Together with your organisation
Are you leading or managing a youth work organisation and eager to strengthen your leadership skills? In this seminar, we explore the idea of viewing organisations as living systems. It’s a perspective that calls on leaders to evolve constantly, so they can guide their organisations toward sustainable growth.

We invite you to reflect on how to create a healthier, more agile, and more resilient organisation. Together, we challenge old management habits and “fixed” patterns. We also identify what organisational changes are needed—and how you, as a leader, can adapt to make those changes happen.

This seminar draws on the forthcoming European handbook on Organisational Management, as well as Darko’s book on Systemic Change in Organisations. Join us and discover new ways to lead, learn, and grow in tandem with your organisation.

Presenter
Darko Markovic, an experienced facilitator, trainer and systemic coach from Belgrade, Serbia. He has been involved in the youth work field, locally and internationally, for nearly 30 years, contributing to strategic processes related to youth work development and recognition.

Structures, Everyday Practices, and Occupational Standard
Estonian youth work is built on a well-developed system that integrates national policies, local implementation, and professional standards. The seminar provides an overview of the key structures shaping youth work, including the role of municipalities, youth centres, and formal education. Special attention is given to youth worker education at the university level and practical examples from everyday youth work. 

A key focus is on the occupational standards model, which supports the field by ensuring quality, recognition, and professional development opportunities. The session includes an interactive discussion to explore similarities and differences in youth work approaches across countries.

Presenters
The Estonian Association of Youth Workers

Guidelines, processes, and intervention areas

8.30-9.25
Sweden is facing a growing challenge with youth who are at risk of being drawn into criminal activities. To address this challenge, Hussein Al-Zubaidi has developed a handbook filled with guidelines, processes, and intervention areas that youth workers can use to make a real difference.

Youth work has long been a part of the SSPF-model in many Swedish municipalities. This is a model were School, Social services, Police and Youth work provide coordinated support to young people at risk through facilitating cooperation and information sharing between these four key actors.

In a society where recruitment to criminal gangs and violence among young people is increasing, youth work can play an important role in reversing this trend. But is the organization sufficiently prepared for these challenges? It is important to understand that youth work is not social work, but it is based on working socially with children and young people.

Presenter
Hussein Al-Zubaidi is head of youth work in Hisingen, Gothenburg. He is a qualified sociologist and has extensive experience in social work and the development of social services.

9.35-10.30
Young participants from the youth center Fjället share their personal experiences. 

They will talk about how their involvement has shaped their lives, strengthened their self-confidence, and provided a deeper understanding of societal structures. Through personal stories, they highlight why it’s crucial for young people to take an active role in these processes.

The youth center Fjället's open youth activities are run as a learning process based on the participation and influence of young people. Fjället is a non-profit organisation that runs youth work for young people aged 10-12 and 13-20 in Angered, Gothenburg. The NGO was founded in 1992, based on the initiative of young people in the area.

Presenters
Young participants: Shacni, Josef, Sara 
Youth workers: Salome och Nour 

08.30-12.00
If you choose this study visit, seminar session 3 will be blocked, as the study visit runs until lunch.

Runt Hörnet (Around the Corner) is a youth centre for young people aged 12 to 20. They opened in 2019 and has worked with local young people to create a meeting place that is designed according to their needs and values. “From 300 empty square metres, we have created a creative and welcoming place where everyone can feel at home.”

During the study visit, you will have the opportunity to learn about their journey - from the first steps to today's operations and hear the staff share the challenges they have faced along the way.

Runt Hörnet is LGBTQAI+ certified from the start and strives to be a safe, open and inclusive place where everyone can be themselves. Welcome to discover a place where young people can grow, create and find their own way.

Information
Location: Runt hörnet, Torslanda
Time: 8.30-12.00 including travel
Gather outside the entrance at Lindholmen at 8.30, we go together with public transport, ticket included.

How can cities and regions work together to create inclusive learning environments where young people can explore, develop, and showcase their skills? Cities of Learning is a web-based platform that maps physical and digital activities in a given area, while offering tools to build personal learning pathways and collect digital Open Badges for demonstrated competencies.

During this seminar, you will gain insights into how Cities of Learning increases accessibility for young people, clarifies learning processes, and creates new meeting places for collaboration between the public sector, civil society, and businesses. 

Representatives from both Ljubljana and the Dutch Cities of Learning network in the Netherlands will share their experiences, demonstrate how the platform is used to highlight diverse learning opportunities, and discuss the benefits for young people, organizations, and cities.

Discover how Cities of Learning can be a key to strengthening young people’s skills, future opportunities, and engagement in our local communities!

Presenters
Katarina Gorenc, head of youth work department Ljubljana
Sandra Zoomers, coordinator of the Dutch Cities of Learning Network

Photo: Angela Compagnone

The study visit starts in the morning and continues until lunch.

How can we attract more young people to youth center services and meet their needs more effectively? The City of Tallinn has delved into this question by examining how youth find their way to youth center services and how youth workers can best support them. Instead of traditional models, Tallinn opted to use youth personas to guide its approach.

This session offers insights into that process and highlights the concrete changes that have been made. Participants will also receive an English-language overview of the service model. By understanding how young people think and act, youth center services can become both more relevant and more appealing.

This seminar provides practical ideas on how youth personas can spark engaging and meaningful activities. Recognizing young people’s diverse motivations and needs makes it easier to reach out, build relationships, and create an environment where they truly feel seen and involved.

