About Europe4Youth

Our organization is taking care that all young people in Lesser Poland have the conditions and opportunities for education, development, participation in public life, and thus create a healthy and democratic civil society from the local to European levels. We take care of it on various levels: we provide European information and consultations for young people, we support young people in organizing youth exchanges and initiatives, train youth workers and support organizations working with youth, develop youth work tools and participate in the development of youth policies at local to European levels, enabling youth people and youth participation structures to be part of it.

Europe4Youth’s vision is a European civil society based on the conscious participation of young people in political, social and cultural life at the local to European levels. It is a society where young people have the right, resources, space, competence, opportunity and support to participate in decision-making on matters that affect them.

Our mission is to support young people in discovering and realizing their full potential in personal, social and public life in the spirit of empowerment and partnership. Next to this, we aim for high quality and standards by developing the whole youth sector in Lesser Poland and beyond: youth workers, organisations and youth policies.

– In youth work we cherish voluntarism and participatory engagement, basing activities on the needs of young people, articulated by them and in their language (not adults imagining about the needs of young people). Youth work should strengthen their autonomy and access to rights, take place in places where young people are (including the internet), be inclusive, accessible and promote critical thinking, creativity, human rights and democracy.

– Youth work should result from a multi-dimensional and participatory youth policy.

– The youth sector communicates and cooperates with all relevant actors (including schools, universities, offices, labour market institutions) and the environment.

– Young people must have equal access to youth information, opportunities to participate in decision-making at the local, national and international level. They should be able to take initiatives with others, be active citizens, open to the world. Working with youth helps to define developmental and educational goals and to recognize them.

– Youth workers should constantly improve themselves, evaluate their work critically and share their methods, outcomes and development with others.

– In youth work, ethical standards are based on children’s rights and human rights, and the motivation is the good of young people.

– Youth workers create conditions of trust, partnership and safety, with no judgement, moralising, coercion or any imposition. We create conditions, in which young people can realize their potential, self-organize and act autonomously.

 

The standards are based on the „European Charter of Youth Work” [in:] „European Charter of Youth Work” available online: https://www.europegoeslocal.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/20190603-egl-charter .pdf (20/03/2020)

WHO ARE WE WORKING WITH?

We direct our work to following groups:

 

  1. Young people in Lesser Poland in age of 13-30 (in different age segments depending on the project) with special attention to people with fewer opportunities – from deurbanized areas, NEETs, school dropouts, people with lesser access to culture, or high-quality education, with more disadvantage social background, as well as national, ethnic and sexual minorities. Where are they coming from? We have established group of over 200 young associates (young people interested in youth activism, who joined our organization), we also collaborate with high schools from all over Lesser Poland (we work with pupils), as well as major Universities in the region working with students.
  2. Youth leaders, youth activists, youth organisations, active young people who we train, support and collaborate with in local and international youth initiatives. They graduate from our annual “Youth Leadership School”, after which they associate with us.
  3. Youth workers, pedagogues, educators, institutions working with young people in non-formal education settings. They apply to our 2 “Summer Schools”: of youth projects management and youth work to obtain competences to work with young people at a local and international level.
  4. Decision makers in the field of youth: municipalities and communities in Lesser Poland region and Lesser Poland Voivodeship management. We are part of the Regional Partnership for Young People consisting of job offices, career advisors, think tanks, research centres etc. We also collaborate with decision makers and supporting institutions on national and European level, e.g. Eurodesk network, SALTO, European Institutions.