The combined efforts of the Council of Europe youth sector, member states and youth organisations are contributing to the development of youth work policy and practices in Europe.

     Co-operation and synergies between the different stakeholders are key to ensuring the successful dissemination and implementation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)4.  Below is a list of activities (non-exhaustive) that have been and will be implemented over the last few years.

     The Joint Council on Youth reviewed reviewed the implementation of the recommendation at its meeting in October 2023. Amongst its decisions, the Joint Council on Youth:

• noted that the Recommendation, as the first Europe-wide policy document dealing with youth work as such, has had an important impact as a framework and guideline both in European policy and ni some member states, and has contributed significantly to uniting the youth work sector and strengthening cooperation;
• agreed that there is a need to continue to support a better implementation of the Recommendation and the development of youth work in Europe, based on the needs of member states in this regard; and that further reflection should take place on how the Council of Europe can further consolidate its role as initiator and stimulus and contribute to strengthening the causality link between the Recommendation, European developments and developments at the level of member states;

• decided that its working group will remain active, and instructed the working group to explore what follow-up could be given to the review process, also taking into account the results of the recent studies on this topic developed within the framework of the Council of Europe/European Union Youth Partnership.

Activities in 2023

• Regional seminar Growing youth work in Eastern and Southeast Europe: knowledge, realities and ideas for the future (29-30 November 2023 - Bucharest, Romania);
• Evaluation and consolidation seminar of the long-term training course “Training Trainers for Youth in Azerbaijan (TRAYAZE)” 20-27 November 2023;
• Study session “Rise: Design for emergent futures” in cooperation with the Don Bosco Youth Network (DBYN) 27 November – 1 December 2023;
• Consultative meeting on “Revising and updating the Council of Europe Youth Work Portfolio”, 10-11 October 2023;
• Study session “Youth Work for All: Defining Social inclusion from Policy to Reality” in cooperation with Youth Express Network (YEN), 3-7 July 2023;
• Symposium Visible Value: Growing youth work in Europe (31 May-1 June 2023 – European Youth Centre Budapest, Hungary);
• Review seminar on the CM/Rec(2017)4 on Youth Work, 3-4 April 2023;
• Exhibition of “Youth work in war time” at the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg. The photo exhibition was created by 35 participants from Ukraine of a study visit and seminar for youth workers and representatives of youth centres providing youth work during war time in Ukraine.

Activities in 2022

• Regional seminar Visible Value – strengthening the implementation of the European Youth Work Agenda in Eastern and Southeast Europe (15-16 November 2022 - Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina);
• Peer learning activity on Higher Education of Youth Workers (20-23 September 2022 - Helsinki, Finland);
• Meetings of the Steering Group on the European Youth Work Agenda;
• Studies and research on youth work development and recognition of youth worker skills and competences​;
• The Youth Partnership published Step-by-Step together. Support, Tips, Examples and Possibilities for youth work with refugees in Ukrainian.

Activities in 2021

• The Youth Partnership published an analysis of the European youth work policy goals, comparing and identifying similarities and differences between the Council of Europe and the European Union in their common endeavour to develop and advance youth work, both at European level but also at national levels;
• Opportunities for youth engagement and the role of youth work, 29 September, European Youth Center Budapest (hybrid);
• Online study session on Education and Training of Youth Workers in Europe Today in coopeation with European Confederation of Youth Clubs (ECYC), March 2021;
• Follow up meeting to the 3rd European Youth Work Convention by reprsentatives of 11 youth centers holding the Council of Europe Quality Lable for Youth Centers, 21-22 January 2021.

Activities in 2020

• 3rd European Youth Work Convention, 7-10 December 2020, online;
• Translations in Russian and German of the user-friendly version of the Youth work Recommendation published in October 2020;
• The Youth Partnership published Youth Work Essentials, as well as multiple studies amongst others: Youth Work in Montenegro, Youth Work in Eastern Europe, and Youth Work Communities in Europe; 
• Strategic cooperation with Hungarian governmental and civil society partners for the promotion and implementation of the CM Recommendation on Youth Work and in support of youth participation.

Activities in 2019:

• The Youth Department has produced a user-friendly version of the recommendation 

 English version and  French version ;

• Meeting of the ad hoc high-level task force on youth work in Helsinki on 18-19 February 2019, a second was held on 2-4 October 2019 in Bonn;
• Seminar within the framework of the Finnish Chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on "the educational and training pathways of youth workers" in Helsinki from 20 to 22 February 2019;
• Study sessions on youth work development and recognition, "Youth Work Policy in Europe : It’s Up To Us”, was organised by the European Confederation of Youth Clubs from 11 to 15 March 2019.  As a result of this study session some of the participants made an (unofficial) translation of the youth work recommendation into Armenian;
• One training was organised by the Youth Department for the educational staff of the youth centres in the Quality Label network from 14 to 17 May 2019 in the Youth Centre Plovdiv (Bulgaria) on Human Rights Education;
• The Youth Department organised one national seminar on using the Youth Work Portfolio to support youth work and user analysis of the Portfolio;
• The EU-CoE youth partnership published volume 7 in the “History of youth work” series;
• The “EUROPE GOES LOCAL” project organised its third European event from 4 to 6 June in Brussels;
• Member states continue to translate the Recommendation into additional non-official languages (Portuguese, Turkish)

Activities in 2018:

• The Youth Department organised two meetings of the ad hoc high-level task force on youth work (in Strasbourg on 7-8 February 2018 and in Budapest on 4-5 July 2018);
• A preliminary exchange of views was held on the 3rd European Youth Convention in the European Youth Centre in Budapest on 3 July;
• The EU-CoE youth partnership organised a workshop on “Learning from the history of international youth organisations and their impact on youth work practice today” in Ljubljana from 2 to 4 October 2018;
• The Youth Department organised a seminar on the implementation of the ENTER! and youth work recommendations entitled "From policy to practice: youth work supporting access of young people to social rights" in Kazan, Russian Federation, from 9 to 12 October 2018;
• In October, the Youth Department produced a “Postcard” which contains a snapshot of the key recommendations and invites the reader to consult them online;
• The EU-CoE youth partnership organised a seminar on the state of youth work in South-East Europe on 13 to 15 November 2018 in Ljubljana (Slovenia);
• Commonwealth Conference on Youth Work (including dissemination of Recommendation): Malta, 6-8 November 2018;
• The EU-CoE youth partnership published its mapping on the educational paths of youth workers;
• The EU-CoE youth partnership published “History of youth work” (volume 6);
• Member states continue to translate the Recommendation into additional non-official languages (German, Czech, Russian, Slovenian, Ukrainian).

Activities in 2017:

• The Council of Europe published and disseminated the Recommendation and its explanatory memorandum in English and French, both online and in a leaflet;
• Member states translated the Recommendation into Bosnian, Dutch, Finnish, Slovak and Swedish;
• The Joint Council on Youth adopted a roadmap for the dissemination and implementation of the Recommendation and the mandate of the ad hoc high-level task force on youth work;
• The EU-CoE youth partnership published the preliminary results of a mapping on the educational paths of youth workers;
• The EU-CoE youth partnership published “Thinking seriously about youth work. And how to prepare people to do it” (Youth Knowledge Book, issue 20).