Speaker
Kaisa Orunuk serves as a Senior Specialist in the Department of Education and Youth Work for the City of Tallinn. She brings extensive experience from national youth work and child protection projects. In her current role, she oversees municipal youth center services while training and coaching others in quality, leadership, team development, and project management. As both a leader and trainer in youth center service design, she continually seeks new ways to engage and empower young people.

“Often the hardest thing about holding space is that it can feel like you’re doing nothing”
– Heather Plett

This seminar will explore the concept of holding space and its relevance for youth workers, when supporting young people individually or as a group. 

- What does it mean to hold space for other people and for their (learning) processes? 
- Why does this skill matter for youth work practice? 
- What are we holding when holding space? What is easier to “hold” and what is more difficult?
- What are different ways to hold space in youth work? 
- How can we grow our capacity to hold space? 

These are just some of the questions we will tackle during the seminar. We will also get some practical experience of holding space to reflect on, and some practical tools to take back home.

Presenter
Darko Markovic, an experienced facilitator, trainer and systemic coach from Belgrade, Serbia. He has been involved in the youth work field, locally and internationally, for nearly 30 years, contributing to strategic processes related to youth work development and recognition.

Having supportive friends and trusted adults around you, engaging in meaningful activities with your peers, and feeling empowered—this is what we believe Youth Work is all about. Yet, in Finland, studies show that one out of tenyoung people report not having any friends.

If a young person feels isolated and alone, how can they fully engage in Youth Work activities? What barriers prevent their participation? How can Youth Work become more accessible to those who feel lonely?

These are the questions that have been raised within Helsinki City Youth Work, and we hope we’ve found some answers. At the very least, we have taken loneliness and social exclusion seriously and identified ways to improve our practices.

In this seminar, we will share methods and a vision for preventing loneliness through Youth Work. We will discuss how to raise awareness of social exclusion and explore how youth workers, together with young people, can foster a sense of community and belonging through intentional activities.

Presenter
Mikko Vatka 
Director of Youth Affairs City of Helsinki

How to plan your program
In this workshop, Dr Frances Howard will explore a typology of youth arts programmes drawn from examples in England and Denmark. The four categories focus on different strands: artistic skills, events, entrepreneurship and and open access.

By highlighting both the potential and the dilemmas they involve, you will get a clear picture of what you need to take into consideration when designing art programmes yourself.

Finally, a practical methodology is presented, showing step by step how you can design and develop activities in close co-operation with young people. Their voices and co-creation are at the center. Welcome to get inspiration and concrete tools to give young people's creativity the right conditions to grow!

Presenter
Dr. Frances Howard began her career as a youth worker and cultural coordinator and has over ten years of experience conducting research alongside young people. She is currently an Associate Professor in Youth Studies at Nottingham Trent University.

Participation and learning help strengthening several key protective factors for young people in relation to violence. This makes youth work a crucial component of universal violence prevention efforts. However, this asks for a safe environment that works proactively against all forms of violence and abuse.

But how do we know if and where improvements are needed, and how we should prioritize? It is only through systematic documentation and follow-up that we can monitor and evaluate our preventive efforts.

With KEKS new self-assessment tool, updated tagging features in The Logbook, and targeted questions in the youth center survey, we can now systematically track our efforts through a violence prevention lens and gather the knowledge we need to secure a safe and inclusive youth work environment.

In this seminar, we will explore these tools in depth and reflect on our role in violence prevention. 

Presenter
Anders Johansson, KEKS

Youth Work in eastern Europe
Discover how to create impactful and lasting youth projects by engaging and empowering young people in Eastern Europe. Learn about the activities and services of SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus, explore successful methods and strategies, and find new opportunities to enhance your youth work!

SALTO EECA supports cooperation between program countries and countries of Eastern Europe and Caucasus within Erasmus+ Youth and European Solidarity Corps. They work to increase the visibility and awareness of these programs and promote international youth cooperation through support, expertise, and various activities.

Youth Association DRONI, which functions as a SALTO info-center in Georgia, provides young people with opportunities to develop skills, build connections, and face challenges through non-formal education. They focus mainly on human rights, media literacy, art as a tool, education for democratic citizenship, project management, and outdoor experiential learning.

We look forward to meeting you at the seminar and exploring new opportunities for youth work together! 

Presenters
Maryia Hlukhava, Europe Goes Local coordinator  - SALTO Eastern Europe & Caucasus Resource Centre
Aliaksei Dzenis , SALTO officer  - SALTO Eastern Europe & Caucasus Resource Centre
Giorgi Kikalishvili, Head of organisation - Youth Association DRONI

Recognition of Youth work in Slovenia 
During this seminar, we will explore the topic of increasing the visibility of youth work across local, regional, and national levels. Participants will gain insights into Slovenian practices and strategies for making youth work more recognized.

• Local level - Youth Center Vič: Showcasing work with young people, presenting results from the Logbook tool and sharing creative approaches such as promotional materials, a mascot, an anthem... 

• Regional level - municipality of Ljubljana: Highlighting the network of youth centers and other youth programmes in Ljubljana. 

• National level: Insights from the national expert working group aligned with the Bonn Process, focusing on visibility of youth work.

Presenters
Katarina Gorenc, Head of the Youth Department, Ljubljana
Nives Felić, Youth worker and KEKS representative in Slovenia