Partnership Agreement with ERYICA

 

Since April 1997, the Council of Europe maintains a Partnership Agreement with the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA) to promote and develop European co-operation in Youth Information and counselling. In addition, ERYICA’s role is to develop, support and promote quality youth information policy and practice at all levels; and to ensure that the principles of the European Youth Information Charter are respected.

Planned activities in 2025 ERYICA tools and resources New! Policy recommendations Background documents

What is ERYICA?

ERYICA is an international non-profit-making association, created in 1986, which aims to ensure European co-ordination and representation in the field of youth information and counselling and to develop a European Network of youth information and counselling services.

For further information please visit the website of ERYICA at: www.eryica.org

Co-operation

The partnership agreement has been established to promote and develop European co-operation in Youth Information and Counselling, in particular by organising training activities for professionals involved in Youth Information and counselling.

Revised Partnership agreement between the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA) and the Council of Europe 

The European Youth Information Quality Label is one of the highlights of this co-operation; designed and implemented for and with young people and linked to a set of quality assessment criteria, mechanisms and tools. 

PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT ACTIVITIES

2025 - Planned activities

2024 - Webinars on Democracy & on Artificial Intelligence, JIMMY course, Seminar on Young People & Mental Health, Youth Information Quality Label, Partnership Resources

Hosting webinars to facilitate knowledge-sharing and interactive discussions on key topics for the youth information sector

Providing eLearning opportunities, enabling professionals to enhance their skills and expertise

Expanding participation in a youth mental health seminar to include youth information providers from additional Council of Europe member states

  • Seminar on Young People's Mental Health; 10 September 2024 at the Muntpunt Library in Brussels, Belgium. Recording of the seminar

Continuing to advance the implementation of the European Youth Information Quality Label

  • The European Youth Information Quality Label continued growing in 2024; the Label was awarded to 6 new organisations in 2024. Furthermore, the national labelling commission of Ireland awarded the Label to 5 local youth information centres in the country.

Promotion of CoE-ERYICA partnership resources

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2023 - Youth Information Quality Label - YoMiM course

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2022 - Webinars on Mental health, Talking about money, New forms of sexual abuse

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

 

2021 - Webinar series, European Youth Information Quality Label & Update of “Liaisons” and dissemination activities for publications

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

 

2020 - Mapping Youth Information Europe in 2020 & European Youth Information Quality Label

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2007-2019 - Activities

2019 - European Youth Information Quality Label & Dissemination activities for Liaisons and other publications

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2018 - Youth information and counselling in Ukraine & Dissemination of the manual "Liaisons"

Description of the action of the partnership agreement between ERYICA and the Council of Europe in 2018

Quality youth services in Ukraine

ERYICA is currently working on supporting the youth work sector in Ukraine, the national association of youth centres, and the Ministry responsible for youth in their efforts to provide quality youth services in the country. In particular ERYICA will provide expertise and assistance to raise awareness about the importance of making youth information and counselling services available to young people and to support them in taking the first steps in the design and development of these services. The specific aims of this project being to:

  • Support the recently created association of youth centres in developing youth information services in Ukraine by providing expertise, resources, training and good practice examples from the ERYICA network;
  • Better understand the information needs and trends of young people in Ukraine;
  • Boost the enhancement of youth policy and youth work in Ukraine and Council of Europe recommendations (namely CM/Rec(2017)4 on youth work, CM/Rec(2016)7 on young people’s access to rights and CM/Rec(90)7 and CM/Rec(2010)8 on youth information and counselling), by gathering targeted participants in a seminar on youth information and counselling and by allowing them to discuss and share issues, solutions, strategies and good practices with each other and with European peers; and
  • Facilitate networking amongst stakeholders of the youth sector in Ukraine, with the aim of enabling them to become part of the countries that provide youth information and counselling services and by supporting them to reach quality standards of youth information in Europe.

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2017 - Liaisons: manual for the prevention of youth violent extremism through youth information

Available linguistic versions of Liaisons – manual for the prevention of youth violent extremism through youth information:   English  French   Azeri  Catalan  Dutch  Portuguese   Spanish  

In 2017, ERYICA and their French-speaking members continued working on the reference manual. On 3 April 2017, the preliminary version of the manual was presented to external professionals working with young people and experts in the development of educational tools experts to receive feedback on the pertinence and usability of the manual. The second half of the year was focused on the promotion and dissemination of the manual, for example at an event on the violent radicalisation and extremism of young people online: prevention and reaction (22 September), organised by the Bureau International Jeunesse (BIJ), and at a conference on the prevention of youth violent extremism in Malta (29 November) and others.   

The final manual was published by ERYICA, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, and with the support of the Bureau International Jeunesse (Belgium), in French at the end of 2017. The English translation became available in spring 2018. The content of the manual is the following

- An analysis of the violent radicalisation process 
- The role of Youth Information in the prevention of youth violent extremism 
- A tool box:  More than 50 activities for youth workers, youth information workers, educators and youth organisations.  

Due to their daily work with young people, youth workers and youth organisations are often the first to identify the risks and warning signs that young people may be at risk of violent extremism. The manual 'Liaisons' contributes to equipping those in contact with a young public with the necessary skills to help young people build up their resistance and critical thinking skills, so as not to become attracted by extremist ideas and groups.

