young people's access to rights.
• The insufficient level of representation of labor functions in the analyzed educational programs according to the occupational standard "Youth Specialist (Youth Worker)" can be caused by both the novelty of this document (introduced in March 2023) and the low awareness of higher education institutions on the relevant standard.

The collection contains stories of experience in implementing education in the field of youth work, which were shared by:

• Viktoriia Bezsmertna, Dual training in the field of youth work. Experience of interaction between the NGO "Institute of Creative Innovations" and Zhytomyr State Ivan Franko University in the creation and implementation of the educational programme "Youth Social Work".
• Yevhenii Borodin, Tetyana Tarasenko, National Technical University "Dnipro Polytechnic", Dnipro. The first bachelor's educational and professional programme "Social and Youth Work" in Ukraine.
• Iryna Kobzeva, Dnipro Academy of Continuing Education, Dnipro. Creativity and Informality in Formal Education for and About Young People.
• Svitlana Kolyadenko, Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University. Cross-cutting youth themes in the professional training of future social workers.
• Ivanna Kulyk, Oksana Doroshchuk, Vasyl Stefanyk, Precarpathian National University, Ivano-Frankivsk. Partnership with social, public, youth organisations as a prerequisite for the training of future specialists.
• Vasyl Stratonov, Kherson State University, Ivano-Frankivsk. Legal education for young people.
• Liudmyla Kindrat, Council of Europe Office in Ukraine. The manual as a key to understanding the Model General Short-Term Professional Development Programme "Participatory Youth Policy".
• Liudmyla Smolska, National University of Water and Environmental Engineering, Rivne. Value-based approach to learning: education through values.
• Maria Grinyova, Odesa Academy of Continuing Education of the Odesa Regional Council, Odesa. Formation of Future Community Leaders: Participatory Approaches in Education.
• Nadiya Pavlyk, Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University, Zhytomyr. Integration of Formal and Non-Formal Education: Broadening Learning Horizons.
• Natalia Zaichenko, National University "Chernihiv Collegium" named after T.G. Shevchenko, Chernihiv. Practice-oriented approach to the training of youth workers.
• Nataliia Koliada, Nataliia Levchenko, Oksana Kravchenko, Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University, Uman. History, Synergy and Vision: Pathways to Professional Excellence in Youth Work.

 The Collection is available in the Ukrainian language via the link - https://rm.coe.int/youth-work-education-in-ukraine-collection/1680af5457

The conducted pilot study and the conclusions from it are not representative, since the sample of educational programmes for analysis was formed without complying with the requirement of representativeness. The analysis was carried out only in accordance with the documents presented on open web resources and may not reflect the real content of the educational components taught. At the same time, this study allows to identify the main trends in the field of higher formal education in terms of training specialists to work with young people in Ukraine.

The project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" is  implemented within the framework  of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 and is based on the results and experience of the projects "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" in 2020-2022.  The project expands the systematic impact by strengthening youth participation policies and strengthening youth work during the war and in the post-war context, taking into account the specific needs of young people.