From the 27 to 30 May 2025, about 500 members of the youth work community of practice met in Malta for the 4th European Youth Work Convention. The series of Conventions serves as the most important platform for youth work development across Europe, happening every five years since 2010.
Written by Nik Paddison and Elke Führer
The 4th Convention was hosted by the government of Malta - Aġenzija Żgħażagħ (Malta's national youth agency) and the European Union Programme Agency (EUPA) for Malta - together with the EU-Council of Europe Youth Partnership, under the Maltese Chairpersonship of the Council of Europe. It took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, an immense historical building in Valletta that was built in the 16th Century as a hospital – and remained in use as a hospital until 1920.
The results of the event will feed a new European Roadmap for strengthening youth work, thereby refining the European Youth Work Agenda and continuing the work of the Bonn Process.
On the evening of the 27 May, the Convention kicked off in the courtyard of Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, which offered its space for the informal opening of the event. The atmosphere was one of excitement with a noisy buzz of conversations throughout the entire evening as delegates met with colleagues and friends from different parts of Europe.
The evening included a buffet dinner, a live band and a number of interactive spaces of wisdom. These were spaces where the delegates could go to discover the history of youth work in Europe and the Conventions. They could also meet some of the people responsible for the previous Conventions and developments in youth work in Europe over the last more than 20 years.
The following morning, the Convention officially started with opening speeches from the Maltese government, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and the Chair of the Joint Council on Youth (CMJ) of the Council of Europe.
This was followed by a “handover ceremony”. This is a first for the Conventions and represented Germany (the hosts of the 3rd Convention) handing over the “torch” to Malta, for them to continue the work which has been building since the first Convention in 2010.
This handover was the trigger for the detailed work of the Convention to commence. Under the title of ‘Youth Work Xcelerate’ the Convention had three core thematic areas the delegates were asked to engage with through workshops.
The three thematic areas were:
Under each thematic area there were five workshops to choose from and three rounds of workshops. This meant that the delegates could contribute to each area or give all their focus to one area. The workshops were facilitated and reported on by youth work trainers, researchers and writers from across Europe.
The three rounds of these thematic workshops formed the most important element of the Convention. Below is a brief description of some of the key points that came up from each theme:
The discussions on the core of youth work included the development of a shared vision, the further definition of youth work, ethical standards and values, visibility and recognition, and quality development and monitoring. The importance of increased recognition of youth work was especially highlighted across the different sessions of the Convention.
The discussions on the youth work environment focused especially on the support of two groups of actors: on the one hand, the support of young people by addressing their needs and aspirations, ensuring their access, inclusion, participation and empowerment. And on the other hand, the discussion emphasised the role of employed and volunteer youth workers and youth leaders.
The discussions focused in particular on the education, training and recognition of youth work professionals as well as methodological approaches, tools and new technologies.
The discussions on the systems and framing conditions that support youth work focused on policies and strategies at European, national, regional and local levels. Discussions also covered the relationship between the public and civil society sectors, the voluntary pillar of youth work, and the need for more (especially structural) funding and cross-sectoral cooperation.
For an overview of how these three horizontal Convention themes are linked with the eight thematic priority areas of the European Youth Work Agenda, the SNAC Growing Youth Work has developed this visualisation.
After two rounds of workshops on this first day, the delegates returned to the magnificent hall (originally the hospital’s Great Ward) to hear about the ongoing work and developments in youth work at the European level. These inputs were delivered by the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and the Pool of European Youth Researchers.
This was followed by a panel discussion that consisted of five practitioners representing a University, the European Youth Forum, the Alliance of Youth Workers’ Associations, a Youth Foundation and a Youth Council. They discussed youth work in Europe (at all levels) focusing on what is being talked about a lot compared to issues that are not receiving the attention they need (highlighting the Convention’s horizontal theme of “Noise vs. Silence”). They explored the need for balance between these topics and aspects in order for youth work to continue growing.
Day two of the Convention started with a round table discussion with five young people from different projects and parts of Europe – all of whom are running or employed in youth organisations. This group shared how youth work has shaped their lives, perspectives, and opportunities. This session held a vital importance to the Convention because it brought the delegates back to the heart of youth work – the young people – and gave voice to those young people to state where they think youth work needs to be going in the next years.
There were three sets of workshops taking place on Day two. There was the third round of the thematic workshops and there were two sets of inspirational workshops that showcased youth work practice. The first of these were projects based locally or nationally and the second were projects operating at the European level.
In the afternoon of Day two the Convention started to draw to a close. One of the General Rapporteurs gave an input based on the preliminary reports from the thematic workshops, providing a clue as to the flavours that were emerging from this Convention’s themes and numerous thematic topics. Interestingly, this was followed by a panel that discussed the main points that came from the input of the workshops.
The Convention officially closed with speeches from the European Institutions, the European Youth Forum, an Ambassador, and the Maltese government. The last words were then shared by the organisers - Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, the Youth Partnership, and the National Agency EUPA. There was also a final opportunity for delegates and organisers to talk and reflect on the two days at a reception held on the roof of the Centre.
Under the title ‘Youth Work Xcelerate,’ this fourth Convention has succeeded in highlighting youth work as a powerful tool that is still growing and developing. This was especially so through the outcomes of the thematic workshops.
The reports from these thematic workshops summarise the discussions, inputs and knowledge of the delegates (as well as the facilitators and rapporteurs of each workshop), on the numerous topics related to each Convention theme. These reports, along with the inputs from the inspirational workshops, speakers and panels, will form the report of the Convention.
This report will contain proposals, ideas and direction for the future of youth work for the next five years. Based on the report, the steering committee of the Convention will create the “Roadmap Towards a European Strategy for youth work policy implementation, recognition and quality practice” which will outline the direction and development needed in youth work in Europe over the next five years.
The Roadmap will refine the European Youth Work Agenda, guide the community of practice in implementing the EYWA in the next five-year cycle and thus continue the work of the previous five-year cycle that was titled “Bonn Process”.
The report and the Roadmap will be presented to a meeting of all the government ministers responsible for youth from all the member states of the Council of Europe. This meeting, the first of its kind in 13 years, will take place in October 2025 in Malta. The ministers will be responsible for examining the report and endorsing the Roadmap for youth work.
The series of all four Conventions has contributed to a continuous line of development of youth work: The first Convention kick-started the Convention series as a European key platform and celebrated the diversity of youth work. In appreciation of this diversity across Europe, the second Convention managed to develop a common understanding of youth work and called for a European Youth Work Agenda. This was then established at the third Convention as a strategic framework for youth work development.
Building up on this strategic framework, the fourth Convention accelerates the development of youth work by delivering the upcoming Roadmap with the potential of putting these continuous strategic efforts into action. Throughout this entire trajectory, it has been and continues to be the responsibility of the community of practice to further develop and strengthen youth work for the benefit of young people.
More information about the 4th European Youth Work Convention, including more insights into the programme and the recorded live-streams is available on the Convention-Website.