A theoretical part: The first part of the manual allows the reader to understand the mechanisms and the reasons behind violent extremism. It aims to define the role of youth information and youth work in the prevention of radicalisation leading to violence.

A practical part: The tool box is a collection of activities that have been selected due to their relevance and their capacity to have a positive impact on young people. The user will find learning objectives, practical information (target group, material, group size), a detailed description of how to carry out the activity, as well as advice, in each activity. Although the different activities have been selected in a logical order to fit with the different chapters, it is not necessary to follow the activities in the order that they come in the manual. Each activity stands alone and can be carried out independently from the others, and there is no need for preliminary training - Liaisons is ready to use!

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2016 - The role of youth information in the prevention of youth violent extremism

Throughout 2016, ERYICA, in cooperation with their French-speaking members, carried out a project on the prevention of youth violent extremism through youth information, the aim of which being to:

  • analyse and better understand the sources and motives conditioning youth radicalisation in Europe and the preventing role that youth information and counselling services can play;
  • develop resources able to better equip youth workers, youth information workers, youth organisations, and educators to identify and address youth radicalisation, and to explain to young people this complex phenomenon;
  • and create synergies and collaboration links with other sectors and stakeholders that play a role in analysing, preventing, and combatting youth radicalisation.

The project began with an exploratory meeting involving youth workers, youth information workers, educators, researchers and experts in youth radicalisation, policy-makers, youth organisations, and other relevant stakeholders. This exploratory meeting took place on 21-22 June 2016, and aimed to analyse and understand the phenomenon from different angles, to explore the existing resources in the field, and to discuss the style and content of a reference manual to be developed under the project. The rest of the year was dedicated to creating the reference manual.

2015 - Training seminar on youth information and counselling

In December 2015, ERYICA organised a training seminar on Youth Information and Counselling in Tbilisi, Georgia. The training lasted for 2.5 days and its purpose was to find synergies between governmental and non-governmental actors in the field of youth policy in the Eastern Europe and Caucasus (EECA) region in order to promote the establishment of quality youth information and counselling services and structures. Over 30 participants gathered together from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Moldova, Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, F.Y.R. Macedonia, and Bulgaria to discuss and share issues, solutions, projects and best practices with each other and with European stakeholders. The training seminar was organised with the collaboration of ERYICA, the Council of Europe, Ministry of Youth, Municipality of Tbilisi – Youth Department, Creative Development Centre. 

2014 - Summer University on Youth Information and Counselling (SUYIC)

With the support of the Youth in Action Programme of the European Union and the partnership with the Council of Europe, ERYICA together with 25 other partners from Africa and Europe organised a Summer University on Youth Information and Counselling.

Around 120 youth workers and young people, coming from 6 African countries and 24 European countries participated in this important initiative in the field of youth information and counselling in Braga, Portugal from 14 to 19 June 2014.

The Summer University has been a space dedicated to the development of youth policies in Europe and in Africa, based on the importance of quality youth information and counselling for young people. It focused the discussion on the state of the art of youth information and counselling as a starting point to support and develop the provision at local, national and regional level of youth information and counselling services. The University held a number of different activities using non-formal education methodologies and also expert presentations, regional working groups, workshops and intercultural activities.

2013 - Compendium on youth information, Kit for informing young people on their rights

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2012 - Campaign Information Right Now! & Starter Kit on youth information translations

Joint Co-ordinating Committee

2011 - Conference on the History of Youth Information

This conference took place in Opatija, Croatia on April 17th 2011 on the occasion of ERYICA’s 25th Anniversary, coinciding with the European Youth Information Day. The conference gathered prominent figures that have worked in the past 25 years, are active in youth information and committed to its development. Our ambition is to evaluate the development of youth information and counselling in the last 25 years and identify common and new challenges for its development. 

2010 - Colloquy on “Bridging the gap”

The colloquy “Bridging the gap” took place on 21-24 September 2010 in the premises of the European Youth Centre in the heart of Budapest, Hungary. The main aim of the colloquy was to bring together European Youth Information workers from contrasting international Youth Information backgrounds and develop together input and ideas for future Youth Information projects and policy.

2009 - Seminar on “Youth Policy and Youth Information”

The seminar “Youth Policy and Youth Information” took place on dates 1 – 6 December, 2009 in Rotterdam (NL). It was aimed at enabling current and prospective actors in the field to meet and learn from each other, to discuss and share issues, solutions, to design projects and display good practice by interacting also with European institutional stakeholders. The project has fostered regional cooperation by supporting the creation of networks, partnerships and projects in the Western Balkans, South East Europe, the Baltic Region and amongst well-established generalist youth information structures.

2008 - Seminar on “Youth Policy and Youth Information: Europe and Montenegro”

The Seminar “Youth Policy and Youth Information: Europe and Montenegro” took place on dates 8 – 13 December 2008 in Tivat (Montenegro). It has been set up as an opportunity to develop youth information in the Western Balkans and boost the enhancement of the youth policy in the target countries by gathering selected participants and enabling them to discuss and share issues, solutions, projects and good practice with European stakeholders.

2007 - Colloquy on “The future of Youth Information in Europe”

The colloquy “The future of Youth Information in Europe” took place on dates 26-27 November 2007 in the European Youth Centre Budapest, Hungary. Main aim of the colloquy was to develop inputs concerning policy and practice in the field of youth information and counselling, which could be integrated into the political and strategic document “Council of Europe youth policy: AGENDA 2020”.

Background documents