For more information go to:

Conference: http://www.boja.at/news/
einzelnews/beitrag/
boja-fachtagung-2015-1/

Strategic Partnerships:
http://poywe.org/site/?page_id=443

Youth Work Conference in Graz/Austria

The national conference on open youth work in Austria will take place this year from 22nd to 24th of November in Graz. It is organised annually by bOJA the competence centre for open youth work in Austria. The topic of the conference in 2015 is „Values of open youth work“.

This year there will be an international strand in the program. We will work on the issues of „Quality Management – Evaluation and Documentation“ and „Professional Open Youth Work in Europe – definition(s) and principles“. The output of both topics will link directly into two Strategic Partnerships that are currently run by bOJA and poywe.

Youth policy and professional open youth work

Quotes from a speech at the POYWE Seminar in February 2015

Maurice Devlin from Maynooth University gave an overview of European Youth Policies and stated „In 2009 the European Commission in its proposal for the EU Youth Strategy stated that youth work is a profession and needs to be professionalised further. But this did not find its way into the Framework paper which was finally adopted. This implies that the connection between “youth work ” and “profession” is not self-evident and not welcomed or recognised at all political levels.“

But he also stressed that the broad nature of current definitions and descriptions opens opportunities for diverse forms of youth work to claim their part.

To see the full presentation go here

European Research Network on Open Youth Work

In September 2015 around 50 youth workers, researchers and decision makers gathered at Newman University in Birmingham to kick off the journey towards a new International Academic Journal on Open Youth Work. This study visit was the first of three within the Strategic Partnership „European Research Network on Open Youth Work“.

The participants visited open youth work practice in Birmingham and got an insight in academic and policy realities in the city. Different perspectives on youth work within the UK were addressed as well as challenges and pressures the field faces at the moment.

The aim of the partnership is to strengthen the link between practice, policy and research and offer the field a new arena for sharing research and analysis.

Learn more about the project here