Criteria

A qualitative assessment is carried out before the Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres can be awarded. The criteria are designed to give youth centres the impetus to improve their offer to young people and the youth sector.
Five basic eligibility criteria need to be fulfilled before the centre is considered for assessment.

The centre must:

  • aim to serve the youth sector and young people;
  • have in-house educational staff competent in non-formal education;
  • have accommodation facilities within one campus with the working facilities;
  • cooperate with public authorities;
  • promote international co-operation within the youth sector;

Once the eligibility criteria have been met, the centre must meet additional criteria. The assessment covers in total 15 criteria with indicators which measure the extent to which the candidate center fulfills the standards.

To learn more about the criteria and the indicators, please have a look at the Brochure - The Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres.

Procedure

The procedure assumes that the applicant centre is willing to develop the quality of its offer to young people to meet the standard defined by the criteria. The Youth Department of the Council of Europe, and the expert group responsible for the Quality Label, will support the candidate centre in identifying the considerations and actions it needs to make in order to achieve the quality standard.

1. Expression of interest

The candidate centre prepares an expression of interest for the quality label. There is no deadline for submission; expressions of interest are accepted on an ongoing basis.
  Download the expression of interest form

2. Assessment of expression of interest

The experts decide on the eligibility of the centre and if an exploratory visit should take place in accordance with the basic criteria.

3. Visit of the centre

The expert group visits the candidate centre to assess how it meets the 15 criteria. On the basis of the visit, the expert group prepares a report and shares it with the candidate centre within three months of the exploratory visit.

4. Decision

On the basis of the exploratory visit, the expert group makes its recommendation to the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ). The final decision to award the Quality Label to the centre is made by the CDEJ based on the recommendation of the expert group.

5. Award Ceremony

The ceremony to receive the Quality Label award, including a plaque and a certificate, takes place in the centre in the presence of a Council of Europe representative and national and local dignitaries in the youth field such as a Minister of Youth, Secretary of State or a Mayor, other stakeholders in the youth field and young people from the centre.

6. Upholding and renewing the Quality Label

The label is awarded for an initial period of three years, during which the centre is expected to maintain and further develop the standards demanded by the criteria. An application for renewal is mandatory after the first three years. At the end of the period, the expert group visits the centre again to assess the progress achieved.
Based on the results of the visit, the experts once again make their recommendation to the European Steering Committee for Youth, which, if accepted will prolong the Quality Label for an additional period, usually five years. The European Steering Committee for Youth makes the final decision whether the Quality Label will be prolonged for a second period, usually five years.

 Further information and contact


For further information, please contact the Youth Department of the Council of Europe at:

Secretariat for the Quality Label for Youth Centres Programme
European Youth Centre Budapest

Zivatar utca 1-3
1024 Budapest, Hungary
Tel + 36 1 438 1030
e-mail: youthcentres.quality@coe.int