Youth Work Talks is a three part webinar series for youth work practitioners, researchers, and policy makers who want to engage in open, honest conversations on contested topics in youth work. These online sessions are designed to bring together different viewpoints, so that together we can name tensions, explore dilemmas, and leave with takeaways that help the field move forward.
Each webinar will follow the same interactive format, which will last for 90 minutes. As a format, we will firstly focus on a panel conversation, with invited voices presenting different perspectives on the same, dilemmatic topic. Afterwards, participants will have a chance to participate in facilitated break out rooms, where they will explore different dilemmas related to the topic of the webinar.
You can participate in all of the webinars, or just some of them. They are designed as a stand-alone activity, however, topics connect to each other and can be also joined as a series. We welcome different profiles of participants from the wider community of practice, including (un)paid youth workers, policy makers and researchers.
The Youth Work Talks webinar series will cover these topics during 2026:
Youth work contributes to learning, competences, and personal development, yet recognition often remains unclear, inconsistent, or contested. This webinar focuses on the topic of validation, especially in the field of higher education, drawing inspiration from the Youthpass validation study. The main questions that will be tackled are: What does meaningful validation look like? What are the risks and challenges when youth work learnings are translated into formal systems? How can different sectors come together around validation of prior learning?
Funding shapes what youth work can do, but it can also influence what youth work wants to become in the future. Therefore, this webinar explores different funding models, including perspectives at European level beyond Erasmus+, and looks at how the field can strengthen its position through better organisation and lobbying for youth work funding. We will discuss what is realistic, what is missing, and what collective strategies could support the sector long-term.
Youth work is increasingly expected to solve problems created elsewhere - sometimes in ways that conflict with its values. This webinar tackles instrumentalisation, starting with a broader debate and then narrowing into concrete dilemmas connected to different sectors. How can youth work respond, when it is used to achieve goals of other sectors, for example, when being pushed to support school homework in youth centres, or positioned as a partner of police and control-oriented systems in dealing with drug abuse. The question tackled on this webinar will be: Where is the line between cooperation and being instrumentalised for other sectors?
If you are interested, then join us on the webinars! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to register as soon as registrations open!
In case of questions, please contact Elke Führer, project coordinator of Growing Youth Work at JUGEND für Europa (National Agency Erasmus+ Youth, European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ Sport) via fuehrer@jfemail.de or growingyouthwork@jfemail.de; +49 228-9506289.
Let’s discuss how we can make a difference in youth work development!
We look forward to seeing you online!